3C or 3D side clicky?

I’ve been lurking for a while, but now I have an actual question. Anyone have any recommendations for a good 3C or 3D LED flashlight with a side clicky? I want to add a nice “long runtime” light to my collection. I’ve looked at the Defiant ones at Home Depot, and while nice, I don’t like the tail clicky on that size of light. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks!

maglite

Even LED Maglites only put out about 150 lumens. So you get the long runtime but performance is poor in comparison to what you get. But Maglites are reliable, solid, a known quantity, and if you want to increase the horsepower later on you van buy drop-in modules for it. And then go to NiMH cells. J)

yeah, there really is not much in the multi c or d category out of china. I think I have seen one or two, but they were not anything special.

Manafont used to have them: http://www.manafont.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=3xd

[BTW: Can I buy from them already? I mean again, after the management change..]


KD has this:

DX has a non-zooming one:

I don't have any of those. None of them is even XM-L -> maybe max 200-300lm (as stock), but runtime should be good.

I forgot, it’s not in stores and you will have to pay a premium, but the Defiant Super Thrower can still be found on amazon and ebay. side-clicky, XM-L emitter, ~500 lumens, and it takes three ‘C’ batteries. Pair it with NiMH rechargable cells and perhaps a driver upgrade and it’s a great option.

http://www.kaidomain.com/product/details.S020938

This one has 5 X C batteries . I like mine, very well made. I use it when I walk the dog at night(club). The tube is steel.

You can also get a shorter tube for it and run 2 X 18650's

UF-5C looks interesting. Please tell more about it?

Modes? UI? PWM? Is the tube really steel? Does that make it very heavy?

Steel tube? I dont know. Never thought to check and I've handled quite a few of these.

But it is a great performing light.

Hi-Lo-Strobe or Lo-Hi-Strobe. I have had them with both sequences. Don't know why there is a variation.

Beam profile is like a C8 light.

Side clicky is nice. Not soft. Not hard. Maybe a little too long travel if you have really big thumbs.

You can unscrew the head and use in candle mode.

You get something in the ballpark of 500 + lumens. Not a lot of variations between samples if any.

Quite nice ano.

Sturdy. Great light for watchmen and for people who wants something with lots of light and lots of runtime.

Driver sucks batteries dry if you let it as far as I remember. The output tapers off though. Whitch is quite nice actually. You know when you are supposed to go buy new batteries.

I've sold some of these and never heard anything negative from any of the customers.

And it likes any old batteries. The first one I had i filled with 3 different branded ones that all were several years over their life expectancy. Some used. Some not.

It still ran quite well on those. For like half a year. It is not my go to light except when something goes bump in the night. Then it is..

My overall impression of the light is that it is fairly priced. Good budget quality. Nice enough to like AND use.

Ups. Didnt really answer half your Q's

It has PWM in low mode. Not terrible PWM and I am sensitive to it. I use it anyway which is more than I can say for a LOT of other lights.

Weight. I never thought about it. It is not heavy. And it balances fine in the hand.

The switch is a reverse clicky so half pressed sends you to the next mode.

It has mode memory but if you leave it off for longer time it defaults to the first mode.

Maybe I should add that I do not currently have the light with me. Nor have had for a few months. I am at sea/work. So all the above is by memory.

Mine are steel.

Fenix TK 60

  • I know the Mags are the default go-to for the C or D cell lights, but I just can’t get over their beam profile. The ones I’ve had always seemed to have spots, blanks, and the sort. Then again, mine are all incan (except for one with a Mag LED upgrade). Are the newer Mags (the ones built as LED lights) any better?
  • I like the Defiant Super Thrower (from the videos I’ve seen), although I’m usually more partial to flood than throw. May have to search for that one.
  • The UF-5C is nice too, albeit larger than what I was looking for. Wish it didn’t have the strobe, but oh well. I’ll take a look at that one too….
  • The Fenix looks nice too. I’ve been too shy to get a Fenix for my collection, mainly due to price.

Thanks for your help!

The blank spots are a result of the variable focus. Change the focus, you change where the reflector reflects the light. LED’s are a bit better as there’s only light going outward, and even then the dome on the emitter already works to focus the light. But even the 3D Maglite doesn’t even do 150 lumens stock. There are drop-ins you can buy that increase the horsepower but they often cost as much as the light or more, depending on what Maglite you start with. You could look for a used maglite on craigslist and then build a new pill for it, if you’re up for some DIY’ing.

And while the DST is a thrower, the spill on 60mm reflected XM-L’s is still pretty decent. I’m sure you could also find the newer Defiant 3D 1000-lumen locally. For the quality of the machining and finish you are going to be overpaying by ~$10, but it pushes about 1.5 amps through each of its emitters, the 1000-lumen claim is not unrealistic.