Time for new flashlight. Want something small that I can keep in pocket. Need suggestions. I want a good light... nothing crummy that I will have to replace in a couple months....

 

I have a Surefire C3 I keep in the truck door...it's about a year old, and on it's second set of batteries.

I used to keep a Mag-Lite in the truck, but they lasted about 3 months before they wouldn't work anymore! Either the batteries corroded so bad it was junk, or the bulbs would go bad!

Spendy, but it hasn't failed me yet!
Chris

 

Streamlight Strion, small and very bright.

 

I have a surefire, one of the super bright. Don't use it much, but got it in the nightstand. It will temporarly blind someone if need be. Got some 2 C cell pellican lights. Bright, rugged and waterproof. Cheaper to buy a new one than a light modual on the pellican.
Also have some single LED Streamlights. With the pocket clip, can clip it to the bill of a cap and a very good hands free light.
Wife uses her green LED Streamlight a lot at night. Handy in the house, theater, motel. does not distroy the night vision. Streamlight took a beating and kept on working

 

I found this flashlight at Sam’s Club, 2 for about $20. It uses 3 AAA batteries and is extremely bright. It is aluminum with an easy push switch.

 

Surefire E2D here. I have had it for about 2.5 yrs now and have been very impressed. It is not one of the birghtest (60-65lumens) and it doesn't have the option of a bunch of accessories but you will burn yourself on the lense if not careful and you don't want to look dirrectly at it. It's small and comes with a belt clip....... I wouldn't hesitate to buy another Surefire though I have never heard any complaints about Streamlight either......

 

I use both Surefire and Steamlight. I have Surefire 6P and G2 flashlights. I keep one in the console of my truck and the other on top of my gun safe. Both put out 60 lumens and both take two of those little C123 3 watt batteries. Very bright lights and great warranty.

I also have a Streamlight weapon light that is LED and it puts out 80 lumens. It's a bit brighter than my Surefires and has the advantages that come with LED (longer burn times, whiter light, bulbs that won't burn out or break, etc.). I haven't had it very long but so far I REALLY like it. Of course, it doesn't get used much since it is mounted to a Glock.

If you want to go the cheap route, Walmart and Academy sell a little Brinkman light that uses the same bulb assembly and batteries as my Surefire 6P and G2 but it's only about $15. Every time I see them I'm tempted to buy a couple just to have around the house.

I highly recommend LED lights for some of the reasons I mentioned above. Surefire LED's are pretty expensive, but you can get Streamlights for reasonable prices.

As a side note, my mother-in-law bought me a little wind-up LED light for Christmas that is about as handy as can be. It isn't extremely bright, but works great for maneuvering around the house without blinding yourself...and it has the option of one LED bulb or three LED bulbs. The beauty of it is the wind-up charging...you never have to buy batteries.

 

I have the stinger HP XT and love it. Two chargers, one for the truck for 12v and one for 110v in the house. Last about 45 minutes continuous on a fully charge and I think is in the neighborhood of 45K CP, and large enough to knock someone in the head if need be....

 

Surefires are great. I never have had a problem with them. They are very bright. I have even had mine fully submersed in water for a few minutes and it still works great. The ONLY drawback I would say is the cost of running it. It takes 2 3-volt lithium camera batteries which aren't cheap and don't last as long as I expected. But for the overall quality I say SUREFIRE all the way.

 

Just FYI, you can buy a box of 12 of those batteries directly from Surefire for $21 plus a few bucks for shipping. If you buy them at the store you'll pay a LOT more than that.

 

BTW,... Maglight FINALLY got on the LED bandwagon.. And they produced a good one too!...
Maglight now produces 3watt LED modules that you replace the incandescent bulb in your trusty full sized D-cell maglight with this little LED module.
Bright white not sickly blue or green and focuses VERY well.
They also now make a 3 AA cell powered mini-Mag with the same 3watt LED. I love that AA light. It is as bright as my workplace's Pelican LED Saberlight Fm approved light.
Doesn't have the distant focussing accuracy that the full sized Dcell Maglight does. That's a function of the larger dia reflector.

I keep the 3AA Mini-Mag in it's holster attached onto my inside door handle.. Always ready for use...

K.

 

you might laugh, but I just bought this light here to carry in my shirt pocket when on duty and this thing is bright! for a little light this sure is bright. its a streamlight stylus

http://galls.com/style.html?assort=g...FL216&cat=2834

 

The question is asked almost as if there are companies other than Mag-Light.

 

I"m sort of a flashlight junkie, but to really answer your question you need to decide if you want a rechargabe or batt only... that makes a huge difference in what to get. Also to consider is where and how you use it, how often you use it and how you plan to store it.

A little more to go on and I think some of us on here could guide you in a well researched direction.

MIke

 

I've got a couple Surefire G2's. Good lights, cheaper than most Surefires because they are polymer rather than metal. Can be found for $30 when they're on sale. None of these little, super-bright flashlights are going to have long battery life unless they're LED. That's not what their made for. They're made to be as bright as they can be. I think most the Surefires are rated at about 1 hour run time?