‘Most reliable’ is pretty hard to define, when actual failures seem to be quite rare. I’ve carried an old 4Sevens Preon 2 in my shirt pocket for years, and used it plenty without as much as a hiccup. The more eye-pleasing IYP365 that I currently carry has also been trouble free.
I’ve bashed several ‘S’ and ‘M’ series Convoys around for a long time, and they’ve all hung in there - the M2 in particular is built like a tank.
I can honestly say the only light that’s actually given trouble in the past decade was an early Olight S30 that they promptly replaced, and it didn’t actually ‘fail’ as much as the UI became somewhat unpredictable. The replacement has been great (after I upgraded the emitter to something neutral).
Everything considered, most modern lights are very reliable - but I still always carry at least two!
I dont have any unreliable lights… maybe Im doing something wrong.
I dont use them underwater, I dont use them in sand, and I dont do drywalling with them.
I guess Im not hard on my lights at all. I almost never drop one, and Ive never had one stop working when I did drop it.
I did get rid of my 10180 lights, I found they were problematic, flicker, failure to access the low mode on some… so I avoid those, and lights with similar 2 mode pressure switches.
Ive had unreliable Novatacs, but I fixed those with new signal springs.
Ive had a maratac twisty become unreliable when I over oiled the threads, but thats fixed too…
Ive done more damage modding lights, than using them
but so far all my modding failures have been repaired.
I rely on my magnetic rotaries, and on my eSwitch Tool. I have a dozen AAA twisties, they all work, and I have half a dozen magnetic rotaries, that all do what I expect them to.
I’ve been buying quality lights based on BFL and CPF and the old (flashlightreviews?) for so many years (15 or 20?), that all of my lights are dependable.
My CMG Infinity and Lightwave flashlights are still dependable.
Ever try a Nitefox UT20? Same side+tail setup, and it’s a moose! Still, I EDCed it almost immediately after getting it, I liked it so much.
But the TN12 has the same issue as all too many side+tail lights, that the ridges/cutouts around the tailswitch don’t align at all with the sideswitch, so it’s a pain in the ass to actively use both without having to flip the light around one-handed to use both.
At least have no ridge at all and let the tailswitch protrude, or have 360° coverage of the ridge and have to press the switch fully inward. None of that silly flipping around, or worse, have the corner of one of those ridges constantly dig into your thumb when you’re holding it to use the sideswitch.
Wellp, all lights that work after being confirmed non-DOA will be 100% reliable sitting untouched in their respective boxes. :laughing:
I don’t abuse my lights, either, and I’ve had some issues like retaining rings (tailswitch and driver) coming loose after recharging the battery, that went mental ’til I poked around, found the issue, and tightened ’em up.
I did have a TK04 go boom, just tip over and stop working. That was fun. Not fall, just literally tip over onto my laptop’s keyboard, so it wasn’t even a hard hit. Eerie.
Also a TK05, ironically, just flicker and go dim. Very dim. LED got loose. Press down on it and it works 100%.
So yeah, weird crap happens for no apparent reason.
But the idea is that lights shouldn’t be fragile and stop working if dropped when pulling it out of a pocket or bag, etc.
But I wouldn’t trust most lights unless I completely pulled ’em apart and rebuilt ’em, being sure to regrease all the O-rings and threads, maybe even lightly RTV the edge of a switch-boot if I wanted it truly waterproof, and make sure everything everything everything is 100%.
Still, dropping a light on its bezel at an angle can very easy crack even the thickest glass. Hell, I busted a clear (“UV”) filter on my camera’s lens, in a padded bag, from just 2’ high. Bent/Deformed the ring just enough that I can’t even get it off the lens anymore (I did remove all the errant glass-shards, though). Freak accidents happen, too.
So with the exception of my bobofett lights, whose “coating” peels off when you just look at it wrong, even my heavily EDCed lights still look pristine. Hell, I was balancing my MH20 precariously on my bike-seat when it rolled off and hit concrete. Not so much as a ding on the ano, and I looked hard.
Do I want to tempt fate? Nah. So it’s nice to know that some lights stand a better chance as far as being reliable, even if freaky stuff happens.
I had the Sunwayman G20C failed on me while I was vacationing in Vietnam. It started to flicker and died… Later found out it was the tailcap; a wire was loose. Never dropped or did anything to it beside changing battery. Altho I got the tailcap replaced, I cannot trust it fully. Never took it on trips with me ever since.
I’m sure someone will tell me i’m wrong and tell me to get a REALLY reliable american-made flashlight. but my most reliable flashlight is probably my Emisar D4. dropped it a million times on concrete. fell into an oil pan at some point and has run on turbo till thermal step down for fuck knows how many times serving to illuminate an area. and the worst that happened to it was that the lens cracked at some point, which gave it an… interesting pattern when held under a lens.
other than that light I own a second world war pertrix flashlight which has served me well, It once died because the batteries inside it has gotten wet and exploded, but i was able to fully repair it using tinfoil and a little clear tape. this was on a multi-day hike and didn’t have another flashlight with me so that was a godsend. in reality though that flashlight is about as bright as a modern button cell LED (30 lumens maybe) with the e-10 incandescent, so not worth carrying at all. Tint is nice though :>
All of my flashlights are very reliable. No failures. I think Chinese manufacturing has reached near Japanese level quality.
My absolute most reliable flashlight would have to be my Surefire flashlights. They’re oldies… a U2 and a Kroma, featuring mechanical switches & lockouts. But because of low output, they get limited use.
But as for most reliable & usable EDC, I’d have to say my ZebraLight SC64c LE. ZL makes the best electronic switches. Right behind it is my Nitecore EC4GT, Jetbeam RRT-01 (original), Jetbeam U, and Skillhunt H03 RC. Jury is still out on the FW3A, as I’m wondering if the switch design will hold up for the long haul.
My Olight M18 Maverick has been a logger’s EDC for years—dropped, beaten around, loaned out and soaked in hydraulic oil countless times. Not much anodizing left on the old girl but she’s never let me down. Heck of a light.
If I had to go deep into a cave with only one light I would choose the Armytek Wizard Pro warm. I typically carry it as a backup light already without the headband. With the clip there are many optional ways to carry it and operate hands-free. With firefly 1 at 0.15 lumen all the way up to turbo 2 and everything in between you’ve got more than enough choices of output. 10 meters water proof. 10 meters drop proof. Magnet. It is cave ready.
My $6.00 tactical lights from aliexpress. I'm never afraid to use them, they get abused badly... drywall dust, cement, wet soil, the list goes on and on. I don't really know why they can take such a beating and maybe many of my lights can but this is the only one I don't feel guilty putting to work. Q8 is up there too.
Jetbeam Jet 1 MK. Or/and Astrolux AO1.
Always in pocket,
Serious use. Either My C8+ or Astrolux S41/S41S.
Or Imalent DN35/70.
They’ll do 98% of what you could want walking about.
From slight glow to 200+ Yards.
My eyes can’t see that far.
