Your most beloved flashlights of this year iiis?

They may not be screamers, but the Sofirn SC31pro and Skilhunt M200 are handy-dandy new lights that each tick a lot of boxes, lights you actually want to EDC.

Honorable mention to the (also) Skilhunt E3A, which geniunely impressed the Hell out of me for an AAA light.

I got very few lights this year so far:

  • Skywolfeye B16
  • CRX custom tail-eswitch light
  • Emisar KR4vn SBT90.2
  • Klarus HR1vn SST-20-W 4000K + CSLPM1.TG

None of them deserves to be called the best really.
Skywolfeye B16….is great for the price but that’s just it.
CRX custom failed quickly
Emisar KR1 is quite heavy, has too deep reflector and I expected better tail switch action. Performance is extremely good though. Still, I don’t feel it’s worth the light of the year award.
Klarus….the CCT difference between the emitters is too large, so the combined beam is not very pleasant. Other than this - a really OK light. But not special enough to be the light of the year.

I’m eyeing Lumintop GT Nano though. Will it be the winner for me?

Skilhunt M200 is a nice tiny 18650 light with a great beam
Astrolux EC03 has great brightness and features for the money
The AMUTORCH E3S performance is insane for the size but the right battery can’t be found.
Astrolux FT03S is legendary
Manker E14III and MC13 are just top draw with epic simple familiar UI’s.
Jetbeam RRT03 is a lot of fun but incredibly expensive

But my light of 2020 is the Sofirn IF25, lovely simple ramping UI, cheap as chips, built like a tank and still compact for a 21700 light, Type-C charging and variable tint, not too silly on power. Just needs a 2700k SST20 to 5700K LH351D pro edition!!!

Firefoxes FF5, great light with relatively small dimensions.

Copper Tool, both aaa and aa. Copper kills corona.

Sofirn C01R for Red Light Therapy

FW21 pro for me, such a fun light.

Inexplicably, I haven’t bought a Surefire in 2020.
I have acquired a few Olights. Like 10.
I know Olight is a cult, but their lumens shine brighter somehow.
I have all the Warriors. The latest is being the best. Great tint. 21700-5000mAh.
The mini warrior is way smaller, but never a real warrior.
Like the Sportster, never a real Harley. Bought the three colors.
Also the Seeker 2 Pro in carbon fiber. With my name on it. And a few more.
I don’t worry about the proprietary batteries. They will outlive me.
And if they don’t, all the better!!!.

Cheers.

fw3d. After I etched it I’ve been digging it. I still think 18650 lights are a bit big for pocketing/edc’ing all the time but everything else about them hits the mark.

Just yesterday I received the blf muscle combo. The mc13 is the first throwy light to pique my interest in ages. I’m thinking of finding/making a lens cap for it and keeping it in the ute.

My top two are FF5 and K1 90.2 The FF5 is virtually the same size of a TN42, but with a smaller diameter head. But it is quite a bit more powerful at 10,000 Lumens and 1.2Mlux. The K1 90.2 doesn’t have the extreme throw of the oslon variants, but still gives significant throw at 420Klux and 4500 Lumens. Also the K1 is a single cell light with onboard USB-C charging making it compact and convenient.

It is a tie between these 2:
Noctigon KR4 Ti Grey Camo with Nichia E21A 2000K R9050
Noctigon KR1 with Luminus SBT-90.2 5700K

Two very different lights:

The very small Skilhunt E3A and the super thrower Noctigon K1 (mine has W2 but I’d love to try the SBT 90 and W1 as well.)

Many other good choices I see in this thread that I would like to try eventually.

Not new, but my Sofirn Q8 is my favorite of all time. I can’t explain it.
And my new EDC favorite is my Lumintop EDC18.

tie with Armytek wizard pro E21A 2700K and D4v2 E21A 2000k

I really love the warm tint of my D4

I’ve only got a Sofirn SC31 Pro 6500K but it’s great.

I only use it for short dog walks but would like something chunkier… maybe a an IF25A?

I live in an old cargo van (Ford E350 extended) between work trips. So the BLF LT1 is my most used and most practical light source.

Sinner 18350RM

I have purchased 13 different models/manf. LED lights in 2020, but the one that brought the most performance value, is the Sofirn SC31 Pro(mine is 5k temp).
$28, including battery, and free magnetic tail cap, is a steal for what you get.

2020 purchases:
Olight BALDR RL and BALDR Mini weapon lights
Olight S2R2 Cu; i5T Cu; original Warrior X
Sofirn SP40; SC31 Pro; SD05; LT1
Lumintop Tool AA; (Drop buy)AAA Blue Ti; ED20-T
Wowtac A6

No 2020 flashlight can come close to my Nitecore MH20 NW which sadly died after falling from about 1m. I’m negotiating a repair with Nitecore as nothing can come close to the balance of form factor, simple UI, well spaced modes, efficiency and most importantly a mature beam profile of MH20.

Yep. As much as I really like my SC31pro, M200, FC11, etc., I don’t think anything’s gonna replace my MH20 as my EDC any time soon.

Love my MH20 and MH20GT as well but think that the Lumintop EDC18 has replaced them in my heart. As far as the comment upthread on 18650 being too big for EDC, Lumintop has a shorty tube available that Neals Gadgets ran 300 of that takes the 18350 size, effectively shrinking it down in 1/2 for sensitive and small pockets.

The only ambivalence on my part is having a tailcap magnet. I appreciate that it can stick to the van roof and with a diffuser give my wife hours of decent reading light into the wee hours when camping, but I generally don’t want magnets brushing up on my $250 key fobs, memory sticks and other small electrically sensitive things I might stick in my pocket.