Put your reputation on the line here ..what lights do you recommend.?
* Solarforce hosts .. best in the business ..dollar for dollar your best bet in p-60 lights .
* Japanese made Batteries ..best in the world ..everyone knows it ..buy them you'll be happy .Sanyo or Panasonic nickle metal or lithium it doesn't matter ... Japan makes great batteries.
* Sanyo Eneloops ...<--everyone loves these batteries .
* Zebralight Flashlights/headlamps..You'll be hard pressed to hear anything negative about these lights ..people adore them
* Nitecore D-10 and EX-10 A flashlight with such a following it's almost cultish .If you are a flashaholic and don't own one somethings wrong with you ..A great light .(obsolete and worth more used, than they were new )
*****
Feel free to add
your recommendations .
Shinigbeam S-Mini smallest best built 18650 light.
AA lights
Tank007 E07 - nice, doesn't cost a lot, it is small.
Ultrafire C3 stainless steel. Very nice if you get a 93mm one.
Zebralight H50 - just because it is about as good as it gets if you don't want a throwy headlamp. Not budget though.
Xtar WK-30
Trustfire R5-A3 - screaming bright with a 14500, I believe the current production ones have a lower low than the one I have which has very high, high and strobe.
Trustfire F22 - nicest AA light I own - by a long way. Not the brightest but I love it, even if it makes Mr.Lite's AA lights look tiny. Probably my favourite light.
Uniquefire AA-S1. Simple, bright, robust, dirt cheap.
CR123 lights
Aurora SH-034 - one of the best made lights at any price
Xtar WK20 - it's tiny
Mr.Lite LT3 - it's huge and triangular but very nice
18650 lights
An MRV clone. Nice combination of throw and spill but not as big as the dedicated throwers. Everyone ought to get one! They are available with all sorts of LEDs and drivers. These days I'd want one with an XM-L and at least 2A to the LED. It probably has adequate mass and a good enough design to sink the heat from a 3A driven XM-L. Doubtless someone here will do this to find out.
EastwardYJ J06 XM-L throwy, nicely made
Some P60 host of choice with an XM-L dropin. I like the fake Solarforce L2s
The solarforce L2m or L2P are both very nice with a preference for me of the L2m for legoability. Mine has a tailstanding Solraforce switch, a Manafont 3 mode hard-driven XM-L dropin, a coated glass lens and a more sensible bezel ring.
I'm not that bothered about Type 3 anodising and think the Solarforce L2x is plain ugly - others disagree and that's good. We aren't all the same and we can get quite dogmatic about or choices at times.
Less sensible stuff.
Varapower 2000 - this isn't even remotely budget. I could have got 20 R5-A3s for what this cost me delivered here.
An ROP high light of some flavour - a hard driven XM-L will emit at least as much light but it was fearsome in its day and is the easiest Mag mod - or mod of any sort. If you can change a battery you can do this one.
Mr.Lite J4 with an XM-L in it - for bonus points get it bored to take a 17500 cell. Just don't expect much by way of runtime.
Aurora SH-033 - a CR2 light. Sweet little stainless steel jobbie that works nicely with rechargeables. Looks like a shrunken stainless steel Ultrafire C3.
CR2 Ion - wildly expensive and won't take rechargeables. No throw worth mentioning but still a lovely little light. I played with one on a passaround a few years ago.
Uniquefire HS-802 for a dedicated thrower but mine had, to put it mildly, build quality issues.
A UV P60 dropin. The shorter wavelength the better, but the really short wavelength ones are frighteningly expensive. Remember not to use a glass lens for those ones as they will block a lot of the output. Silica (i.e., ordinary) glass becomes opaque somewhere in the UV region. Never, ever shine these on a hotel mattress! Useful for finding out where the pet has been incontinent.
...and remembering this is BLF.
Ultrafire MCU-C88.
I never expected it would come to this, but of all the lights I have, my three favorites are all Trustfires
Z1
T2
F23
I suspect that when my F15 gets here, it will get added to my list of favorite lights
~F*%@ Solarforce~
Any one want to buy some barely used L2i's, L2's and an L2m?
Then again, none of my 'favorites' are P60 bodies. I'm more fond of the stuff that is a bit different, even though I own 8 or 9 P60 hosts.
You nailed it as far as I'm concerned. There's nothing I would add.
EDIT: Thats not true. I'd recommend a C9000 to charge those 'loops.
Oh oh, Foy will do the same thing to you for that comment, that he did to his bezels. ;-)
Maratac AAA SS my precious ;-)
HUGSBY P31 / P32 still my weapon of choice on NiMH
UF H2B the poor man's Zebralight
Eastward YJ J09 when you are able to get the 4-mode version
I trust , use ,and gift these :
Romisen RC-G2 *. Neat 1 AA thrower .
iTp A3 EOS . Small EDC
Romisen RC-N3 * . Versatile , either 2AA for runtime or 1 CR123 for an affordable pocket rocket
* Available in various tints ( including warm )
LOL, he knows I still like S/F. Good quality light, but they are just so, uh, normal. No personality.
That's why he is enjoying his U/F 980L so much, it's different.
TF X8/F15
NItecore EX10/Xeno E03 Xml
SF host/UF dropin
Im wanting bigger lights lately.
UniqueFire G10 1-mode (works well with 14500s) impressive output in a small package. It would be interisting to see how the G10 compares to the TrustFire R5-A3.
Good call on a classic battery charger .
I'll give a budget nod to all Tank flashlights ..the entire brand can be nit -picked and aren't perfect ....but bang for buck they are universally a solid light day in and day out . buy any Tank flashlight
I wasn't looking for top 5 favorites or lights people like .. as much as i was talking about universally accepted truths a novice can take to the bank . But listing great lights is appropriate too .
a $3.50 coast mini tac needs to be in everyones collection too. <great cheap lomg runtime light it deserves the ..
boaz seal of approval
The Sky Ray p60 host with xp-g at DX is probably the best overall light I have out of a few dozen (I have most of the ones mentioned above). Its build quality isn't as good as the Solarforce host, and xp-g isn't as bright as the xm-l's, but the combo is just pleasant and usable in a way that makes it the one I go for when I need light.
I have a warm solarforce 1 mode in an odd sand l2 which came with a 3 stage switch (so, high/low), which is almost as good, but I don't think you can really buy that host specifically.
It's kinda weird what happens as I aquire different lights; my "best" is usually an evolving thing. There are lights that have managed to keep the Foy-o-meter in the red zone. (despite newcomers)
Don't think I'll ever be without a black L2P with the 3-mode UF T6. I will (have) moved on but I'll always have at least one of these. Good looking, great quality and lots-o-lumens. (lots-o-heat too, unfortunately)
I don't know what it is about Mr. Silver but this grey XM-L blessed L2 is still doing it for me. Might be because it's so damn good looking but the other weird thing is; whatever drop-in I put in this guy, it will draw more amps than any other P60 I have. "Wow" to look at, "wow" OTF performance - this is a hard flashlight to hate.
This one was a complete surprise. Why this spectacular flashlight host is only $9 is beyond all logic to explain. The Solarforce L2i is a budget host in cost only because by any other measure, this is a world class torch. The lathe/machine work on this light actually puts every L2P I have to shame. It's superb finished quality is that good and talk about versatile; from 3 x AAA to 1 x 18650 and a few in between and, it takes any P60 ya got. One hell of a flashlight bargain.
You say you want a pencil beam that will reach into the next county that's built like a tank and has sloppy low-lumen PWM . . . all for $30? Wher ya gonna find another thrower this well made for so cheap? The Skyline I will give you new respect for the stunning XR-E.
And, my current flash-in-the-pan?
YEAHbaby! 4.70> amps of burn down the neighborhood, solder reflowing, message-board flame-bait madness. The UF-980L is so cool on so many levels. Git yerself one of these opinion polarizing grenade launchers, tell everybody how awesome it is and grab some popcorn kids because you are going to be told that a flashlight absolutely cannot do what this bad boy absolutely can do. The landing lights on an A360 has nothing on this incredible Ultra Fire.
thatswhatfoylikesatthemomentFoy
MCU-C88.... 3 AA's no disco ...No b.s. 360 grams twice as heavy as your basic solarforce with battery ,deep reflector SMO. major throw , mega -moddable $28 for a light that feels like $100 light.
pics stolen from ...>> myfriendFOY
I love compact EDCable 18650 lights. Nowadays with XM-L of course :)
Unless you want to mod one yourself (Ultrafire P10 is my favoutite compact 18650 host), the UniqueFire UF2100 (MF) seems nice. I have it's (more expensive, earlier available) sibling, the Yezl Z1X.
It hasn't been sold for several weeks (only the ugly black model, but I can't buy that one).
My vote goes to:
- L2i like P60 host. Great quality and can use different batteries
- C3 SS. Work great, beautiful and almost indestructible
- Akoray K106 for everyday use
Shingingbeam S-mini
4Sevens Quarks
Anything with BLF-VLD'lled Nanjg 105 or 106 driver