Home defense flashlight

[John McCreery]

Great conversation!

I often kick around the cost vs. real benefit issue.  A really bright light that is impact resistant is really important.  How much is too much for price and how little light is too little? 

I'm not sure I want to rely on the brightness of my light to be the stopping factor for someone straight out of county.  If I'm in my home, many parking lots, buildings etc, there is some ambient light that can be enhanced by a flashlight.  If I'm in my home, I can pretty quickly figure out, even in low light, if there is someone there that is not supposed to be there.  Do I need to cover them with a flood light to figure out if they are a threat?  Nope, the mere presence is enough.  Even a small maglite can serve that purpose. 

Yes, there are people who need those high-end lights to do life saving work.  And I hope they have one when they come to save me!  The low end surefires are a good cross between cost and function and the maglites still hold up pretty well. 

Practice with what you have in scenarios that you might face and see how your light holds up.

[CZShooter]

I too have been "jonesing" for a new flashlight. The Surefire 6P LED or G2 LED is on my short list. However...I just ran across the Coleman MAX series at Wally-world. They have a couple different models for under $30 that claim 115 lumens output and run on 2 AA or 3 AAA batteries. I think I might pick one up this weekend. Has anyone else tried one?

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10196613

[Big Frank]

I thought my 120 lumen tactical weapons light was supposed to be several times brighter than my 2-cell Mag-Light but it's just a little brighter. I shined it right into my eyes in a semi-dark room and saw a few spots but wasn't blinded by it. It takes a lot better one than that to stop a fight. I'm kind of disappointed. I need to see how it compares to my 6-cell Mag-Light. That's one of the deadliest hand to hand weapons I have. For a fighting light I need to get something MUCH brighter than 120 lumens.

[ccd]

I bought one of the G2's when they came out and bought a pack of spare batteries and the 120 lumen bulb at the same time. Looked at the receipt when I got home, thought HUM THERE'S GOT TO BE A CHEAPER WAY, went to the Surefire website and ordered the conversion kit for their rechargeable batteries. Lived happily ever after since then. I have used it all the time for jogging and hiking the batteries seem to last 8 months when being constantly used, YMMV. BTW I haven't had to worry about cars hitting me any more(YES I HAVE ALWAYS WORN A REFLECTIVE BELT OR VEST.) I did have one jerk swerve towards me(it was a teenager)  thinking he was funny, needless to say I lit up his face and he straightened his course.

[CurrieS103]

These may not be what your looking for but they are impressive. I have the Bear Cub on order for work.

http://www.blackbearflashlights.com/

[Sponsor]

[charliefarmerboy33]

I use a Surefire G2. You can get them for under $40.00. My local gun shop has batteries for $1.75 per pair. While light time is about

[wisconsin]

Well since I started this thread I guess I have to revive it. With very good reason. USSA-1 told me to pony up and buy a fighting light and not mess around with lesser lights. Well give that man a cigar cause he was right on the mark. After messing around with half ass lights weather they claim high lumens or high intensity bulbs or conversions. I finally got tired of crap and ponyed up an bought one hell of a great light its called a Olight M20 Warrior from Olight USA which I bought from battery juction. I know thats probably a bold statement but here is the link for this tactical light. www.light-reviews.com/olight_m20/ It came with the orange peel reflector which is for flood. I bought the smooth reflector which is for spot for $9.95.  With 230 lumens they claim with the smooth spot reflector it will shoot out too 273 yds. Well with my range finder the best I could get was a target out to was just over 200 yds. If you were standing there at that telephone pole, it would light up the pole and show me someone was standing in front of it. The only thing stopping me from identifing you would be the strength of my eye sight. The light went for $94.95 on sale. Available in black and I believe sand. I bought two 18650 3000mah battery from utrafire for $10.95 ea./ ultrafire battery charger for $16.95. with promo sale of 5% off it came too $146.51 at my door. I should of listened to USSA-1 from the get go.

[fightingquaker13]

Although I own probably a thousand bucks worth of illumination, and think, they are mostly overpriced, I bought them anyway, as the good ones do the job, and what is job worth???

If you or USAA want to thin the herd a bit, PM me.
FQ13

[Kid Shelleen]

Go to Wally World and check out the Coleman Max. It has a tail switch and puts out 115 lumens on 3 AAA batteries for 8 hours. Very bright, compact and comes with a lanyard so you can release and recover to change mags. Costs about 30 bucks, uses cheap batteries, is plenty bright and has a longer run time than a lot of big bucks tac lights.

[TFox2112]

Has anyone else seen the Husky "tactical" lights at Home Depot? I picked one up in a pinch a few weeks back and it blows my G2's out of the water. It uses 3 AAA batteries instead of the 123 lithiums and it is an LED to boot. All aluminum with a small clip to hang in the pocket and a tailcap switch. It is a little bigger around than the G2 but still fairly comfortable in the hand. All for a hair over $20.00. Absolutely no compliants here.