OT: Light comparisons
Something I wrote up for another site which I thought some here might find useful and interesting. Pics are from my wifes phone which I am trying to learn how to use and are quite crappy.
There are so many ways one can be caught in the dark, blackout, power failure, car accident, and all have one thing in common, needless trouble. In this day and age I find there is less reason than ever for anyone to be in the dark in an emergency, or in a self-defense setting. Flashlight technology, and battery technology has come to the point that small easily carried personal use lights are available in all price ranges. This particular article is concerned specifically with AAA lights, my own particular favorite, but there are comparable sized AA and CR123 lithium lights in those respective sizes easily available also. There are also excellent rechargeable batteries for high use lights to keep battery prices down, and lithium AA and AAA batteries for lights, which sit for longer periods and for those lights, which can be expected to be used for long time periods at a time.
So lets get into the meat of the thing, there are generally two recognized type of lights general/emergency type lights, and defensive use lights. The largest difference in the two being the brightness of the light output, with a secondary recognized difference in the way the light is turned on. Defensive purpose, or what are incorrectly termed tactical lights are recognized by most trainers I have talked to, to be those lights of at least 80 lumens and most often have a forward clicky switch, with a momentary on being very handy for quick flashes. Another important feature is that if they are multilevel lights they come on in high power mode initially and do not change accidently by using momentary on function.
Lets pause one second here to talk lumens. There are various ways to determine lumens and no regulated way to report lumen output, some companies even use candlepower. Therefore some lumen rating will be more, some less, so use this as a general guideline unless you have your own way to accurately measure lumens, I don’t. General utility lights are usually much less lumen output, or have multiple lumen output with some low settings for long use where less lumens are handy. These type lights can be activated by either forward or backward clicky switches, or twist head switches, both work equally well in general use. Just make sure it can be operated with one hand for emergency uses.
There are nice candidates out there these days in all battery sizes for each category, but for my money the AAA lights make carrying one, in each category, so easy as to be almost neglectful not to do so. I will list a few such options, but remember these are just the ones I own, and there are a lot more out there. So do not think these are all that is available.
I have always been a fan of the AAA penlight for every day use, but until recently the best I could do for a reasonable amount of light was the AAA Minimag. Useful size, and semi-useful light output, but the battery life was less than desirable, and do not even talk replacing a blown bulb in the dark, fun stuff. Nowadays I find my options wide open for a general carry light.
For comparison purposes there are a few old style popular lights to compare to:
Maglight 3C 76 lumens 1 hour to 50% and 8 hours to dead
Maglight 2AA 5.3 lumens 30 minutes to 50% and 5 hours dead
Maglight 2AAA 2.3 lumens 45 minutes to 50% and 2 hours dead
Maglight Solitare 1 AAA 1 lumen 30 minutes to 50% and 3 hours dead
Surefire 6P 120 lumens 20 minutes to 50% 30 minutes dead
My current favorite general purpose lights are carried in a number of ways, the picture shows the AA and AAA Minimags for size comparison. In order they are:
1.Fenix L0PSE – this is an older light now replaced by the L0D Fenix series. This is a twisty head light with three level settings, which provides me with plenty of light options and long runtime. This is carried in my pocket every day. I cannot find the manufacturers specs anymore but the L0Ds are easily available. They provide 85, 28, 9 lumens for 1, 3.5, and 11 hours respectively. The price is around $35.
2.Streamlight Microstream – Forward clicky 1AAA light I carry in my shorts or sweatpants everyday, one of my most used lights. It provides 28 lumens for 2.5 hours. It normally costs around $20.
3.Streamlight Stylus Pro – Forward clicky 2 AAA light I carry in my workbag for daily inspections. Provides 48 lumens for about 6 hours runtime, all for about $22. There is also a Pro Tac AAA version whish provides defensive use capability throwing 80 lumens with a forward clicky momentary on capable switch.
4.Four Sevens Preon II – Reverse clicky design with no momentary on, uses 2 AAA batteries. I carry this one every day in my leather jacket or winter coat. Occasionally in my hip pocket when wandering out at night in warmer weather. It provides 2.2, 22, and 160 lumens (plus some other various settings like SOS) for 23, 6, and 8/10s hours respectively. Prices normally range around $50 for this beauty.
Now with improved Cree and other type LED technology there are updated tactical and defensive lights as well, in very reasonable price ranges. I have two relatively new lights in this category for AAA, which look extremely promising and reliable so far; with the added bonus they are each below $20. In the picture they are as follows:
1.Romisen RC-F7 – 1 AAA forward clicky light with momentary on, which I have been carrying in my change pocket. It provides 90 lumens for over 30 minutes when I tested the run time. The cost was only $13. This one if it lasts like I hope is a best-sized buy for a defensive light and will be a perfect pocket carry companion for my longer lasting Fenix L0P.
2.TerraLux Lightstar 80 – a 2 AAA forward clicky light with momentary on. This provides 80 lumens for 5 hours. This one I just received and have not found a place for, but it might replace the Preon in my jacket for it’s momentary on feature if it work and lasts well. An added feature is the rubber bite pad for moth holding use. Price was a reasonable $18.
There are a few of my favorite AAA options and how I carry them. They are the best I have found for myself, they serve me extremely well. Todays lights are smaller, brigher and cheaper then ever, so you should never have a reason to be caught in the dark.
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Originally Posted by S.L.Dickinson
