Flashlight Blogging
WizardPC has a bleg for an every day carry light.
Shooting Illustrated has a review of the Brite Strike EPLI (Executive Precision Lighting Instrument). I’m interested in this one for a few reasons:
It’s small.
They out put of 160 lumens on high is pretty darn good.
And, most importantly, it takes AAA batteries and not the CR123 or other oddball and harder to find batteries. That is, it takes batteries I have laying around the house.
Anyone try one?
January 26th, 2012 at 10:46 am
My uncle has one of these. It is fucking bright and quite effective at spotting things you drop in the dark recesses of engine compartments…
January 26th, 2012 at 11:13 am
No experience with the brightstrike, but I love my incredibly rugged 4Sevens Prion2…. Much stealthier and you can probably fly with it and have a strong hand to hand striking weapon… http://www.4sevens.com/product_info.php?cPath=297_332_367&products_id=1932
January 26th, 2012 at 11:41 am
$70 for a AAA flashlight? No thanks.
While I’m a fan of high end lights, for a AAA size EDC, I have a Leatherman ($30) or a 2xAAA Streamlight Stylus Pro, but the most often used is a Fenix E01 keychain light.
January 26th, 2012 at 11:53 am
Common batteries are good, though AAAs won’t last long, especially at `60 lumens. Depends on how much runtime you want. AAs are better.
January 26th, 2012 at 12:02 pm
Looking at that light I love the design. Not so crazy about the price or the runtime. The 1.5 hours on high isn’t so bad, but 6 hours on 10 lumens low is pretty disappointing.
January 26th, 2012 at 1:30 pm
I used to be down on CR123s too, until I figured out how much power is crammed into one of ’em vs. AA and AAA batteries.
I still have some AAA and AA flashlights, but my primary carry light is a Surefire with 2X CR123 in it.
Also, they have wonderful shelf life, and they’re a LOT cheaper if you buy ’em 12 at a time (or more). Do NOT try to cheap out and use the no-name Chinese ones, tho.
January 26th, 2012 at 1:37 pm
You don’t keep CR123’s lying around the house? Weird.
I like ’em for their decade-plus storage life.
January 26th, 2012 at 2:10 pm
Well, I do. But I can never find them when I need them.
January 26th, 2012 at 2:11 pm
Check out the Pelican 1920 which uses 2 AAAs, runs for 2.5 hours at 67 lumens. Built pretty good. I have two.
January 26th, 2012 at 2:28 pm
I have no experience with the flashlight mentioned; my EDC light is a 1xAA 4sevens. It’s small enough sit right beside my iPhone in my pocket without ever noticing it’s there. With all of the Sanyo Eneloops I have lying around the house for the Xbox controllers and kids toys, it was a no-brainer. I like that it has a super-high 120+ lumens for “tactical use” such as walking in the dark parking garage after hours in the winter, and low modes so I can look in a computer case without blowing my eyes out.
January 26th, 2012 at 2:34 pm
I’ve used flashlights with CR123 cells. Sucks a bunch if you ever need one and can’t get it at the 7-11. I like easily-sourced batteries.
Now that I’ve got rechargeable AA and AAA batteries I like CR123s even less.
January 26th, 2012 at 2:56 pm
I like my Fenix LD20, which has low and bright settings, as well as a programmed SOS blink mode and a bright strobe. I think I paid 60.00?
January 26th, 2012 at 4:08 pm
I use the Streamlight stylus pro which I carry all the time. I use it a lot at work so they pay for the batteries.
I don’t mind the CR123s since I just got the rechargable batteries. Not as good of a life time in use,but they are better than buying new ones all the time.
January 26th, 2012 at 4:17 pm
I like the Streamlight Protac AAs. The EMS gives me a really high run time on it’s dimmest setting. More than enough for my EDC needs.
Sadly, I have a Fenix with an obnoxious defect, and warranty service has dropped the ball… I won’t risk buying Fenix again, especially when Streamlight is both more robust and cheaper.
January 26th, 2012 at 7:14 pm
I have a couple of Streamlight TLR-2s and a Surefire for my firearms all using CR123 batteries. Tried the Fenix PD30-PD32 series lites and love them. 4 1/2 inches long, 220-320 lumens and also using CR123s.
Picked up a Pila IBC charger and a load of rechargeable batteries from Lighthound (good folks). Glad I did.
January 26th, 2012 at 11:00 pm
+1 for preon
January 28th, 2012 at 7:01 pm
For a good cheap everyday carry light, pick up a nebo redline.
http://nebotools.com/prod_details.php?id=144&cid=16
230 lumens(says 4hrs, mine went 5 & 1/2 before dimming noticably) + 4 other lighting modes, glow in the dark button & magnetic ring base(stuck to the inside of the hood great fixing a belt late at night).
At less than $40 they are a great deal