What was your best flashlight of 2018

LED Flashlights – General Info
42

D4S and maybe the Fireflies PL47 when I get it…

Love those Aux leds, why didn’t they think of that sooner…

43

Those are awesome looking flashlights.
Quote did not work correctly. Will try once more.

44

they did and they were called laughing rabbit inc

45

Those are nice looking flashlights Lusan_Senna. What kind of batteries power those two?

46

Lithium-ion 26650s.

47

Hey 264 here is some info on the D4s

48

The light I actually use the most and normally never leave home without. Ultratac A1. $15, perfect tint and beam for me and 3 modes, no blinky’s. That’s saying a lot for me. I bought over 100 lights in 2018 and the one I use most cost as much as a beer at a baseball game. :slight_smile:

49

Yow. :open_mouth:

So… this year, the “Twelve Days of Christmas” started in September?

Or maybe it’s more like “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall”. :beer: :smiley:

50

Thanks!

51

BLF GT
followed by
Sofirn Q8

52

My two most used lights this year:
-DQG Tiny 26650 3rd, modded with 4000k Nichia 219c 90 CRI
-Zebralight SC600w Hi mk3

PL47 on the way…

53

klarus xt11x, it has good build quality, good price( 70$) with high drain battery, 3200 lumen

54

The R90C of course.

55

Yeah, I went a little crazy. Most of them were budget lights though, so it’s not so bad. Probably half were in the twenty five dollar or less range. So if I do my math right and I figure 12 months in a year, a hair over 100 lights……………divide……………multiply………………Uh oh……………My wife was wondering how I knew the names of all the UPS and USPS drivers and their kids. Guess I better make sure she gets a wickedly good Xmas this year.

56

I bought 10 lights this year, far fewer than last year.

The one that stands out for me, purely for utility, is the Sofirn SF14.
It doesn’t do anything better than other lights that I have, but it is just such a perfect niche light for my EDC.
It is basically exactly what I was looking for when I first started investigating EDC lights.

It has (to my eye) a very neutral CCT, a bit over 5000.
It is the perfect size, with a very strong clip, to sit alongside my Leatherman clipped onto the pouch.
It is a tail clicky - no accidental activation.
It always starts on low, and has just 3 perfect outputs, from soft for closeup work to powerful.
Beam profile has a hotspot for range, but lots of spill for general illumination, perfect compromise beam.
It is rugged and well built, square cut threads, very positive O-ring engagement.
It can take AA batteries, so can always be refuelled away from chargers.

57

I dont necessarily feel so bad anymore. I havent bought lights in a few years, but this year has been a bit of a “relapse” since CPF was my primary back in ~2012

  1. BLF A6
  2. A multitude of home built S2+ with different emitters/optics/drivers.
  3. BLF Q8
  4. PFlexPro S2+ Triple
  5. Used Acebeam EC50 Gen 2
  6. Emisar D1
  7. Emisar D1S (Sold)
  8. Emisar D4 (Sold)
  9. OLight PL-Mini
  10. Kaidomain C8.50.2 (DOA, I hate even thinking about this transaction)
  11. ArmyTek Elf C2
  12. UltraTac A1
  13. Wuben E05
  14. 2x D4S XP-L HI
  15. D4S 219C
  16. Toolvn from Vinh
58

OH GEEZ, so many favorites, and I’m not done yet, so I’ll throw another vote in for Emisar D4S in 3A XPL-HI.

59

Of the lights that I have:

  • Lumintop GT Mini
    • beautiful
    • performant
    • with shorty tube - best throw for the volume
    • not cheap, but OK
  • Folomov EDC-C4
    • the smallest quality flashlight-powerbank at the time of release
    • not cheap, but OK

I don’t have them, but they really make my heart go:

  • DQG Tiny 4th
    • not this year’s light, but thanks to Folomov in 2018 it became the smallest quality flashlight-powerbank
    • quite cheap
    • quality could be improved though
  • Darkside Nymph
    • beautiful
    • performant
    • high CRI
    • I fail to see a single flaw
    • not cheap, but OK
  • Thrunite Catapult V6
    • really great performance for the volume
    • not cheap, but OK
  • Fireflies E7
    • serious hot rod :slight_smile:
    • not cheap, but OK

Special mention:

  • Maxtoch M2 Archer
    • dedomed SST-40
    • 160 kcd and 1650 lm with 48 mm head diameter
  • Cometa clone:
    • try to beat it for the price
  • Nitecore Tiny
    • incredibly good light for the size / weight
    • mine had a switch failure
  • RovyVon Aurora
    • nice performance for the size
    • quite creative
    • I don’t like the LED and it’s unfixable
    • expensive
  • Utorch S1 Mini
    • nice price for what it is
    • if only I could replace the driver with a BLF FET+1 it would be incredibly good. I would also replace the LED - as it is now I don’t bother…
60

Buy her a flashlight…

61

Warning: This tread may be hazardous to your Xmas budget.