I used to work in the shipping dept. of a mailorder-catalog retailer (that also has a bunch of B&M stores).
I had to explain multiple times to Customer Service, that when shipping boxes to Alaska (and especially Hawaii), they did not need customs forms like we needed for England/Germany etc; as they are not foreign countries…
“Of course Hawaii needs Customs Forms; it’s an island so it’s not part of the United States”.
Sigh
They would also argue with me why we couldn’t use UPS-Ground to ship to Hawaii, because “their air service is more expensive”. I would always answer, “because you cannot drive a tractor-trailer across the Pacific Ocean” and after a short pause… “oh yeah”.
Similar problem with Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, as they’re not one of the 50-states (or should I say 48?); “they need customs forms”.
On occasion I would repeat the mantra: “Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are part of the United States” out loud in the hope it would eventually stick. But it never did quite sink in about Alaska/Hawaii as I didn’t bother to repeat the same quote about them, assuming everyone would know since they’re “states”… that makes them part of the U.S.
After my experience with Super Storm Sandy, I made sure to purchase 4 of the SD10.
To me the SD10 is a real emergency illumination instrument.
Cosmetic appearance, thousands of lumens and miles of reach is all child play in a real SHTF situation.
If I had spare money to throw, it would have been the eagletac
Right now my EDU (every day use) quark tactical x aa2 has performed admirably, mostly as nightside lamp I just dont need a higher output flashlight at the moment.
I must agree about 2xAA lights - they are, IMHO, the most versatile out of all sizes of non-lithium powered lights, they:
-offer plenty of lumens
-plenty of light output either as throw or as sheer amount of light
-have pretty good runtimes
-dont cost much(depends on model)
-are rather efficient
-size is neither too small nor too big, depending on your usage patterns
Gotta love 2xAA size, this is another size that Im researching at the moment, so far the 1st place(on paper) goes to MT21A with its 10k cd and XP-E2 :D!
I bought a different police light from BIC to use an an extension tube. But even though the picture on BIC’s website showed it unscrewed into sections the light I got did not come apart. Mfg obviously changed the design.
Wonder if the same thing applies to this other police light??
I have one of the ones that don’t have the seperate head either. there are a fiew models of them, and its difficult to know which ones unthread from the head and the ones that dont. I was lucky to find a fiew that do come apart, and the threads match exactly to the body of the Sipik & thw SK clones. The one in my link is the same ones i bought back in April that did come apart. ( unless they changed them now.)
But its not all about lumens, remember - emitter, reflector - these two play crucial role in amount of throw light will have, and, as far as I know, MT21A is the throwiest 2xAA light out there so far.
I have an incoming SWM D40A so I can’t comment on it for now… I have an X3 with a 3C tint and I love its built and versatility. I carry it in my backpack everyday and use it as my main EDC. For now, XinTD X3 gets my vote.
I voted the ET, to date (other than my NIB 9/11 surefire) it's the most expensive light I've ever bought. The biggest appeal it had to me was the 3x AA or 14500 batteries (without using a holder) and the UI, ended up giving it to my friends dad for a new garage/workshop light but it's the only one off the list I'd rebuy if I wanted/needed another > 2AA light.
Note the only other light I've owned off the list is an ea4, owned a first revision ea4W, a second revision EA4W and a orginal EA4 and sold them all.
I just dont need a higher output flashlight at the moment.
