BTW, the best answer I could find on BLF to my question in original post above is this:
most durable
Please accept my apology if there exists a prior thread here on BLF that answers my original question.
Acebeam and Zebralight.
I’d say PFlexPro too but they are technically made-to-order I believe. Still such a solid product that they’re worth mentioning.
Okay, you win the thread. If you can strap a light to an M2, fire thousands of rounds and the light still functions perfectly… that’s about the most performance possible.
I have seen a lot of pics of really heavily abused Streamlights from the 90s that are still working good. CPF has a thread for posting pics of beat up lights and I swear at least half of the non-Surefire lights posted are Streamlights. I also see a lot of beat up Jetbeams.
Over my modding years I gained respect for flashlights that are truly durable. That takes a very significant effort for manufacturers.
I have done numerous repairs on my own mods because they failed where I did not think that they would fail. Nowadays my techniques have improved a lot and I am confident that I can mod a (basic) flashlight in a way that makes it tons more durable than the stock light ever was. And still the flashlights that I actually use a lot surprise me every now and then with a fail that I had not foreseen. And then I do the repair in a way that that particular fail can never happen again and I have learned a bit more. Repeat!
OK I had to google search the pictured Surefire Hellfire. Surefire Hellfire official product description link
In George Takei voice: “Oh my.”
Just curious Enderman, that does not appear to be a stock photo. So that means you own a Surefire Hellfire? If yes (then immediate similar to Wayne’s World kowtowing at 1min 39 sec Wayne’s World kowtowing ).
And if you do not mind me asking, exactly what do you attach it to?
I made a custom pelican case battery pack for it.
I have a Armytek Partner C1 on a AR-10 in .308. It has been on there since the day I got the light. Maybe 700 to 800 rounds through it so far. It has also spent some time on a 9mm PCC once in a while, not very many rounds through that though, few hundred maybe. I have a Utorch gun light, forget the model number, it’s the only one they sell. It’s a copy of the TLR-1. Not sure if it’s a exact copy or not as I don’t buy Streamlight so I don’t have anything to compare it to. It has held up so far on the rail of a IWI CZ-75 clone. Haven’t had the light that long so it’s only got about 200 rounds through it. It’s also only $18 so I won’t cry if it doesn’t hold up. I figured I would pick up a few and see how they do. I don’t trust a single light on any weapon. I don’t care how well they are built, there are still failures when you least expect it so I always have a back up light on me. I have one of those dirt cheap weapon mount light that I got off Ebay a few years ago. I potted it and threw it on a Mossberg for a torture test. Two years and several thousand rounds later it’s still going strong. It’s not really super bright and eats batteries like it’s got 10000 lumens but it’s the most dependable one so far. I am sure the insane amount of ceramic epoxy I have in there is the reason. I had a few Convoy C8’s on varmit guns at one time. They didn’t last too long. I am sure most of the C8’s wouldn’t unless they were somehow reinforced to withstand the beating.
Just my two cents. Take it for what it’s worth.
PFlexPro is where I’d look. They’re sort of one-off, but use production components.
Thank you so far to all who have responded.
In my readings for LED flashlights there tend to be “durable” (and also adding to OP similar desired characteristic of ) “reliable” manufacturer brands and within those brands specific models. The same goes for many other consumer manufactured items in my experience. To date, my recent Olight flashlight purchases have been almost all in their M series and ones with as many as possible characteristics described in (2) below.
Thank you to BurningplaydOh (post#4) and ValueseekeR (post#10) for mention of pFlexpro as before your posts I have not heard of that brand. Until last month, I have not been in LED flashlight market for about ten years. And in reading about pFlexpro since mentioned in above posts, it appears pFlexpro is generally regarded as durable and reliable with great customer service and all for price much less than S-E-M-H brands mentioned in OP.
ToddcShoe (post#10) you appear to confirm what I have read repeatedly: fully potting an LED flashlights is one of the most important characteristics of durability. But again I currently cannot work on my own flashlights and thus I am in the minority among the typical BLF members 
At some point in future, I hope to start doing my own work on flashlights.
Also from above, one can add Acebeam to the list of generally durable brands.
Two follow up questions for you and others:
(1) Besides pFlexpro, what are some other durable mass produced manufacturers (besides Surefire, Elzetta, Malkoff and HDC)? I understand technically that pFlexpro can be considered not mass produced and is kinda one-off. But clearly their products are not in the price range of the S-E-M-H brands nor the low production number “high end” brands (e.g. McGizmo, Muyshondt, Hanko).
(2) In reading BLF and the other forum (e.g. some characteristics of durable and dependable flashlight ) in no particular order characteristics of durable and dependable flashlights appear to be:
fully potted
simple UI
no in-flashlight charger
mechanical switches
good heatsinking
o-ring for each side of clear lens
springs on both the positive and negative end of battery compartment.
I ask (2) above so I and others who (currently) cannot perform own mods will know features/characteristics to be on lookout for.
Thanks.
This is something I’ve never heard of or seen noticed, is it common on lots on “heavy duty” lights? How is the outer oring held in place to make a seal?
My guess (key word is “guess” as I have not taken apart any of LED flashlight) is the inner O-ring of the clear glass/plastic lens held by reflector assembly and outer O-ring held by bezel ring.
This is something I read in post #25 in the uri (link) of my last post. Hopefully I did this correct and you can directly go there with this link post#25 describes two o-rings
For me that would be Solarforce. The Solarforce lights I picked up over the years endured more abuse, adverse conditions and overall hardship than other brands. They still work.
i tend to break a lot of cheap ones but since the expensive ones all also have something else to hate, i stick with cheap ones
the best one i have found is a UTORCH UT01
just a simple AA light with 4 light levels, which you can change, and a decent though also annoying UI
the light color is decent but cool, for sure
it works after about 2 years, and it was $10
i probably use it 40 times a day
wle
Did you modify any of those Solarforces flashlights in any way? It appears in my brief review, pFlexpro takes Convoy lights and modifies them (e.g. fully potting) so that it takes them to (apparently) Surefire-Elzetta-Malkoff-HDC level durability and reliability but still does not cost the level of the S-E-M-H brands.
Thank you for your reply.
While pretty much all my lights are modded, my Solarforce lights are just assembled by me. Not potted or anything, but it is a solid assembly with quality parts and no faulty solder joints. I also use copper or aluminum foil between the pill and the light host.
These lights endured heavy use in the garage/shop, around the house, DIY jobs, were dropped, under water/oil/brake fluid, were trampled on, driven over, were rifle-mounted, traveled across multiple continents and, beside regular service, still work. I have had to replace broken parts like lens, spring, some soldering but overall it is the same light and the same components.
Solarforce lights also seem to be heavier and designed to be like this.
Too bad they are leaving us… :-/
Would gunny some 100% silicone caulk into the driver area constitute potting?
PFlexPro actually uses Solarforce hosts for his P60 lights. He does his magic building the drop-in to the same standards as his other lights, but I’m not sure he actually does any modification to the hosts unless you specifically request it (upgraded tail-switch for example).
I haven’t yet owned any Solarforce lights myself but have heard nothing but positive things said about them, especially for the price.
Personally I would take a Convoy M1 or M2 from him over a P60-style unless you want/need the ability to swap drop-ins. The thermal qualities of the M1/2 should be better with the lights being very similar size.
Yep. I try to not abuse mine anyway (L2M hosts), but they’ve suffered “accidents” and still came away smiling.