What was your best/favorite/coolest flashlight of 2019? Top 5 announced!

Hugh_Johnson · 2019-12-20T21:22:25.000Z

2019 released: BLF Sofirn C01 3200k. If I had to pick a tint and output level for a single mode light this is about it. Excellent in its simplicity.
2019 acquired: BLF Q8. Big sustained output. The right combination of flood and throw for all of my outdoor adventures.

azj · 2019-12-20T22:36:03.000Z

I still like the Emisar D4S for some reason…

Bardo219 · 2019-12-21T02:25:41.000Z

Emisar D18 come out last year?

spudley112 · 2019-12-21T06:23:31.000Z

azj:

I still like the Emisar D4S for some reason…

I don’t have any Emisar lights yet, but the D4V2 has been catching my eye. Once I get to that point where I am looking up reviews and videos, it pretty much figures that I am going to drop the hammer on that light.

ChibiM · 2019-12-24T15:08:53.000Z

Mentions until Post: #94

Acebeam EC65: 1

Acebeam H40: 1

Acebeam K30GT: 1

Acebeam K75: 1

Acebeam X45II: 1

Acebeam X80: 1

Acebeam W30: 1

Armytek Wizard Pro: 1

Astrolux EC01: 1

Astrolux FT03: 11

Astrolux S41s: 1

BLF A6: 1

BLF LT1: 11111111

BLF SP36: 1

BLF Q8: 1

Convoy S2+: 111

Convoy S12: 1

CRX Rotary: 1

DBC-08:1

DQG Slim AA:

Emisar D4: 1

Emisar D4v2: 11111111111

Emisar D4s(vn): 111111

Emisar D18: 1

Emisar M43: 1

Fireflies E07: 111

Imalent RT90TS: 11

Jaxman E3: 1

Jaxman Z1: 11

Jetbeam Jet II: 11

Lumintop BLF GT Mini: 1

Lumintop Tool AAA: 11

Lumintop Tool AA 2.0: 1

Lumintop FW1A: 11

Lumintop FW3A/S: 11111111111111111111

Lux-RC FL33: 1

Mezzol X8R-L: 1

Mini Portable LED: 1

Nightwatch Ni40: 1

Nightwatch NSX3: 1

Noctigon K1: 11

Olight T20: 1

Reylight Krystal: 1

Rofis R2: 1

Skilhunt M150: 1

Skilhunt M200s: 1

Sofirn C01(s): 11111

Sofirn SC31b: 1

Sofir SP36: 1

Wildtrail BLF D80v2: 1111

Wuben TO46R: 1

Wurkkos WK30: 111

Zanflare T1:1

Zebralight H60Fc: 1

Zebralight SC52: 1

Zebralight SC64w: 1

Zebralight SC600Fd IV plus: 1

Zebralight SC700d: 1

ven · 2019-12-24T19:37:00.000Z

Not actually bought many this year. The m6 is my fav of 2019, many reasons but for me its an iconic light

Has the 250 and 500lm incand bulbs, but also for general use the 700lm lumens factory 319a.

Hugh_Johnson · 2019-12-24T19:38:24.000Z

Thank you ChibiM for putting that list together. Shows a clear preference for compact Emisar & BLF 18650 lights. Certainly at their price point.

CNCman · 2019-12-24T21:28:14.000Z

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mr_magoo · 2019-12-27T20:54:35.000Z

CNCman that turned out nice

71k5 · 2019-12-28T08:56:39.000Z

The Olight S2RII Copper is my favorite for 2019.

Paid 60 federal rubber notes for it, on the BF sale.
Perfect pocket size 18650 EDC. 400lm for 4 hrs, ensures plenty of run time, for it’s size. And the new brushed style copper, gives a more even patina, as compared to my polished copper M2R, S1RII, or FW3A.

It would have been either of my FW3A’s, Al or Cu, had they not been so finicky in function.

CNCman · 2019-12-28T13:15:09.000Z

mr_magoo:

CNCman that turned out nice

Thanks . :+1:
Not finished yet. Led swap , then done.

Speadge · 2019-12-28T18:58:44.000Z

No love for Lumintop edc18? It’s just perfect and not too expensive EDC flashlight.

i42dk · 2019-12-28T21:12:48.000Z

For me it was the FireFlies PL47v2

I fist got a black one with Nichia 219B. Absolutely beautiful light it makes.

Then it came in a non-anodized version. Ordered that one with XP-L HI for that extra oompf.

It looks like I freggin light saber, and punches 4000+ lumens.

The tint on the V3 3A 5000K are lovely at all outputs.

Agro · 2020-01-02T08:07:13.000Z

Finally I can write down my highly subjective list.
These are the best lights I’ve got this year - the best for me rather than the best in general. And I’d like to list all portable lights rather than just flashlights.
Note that I got 2 lights delivered on the New Year’s Eve. But I already know they don’t make it to the list.

#4
BLF LT1

A very good lantern. Large size and weight reduces its utility a lot for me - but for the cases where I don’t care it will be superb.
I use it as a nightlamp already and it’s very good in this task.

#3
Skywolfeye B16

A cheap AAA/10440 zoomie.
Some might be surprised to see Skywolfeye on the list…but it truly deserves its place.
It’s my main EDC recently. I use it way more than any other light - and it works much better than any other light I’ve got at its place.
That’s not because it’s such an excellent light (it’s not) but because it just matches my needs very well.
First and foremost, it’s aspheric flooder. The aspheric’s uniform hot-spot-free beam is the best thing for lighting stuff up close - and that’s what I do with my flashlights the most often. The sharp cutoff makes it easy to avoid shining at other people. Throw? I don’t use it much but it’s good enough to it make B16 a fair walking light.
Furthermore this light is nicely sized - could be a little smaller but it’s OK.
Physical UI is very good - it’s easy to find the switch, it’s easy to zoom with one hand.
Firmware is poor H-L-Strobe. Fortunately it forgets the last mode after short time, so I hardly ever see strobe.
Cheap AAA zoomie hosts tend to be of very bad quality. This one is not. I don’t have a reason to complain, it’s just fine.
The switch is too noisy though. And LED and driver are junk - they may get replaced this year…though I haven’t decided about that yet.

#2
Emisar D4SV2

I got mine with a LED swap by Bocian. It features Osram W2.
I wanted a not-very large hot rod thrower. I wanted to try the programming interface. I hoped it could replace my Utorch UT02 as a walking light.
It’s a true WOW light. Amazing thrower for the size, comfortable in the hand. It’s my secondary EDC now though it hasn’t seen much unplanned use. It’s clearly larger than ideal for the task but hey - it’s such a hottie.
The ability to customize UI to my needs has been a revelation. I still haven’t finished that but it’s already much better for me than any other UI that I tried.
The aux LEDs are something I didn’t regard as an useful feature, I thought it was mere bling - and I didn’t care about bling in this light.
But the ability to indicate battery level (with colour) and whether the light is locked out (with brightness) turned out great. And hey - I actually love the way it looks.

It can’t replace my UTorch UT02 though - it’s a bad walking light.
I love UT02 for it’s perfect reflector depth. I point it forward and I see far. The spill lights the path shortly ahead of my feet so I can avoid obstacles.
Deeper reflectors don’t work well - the spill ends too far. If I point the light a little down to bring the spill closer - the spot hits the ground too close and disturbs my vision. There is light just ahead of me but I still can’t see anything.
I wondered whether TIRs more gradual and very wide beam would work well - it doesn’t, at least in this light.
In this case it’s actually not gradual at all. It’s 3-step. There’s the main beam. Fairly wide and very intense. There’s a secondary one, much wider but still quite narrow. Then there’s sharp intensity change and nearly 180° spill.
I can’t see anything in the spill - because the secondary beam hits the ground just ahead and distracts my vision.
If I try to point the light down to bring the secondary beam closer - the hotspot hits the ground and I still can’t see anything.
Furthermore it’s impossible to avoid blinding others with that wide spill. And occasionally it hits my eyes as well.
This nicely illustrates how beam shape means more than lumens. I’d rather remove all the lumens in the spill because they only do harm. It would still be a bad walking light, but it would be better despite looking worse on paper.
Actually except for very easy terrain I’d rather use the Skywolfeye for a walking light than this one…though I suspect it will do very well when accompanied by a headlamp. I’m yet to try this combo.

#1
String tent light

Vegas LED Fan has suggested to light up my tent with a string light.
It turned out amazingly well…
It creates extremely cosy atmosphere.
It requires minimal setup - I have the string mounted permanently and I fold my tent with it. I only need to connect it to a powerbank (usually Folomov EDC-C4) and it’s on.
It’s very lightweight.
It’s very cheap.

It puts out just enough light and is low CRI - it could see some improvement on both counts.
And I’m working on some upgrades…more light, brightness regulation, maybe higher CRI. That will cost more and require some modding though, killing the “just hang this cheap light” effect.

chasm22 · 2020-01-02T09:20:27.000Z

I was kinda surprised when I realized my favorites were all from one manufacturer.

1. Acebeam W30. I just measured the throw on mine at 2651 meters.
2. Acebeam K30 GT. To me this light brings back the same feelings I felt the first time I lit up my Surefire M6. It’s a light that just feels special when I grip it. Just the right size. And then when you turn it on your welcomed by a wall of light. A light that will give you a 1000 meters of throw with a generous amount of spill is a light that checks all the boxes for me.
3. Acebeam TK16. A pocket rocket that I alternate with the FW3A for EDC.

Di_Joker · 2020-01-03T13:29:59.000Z

vresto:

looks very good this Mezzol……its from Aliexpress? i see it just there…

Yes, I bought on Aliexpress, but it is on sale and on Banggood.

ChibiM · 2020-01-10T15:31:47.000Z

Final list:

Mentions until Post: #106