Posted on 11/09/2013 3:57:20 PM PST by marktwain
Oh good grief, you need a flashlight weapon??? Just put a bayonet on the end of it.
I saw those. They are the first thing I’ve seen that remotely competes with the 550 lumen flashlights at costco that cost $25 a pair. But the costco ones have adjustable beam and adjust all the way down to a square “pencil” beam.
They also run on two C cells each.
I am very partial to Fenix lights. You can go to the Fenix-store.com to see them, just click on the AA selection.
In AA I own their LD12 which uses a single AA, LD22 which uses 2AA, HL21 headlamp, 1AA, and the HP25 headlamp using 4AA, many here would like the LD41 or E40 using 4 AAs, their E series are almost the same as the LD series except fewer settings and cheaper.
If you are going to own quality lights though, you should start using Eneloop NiMH batteries (rechargeable) because they won’t leak and destroy your lights like Alkaline batteries do. The generation 3 Eneloops hold 90% of their charge for one year, and 70% of their charge for 5 years, they are called low-self discharge, rechargeables.
If you want really powerful lights for reaching out their 200 yards with massive amounts of light, then you will need to start buying lights that use the 18650 battery.
I carry this one on my belt every day.
http://www.fenix-store.com/fenix-PD35/
Fenix PD35
Digitally regulated output - maintains constant brightness
5 Brightness Levels Plus Strobe
Turbo - 850 Lumens - 1 hr. 15 min.
High - 450 Lumens - 2 hr. 30 min.
Mid - 170 Lumens - 7 hr. 45 min.
Low - 45 Lumens - 29 hr.
Eco - 10 lumens - 140 hr.
Low-voltage warning function to remind you to replace the battery
Reverse polarity protection guards against improper battery installation
Over-heat protection to avoid high-temperature of the surface
Tactical tail switch with momentary-on function
Have they come up with an insert yet for something bigger than a 3 D-cell Maglite? I love mine and have yet to run the batteries even close to empty but I still want a 5 or 6 D cell for the ‘heft’...
Costco has a pack of two “500” Lumen lights, for $30. Sold under the Duracell name, the package includes six C size duracell batterys. The housing is anodized aluminum, and has an interesting telescoping (instead of rotating) beam focusing adjustment. I’ve had them only a few hours, but they work good and the price is right.
I have a high-quality one at the bedside for defensive use, however the lithium batteries are too expensive to use it as a utility flashlight.
Candlepower and Lumens don’t compare, they are two different things.
http://www.flashlightuniversity.com/lumens-vs-candlepower/
Thanks very much. I’m in the market for another flashlight.
Thanks, that is a good explanation.
In short, a Joule Thief uses a homemade transformer and a transister to cause the LED to blink at 50,000 times per second, allowing an LED that normally needs 3.2 volts to run on 0.8 volts or more. Most home devices that use AA or AAA batteries, such as TV remote controls, will see a battery as "dead" when it reaches 1.25-1.30 volts. There is still plenty of power left in these batteries.
An LED driven by a Joule Thief and a 1.25 volt battery can run uninterrupted for a week or more.
For mine, I took a bright LED from a cheap Brookstone keychain flashlight, and put it in a Radio Shack 2 AA battery case, using one side for the single battery and the other for the circuit. I added a switch to the side, and a small spring in case I want to use a AAA battery instead of a AA battery.
-PJ
I have a Fenix LD01 parked in my pocket. Has a Cree LED that you recommended to me a couple years ago. Great, great flashlight.
M4L
I also have a Fenix LD01 on my keychain, when I posted to you I had the old one called the LOD-CE that I bought in May of 2007, during it’s more than 6 years on my keychain, it never skipped a beat, a couple of months ago I decided to get the newer model to pick up the new low which is 3 Lumen for 27 hours, and the increased brightness.
The LD01 is extraordinary for a AAA light, and is vastly superior to, and brighter, and longer running, and more durable, than the 2D battery flashlights of the past.
It has three brightness levels
High - 72 Lumens - 1 hr. 28 min.
Mid - 26 Lumens - 3 hr. 8 min.
Low - 3 Lumens - 27 hr.
Digitally regulated output - maintains constant brightness
If it’s effective the libs will try to ban it. Except for hardened, violent criminals.
It’s kind of weird having a full on flashlight in your pocket everyday isn’t it, so tiny it runs on a single AAA, yet it blows away the 2D flashlights of 10 and 20 years ago.
One night going outside with my old one, I realized that it was really all the flashlight the average homeowner needed by the 20 century standard, much more and better, in fact, it was one of those, realizing the future is here moments.
Do you work for Fenix??
I am extremely satisfied with my Fenix light. Before then, I just hated LED flashlights, but this one is different. I have to be able to whip a light out and see details in colors, and this light does the job. I don’t know what I’d do without it. And it takes a company-supplied AAA battery.
You gotta check out the Fenix stuff.
No, I'm a plumbing contractor who needs some awareness of lights for a variety of situations and conditions, and I have a lifetime interest in flashlights, and even collect a little, my oldest is from the 1920s and I recently acquired a 5 cell Ray o Vac from about 1965.
I was reading all the flashlight forums since around 2000, or whenever they started, and got into good quality lights, then Fenix started around 2005? and introduced to America top notch lights at a much cheaper price than had existed until then, and they were also more advanced. technologically.
The best key chain light available back then, the one all the guys praised to the hilt was this one, that had previously been priced at about $60.00, but in this review is at $40.00 (and more advanced than the previous model).
This Fenix was better for me, with it's much longer run time, and it's more affordable price of $15.00, remember these prices were from 8 years ago, and were for tiny little key chain lights. I don't know if the other light is still made anymore or not since they seem to have faded away, but Fenix has never let me down.
So far, for almost all flashlight niches, from the key chain to a powerhouse flashlight for searches, or even cop lights, I usually end up suggesting a Fenix.
Those reviews in post 37 are from the 2005-2006 flashlight era.
500 lumen lights generally sell for $200+. That is what makes it interesting.
Kind of my thinking also
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.