1

Hello all.

I’m in need of a new light that can be used for personal protection as well as just light up the path at night. I got a SureFire Titan thinking that it would be high quality, useful in that it has 10/300 lumen modes and uses rechargeable batteries. Well……. it does use rechargeable batteries…… It isn’t reliable and 300 lumens just isn’t enough.

My desires are:

Small
As few features as possible. Preferably only high, low and off
Easy to operate
Two modes around 10 and 1,000 lumens (or enough for personal protection)
Uses rechargeable batteries
Durable
As cost effective as possible. I’d like to keep this under $100 and as close to $50 as possible.

Amazon has so many lights the mind boggles. I have found a Surefire that’s 20/1,200 lumens but it’s expensive at some $130 and takes 123s which, obviously, aren’t rechargeable.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

2

What type of beam are you looking for?
I would recommend a convoy with biscotti UI, in which you can select the desired mode group.

Edit, hmmm, rechargeable batteries ah?
Many lights use lithium ion cells nowadays

3

I am not familiar enough with different beam types to really have an opinion. Basically I want batman signal mode and also just a little bit of light for walking around in the pitch black.

4

@S-F

Welcome to BLF.

How about something” like this”:Lumintop GT mini 1200lm 750m 18650 Throw EDC Flashlight – Nealsgadgets , or you can explore the site and see if you fancy anything else.

5

That looks exactly like what I'm looking for except the head might be a little large for my pocket. Have you used this light? How is it in the pocket?

6

You could use Parametric Search Engine
There are so many lights that you may have to do your own digging.
Try your best at selecting something not too expensive. After a while you’ll get a better feel of what you like / dislike and if inclined order a new model.
And you may add the feature of on board USB charging and the type of switch. These filters are in the search engine.

Edit (August 20th. ’19): There is this arbitrary list of flashlights by Zak that may be a starting point.

7

If this one looks too big than have a look at its little brother

I carry my light on my belt, never carry anything other then spare change in my pocket.
I have both and my EDC is the GT Micro, the GT Mini sits proudly in my 18 wheeler waiting to be called on for the bigger jobs.
Yes i`m nuts and had to have both of them , each one has fulfilled a missing link in my daily need for a flashlight.
Even thou i have a bunch of other lights to get the job done if one of these breaks i will buy another one without any hesitation.

@Sidney Stratton

I like your suggestion, never seen it before. Thank you for sharing it.

8

Nice site there! What about the FW3A? It is about the size I’m looking for and certainly has the power I’m after.

9

So, let me understand, you wanted just high, low and off, then a Batman signal, and what is a personal protection light?

10

All I really need is something around 20 lumens for finding things in the shed etc. and an easy to access higher intensity light to stun a would be assailant. There is very little violent crime where I live but there is the occasional possibility of the random junkie on a path at night and if things get tense I’d like to shine daylight at them to give me an edge up.

11

Astrolux.

I use the S41 rear switch. Later models S42/S43 are more modern?
With side sw and internal charging.
Good spread of beam. Decent throw of beam .
Small fits in hand. solid. and will both blind him and fill your fist when you clobber him.
7 settings from.
YOU can look at it. To dazzling a blind man.

Me. I use a baseball bat if anybody wandering round my place.
Police don’t like us using the Remington 870 with Brenecke much, Nowadays.
They ARE effective.

There are a zillion torches nowadays.
High output. You’re really restricted to Li-Ions, Not disposables.
Have fun looking and don’t get too dizzy hey.

12

Don’t expect shining even 10,000+ lumen lights at someone to give you an “edge”. People can eat half a can of pepper spray/CS to the face and keep moving and fighting.

A light lets you be more aware of your surroundings and shows to others that you are (so its a preventative self defense measure I guess?)

I’d suggest a Sofirn SP31, or Thrunite TC15 if your budget is higher.

The coupon code “20%” works on Thrunite’s website.

13

Surefire / Ultrafire or any ’——’fire are, politely said, lower end consumer lights. There was an exception Thorfire, but has been superceded by the name Sofirn.
You want simple UI, Thrunite’s are simple and excellent. The TC15 comes with a battery* and built-in charging. Low / med / high. Double click to stun. Long press for moonlight (as for finding the keyhole).

Jumping to a FW3A, well that is not simple UI (although you could set up as such), needs an 18650 battery and charger. But if you want to dazzle (impress) someone or dabble / explore the many features of Anduril…

*Lithium Ion batteries are the prefered as they have some 3 x energy capacity of Alkalines, 4 x Nickel Metal Hydrides. Disposable batteries (CRA 123) are a constant pain in the @$$! NiMH are ok if you are already set up with a charger. They won’t give the outputs of LiIons.

@Macka17; Wouldn’t suggest an Astrolux S43. Gave one to a muggle and rather buying an 18350 battery for the shorty version, opted for a cheap 6500º+ Hi/Lo/red headlight for fishing. Would of had the perfect cap light.

14

I believe you are wrong in some parts of this sentence but I will not fill the post with corrections.

About the request from S-F! Maybe not all the suggestions given below fits the budget, but you will get what you pay for!
Do you want direct access to any mode (low, turbo and strobe)? Probably the best light for you would be the Olight M2T or the Olight M2R.
If you want a light with direct access to turbo and strobe? Take a look to some Klarus flashlights! I use Klarus XT1C everyday!

If you want a light with configurable number of modes, maybe the Mateminco X6S. You can set it to 2 modes or just one mode and longer presses from ON to take you to 4 or 5 blinky modes (including battery level indication).

If you want other type of flashlight that has different types of modes with more modes but with with direct access to low mode, medium modes, Momentary turbo and strobe, take a look at the RovyVon E300s.

15

I will take the chance to make a correction here. Surefire is one of the older and more respected tactical/high output light brands. They have LOADS of government contracts and are made in the US still AFAIK.

Most enthusiasts don’t care much for them because of cost-to-performance ratio and dated LED tech (because it’s proven though). All the _Fire brand names exist because SF was well known and see as high quality.

Also I had no idea Thorfire was rebranded as Sofirn, is that officially confirmed? The Thorfire Direct website is still up.

16

Thorfire is still Thorfire and Sofirn is Sofirn, being different brands!
On the Thorfire BLF Q8 what happens is that it was Sofirn that made the hosts and probably other parts!
Throfire exists, and it is not Sofirn!!

Thanks for the Surefire correction you knew how to explain it better than I would :wink:

17

If I can add my take on Thorefire / Sofirn: Thorefire is the engineering/sales division whereas an unknown made the aluminium parts - the machine shop. Sofirn is that shop and have taken to their own take of Thorefire designs, added some newer drivers and designed their own models. There was a discussion on the forum and Cissy had responded to one of the members they make Thorefire lights. She didn’t confirm what I extrapolate, not wanting to sidestep the parent company.
I worked for a machine shop that had a symbiotic relationship with an engineering firm. The boss took matters in his own hands and we started designing / fabricating / marketing our own molds. We did keep the contracts with the engineering company, but we expanded the market.

Didn’t know Surefire was a well regarded name in lights. All these similar named lights / batteries I assumed were cheap knock-offs.

As for my simple descriptive analysis, it is directed at a new user of LiIon type lights and wanted to remain within the suggested SP31 or TC15. Throwing a multitude of brands and options just overwhelms. He wants a simple light with a couple of modes.

18

For personal protection, you must use a Klarus light, or else you’ll be dead.

19

It was very useful info! :+1:

OP, do you have any preference for side vs tail switch?

20

What are people’s thoughts on the BLF A6 XPL? It’s looking promising. How long can the battery be expected to last in the different modes?

Lots of great information in this thread. Thanks everyone! It’s good to have my thoughts regarding SureFire being over priced confirmed.