smousefam5

How many lumens do you consider as minimum for daily carry? I am looking for something that would fit in my Versipack Fatboy so it needs to be reasonable compact. Thanks!

MilitaryPower

I wouldn't carry anything less than 60 lumens. I'd check out Fenix LED flashlights. I carry a small one on my keychain that has 20, 9, 60, SOS, and strobe. And two on my belt, one has 10, 40, 80, 140, SOS and strobe, and the other has 60 and 225.

You also need to determine what KIND of light you want, LED or incandescent? Flood or throw? Batteries? Runtime?

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Chooie

It truly depends on what you want the light for. If you intend to use it for tactical applications then yes, 60 lumens is a good minimum. 60 lumens is a bit much when you're just trying to find the keyhole on your front door, though. I carry 2 lights, one is a 120 lumen Surefire E2DL, and the other is variable from 3 to 130 lumens, and is a NiteCore EX10. The Surefire is now available in a dual mode 5/120 lumen model, and is quite compact and easy to stow in a Fatboy Versipack. The NiteCore is my backup light and my go to light for general tasks. I tend not to use the Surefire as much as it is driven much harder and is almost as much a battery hog as an incandescent.

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-Joe

Quando omni flunkus, moritati.

Virginia Citizens Defense League

Rustburg, VA Volunteer Rescue Squad

gddyup

I'm going to back up MP above and have you take agander at the Fenix lights. I just purchased a Fenix L2D about 2 weeks ago and it's a really nice light for all around use. It has multiple light modes, has a Cree LED, and runs off 2 AA batteries. Slender, light, and easy to carry with good versatility. Fenix also makes a momentary tac light tyope switch for this model that I may look into, but I'm leaning more towards buying another one of their lights for that specific purpose.

I've used a couple different lights but the Fenix has really won me over.

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CajunChuck

I received my Fenix TK11 yesterday...man, that is a sweet flashlight. She fits in my hand perfectly. Will throw out light @ 60 or 225 lumens. I hope it lasts!

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buckeyeLCPL

I like my Surefire 6PLED, which is 80 lumens I think, or my G2 which is 65 (6P has a much better battery life though), either is fine for tactical work. I also have several Photon keychain lights, not sure about lumens, but they work for when the Surefires are too bright.

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Ragin Cajun

I vote with 60.

Shizzlemah

Wow the Fenix guys are coming out ! I have a P3D and typically use the 9 lumen setting for day to day tasks. The 160 lumen setting will effectively blind pesky coworkers.

Last night, 160 lumens was able to illumuinate a skunk at 45 yards, plainly discernable.... If I had my ears handy there would have been one less skunK!

retsupt99

Minimum...E2e, 60 lumens...I still have one, but now I carry the L4 LumaMax, 100 lumens...it will blind you!

Stay armed...stay bright...stay safe!

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NRA Life Member

Skygod

I like the both the Surefire E2E and the G2 LED. The G2 LED is an 80 lumen light with 12 hours of runtime on one set of batteries.

My Surefire E2E is 60 lumens, but I've replaced batteries like socks, even using just momentary illumination.

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