$50.00 light recommendation.

D

D-R0CK

Joined
Sep 22, 2012
Messages
166
Hi all, on a recent hike summiting a mountain, my cree (ultrafire) Q5 had some battery issues. It was below 10 F and with windchill well below 0 :eek: My battery (Just one AA to be fair) was draining at about a battery per 45 mins of use on high. I couldn't help but wonder, "what if I got stuck here because I didn't spend money on a light?" :confused: and while I got out fine (packed a ton of AAs) it stuck with me. I love the cree, it was dependable, rugged, and bright (relative to wally-world LEDs, anyways) but I think as important a piece of gear as a flashlight is, I can't ignore it anymore. But, the people here are more knowledgeable/experienced than I, and I can't bear to wade through all the hype flashlight companies utilize. My preferences:

Would prefer 50.00. Will go 60.00 if something is head and shoulders better.

Would prefer adjustable lense (zoomable, I really liked that on the Q5) but not critical, I know it's not very common.

Would prefer standard batteries. I want to be able to stop at a gas station if needs be, and this will be a bug out light and EDC too, so this is a pretty important qualifier to me. If I'm wrong in thinking this way, somebody correct me/convince me otherwise.

Would prefer a design with modes (I know this is pretty standard though) for brightness.

Let the suggestions roll in!

Thanks :thumbup:
 
I have a boker plus light I love ($45) that is 320 lumens but has a 200 lumen mode for saving battery. Great light for the money but i haven't tested in in extreme cold but it has held up well in the African bush. Does take cr123a batteries though. I understand the trouble with non standard batteries.
 
I've had a pretty good run with Fenix lights. I don't remember the specific model name but they're bright, have brightness settings (full and economy) and run on standard batteries.
 
Fenix E series, can't go wrong. E11 if you want 1AA but you can go bigger. Personally I've gotten to like a small headlamp for local flood, and a smallish thrower, like the 11, or 21.
 
Check out the 4Sevens Quark series. Just got one recently and love it. Its right in your price range. They have the tactical and pro versions.
 
Lumapower. Excellent quality and have great lights from $35 - $50. I am fond of the incendio line.
 
I'm going to recommend a light that's about double the price your looking for because your main issue seems to be battery run-times...

A zebralight SC600 MK2 and here's why-
It runs in a high cap 18650 Li-ion (which you'll have about another $50-60 in getting them and a charger) but it's really worth it for someone like you. Its capable of 900+Lm but the amazing part is the battery life on lower modes, it puts out 160Lm of light for 11hours! Turn it down a little more to 30Lm (still more than enough light for walking around a camp site/cooking meals/going to the bathroom) and you've got light for 66 hours from a single battery.

Zebralight is pretty much the regulation king, no one can touch them in terms of battery life. Bigger investment yes but no mure buying batteries ever since it takes rechargable's and no more carrying 3 pounds of batteries, even a multi day trip only needs a spare or two.
 
If you just don't have $150 for a light/charger then the already mentioned fenix E21 is a great 2xAA choice for about $35 and it just received an update to a 2nd gen emitter for a slight lumen boost (however it doesn't have a true low mode).

If you do stuck with a AA light you owe it to yourself to upgrade batteries still, at the very least you need to be using Energizer advanced lithium's, they literally hold 2x the capacity of an alkaline so while they're slightly more money you can buy and carry half of the amount of alkalines, if you wanted to get into rechargable AA's THE ONLY brand to use is Eneloop, that's what I run in all my AA lights (and I have a lot, 1xAA lights are my thing).
 
Adrstout said:
I have a boker plus light I love ($45) that is 320 lumens but has a 200 lumen mode for saving battery. Great light for the money but i haven't tested in in extreme cold but it has held up well in the African bush. Does take cr123a batteries though. I understand the trouble with non standard batteries.
Click to expand...

I second the Boker. Have a Boker Plus FA-1, smaller than Adrstout's, only has 105/35 lumens but uses 1 AA battery. Only $38 too and great build quality.
 
Nitecore EA4. Really cool light. 4 AAs and a ton of light.
standard.jpg
 
I've been carrying a 1xAA foursevens quark for the last three years or so. I'm very happy with it and have given some to my father and brother. Mine has been dropped countless times, including in puddles. Also been thrown around by my toddler son. Still going strong. Great brightness modes and battery life. I like the fact that they have interchangeable parts too. You can buy different battery tubes and tail caps for very little money. Low rider clips are available as well.

05D41F63-7E72-4B29-AFD8-D3004B9D549F-4521-000003A8218D5CEC_zps3a5171f5.jpg
 
I love the hell out of my FourSevens M2A, though you may want something like the Quark for harder use.
 
I have a couple of 4 Sevens and the Nitecore EA4. The EA4 is an awesome light and it is not as big as it looks in the pictures. It has a simple interface for mode selection and will light up my whole back yard on high, 850 lumens. The 4 Sevens Quark mini is also really nice and you can just toss it in your pocket. Can't go wrong with either of these brands for the money.
 
The EA4 is a great light but for hiking its not the best as it takes 4xAA so carrying sets of spares can really add on some weight.

It's small tho, literally fits inside a TP roll!
 
Wow, thanks for all the responses!

So, here's what I hear :D I'm down to:

Fenix E-21:

Seems like a great light, but the battery life is an ADVERTISED max of 11 hours. How realistic is this number?
Is there a generation I should look for in specific?
Do I need to worry about counterfeits or just buy at the cheapest price?

AND

4sevens quark QP2A:

What is a realistic price to get the light, nice AA batteries/charger? Best I see is $55 before batteries, but 720 hours is worth adding $5 to the budget...
I REALLY like the 720 hour max runtime, but again, how realistic is that really? how usable is that amount of light?
any reputable places to buy from? (Not sure about the rules for this one...) counterfeits to look out for?

Thanks again everybody! I never expected this much help.


It sounds like investing in some nice rechargeable AAs would be a good idea, and I'm unlikely to get a focusable lense, that must be uncommon.

Let's hear those opinions!
 
Abut 12 years ago, a buddy & I sat down & came up with "the list". It consists of 5 things no man can have enough of. Guns, Knives, Flashlights, Coolers, & fishing equipment. Sure, there's other things, booze, sex, etc, but those things kinda are understandable to the opposites sex. "The list" consists of things that women just cant wrap their mind around why we need another one. You can't deer hunt with a .22 & you can't squirrel hunt with a 7mag. Now this doesn't apply to all women, just most that my buddy & I are associated with.

Having said that, last week I chunked down the duckets for a HDS rotary 250. It's definitely not in you $50 price range, actually just over 4x that, BUT, and that is a big but, it's advertised to do everything a man really could want out of a flashlight. Small, pocketable, decent throw, scads of functions, waterproof to 66 feet, easy user interface, potted electronics, infinitely adjustable from .08 lumens up to 250, and supposedly emp proof. In those 12 years, I've bought at least a dozen lights and been at least a little disappointed with all of 'em. If the hds does what they say it'll do, I can actually take flashlights off "the list."
 
D-R0CK said:
Wow, thanks for all the responses!

So, here's what I hear :D I'm down to:

Fenix E-21:

Seems like a great light, but the battery life is an ADVERTISED max of 11 hours. How realistic is this number?
Is there a generation I should look for in specific?
Do I need to worry about counterfeits or just buy at the cheapest price?

AND

4sevens quark QP2A:

What is a realistic price to get the light, nice AA batteries/charger? Best I see is $55 before batteries, but 720 hours is worth adding $5 to the budget...
I REALLY like the 720 hour max runtime, but again, how realistic is that really? how usable is that amount of light?
any reputable places to buy from? (Not sure about the rules for this one...) counterfeits to look out for?

Thanks again everybody! I never expected this much help.


It sounds like investing in some nice rechargeable AAs would be a good idea, and I'm unlikely to get a focusable lense, that must be uncommon.

Let's hear those opinions!
Click to expand...

E21, I'm not sure with that one, as I've never gotten to the bottom of a set of batteries in it. But the FL1 standard is run-time to 10% of initial output, so at the 11 hour mark you should still be getting 5 lumens. Not fantastic, but still useable. remember all of the runtime numbers you see is going to be lowest power output, so something like the ld20 has a 100 hours of runtime, but only at 5 lumen.
I'm sure there are counterfeits out there, but I've bought all of mine from hong kong and they all look authentic, as in, there are none of the hallmarks of counterfeits, and they have all the marks they should have.
I use eneloops, and the 4 spot quick charger is good enough. Make sure you get the right batteries though, they also make a "lite" version that hold half the power.

Looking at the Quark, that .2 lumen is going to be useful for really close work, but its not much more than map reading. 5 lumen is for seeing whats on your shoe, or right close to you. Comparing to lights I have, the 26 lumens from the medium setting would be about where the Fenix E-05 is listed, and thats reasonable for seeing whats right in front of you. not too bright and blinding, but not seeing fine detail more than a couple yards away.

As far as I know, led lenser is the only one with a focus-able light, but I don't know that you gain much, as every lens you put the beam through is going to cut down your output to a degree.

Its hard to say whats the best considering I don't know how much light you need to see what you are doing. No matter how you regulate a light, there is a limit to how much energy is in a battery, so its always going to be a balance between output and runtime.
I would recommend the E21 as a good compromise between cost and usefulness, and then you can adapt from there.
Alternatively you could switch to a headlamp, like the black diamond spot, and just use your current light as your distance light when needed. Is means also carrying some AAA lights, but you get a more useful close up light instead of useing a spotlight to see whats at your feet. Or if you are not sure about the headlamp thing, the black dimond gizmo can be had for pretty cheap, and they are really useful for lots of things, even just around the house.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top