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I know my posts always go this way, but.......get professional training. You don't know what you don't know. Borrow a light and go to a low light, or low light cqb class. You will soon learn what works and what does not. A couple things will come to "light" no pun intended, 2 will stand out early. Multi function switches are not a good idea and Surefire and Streamlight rule the dark. Check out the other students gear and see what does and doesn't survive the class. There is a reason why good lights cost what they do and why guys that depend on their gear carry them.
 
A little over a year ago it came time to either replace our aging and outdated SunLite SL6s with something new or buy another batch of NiMh cells for them. So I entered the world of LED lights and Li-Ion rechargeables.

After a few pitfalls I joined the Budget Light Forum to learn as much as i could since I'm not made of money. There are lots of reviews on the site for pretty much any configuration light you might want. Plus the folks on the site design and have fabricated their own lights. These are cutting edge lights for far less $ than they sell for after the folks in the GB get their lights.

As I sit here writing I have a light on the desk that is 3 5/8" long and 1 1/16" in diameter at the widest and it puts out 4k (actual) lumens. It's an Emisar D4 and uses 1 18650 cell. Another light on the desk is the BLF designed Q8 "soda can" light which puts out over 5k lumens and uses 4 18650 cells for incredible runtime. Both lights are what I call dragster lights, they are also wide beam lights, but even so the Q8 easily reaches out beyond 100 yards. They output much more light than their size would suggest. Currently the BLF is designing a GigaThrower (GT) that, in testing, will easily project a usable beam well over a mile.



Through knowledge garnered on the BLF I saved all sorts of $ (written in jest) and have all sorts of lights that use both Li-Ion technology and Eneloop Pro cells. Some are extremely tiny and some are quite large. That last will be my Giggles GT when it is finally released. BTW, the GT has provisions to allow it to be slung. BTW, I believe one can still get in on the GT group buy. Since it a tiered GB the lights one orders today are priced at $150. Full retail after the GB is fulfilled will be $250. But this light is a very niche light. One needn't go that big or powerful- not even close to that big. It holds 8 18650 cells but can run on 4 cells with reduced runtime. The C8 shown in comparison is a good beginners light that will run about $25 and uses 1 18650 cell.

Why do I write all of that? Just to suggest that you should go onto the forums and figure out what you want and want to spend. Some forums have "money no object" as a seeming goal. The BLF tries to keep the prices of suggested lights reasonable, quality high, and output off the charts. But lights with lesser output are also reviewed. But what's the fun in that? I like lights that go all the way from moonlight output to unbelievable. Obviously a given light will operate longer at lower output than it will when it's screamin'. It stays cooler also. Why would someone want huge output? OK, if I put the Q8 (5k+ lumens) on the floor in the saferoom, shining down the hallway it simply can't be looked at. It's a wall of light that I can hide behind and do anything I want to any perp' stupid enough to try to even enter the hallway. Most times I use it at far less output, but it's nice to have it when it's needed. Runtime on the Q8 is phenominal. I can run it for hours over the course of a few weeks at "plenty bright" output for full nights at moonlight mode as a nightlight, and after that time the cells still haven't even gone anywhere near 1/2 charge. From 4.2v to 4.0 v, half charge being 3.5ish volts.

OK, what light did I start with? Have you seen the lenser light on TV for ~$20? That light, but not for $20, they can be bought for about $10 shipped. After learning a bit I gave it and a cell to a friend and she still uses it and loves the thing. I don't suggest anyone buy one of those expensive (for what you get) lights. There's much better for just a little more $.

I you want to get up to speed fairly quickly I wrote a thread on the subject for a shaving forum. Thanks to Photobucket the pix are missing. Sorry. But the lights mentioned in the captions can be googled.
https://damnfineshave.com/thread-flashlights

After using the new lights I retired the old SL6s and they'll probably never be used again. I also have a few (at the time) hi tech LED lights from over a decade ago. At the time they were state of the art. Today they are quite dim. But I keep them in the cars since they eat nothing. I won't put cells in them, so when they die they're dead for good. LED lights and cells that run them have come a very long way.

If you move to LI-Ion technology educate yourself to stay safe. Or stay with safer NiMh cells for foolproof safety. Never use a battery company branded charger (ie: EverReady, Ray-O-Vac). They deliberately charge too fast so as to destroy the cells to get one to repurchase replacement cells. Chargers needn't coast alot either. They can be as inexpensive as $5. Of course more $ gets you more charger. A decent 4 cell charger can be had for ~$30 and it will charge NiMh and Li-Ion. Of course you can spend a great deal more. My everyday charger is a $30ish dollar charger.

As far as User Interface (UI), one can get multiple output switching, or today many UIs allow one to choose a different UI mode where one press brings it to full power, and they have other options that are user selectable. The GT, Emisar D4, and Q8 all have Narsil which allows for simplified UI modes, or the factory default ramping, like a dimmer switch. When in ramping it goes from moonlight to full output in about 4 seconds. But also in ramping it has memory, so with one click it comes back to where it was when last shut off. A double click from anywhere in the ramp brings it to full output. To make it one click for full output just shut it off there and the next on click will make it come on at full output. Of course one can select another UI mode and do away with ramping and come back to it if one tires of what was selected. Narsil allows for pretty much any UI one could ever want.

The link has a pretty fair review of the Q8 and shows Narsil in ramping mode. The dimming of the light output is the auto exposure mode of the camera.


The BLF has saved me an incredible amount of money, as was my goal. So at this point I've lost count of how many lights I have. That was a joke. But I haven't spent a great deal of $ for any of them. The GT will be by far my most expensive light to date, but it was just too good to pass up.

Today there is a light for every use and they come in pretty much any shape. That's why I suggest you go onto the Budget Light Forum specifically for decent lights at reasonable prices. They don't sell lights there. It's just a bunch of light nerds who get together to discuss reasonably priced lights of every shape and size. Every once in awhile someone will sneak in an expensive light, but not very often.

Oh, and if you do buy a light that poops itself do NOT throw it out. It can probably be repaired. As part of my school of hard knocks, before the BLF, included buying a few clone C8 lights. They didn't work. I was sent replacements. Those didn't work, more replacements that didn't work. A gent on the BLF fixed them for me for the cost of components and shipping. I think it was under $20 to fix 5 lights. The problem was that I bought cheap(er) clones of the real deal. I did the same thing with my first cells. They were super capacity and 1/3 the cost. They were junk that immediately got recycled. The BLF exposes this stuff. I sent a picture of the clones and they immediately knew they were clones. The BLF is a huge resource if you want a good light for a reasonable price and without the school of hard knocks that I went through.

If you lived near me I'd walk you through a familiarization of what I have. But I know that there are BLF members in FL. No doubt you could connect with one or more merely by expressing an interest. Hey, we're light nerds. It's what we do.
 
I did the maglite upgrades first. I liked them but wanted better and at the time was new to LED. My favorite light I own is made by zebra light. I also own products from olight, streamlight (second favorite and my hard use lights), surefire and 4sevens
 
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