Hi, I’ve just joined the forums because it looks to be a place full of very knowledgeable people when it comes to flashlights. Hopefully you guys can help me…
I want to buy my mate a good light for his birthday. He likes flashlights but he always just buys these cheapo things from 2 dollar stores.
I’m looking to spend around $50 and I want it to be as bright as hell. I would prefer if it had a strobe function. I was also wondering if you guys could recommend decent websites to buy from. I’m in Australia. I noticed on someone’s review that they bought their light from lightmalls.com and were also from Australia, so is that site a good one for Australians to buy from?
Do the lights comes with batteries/chargers etc? If these lights don’t take standard AA/AAA batteries, then I need to give him batteries and charger too.
All of the quoted flashlights have over-bloated claims for lumens. Divide their claimed outputs by a factor of three and that would probably be closer to the truth. While I might purchase one to use as a host for modding, I would not recommend a stock Ultrafire to anyone.
And all of those flashlights require li-ion batteries. Are you (or is he) aware of how to safely manage such batteries?
For your enlightenment, please review the following discussions:
I would give a torch that also accepts AA or AAA cells so he does not HAVE TO use li ion cells, they need a user that respects and treats them well or can be real dangerous.
Also a good cell and charger should costs around $12 to buy (I saw gearbest selling panasonic protected for $6 and charger for$5)
How much time you have before you need the present?
Thanks for the welcoming advice! I have around 2 weeks before his birthday but it doesn’t really matter if I give it to him late. I’ll go have a look at Gearbest, I just assumed it was an American site so didn’t check it out yet.
It’s weird how nobody in Australia seems to sell any of the good flashlights. I’ve checked most of the camping stores and the only good ones they seem to have is LED Lenser which seem quite expensive compared to the Thorfire’s and Convoys etc.
Everydaysurvivalgear is Australian a and there are others.
There is a thread “Australian deal topic” in the searchbox should let you find it.
There is bound to be one who will want to sell you a nice safe set and you’ll have it on time.
Just read up on li ion safety and only gift them is your friend is responsible and willing to learn and act properly, we are talking about serious stuff here, both huge material damages and permanent health problems are risks to users, their homes and their families, be aware!
Wow, thanks for that recommendation. It’s awesome and just the sort of thing he’ll like. (It looks like a flashbang or something from BF4 lol, one of his favourite games) Unfortunately ebay was converting the price wrong and it’s actually about $80AU when I go to the site but it’s so good I think I’m gonna have to get it. lol
The AA’s are a plus too because I’m not so sure I want to be responsible if his house burns down. :–5
Thanks again for the awesome recommendation, I’m probably going to get them for my dad and brother too when their bdays come up.
Thanks to everyone for your amazing help. I’ve pretty much settled on the ThruNite TN4A HI due to using AA’s and it’s still bright enough to wow him. I know the “cool” factor of the design will appeal to him too so I don’t think I can go wrong with it. Bit more than I wanted to spend but we’ve been best mates for 25 years so I can’t complain… lol
Cheers everyone! :face_with_monocle:
The TN4A is just such a good light for the price point. The are lots of other ‘soda can’ lights that are usually a little bit more expensive but the one you choose then comes down to preference, and of course the cost.
I have the XP-L HI and my main torch and it’s just such a cool light. I gave my mother and uncle the NW XP-L as they prefer the tiny, and even though it’s not super lumens it’s still brighter than anything they’ve ever had. I’ve also got the normal domed XP-L CW as it’s my favourite tint.
Thank you very much for that mate! The first time you mentioned requesting a code from M4D M4X, I thought you were referring to a coupon website lol
The second time you said it, I realised what you meant and you were right, he has looked after me very well indeed.
I can’t thank you guys enough. This is literally the best community I’ve ever come across!
I’m ordering two lights on Friday and sooo looking forward to receiving them! I’ll be sure to let you guys know how I go.
Hey guys. The TN4A’s arrived last week and are amazing!! Thanks to everyone who replied. Your help was invaluable. About to order some more for relative’s gifts as everyone has been blown away by the light.
I have a very dark park behind my house and the torch literally lights up the entire park. I noticed the battery indicator is showing red after not much use, however I was just using normal Eveready batteries. I bought some 2500mah Eneloop Pros today so I’ll give them a shot. Overall though the light is pretty cool. My mate loved it as well. Cheers guys!
lol Me too!
You guys wouldn’t have any recommendations for a basic charger for 2500mah rechargeables that I can give as a gift with the light? Also any recommendations for a slightly better charger for myself would be most welcome too. Or is there no point to better chargers? I bought a universal Ni-Cd/Ni-MH charger today from my electronics store today but it was $25, was hoping there’d be something cheaper online…
Hey mate! Cheers for the offer! I’m in Adelaide though unfortunately. It’s good to meet another fellow Aussie on here though. I think I’m definitely catching the flashlight bug. I’m in the process of ordering two more TN4A HI’s for gifts but now I’m contemplating getting a ThruNite Archer 2A V3 and a NiteCore MT2A aswell! :person_facepalming:
