Hello everyone. I need your help!

[Hoky_Tonk69]

I am in the market for a BRIGHT tactical flashlight under $100

Anyone have any suggestions?

[Erik88]

Fenix PD31

[Lumber_Jack]

Streamlight Pro Tac 2L, costs about 50 bucks, 180 lumens on high, uses 2 - cr123 batteries.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005G4G7ZM?vid=NO

[Lumber_Jack]

ATAC from 5.11

$85 and 222 lumens(thats bright)

http://www.511tactical.com/All-Products/Flashlights/ATAC-L2-Flashlight.html

[bronco302]

SIPIK SK68 Cree Q3-WC 120-Lumen Convex Lens LED Flashlight - Black (1*AA/1*14500) - Free Shipping - DealExtreme Everyone I have shown mine to has now has one.

Joe W.

[Guest dubaholic2]

Gander Mountain® > GSX 235 Lumen Tactical Handheld LED Flashlight - Hunting > Lights > Flashlights : this is a badass light! i bought one when they were on sale at christmas and it was worth every penny. very durable and extremely bright at 235 lumens.

[EMB145]

ITP SC2. I have an older version with the R3 emitter. This one is rated 50 lumens more than what I have.

iTP SC2 Eluma LED Flashlight with Cree R5 LED - 270 lumens on 2xCR123A Batteries

I use mine everyday, dropped it a few times and still running. Its' been a well invested $40 bucks to me.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Lots of good stuff lately, seems getting better.

In a small light, the brighter the light, the shorter run time if you've gotta run in high mode all the time. But you don't have to run in high mode all the time, so for occasional bright use maybe the brighter the better?

Many good brands as far as I can tell.

I ain't made of money and have only got two "bright" lights as of now. Have not been displeased with Fenix but I haven't left em in a mudhole for two days, run em over with the truck, or used em for hammers. Have only had the oldest a little more than a year, so maybe another brand is better or more rugged. Dunno. My two Fenix ain't broke yet, but it could happen tomorrow for all I know.

Maybe I would have been as good or more pleased with other brands. I don't have experience with other brands and dunno.

Got a Fenix TK-15 that is pretty good. They have several TK and PD models. Maybe the company makes too many different lights and loses sales because of customer indecision. Slight differences in features and brightness between models.

The guy from the atlanta store GoingGear.com makes good informative video reviews of many brands including Fenix, and every time I ordered from him he delivered fine. Maybe all the other stores are as good or better, dunno. Talked to the dude on the phone one time and it wasn't difficult to get ahold of him and he was informative, helpful, polite.

This one looks interesting, TK-21

Going Gear - Fenix TK21 U2 Special Edition XM-L U2 LED 468 Lumen Flashlight

That is pretty bright in a "mid size" light.

Here is a link to his page that lists all the fenix lights. Several on the list would be small and bright. Difficult to decide based on minor differences.

Going Gear - Flashlights

The eye's response to light is logarithmic, so a light that makes twice as many lumens is not gonna look twice as bright to yer eyeball. So other thinge being equal (beam spread, reliability, ease of use, etc) if one light at 300 lumens looks overall better for you than some other light at 400 lumens, the brightness ain't gonna be that much different as far as your eye will notice.

Lumens have to get substantially different between two lights before yer eyeball will notice a difference. And if a dimmer light has a tighter beam, it may "seem" to be brighter to your eye, if you are looking for a light with a bright tight beam.

[gunrunner32]

I have the Fenix Erik mentioned and it works great, I've had people at work try to "acquire" it from me when I wasn't looking. My wife has a Streamlight LED Scorpion and she likes it pretty well, she hasn't tried to take my Fenix yet.

[peejman]

Primary Arms Ultimate Weapon Light - PAWL-01 - Primary Arms

[kb4ns]

Like Lester said, we are lucky because there are a ton of great options out there. The best flashlight I own is a Fenix. Also, for the money ($30ish), the Streamlight PolyTac LED is pretty good. It's what I carry at work.

[Guest Sgt. Joe]

Fenix PD31

I also have two Fenix-PD31's and IIRC they operate from a low of 20 lumens up to a Max 304 lumens. Looking at their site I no longer see the 31 and I do remember them saying that they were a limited edition. But they do have the PD30 with a Max of 257 lumens for $65.00 and also the Fenix PD32 with a Max of 315 lumens for $68.00 both of which would be fine flashlights.

What I like about these lights is the different settings, on the PD31 there are three on the low side and then a setting that transmits S O S, and then one Max setting that will then also produce a blinding strobe function.

I like these lights enough that I am considering getting one of their TK series lights which have the same settings but Max at 800 lumens and are a bit longer and bigger around, there are several models of the TK series also and start at about $100.00. I never would have thought that I would even consider that much money for a flashlight but I feel that they are worth every penny.

Fenix

I also have a Streamlight that I happened to buy from KB4NS nearly two years ago and it is still going strong. I dont know what the exact output is but it is very bright, I would guess it is about 200 lumens. The only thing I dont like about that particular Streamlight is that it only has the one setting and will go through batteries quicker than the Fenix lights when they are used on one of the lower settings.

It is a good time to be looking for a good light as there are many many more out there both cheaper and some much more expensive.

For me the PD31 is just about perfect. And YEP ya better keep an eye on it as I am sure they would wander off otherwise.

[NadieLite]

Does Fenix make a flashlight rated for gun mounting?

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Does Fenix make a flashlight rated for gun mounting?

Somebody please correct me if this is wrong info-- AFAIK many of the rifle flashlight mounts are looking for a flashlight barrel diameter of about 1 inch. Several of the fenix TK lights have that barrel diameter. I assume TK is sposed to stand for "tacticool".

Haven't tried to mount my TK-15 on a rifle, but I think all you have to do is put it in a weapon light mount, and replace the end cap with a pressure switch mounted somewhere on the gun where it is easy to control. Several or possibly all the TK line remembers the last brightness setting, so if you last set it to low, then every time you turn it on it will be in low. If you last set it to high, then every time you turn it on it will be in high.

A few of the TK lights are more night-watchman-size, and either a lot brighter than smaller ones, or a lot longer-running at similar brightness to the smaller ones. I have a TK-45 like that that is very easy to use and dang bright for a light about the same size as an old fasioned two-D-cell flashlight. And a couple of TK lights are about the size of a four-D-cell flahlight.

I think in general the PD lights are slightly smaller, more pocketable and easier to hide most of the light in the hand. Presumably PD stands for police dept. A TK-15 or TK-21 fits in a pocket and holds in the hand nicely, but the PD lights are noticeably smaller.

[Dolomite_supafly]

I bought a Surefire G2 for under $40 then added a $25 CREE LED replacement bulb. It is very white and it will scorch your retinas out of your head. It also throws light at least 75 yards which is great for a LED bulb. It has a very fine spot as well as wide flood at the same time. The flood is about 1/2 the strength of the main beam is.

I do belive this is the one:

Solarforce XM-L Cree T6 820 Lumens Led Bulb for 6P G2 | eBay

It is very, very bright. The bulb is indestructible and battery life is pretty good for what it is.

Dolomite

[NadieLite]

Thanks. I have been running a Streamlight polytac LED at 120 lumens on my AR for a year but I want more lumens and I want a flashlight rated for impact. The circuit boards in the flashlight need to be protected from the recoil but I don't want to spend $200 for a surefire.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

I bought a Surefire G2 for under $40 then added a $25 CREE LED replacement bulb. It is very white and it will scorch your retinas out of your head. It also throws light at least 75 yards which is great for a LED bulb. It has a very fine spot as well as wide flood at the same time. The flood is about 1/2 the strength of the main beam is.

I do belive this is the one:

Solarforce XM-L Cree T6 820 Lumens Led Bulb for 6P G2 | eBay

It is very, very bright. The bulb is indestructible and battery life is pretty good for what it is.

Dolomite

That looks neat, Dolomite

That sounds like a great price and a very bright light in that small a flashlight?

I don't recall seeing commercially-sold lights as small as a 6P or G2 spec'd for quite that bright of light output, but maybe they are out there and just never noticed. Sounds like you are also getting something rather unique in today's market, along with the good price!

If you run it awhile, does it get kinda hot near the light head?

Edited January 27, 2012 by Lester Weevils

[Trekbike]

Streamlight Pro Tac 2L, costs about 50 bucks, 180 lumens on high, uses 2 - cr123 batteries.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005G4G7ZM?vid=NO

I've got two and highly recommend.