Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics really good flashlight recommendations

I have had good luck with Pelicans, Mag Lights and most recently by cheapo Craftsman LED. I have gone through 3 Streamlights and everyone has had the switch go bad. I'm pretty hard on lights and the Streamlights haven't held up as well as the others. Jury is still out on the Craftsman as I have only had it less than a year.

....ain't that the truth.

I made the mistake of going there for the first time several years ago.

Now I have multiple looniness syndrome.

Once you try out real quality flashlights, the rabbit hole gets real deep, real fast.

I understand that, I think I'm a flashlight loony too. My dad's the same way . We just buy each other differnt types of flashlights for x-mas and we are happy....Last year he got me a stylus and headlamp (both made by streamlight). I bought him one of the LED Lensers from home depot (I've got 3 of them now and they are bright sumbishes and the batteries last for a long azz time)....

I sent away for two fenix lights. One for my dad and one for my sister. i'M Prolly going to get one for myself however I'm not sure which one at the moment. I'm not sure how many lumens I need for just a flashlight.

I just got a PD32 and it seems like a very nice light. Really bright for the small size.

I'm a retired Police Sergeant, who worked straight nights for about half my 28 years. Carried nothing but Maglites until Surefire hit the scene. Surefire is the real deal, and while I'm retired I carry an E1B every where I go. As for the batteries, buy them in bulk, you can get them for a dollar a piece. Second choice would be an LED light from Fenix. I don't own one, but everyone who does says nice things about them.

For what it's worth I bought a cheap little Coleman LED light at Walmart that takes 2 AAA batts, and it gives light all out of proportion to it's size. I use it when I walk my Airedale, as we have coyotes and armadillos and possums and such around here and he goes nutso when he sees/hears/smells them, and I like to be able to identify what is around. That little flashlight throws a pretty good beam, only costs around $20, and if you lose it or something happens to it, it's expendable. It's made out of aluminum, so it's durable and lightweight.

Took my Surefire E2L Outdoorsman to Alaska Sept 2008. Used it daily, or I should say nightly. The day we shot my moose, it was getting late and our outfitter was trying to find the path that would take us to through a swampy area otherwise it would be miles going around. He walked around and around for an hour with the light on the higher, 60 Lumen, output. He was extremely impressed, as I was too, at not only the brightness, compactness but battery life as it really lite up the area. He really liked the fact that it lite up some eyes a good 100 yds out and likely kept the grizzly from getting closer than it did. Three years and 3 months later, I still have the same set of batteries in it and it's as bright as ever.

http://www.surefire.com/E2L-Outdoorsman

Alan

I fought off a belligerant skunk the other night with my SureFire....does that qualify for recommendation?

I'm a flashlight fanatic. I've got Surefires, old Maglights, Streamlights, and all sorts of stuff. In the day, Maglights were a work of art. Technology has passed them. IMO, this is true of Surefire too. As much as I like them, especially being made here, they aren't the best when cost is considered. I wouldn't buy a Streamlight.

IMO, when cost is considered, just go to Sam's and get a pack of these:

http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=prod3460287&_requestid=156527

Or get a two-pack of "Element" flashlights.

These are excellent lights for the money. They take AAA's so you don't have to hunt and pay the price for 123A batteries.

I'll put a vote in for the 4sevens lights.

I've got the 2 AA Quark tactical and it is excellent(very bright, waterproof,and lots of neat features and accessories if your into those things. I paid $49 for mine a year ago; now they have an upgraded version with even brighter LED for $10 more at $59.

So far seems very durable and well made.

I'd buy another if I needed one.

Leftybolt

I like my Surefire E2D LED, but it is very pricy.

Which Fenix?
I just got the TK41, using AA's was a plus for me but a protective holder/sleeve (for belt carry) would be nice.

This is my first experiment with high tech torches.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZce7ZE5j1g

My son and I tried one of the Surefire a few years back, lets just say, Blinded by the light, you know the rest of the song. They freakin really bright!

I sure don't like the 123 batteries and their 2 hour run time. I have an older Streamlight Scorpion and not once but several times the thing has gone dim on me walking to my stand, its a random POS in my opinion. These tacticool flashlights that use those batteries are an accident waiting to happen. I switched to headlamps several years ago and these days I use a black diamond 50 Lumen AAA powered unit to walk to my stand.

If you want an unbelievable 100 lumen flashlight for $15 go to Home Depot and buy one of those Rayovac 2 AA flashlights. I bought 2 of them! Its a metal body, very good beam, and has a lanyard attachment point....AND it lasts longer than 2 hours for $15.00.

The OP says he wants this light as a Christmas gift for his dad, who's really into flashlights. Something nice, he said.

With a budget of $130, I'd advise a Surefire. Made in America. Uber cool value.

His dad will love a Surefire. He won't love a Rayovac from Lowes.

I've had a couple of Surefire LED lights, an E2L and some newer version that replaced the E2L. Both have two settings, one that's a mild light, and the next that's bright enough to be a tactical light. The battery life is extremely long with these and they are worth the money. You don't have to worry about bulbs and batteries for most trips. You just grab and go and know that if you need a really bright light to find something in the woods, light up a house address in a rural area, or the like, your light will do it. I preferred the color of the E2L, which was a warm color. The newer one is a little greenish by comparison.

Great gift!!

You said a mouthful about all these little lights that take 123's. Yeah, they are very bright but they go through batteries pretty quickly IMO and I've owned a bunch of them. If I were hellbent on getting something that used the 123's I would strongly suggest buying the batteries in bulk from Sure Fire or one of their distributor's.

If your going to be banging a flashlight around definitly go with an LED lamp, between battery life and usable bulb life they are the only way to go.

With all the good suggestions, I have little to add, but here is my $0.02. It probably isn't worth that, but I do have eight Sure-Fires, six Fenix's, one Streamlight, and two or three other brands. As varmintsinc above said, an LED light is the way to go. If you want a pants pocket light, I think that much over five inches long is too much. A double AA battery light will be longer than that, so I like CR 123 lights. If for coat pocket carry, a larger light will work. The bigger lights, like 600 lumens and up, seem too large for regular carry but are great truck glove-box lights. Coverall pockets are larger than pants pockets, but a long light would be annoying to me to carry all the time. I think a two level light is handier than the seemingly more common one's with the choice of five or six levels of illumination, but then I am a simple guy. I have not found CR 123 battery life to be a problem in the newer lights. My wife uses a Surefire with 123's to feed horses every morning in the dark and is satisfied with battery life. Last, I have not used a rechargeable light as I don't want to fool with it, but the strong recommendations by some posters have encouraged me to at least try one.
Merry Christmas
Alan