I need a new Flashlight....

Someone mentioned rechargeable 123's earlier in the thread. Anyone have any FHE with them. I've got two lights that use them and so rarely that buying in bulk doesn't make sense. I used to get them for free from work but, upon my recommendation, we stopped buying them to provide to the crew.

If the rechargeable batteries work well, I'd like to get some.

Most rechargeable 123's are 3.7volts. So you have to make sure the light can handle the increased voltage. With incandescent bulbs you may have to put in a differnent one rated for that voltage. And you have to find out what your LED light can operate at.
There are 3.0v rechargables but the acutual output just doesnt seem to be up to the level of regular CR123A lithiums.
If you do use rechargable cells you should get protected cells. They prevent over discharging. Unproteced cells have the risk of venting and catching fire. Use a quality charger.

btw What lights do you have?

Hey, so how do the controls work w/ the olight? How do you switch btwn low/med/high mode? Do you cycle the intensity w/ the button on the bottom?

Nope.. There is a button on the side that controls the intensities... so.. you turn the light on with the main button on the bottom...then press the button on the side to go through the cycles...

If the light is off and you press the button on the side and hold it down the light will give you the high-intensity strobe as long as the button is depressed...

It works pretty good once you get used to it..

It's *nice* to have a separate control for intensity...so you don't have to cycle from low through the eye-burning high setting to turn it off.

Yup... and when you turn it on again it starts at the setting is was shut off at..

Thanks to all you pricks I am now $175 poorer and learned more flashlight geek terms than I knew existed.

On the way...



550 lumens, should be interesting

I also bought the 18650 Li-on batteries and special charger. At 11 bucks for the best battery, I know enough about the CR123 in my other light that it gets expensive to not have rechargables.

I also bought a Lumapower Formula 1 because it was on sale and I wanted a AA light.



I am SOOOOOOOOO easily influenced

Hey, don't blame me, I'm too broke to take the plunge.

I got the D10 (AA) with Smart PD cylinder. Great little light. Wear it around my neck on a boot lace. Here's a link:

http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?p=2171699

Thanks Jabba, I was wondering what to do with my next spare sixty bucks.

You won't be disappointed. Hell of a lot better value than most of the Surefires-

I revisited my decision to buy the ridiculous one, and the vendor actually talked me out of it. He said it was not for rookies, whatever that means. So I took his advice and bought a slightly less ridiculous one. But I tell ya, this is my new fun little addiction. I can totally see being a flashaholic, stupid I guess when you think about it, but I'm into it.

The new hotness: Olight M20 Warrior. Uses rechargeable Li Ion batteries which are 3.7V cells and puts out 240 lumens.



Also picked up this little hot unit, titanium, 1XAAA, and 80 lumens



The next hot number...Jetbeam M1X

Went Fenix crazy after reading this thread - got these in the mail last week -

https://www.fenix-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=362
https://www.fenix-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=639
https://www.fenix-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=443

Carry the LD01 with me at work (it's tiny but quite powerful)
the E01 is on my car key chain and the LD20 is going to be my road trip, (on bike), camping and all around moonbeam.

Already have the 4 D LED mag for carjacking duty

This is one of the best lumen per dollar lights that is a of high quality. Its a very practical light, especially with the LEDs for close up work. I think I paid around 150 but that was almost 2 years ago.

Amondotech n30

http://www.batteryjunction.com/n30-3161.html

http://www.webbikeworld.com/flashlight/clearwater-led-flashlight/

Edit: 205'd by tkuhe!

Hi there

just out of curiousity, what sort of lumen output do, for example, a 2 d cell maglight put out with new batteries etc?

I have one that I'd like to upgrade from and i'd like to get an idea of what i'm comparing to....

For example the Nitecore above puts out 130lumens - is that going to be a lot compared to what i'm used to or what?

Cheers

Shane

2d ican mag will be somewhere around 15 lumens out the front. And thats with fresh batteries. The nitecore will definately be a lot brighter.

OK... Here is the second light I got myself for Xmass...

In addition to the Olight M30 I ordered a small light for what I hoped would be keychain duty... alas... it is a bit too big for that purpose...

4Sevens: Quark 123 R5 206 Lumens

$59 from 4Sevens

http://www.4sevens.com/product_info.php?cPath=297&products_id=1600



This thing is small... like really small... like the size of one or your wife's lipsticks...

But holy shit... this thing is bright... in close quarters, it is almost too bright at the brightest setting; if for instance you are working in a dark basement looking at a electrical panel, it is too much light at the highest setting, but if used outdoors it makes a tremendous amount of light for the size... this would be the perfect weekend camping/rally light...

It has I think 6 different settings (including 2 strobes) from very-low to quit-fucking-shinning-that-thing-in-my-face... It certainly is a do everything light and it comes with a nice adjustable length lanyard so you can wear it around your neck.. again, that makes it great for easy access for weekend/camping/work use...

It runs on a single CR123 battery, which as I said in the Olight post, appears to be the standard battery for these premium grade flashlights... so no biggie on the batteries... It is available in a couple different configurations (2 CR123 or run by AA with lower lumens ratings).. so there are a couple options if CR 123s aren't your thing

The very high quality packaging it came in would make this a great 'man-gift' for a brother, brother in law, dad, etc... I think I am going to order one for my father in law for his birthday cuz I know he would get a kick out of how powerful it is....

All around, of the lights I got, this is the one I am most impressed with... it is not the most expensive or the brightest but the light it makes is just bonkers for the size and the build quality is great...

The light setting mechanics are the only gripe I have with it... I guess I should prolly just use it a bit more to get used to it, but it doesn't start on the last setting you turned it off on... well it does sometimes... but not all the time... I'm sure it is just me.... other than that... it a balls out great little light..

I guess this Quark series of lights is a house-brand of lights from 4Sevens. They get good writeups on on the Candle Power Forums... but like I've said before this is my first foray into higher end flashlights, so I don't really have much basis for comparison..

I think if I could go back and do it again I would order the Quark 123(2) which is pretty much the same thing. It is a bit bigger, but it runs on two CR123s for a bit longer battery life and a bit higher lumens rating... and it is just a couple bucks more... hmmmmm......my birthday is comming up..... in July...

http://www.4sevens.com/product_info.php?cPath=297&products_id=1599

Cheers,

A

There are some very good bargain lights coming from Deal Extreme in China. 900 lumen LED for $55 shipped including two batteries and the charger. Just be aware that it takes about 4 weeks to get it.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.19189

They obviously don't compare in overall quality to a Surefire but you can't beat the bang for the buck. The P7 I linked above is extremely bright but is more of a flood than throw. I'd also bet it isn't 900 lumens but it is brighter than my 600 lumen mountain bike light. I'd buy it again.

If you are ever looking for a bright, efficient 2xAA light, check out the Fenix LD20, or the (4Sevens.com) Quark AA^2. Both are about the size of a mini-mag, and are very bright.

4Sevens is based in Georgia, and has their lights built in China. The only appreciable difference between the Quark and the Fenix is modes, and output measurements. The Quark series are rated in OTF or Out the Front Lumens, whereas the Fenix are rated as emitter lumens. So the Quark is brighter.

The Quark also has a low "moon" mode of ~0.2 lumens. Doesn't sound like a whole lot, but it's perfect for walking around the house in the dark, without disturbing everyone. The Quark also has a "beacon" mode that flashes every ten seconds, as well as S-O-S. The Fenix has a low mode of 10 lumens, and only S-O-S.

If you look at the QuarkAA^2, you'll notice that there are two models (of the regular, not the tactical). One has the XP-G R5 LED, and the other (which is on clearance, and for a short time includes a free "Prism" angle-head kit) is the XR-E R2. Besides a difference in output, the only difference is "beam pattern". The R2 version will illuminate things further away than the R5 version, because of the smaller die-size of the R2 LED, as compared to the R5.
Neither light is going to light up things a 1/4 mile away, due to limited reflector size, but the R2 version is going to ligh up objects further away.

Also, if you look at CR123 powered lights, take a look at the many offerings fro Fenix, Quark, Nitecore, Jetbeam, and Ra, as well as Surefire.