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Distinguished Member
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Virginia
Posts: 1,783
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Boy, have you opened up a can of worms! There are dozens of great flashlights out there that can meet your needs, but first you need to know what your needs (and wants) are in a flashlight. Do you want a light that is simple on/off, with just one bright level? This would be a light like the Surefire 6PL. How about a light that when you press the switch a little bit you get a low level, but press it fully for high, like the Surefire L1 and L2. There are also lights that allow you to click the switch to on, and then click it back off and on again quickly to change light levels, such as most of the Fenix lights (sans T series), Olights (sans M20), 4Sevens Quark, and Surefire E series LED lights.
Really, the options are endless, but let me just make some suggestions.
1. Modes - know what you want and what you need when buying a light. If you are choosing a light to keep in the glove compartment of your car, an SOS beacon mode might be handy - but you sure don't want to activate that mode accidentally if you're trying to light up a bad guy or dark alley. I prefer either a simple one or two mode user interface, or a dedicated switching mechanism to switch modes independently from turning the light on and off (such as the switching ring on the Surefire U2 and Kroma, Fenix TK30, Blackhawk Gladius, or Inova Inforce).
Brightness - For navigating from the bedroom to the head in the dark, 1-3 lumens is plenty of light. However, you really want at least 60 well focused or 100 or so floody lumens to illuminate a bad guy, room, alley, or parking space. There are lights out there boasting 200, 300, or even 700+ lumens, but often, higher output isn't really better if you are indoors, since you can be easily blinded by reflected light off of lightly colored walls and ceilings. I stick with between 60 and 200 lumens for my EDC light as a MAXIMUM, and a low at or below 3 lumens. Leave the super high output lights next to the front door to light up the entire yard.
Batteries - Most of the EDC-able flashlights out there use one of two types of cells - lithium CR123A or 1.5v AA (alkaline, lithium, or 1.2v NiMH rechargeables (aka "Eneloop" or LSD NiMH)). Lithium cells, both in the CR123A and AA form factor, provide a decade of stable shelf life, greater temperature resistance, leak protection, and greater energy density than alkaline cells, but the trade-off is that they are quite expensive. Alkaline cells do not have the capability of providing high current output, so most lights that can run on alkaline batteries tend to be a bit down on output compared to their lithium powered cousins.
If you have easy access to CR123 cells, I would stick with those - and I do, so I do. However, if you will be traveling, or intend to use the light a lot, you may do well to choose a model that can run on AA cells of all kinds - alkaline and lithium primary as well as lithium-ion rechargeable or NiMH rechargeable.
Hope this helps...
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