Tactical Flashlight source!

[Smith]

Found this from some of the flashlight forums and got to say, pretty impressed. I got this one and has worked as promised. 250 lumen's, 5 modes, part changeability, HA-III finish, all for $20.

they have other stuff as well, but their flashlights get great reviews on the forums. DealExtreme: Cree Lights (Page 1)

[LagerHead]

Thanks. I just ordered one too.

[Guest flyfishtn]

Nice. I am picking one of those up.

[Smith]

There are a whole lot of options there. From what I understand the internals are factory direct from the folks that make them for the other guys. With mine it came with a normal bezel crown, which is what I use.

[Metalhead]

Yes but, does it take a bullet and keep working like a Surefire?

Also be careful of "lumen" ratings. Every company has a different scale they measure lumens as. One company's 250 lumens is another companys 30. In my experience - and I buy alot of flashlights, call me a light geek - that you really get what you pay for, as with most things.

Honestly, save the $20 bucks and save up another $20 and buy a 6P, or even less cash and get a G2, or even the cheaper Streamlight handhelds.

Not that anyone cares either, but best flashlight on the market for the money is a Surefire Backup, imo. Very small light, clips right in a pocket, and only uses one 123 battery. It has two modes, one low setting, and one high setting. High setting is a very bright 80 lumens (like I said, everyones lumens are different, but this light is freakin bright) with a hour and half run time, or a 5 lumen (agian, brighter than some cheaper lights) low setting that will run for 37 hours. I carry one everyday and in the 4 months I've had it, I havent had to change the one battery yet.

MSRP on the light is $149 bucks, and the backup includes the strike bezel. You can prolly find it online and in reputable shops (such as G&L and Hero Gear) for less. I know that sounds like alot of cash for a light.

Yeah I know I sound like a infomercial for Surefire, but I gotta give credit where credit is due. If the Backup is more than you're willing to pay for a light, the G2 and 6P are half the money, and superb lights too.

Edited August 22, 2009 by Metalhead

[willis68]

Yes but, does it take a bullet and keep working like a Surefire?

Also be careful of "lumen" ratings. Every company has a different scale they measure lumens as. One company's 250 lumens is another companys 30. In my experience - and I buy alot of flashlights, call me a light geek - that you really get what you pay for, as with most things.

Honestly, save the $20 bucks and save up another $20 and buy a 6P, or even less cash and get a G2, or even the cheaper Streamlight handhelds.

Not that anyone cares either, but best flashlight on the market for the money is a Surefire Backup, imo. Very small light, clips right in a pocket, and only uses one 123 battery. It has two modes, one low setting, and one high setting. High setting is a very bright 80 lumens (like I said, everyones lumens are different, but this light is freakin bright) with a hour and half run time, or a 5 lumen (agian, brighter than some cheaper lights) low setting that will run for 37 hours. I carry one everyday and in the 4 months I've had it, I havent had to change the one battery yet.

MSRP on the light is $149 bucks, and the backup includes the strike bezel. You can prolly find it online and in reputable shops (such as G&L and Hero Gear) for less. I know that sounds like alot of cash for a light.

Yeah I know I sound like a infomercial for Surefire, but I gotta give credit where credit is due. If the Backup is more than you're willing to pay for a light, the G2 and 6P are half the money, and superb lights too.

Surefire are the best by far, I own several and they are expensive but worth every cent, the rule of thumb you get what you pay for definitely applies here, they will last several lifetimes

Edited August 27, 2009 by willis68

[Fadex]

Lumens can be very different. I have a Tiablo and a Wolf Eyes that are very close in manufacturers rated "Lumens". Actually the Tiablo is rated higher but the Wolf Eyes will darn near blind you.

[Guest ff51]

I own several high end flashlights and recently I discovered the new innovation from the streamlight corp. It is the C4 LED light. Before everyone has the typical LED reaction, hear me out.... This led is ridiculously bright! Close up it has more knock down than the 120 lumen bulb in my Z2 combatlight. It also beats it in a range test by almost twice as far. (i have used this thing in Search and rescue operations and devastated every other handlight there) This isnt a typical LED, This LED actually buzzes when it is powered up and produces quite a bit of heat. These bulbs can be found in almost every light streamlight produces (i have a strion mounted next to the driver seat in the truck) The only light I own that is brighter is my streamlight HID lightbox, The same bulb as a helicopter searchlight or the Crew serve weapon light, but at 10 pounds, 500$, and the size of two shoe boxes it is in a field of its own. To address the issue of toughness, Im yet to shoot my streamlight, but it has been hit by our tanker on a scene, dropped in a 2 foot deep dump tank for 45 min and burned to survive with only cosmetic damage, she is a tank!

[56FordGuy]

Another +1 for Surefire, but that isn't my main point.

Be careful when dealing with Deal Extreme. They are known for cheap lights, not good products or customer service. They operate out of Asia, it's not unheard of for orders to take months to arrive. I wouldn't bet the farm on their products working every time, either.

The prices are good, though. If you want a light to play with, maybe open up and modify, they have a few that could be good host lights. I'll stick with my SureFires, though.

[jeffmem]

The Cree led lights from deal extreme are good too.

[Punisher84]

Surefire FTW. I have 1 black G2 I use at work for an extra light, a yellow G2 I keep in my BOB, and an E2D I carry.

I did buy an American Tactical light that has different intensity settings and a strobe setting, plus a strike bezel. I carry it on my duty belt and have been extremely impressed.

[LagerHead]

Another +1 for Surefire, but that isn't my main point.

Be careful when dealing with Deal Extreme. They are known for cheap lights, not good products or customer service. They operate out of Asia, it's not unheard of for orders to take months to arrive. I wouldn't bet the farm on their products working every time, either.

The prices are good, though. If you want a light to play with, maybe open up and modify, they have a few that could be good host lights. I'll stick with my SureFires, though.

I think I'm about to find out what you mean. I ordered mine on 8/20 and it hasn't even shipped yet. Guess I'll stop holding my breath. Oh, and coincidence of coincidences, when I clicked the "Live Support" link, I was informed that "Live Help staffs are busy or temporarily unavailable." Oh well. Good thing it wasn't a must have.

[Smith]

I think I'm about to find out what you mean. I ordered mine on 8/20 and it hasn't even shipped yet. Guess I'll stop holding my breath. Oh, and coincidence of coincidences, when I clicked the "Live Support" link, I was informed that "Live Help staffs are busy or temporarily unavailable." Oh well. Good thing it wasn't a must have.

Mine took a little while to get here, but it was well worth it. I might add that mine got here the day after the site showed shipped.

Edited September 2, 2009 by Smith

[bteague2]

I love my Surefire lights. I have a G2 LED that I usually carry everywhere, and a M4 Devastator that's in my pack. I couldn't be happier with either one of them. But when I go out drinking I'll swap out the G2 for a little Cree LED light that takes AAs because it's a pretty good little light, and I wouldn't be upset if I lost it.

[Sheepdog]

Another +1 for Surefire. Best lights on the planet, bar none.

That said, the fact is, you don't always need, or want the best. Sometimes, "good enough" is just that.

For instance, when I'm flying, I bring one of my lesser lights in my carry-on, lest some overzealous security guard decides my metal flashlight with crenelated bezel is a "weapon." I'd rather lose a $20 knock-off than a $100 e2d.

[wareagle]

Anyone received one of these yet? I'm thinnking about placing an order.

[Garufa]

Just received a Streamlight TLR-1 yesterday for my XDm. Brightest thing I've ever seen. It has lumens of the Sun.

Lights up every room of the house. Exactly what I wanted.

[Tobashadow]

I have had a lot of dealings with dealextreme for years now.

A couple things to point out -

Shipping can be very slow since they do not warehouse many products and get them from the manufacturers as they get orders and some things are a minimum order for them so they sometimes try to wait a bit to see if they get another order to not have to warehouse stuff. But if they have it on hand it is about 2 weeks on average to get something.

Forget the Live help and forget emailing through the email you got from them or posting on there forums or doing a Paypal dispute on a missing item. Go here - DealExtreme: Customer Service Express has always worked for me.

[Photoguy67]

Ok, if they all use different lumens ratings, how do you know what you are getting? Or is all just a crap shoot? Throw a lot of money at it and hope for the best?