I will admit. I am a Surefire whore. E2DLED kicks but. I am a flashlight bitch anyway. Fenix is great. I buy them all.
I have a borealis. It is pretty bright at 1050 lumens. The only problem is it will set fire to things.
http://www.northeastshooters.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=308805
The borealis takes the battery carrier on the right. It melts faces.
If anyone wants to buy a high end Surefire I get pretty good discounts at Midway on them.
The $30 Ultrafire I have uses 2 CR123s and puts out 250 lumens according to the mfr.
Yea I have one from ultrafire that claims 210 lumens but when compared to my surefire back up which claims 80 lumens its not even close to as bright as the surefire. The surefire looks twice as bright both with brand new surefire brand batteries.
Oh and the surefire only takes one battery where my ultrafire takes two.
You did run it up to "high" right? The UHs usually have three levels and strobe/SOS. LOL Compared to my 80 Lumen Stream Light it's much brighter.
Its just another 123A-powered light, when you get right down to it. An excellent tool, I'm sure... but some of us are moving to AA lights for general purpose use.
I'm holding out until someone makes a single AA cell light that has the features of the A2 Aviator. The Fenix LD-10 may be close... need to look at Spanky's.
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Couldn't tell you about the hybrid (multi-type battery compatibility) lights; never tried one.
The 123A cell was originally developed for use in cameras; a lot of energy packed into a small container, capable of dumping that energy quickly without over-heating or shorting out. John Matthews, founder of Laser Products (which became SureFire), was the first to figure out that a really compact, really powerful flashlight could be designed around these batteries.
Hot wires (the flashaholic term for incandescent bulbs) need a lot of power to be bright. The LED revolution, with their lower power requirements, has added another dimension, especially since the major players have finally snapped to the fact that reflector technology is what makes LEDs "throw" as good as incans- NOT raw power/size.
So you have regulated LED lights that are just as good as incans on the high setting (and with the same short battery life), yet will last for hours on low setting. The limited "testing" I have done tells me that certain 123A-powered lights will approach the run time of one using regular alkaline batteries; but the alkaline battery is still king for now. Of course, that costs you brightness and power. But for a general-purpose flashlight, one that uses alkaline cells is going to last longer on a set of batteries than a 123A-powered one.
Nickle cadmium, nickle-metal-hydride, and lithium ion rechargeables are another thing entirely, with different parameters. These you definitely want to avoid if you're looking for something to set aside for six months and have it ready to go when you pick it up and need it right NOW.
And the 123A cells definitely have a longer shelf life of all the different types. I don't buy the ten year claim, for reasons too detailed to go into here. But their usable storage life- AS LONG AS THEY ARE NOT "ACTIVATED" BY USING THEM; HOWEVER BRIEFLY- is measured in years, whereas the others are measured in months. The relatively new lihtium "standard" cells (AA, C, & D) seem to be a lot more hardy than regular alkalines, for what that's worth.
My personal plan is to have a few 123A-powered lights available at all times, for when you need it now. I have three in my little "war bag" that goes everywhere with me, plus one that I carry. My carbine has a TLR-1 on it, with 123As, as do my pistol lights.
But the lights I use every day, around the house, will soon all be AA or D cell powered. The only rechargeable lights I own are the two I liberated from the state when I retired. Rechargeable lights are all fine and good... as long as you can recharge them. It never ceases to amaze me how many people do not consider what will happen when you CANNOT recharge them; such as during a power failure.
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Nickle cadmium, nickle-metal-hydride, and lithium ion rechargeables are another thing entirely, with different parameters. These you definitely want to avoid if you're looking for something to set aside for six months and have it ready to go when you pick it up and need it right NOW.