[Ridge Runner]

Saw them at WalMart today. Seem to be well built and they take AAA batteries. For under $20 they seem to be a good alternative to an expensive tactical flashlight.

Anyone use one in conjunction with a pistol? Anyone carry one on a regular basis?

Any opinions would be appreciated.

 

[sarhog]

I haven't seen them, but I bought a $30 "personal light" from Academy Sports here and I was very disappointed. Not near as bright as a regular Mag-Lite.
FWIW, I bought a Surefire G2 Nitrolon for $34 and am very happy with it. It appears to be just like the 6P, but a little lighter and no lock-out tailcap.
Good luck. :smile:

 

[A1C Lickey]

I've got a Garrity light. It's about the size of my Surefire G2, uses 3 AAA batteries, has a LED light, and comes with a pouch and two filters. Got it for about $15-20 at the BX. Are we talking about the same light?

That said I carry it almost everyday and it's great for what it is. It's bright enough (I doubt it will blind anyone unless it is dark out), batteries seem to last forever in it, it's an LED so I don't worry about it burning out. It doesn't get extremely hot when on. The body seems pretty solid and it's held up so far under some pretty heavy use and abuse. (It's fallen off of aircraft a couple of times with no problem.)

We were having trouble with our flashlights at work a couple of weeks ago (someone in Supply ordered the wrong bulbs for our Mag Lights, we were going through a couple of bulbs a night until I grabbed my light) and I started bringing my light out to the line with me. Me and my supervisor were both able to do our inspections, change argon, and look for lost parts.

A1C Lickey

 

[Ridge Runner]

Garrity and Dorcy flashlights

The Garrity light was $13 at WalMart. I also bought a Dorcy flashlight.

The Dorcy one from Walmart was $18 and a hell of a solid flashlight. It casts a blinding beam, much better than the Garrity one.

I think with the Dorcy one I could actually inflict pain on someone if I had too with a solid hit.

 

[Euclidean]

I have one Garrity light. It's my truck light. The reason it is my truck light is it has an obscene battery run time and it's very very dim with basically no sidespill, idea for looking around the cab of a truck without losing nightvision.

 

[SOLOLUCKY]

RIDGE RUNNER,
I did the same thing. Have 1 garrity and 1 dorcy.
2 different beams but both very nice flashlights.
for what i use'em for, in the house and in the truck...or under it it werks as well as any high priced light i have or have used. for not lighting up a yard but will sure light up any room in my house..for any unforeseen reason.

i mainly bought 2 cuz 1 matches each gun better.
1 stainless/anodized, 1 black.

and could not beat the price.
and they have the best prices (wal-mart) on the 38, 9, and 45 ammo i plink with.

R1-out

 

[shooter1]

A1C,
The LEDs are hard to beat for long run, low lumen illumination. I bought a couple at WM for walking around lights. They also had some Brinkmann tatical style lights for under $20 that work well for intense illumination applications. The down side to them, is the short run time, and the not so cheap prices of the 3v lithium batteries. The Brinkmanns are only slightly larger than my Scorpions. I have had good success with both types of lights. I'll buy a couple more of the Brinkmanns to use as spares next time I run across them. Just about anything beats the little issue mag lights.
str1

 

[ArmyCop]

I like WMart's Brinkman that takes two lithium's. Just a tad bigger than my scorpion but every bit as bright. Only about 20 bucks too.

 

[GoodSamaritan]

For $5 at a gun show, who could resist?

I bought an SE 8 led fl308bu blue anodized cheapo light. Normally I wouln't give ona a second look, but a budy went with me, and picked up the one they had laying there to look at and blinded me with it.

I got mine home and put 3 fresh AAA batteries in it, and while it isn't a surefire, by any stretch of the imagination it is a bright little sucker.

After testing it thorougly, I did what anyone who is pleased with their new purchase does. . . I took it apart. (whadday mean you don't do that?)
It has a simple, but suprisingly well machined aluminum body threaded at both ends. In the but cap is a simple click on/off button with a rubber cover.
On the buisness end it has 8 leds aranged in a ring aound the outer edge of the lense and the "reflector" (chrome plastic) is pretty much flat and IMHO for show only. There is a threaded metal washer that holds the guts in the head. It is easily removed with a large allen wrench or a small screwdriver if you are careful not to goober up the threads.

The led's are all wired up in parallel, no resistor, no current limiter of any kind.
I guess they are not figureing on anyone using anything other than plain old alkaline batteries in it, as they have a tendency to drop current under load more so than lithium or even nimh rechargeables. Those would probably make it even brighter, but I doubt it would survive long.

All in all I have to say it is a cheap, semi disposable light that seems to work well. I am in the process of trying to get a few to hand out at Christmas this year.

 

[Free American]

I bought one for work, it takes plenty of abuse and is bright enough for day to day use, but it does not compare to a Surefire.

 

[Camjr]

When a Surefire G2 is less than $35.00, why would anyone carry anything less for a "tactical" light? Granted, some of the other aluminum Surefires may be easier to carry, but the G2 is still pretty darn small and handy.

I'm a recent convert to the advanced lights, and just carried a mini-mag with me before when I walked the dog at night or had to run outside at night for something. I know Cabela's has their brand for a similar power light for about $29.00, but I was more comfortable with the Surefire. The mini-mag now stays in the car.

 

[srfl]

I lucked out a couple of months ago....the MacDill exchange had the DigiLight 1000XB-LE (70 lumens output) with all of the doodads such as a clip, carrying case, etc., for sale for the grand sum of 19.95...bought two of them.

 

[Kompact9]

I bought a Streamlight Scorpion for use at work. I liked the idea of being able to leave the light focused as I need it (instead of twisting it to turn it on and then focusing as the smaller MagLites do) and having the on/off switch on the end under a rubber cover. The on/off switch also allows momentary operation which is convenient in some situations.

The light IS bright...I needed that for seeing equipment backplanes at work with my aging eyes. I also discovered that it throws quite a good light outdoors, and in close, will blind you momentarily if you're looking at it directly. Makes a great CCW accessory...the only down side I've found is the cost of the batteries. But I have found a local supplier with reasonable prices for those 3V lithiums, so that's not really an issue anymore. It's now 7 years old and still on the original bulb...

Best,

Fred

 

[P95Carry]

I think my best budget light was the Mini-mag and then addition of the ''NiteIze'' LED head - which a member here kindly picked up for me from his WalMart as mine had none.

Starting from scratch that all represented about $16 and tho brightness is not really blinding, the whole thing does represent an excellent utilitarian light even if low on ''tacticalness''!!

 

[ExSoldier]

SureFire Rules; Pentagon DROOLS!

I bought a Surefire G2 Nitrolon for $34 and am very happy with it. It appears to be just like the 6P, but a little lighter and no lock-out tailcap.

Yeah, I love my G2, but have had less luck with my new Pentagon light which just burns thru those lithium batteries! Also, the tailcap on the Pentagon is somewhat uneven and often cuts out when you try to exert pressure for a fast spot. The G2 is just as good as my 6P at half the price.

 

[artz]

I have the Dorcy also. Hard to beat for the $$$.
Surefire lost out due to cost and hard to find batteries.
If I had to use it as part of my work and survival as a cop. Then surefire would have won...

 

[ExSoldier]

I hate going to WALLY WORLD

I have one Garrity light. It's my truck light. The reason it is my truck light is it has an obscene battery run time and it's very very dim with basically no sidespill, idea for looking around the cab of a truck without losing nightvision.

Can somebody provide a direct link to Dorcy and Garrity? I hate to make a trip to WALLY WORLD. It's a nightmare at any of the Miami locations. Dangerous, too.

 

[BigEd63]

I've used the Brinkman light from Wal-Mart on my last job and it worked pretty well.

Bright enough to see clearly into all the dark nooks and crannies that I had to check while doing a security patrol.

 

[artz]

heres the dorcy site...

http://www.dorcy.com/flashlights.htm - batteries, LED, flashlight

don't forget to check wal-marts' website.... :yup:

 

[clipse]

I like LEDs, expecially Luxeon LEDs. I only use lithium batteries on lights that are used seldomly. Like in a truck or something. Alkeline batteries won't work in cold temps, (somthing to think about). I have a Dorcy Super 1 Watt that takes one CR123a battery. It was $20 at Sears and is still on sale for that price if anyone is interested. My personal carry light is a Amilite Neo T3 and Fenix L1P. Both are Luxeon LEDs and very bright. IMHO they are the best lights for carry. My nightstand light is Streamlight TL-2 LED 2nd Gen. The lights at wal-mart are good beater lights and I have many different varieties just for handing out to other people or for various other things where I don't want my good lights lost, stolen, or beaten up.

clipse