on March 22, 2010 5:19 PM
I picked up a couple of flashlights recently (paid for out of my own pocket) and thought I would use them as blog fodder. Now I know there are some people who are seriously obsessed with flashlights, I am not one of them, nor am I up to speed on all the technical specifications and details, but I do know what I like.
SacredFire NF-007
This is quite possibly the dumbest thing you could name a flashlight. For the money ($11) though, this thing flat out rocks. I originally was looking into the Surefire E1B as an every day carry, but just couldn't justify that kind of money for a flashlight, especially something small I could lose easily. I wouldn't say the 007 is equivalent to the E1B, but it's small, fits in a pocket easily and puts out some serious light. (Which is what I was wanting.)
One of the things I really like it is that it can use a variety of batteries. 1xAAA, 1XAA, or 1xCR123 (including the rechargeable types). You can be pretty sure of finding at least one of those types at any random gas station or convenience store.
Battery life and output is more than acceptable for ohshit use with the rechargeable CR123 batteries, 110 lumens for 50 minutes.
I do prefer a momentary tail cap switch over the clicky type the 007 has, but all in all it's not that big of a deal.
The light it puts out is very good. It's nicely focused, but not too narrow and throws a long way. (How long exactly, I'm not sure, but I took it out tonight and was lighting up my car from 4 houses down and across the street, roughly 70 yards.)
I'm thinking about ordering several more to stash in the car and as gifts. It's a neat light for a great price.
Fenix LD20
This was kind of a spur of the moment buy. It's a lot more expensive than the 007 ($50) but still fairly cheap compared to other lights with similar features.
This light, to me, is more something I would take camping or hunting, but it does have two modes that are more "tactical".
Turbo mode is 180 lumens for 2 hours. If you do a half-click on the tail cap you get a 180 lumen strobe light, which I can tell you is both blinding and disorienting. Could you engage the strobe light mode if someone was trying to stab you? Probably not. Still, I guess it's cool.
The general mode is roughly 90 lumens (a guess) and still pretty darn bright and lasts longer than turbo mode (not sure how much longer).
There's also a medium mode, and survival mode. Survival mode is 9 lumens and lasts 71 hours according to the box. Apparently survival mode does not work with lithium batteries though. I'll swap out the lithiums I have in there now if/when I take it out camping.
Finally there is an SOS mode which blinks out SOS in Morse code.
It does fit in a pocket, but it's a little on the long side. It's probably not something you would want to carry there everyday, though I did that for 3 days this weekend, so it is possible. They do throw in a lanyard, belt clip, and belt holster though, if you would rather carry one of those ways. I prefer pocket carry myself.
SacredFire NF-007
This is quite possibly the dumbest thing you could name a flashlight. For the money ($11) though, this thing flat out rocks. I originally was looking into the Surefire E1B as an every day carry, but just couldn't justify that kind of money for a flashlight, especially something small I could lose easily. I wouldn't say the 007 is equivalent to the E1B, but it's small, fits in a pocket easily and puts out some serious light. (Which is what I was wanting.)
One of the things I really like it is that it can use a variety of batteries. 1xAAA, 1XAA, or 1xCR123 (including the rechargeable types). You can be pretty sure of finding at least one of those types at any random gas station or convenience store.
Battery life and output is more than acceptable for ohshit use with the rechargeable CR123 batteries, 110 lumens for 50 minutes.
I do prefer a momentary tail cap switch over the clicky type the 007 has, but all in all it's not that big of a deal.
The light it puts out is very good. It's nicely focused, but not too narrow and throws a long way. (How long exactly, I'm not sure, but I took it out tonight and was lighting up my car from 4 houses down and across the street, roughly 70 yards.)
I'm thinking about ordering several more to stash in the car and as gifts. It's a neat light for a great price.
Fenix LD20
This was kind of a spur of the moment buy. It's a lot more expensive than the 007 ($50) but still fairly cheap compared to other lights with similar features.
This light, to me, is more something I would take camping or hunting, but it does have two modes that are more "tactical".
Turbo mode is 180 lumens for 2 hours. If you do a half-click on the tail cap you get a 180 lumen strobe light, which I can tell you is both blinding and disorienting. Could you engage the strobe light mode if someone was trying to stab you? Probably not. Still, I guess it's cool.
The general mode is roughly 90 lumens (a guess) and still pretty darn bright and lasts longer than turbo mode (not sure how much longer).
There's also a medium mode, and survival mode. Survival mode is 9 lumens and lasts 71 hours according to the box. Apparently survival mode does not work with lithium batteries though. I'll swap out the lithiums I have in there now if/when I take it out camping.
Finally there is an SOS mode which blinks out SOS in Morse code.
It does fit in a pocket, but it's a little on the long side. It's probably not something you would want to carry there everyday, though I did that for 3 days this weekend, so it is possible. They do throw in a lanyard, belt clip, and belt holster though, if you would rather carry one of those ways. I prefer pocket carry myself.
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