Looking for a new Flashlight

[.45Fats]

Looking for a recommendation on an LED flashlight. Thinking something around 120 lumens. price point is $50 (or less) and durable. also looking for recommendations if there is some simple newbie mistake I may be making or some feature I absolutely should have that will not be available on the lights in that range.

Local Purchase is a bonus to me so dealer info would be appreciated too.

Thanks!

 

[RaysZ71]

Little more then what you want to spend but I have a brand new Klarus XT10 450 lumens, $85.

 

[saddlebum]

terralux

 

[daugbl5]

Streamlight Strion $79

 

[Glock 'em down]

Streamlight Strion $79

No offense to daugbl5, but by all means...

STAY AWAY FROM RECHARGEABLES!

I'll tell you why.

A few years ago, I was assissting another agency on a manhunt for a murder suspect. I had with me my handy, dandy rechargeable Streamlight SL-20 flashlight. About 1/4 mile away from my car (15 minutes into the search) at the very entrance of the woods, my SL-20 decided to lay down and die on me. With a rechargeable, that means it's down for at least a few hours while it charges up.

Luckily, I had a little mini Mag-Lite that I used to guide myself back to my patrol car with my tail tucked between my legs.

Shortly after that, a friend of mine introduced me to Surefire brand flashlights. Of course, I asked the ever popular question, "aren't the batteries for these damned things like uber expensive?"

The answer to that question is yes...if you buy 'em in pairs at Wal-Mart. You can buy 'em by the dozen at multiple websites for around 25 bucks for a dozen. With these type of lights, you can carry extra batts with you and when the ones in your torch go dead, dump 'em out and pop in a fresh pair - back in the game!

I carry a pair of Surefires on duty, the Z2X "Combat Light" as my primary on my duty belt and my back-up/EDC light, the Surefire LX2 "Lumamax" clipped inside my pocket. I also carry four extra batteries in my pocket in one of these...

[Broken External Image]

Anyway...

In regards to your question about a good LED light that delivers at least 120 lumens for around 50 bucks, look no further than Streamlight ProTac 2L. This little guy delivers a cornea searing 180 lumens as well as an 18 lumen low mode and even a strobe (if you need that sorta thing ). They sell for about 50 bucks (+/-) and carry nicely thanks to a nice pocket clip.

This guy gives it a good review as do several others.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oELsBW8mE0

If you want a "bigger" sized light, you might consider the Streamlight Polytac LED flashlight. This is one of my very favorite flashlights for the money. It offers up to 130 lumens with a good throw and plenty of spill all at a good price - around 35/40 bucks or so.

You can get either flashlight at several different places. My favorite places to shop are www.lapolicegear.com www.copquest.com and www.batteryjunction.com just to name a few. There are several other places, these are just the three I use the most often. Add a dozen batts for just a few dollars more and you're good to go.

The only "bad" thing about these lights is finding a decent leather or kydex carrier for one. Unless you wanna use a cheap nylon sheath...I guess you could carry it in one of those.

Streamlight also offers an HP version of the Polytac which is suppossed to deliver a whopping 150 lumens, but I've never owned one so I can't testify to that.

If you wanna spend a little more for better customer service, I say go with Surefire. But then again, you're gonna pay damn near twice the price for one of those. Being a police officer, I appreciate Surefire's no hassle warranty that they offer on their lights. If it breaks they replace it. No questions asked.

I don't think Streamlight is quite that good. They might be, I just don't know.

Anyway...here's a video of the Streamlight Polytac. I think you'd be completely satisfied with one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a6TaO8pehk

Happy hunting!

 

[ez bake]

http://www.okshooters.com/showthread.php?125005-My-next-flashlight

 

[daugbl5]

I agree there is nothing worse than losing your light due to a failed charge or who knows what.. Rechargable lights do have there place and i have been in a very similar instance with the sl-20. I was issued a strion and i just mounted it in my unit so that it would be charging all the time and kept a back up battery in the
glovebox. Any led flash light above 120 lumen are usually good and my dept just wouldn't fork over the money for the cr 123's so i said piss on it. I could only get
a week's use out of the light i had before.. nothing worse than a building search and lose your light lol the pucker factor is upon you

 

[jakerz]

Look at the 4sevens flashlights. I have a Quark123 R5 edition and it is AMAZING! this flashlight packs a huge punch for it's size. It has a whole mess of features on it as well. You can run full capacity at 230 lumens!! or drop down to 85 lumens or even .2 lumens if you want. The flashlight flat out rocks. You will be hard pressed to find one with this many features and this high of quality within the same price range. Take a look for yourself:

http://www.4sevens.com/product_info.php?cPath=297&products_id=1916

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCO7SWPYMgE

Btw, I own 2 4sevens flashlights, and 4 of the ultra expensive Surefire lights. I personally wish I would have discovered 4sevens a long time ago...

 

[Lithiumokc]

I bought the xt10 from another OSAer and gotta tell yeah that thing is the beezneez.

 

[JonN06]

Seeing as how you originally posted this on 10-2 and it is now 10-24 you may have already made up your mind. I have an eagletac p100c2, and it is a fantastic flashlight. I picked mine up off the candlepowerforums.com marketplace for $25. It was used, but even used it is the best flashlight I have owned. They run about $40 or so new. It's a two stage light. Standard Brightness is 50 lumens, Turbo or Max Brightness is 185. The run time on it is pretty great too.

Honestly if you're wanting to get into the flashlight game I would check out the candlepowerforums and you will find more flash light information than you will ever want to know.