flashlight questions and suggestions
 

Hey I've searched the forms but I just want some straight answers.

Flashlights can be $10 - $500. I understand brightness + some features. But what stops a BB breaking the glass of a flashlight even if its deemed "tactical"?

Why would I pay higher prices vs lower ones for a flashlight?

And what recommendations would ASC suggest without breaking the bank? (would love to find one with a pressure switch)

Cheers,
Jake

Personnally took mine on some biding site for not telling it :P Works awesome, came with a RIS mount, as well as a barrel RIS adapter and a remote switch. Fried the bulb because I used rechargeable CR123, and replaced it with a CREE Led bulb, provides a great illumination.

Brightness, spread of the light, battery life, external quality all determine the costs of a flashlight. The higher priced ones are typically your dedicated weapon lights such as the Surefire Scout series. The dedicated weapon lights will cost more as they are specialized and built to handle the recoil of an actual firearm.

for a great set up without breaking the bank I would go with a Surefire 6P LED, with a remote pressure switch and a Rail mount for it. Simple, great quality light with lifetime warranty, works great both on and off your gun. Total would run you around $100

Tons of other options if you want to go with clone lights which offer the dedicated weapon light look without breaking the bank.

You went with my advice. :D

Cool flashlight the reviews are great. But is 80 lumens enough for Airsoft? Or should I go for more powerful?

I looked at reviews on this, seems like a good deal:
http://airsoftdepot.ca/catalog/produ...roducts_id=632

How do I know it can withstand a BB impact? Or is that why I go with Surefire? Does there warranty cover BB impact? :p

What about this? wow XD

http://www.fenixtactical.com/fenix-tk15.html

In GTA too, and they sell pressure switch.

+1 to the Surefire 6P works great on my M4, Pressure switch was hard to find though.

Im a Surefire fanboy, mine has taken BB hits, dropped it off my roof once, it gets beat all the time and still works like new. best money I ever spent one a flashlight. 80 lumens is plenty enough for airsoft, it easily lights up the range of 90% if the airsoft guns out there. plus its bright enough to give you a significant tactical advantage at night.

I bought all of my stuff from http://911supply.ca/ They also have pressure switches for the 6P

Ok the TK15 it is... sorry too good a price and surefire is really overpriced!

Batteries? 18650, I know I need protected. I hear horror stories about batteries all the time, so what charger and batteries did you guys get?

What brands to stay clear from?

Oh and how do I know if the flashlight will take flat top or button top batteries?

Check out the maelstrom G5 R5 Edition from 4sevens.com. They are out standing company in market of flashlight from EDC to Tactical.

I personally like their flashlight, they stand behind their product.

Surefire are great, I own 6P LED Defender. Awesome little flashlight but Fenix beats the hell out of it in terms of lumens and price. My friend got a TK15 recently... his was way brighter and lighter than mines.

Surefire's are really expensive. The cheap ACM stuff is hit or miss. If you want a quality flashlight, you are looking at spending around 100 dollars. I can recommend Fenix, Pelican, Surefire and any insight technologies light. I owned all of these brands of lights and still do. Except for surefire they offer excellent quality for dollars spent.

I bought an Olight M20 from Airsoftparts and I love it. It has 4 modes: low, med, high and strobe. Comes with some extras that were neat. There are also filter, rail and and pressure switch accessories available. I have yet to be shot in the lense/bulb area, so I can't tell you if it is durable enough to take it.

It's around the $100 mark (not including accessories). IMO it is overkill for airsoft (320 lumens on the highest setting), but I appreciate a good light, and I don't regret buying it.

http://www.airsoftparts.ca/store2/in...oducts_id=1799

My dad bought a Surefire Vampire for work. Thing is so sexy.

What are you looking to mount it on? I'm guessing a long gun,I started running something alittle different last season it's a STL-300J Siglite made by Sig Sauer. It also has a laser as well,works awsome,but it uses 4 cr123's. They last alongtime and are freak'n bright! Look it up and see what you think.

I bought a King Arms M3, it wasnt half bad.. Around $45-50

To mount on an M4.

Thank guys I ordered the TK15 from fenix canada! Damn good quality vs price, couldn't beat it, $120 including tax + shipping + pressure switch.

My mate thinks I'm dumb spending $$$ on a flashlight, but I'll just laugh when his breaks by a BB. Or when I need to see 200m away :D

Surefires work good and are usually quite reliable, but are also overpriced for what you get. Fenix lights are awesome for their quality/performance/price ratio.

The Element repros of the Surefires have probably the best ratio around. They take rechargable CR123 without issues (I ran 3x 3.6v ones... which output 3x4.2v when fully charged; didn't burst anything and gave an awesome light output!)

That is, if you don't mind having knockoffs.

Could you guys help me? I'd like to buy a flashlight for my gun and I've got 2 problems/questions.

1. I don't use front grip (and I won't) so I don't want a remote pressure switch, which leaves me with the classic switch at the end of flashlight. However, I don't like the system, where you have to push it once to turn it on and second time to turn it off. I need it only for quick, short blinking. I don't want to have it turned on for extended period of time and I definitely don't care about strobe effect. So what I am looking for is flashlight with the type of switch you have to hold and when you release it, it will turn off. Some tips? Either a specific product or something that could help.

2. Lumens. I watched plenty of youtube videos but I am still uncertain about this part. Is 100 lm flashlight enough? I won't use it to blind some poor guy, I need it only to make a quick picture of what is few meters in front of me while in the pitch black.

what kind of gun? do you have rails? just because you don't use a forward grip doesn't mean a pressure switch is out of the question. most pressure switches are momentary on which is what you want. finding a flashlight that has a momentary on button might be tough and hard to actuate. also sucks that a lot of manufactures are adding countless useless modes. anyway, most guys mount the pressure switch with velcro or double sided tape to where their thumb would be.

I've got Masada, so I'll buy a rails for flashlight, but other than that I'd like to keep it as clean as possible. I've got pressure switch on my AK and I'm very excited about it. I also wouldn't like to turn it on by an accident.

For a WML, i would want 100 lumens minimum. Hell, the surefire light on my RS Mossberg is 100 lumens. It's great. As for protecting the lens, pick up a set of lens protecters from Amos. They are virtually indestructible and can take direct BB hits. I put them on my scope and light (back when i played airsoft).

OK, just in case someone would have the same problem as me:
I've bought EagleTac T100C2 Mark ll. It has momentary on function, two modes, no strobe. First mode is 200 lumens and second around 50 or 60.

200 lumens mode is something I'm afraid to use in AS, since it could easily cause harm to anyone who would "catch" it right in to the eye. When I turn it on in my room and illuminate the opposite wall (let's say 4 meters across) it is very uncomfortable to look at. If I would try to see what's right under my feet in the pitch black, it would hurt a lot.
60 lumens is better, but I'll be aware not to flash it to someones face anyway.

I've paid for it 45€, since it is old model and I'm happy I didn't buy something with 300+ lumens.

Hope it'll help someone. Cheers

SureFire Flashlights are very good. That being said, fenix is topping the charts in pretty much every catagory. On my sales thread - HERE - i have a link to the Top 50 flashlights of 2010

Sorry for bumping a somewhat old thread, but I didn't want to start another of basically the same. I'm trying to decide on a light, I've kind of narrowed it down to the Fenix TK15 R5, and the Olight M3X Triton. After being on the receiving end of both normal and strobe lights at Rhino, I'd definitely like to get one, as they certainly affected me at times. Now, I already have a G&P M500, but I'm hoping to upgrade to a RIS rail soon, so a new primary light for when that happens, or just a secondary backup for my vest would be a nice investment.

That brings to question, is the M3X's head (and overall body I guess) as big as it seems? I don't imagine it'll fit in many normal sized flashlight pouches? 700 Lumens also seems extremely over the top (considering how bright my M500 is). Also, accessories. I'll most likely get the pressure switch for whichever, but should I get other things, like the colour filters?

Lastly, batteries. I've seen mention of bad things about the RCR123A batteries. Should I be looking at the 18650s or CR123As? Thanks in advance guys, hopefully I can get this all sorted, just another thing I'm a newbie at heh.

1x 18650 will have better run times then 2x RCR123a batteries. I wouldnt say there is anything wrong with RCR123a batteries, mainly just the quality of the battery used. The RCR123a and the 18650 batteries are basically the same thing, just the RCR123a's are half the size (same chemistry/same voltage).

Going to be purchasing my cree from these guys. http://www.phoebus.com/flashlights.html, they have a Canadian distributer in Cambridge Ontario. SoG (Stratigic Ops Group) Excellent quality.

Anyone have experience with Sunwayman line of tactical flashlights? Im looking at Milsig.ca and they seem to be decent looking and quality from what ive read. The only question is do they have accessories such as a picanny tail and rail mounts for them?. Surefire is also another brand that im interested in. I will be using this light not only on my rifle but as well as real life work, any suggestions?

I was also thinking about Phoebus

Iv been using a Fenix PD31 for work and play ;) for the past month. Works great. 6 power modes and is rated at 304 lumens.

I love my PD31, It is part of my EDC along with my E05 on my key chain.

I also have a TK35 that I taking camping and usually leave in my car, and I just ordered a TK60, and another E05 for my dad.

all in all, Fenix is a GREAT company that makes GREAT lights.

I picked up a 50million candle power flashlight at Costco for $49.99 last fall. Works great, lights up about 2 city blocks in the middle of the night. Seriously you can turn it on, set it down and walk 2 city blocks in the light with no issues seeing.

Just ordered a TK15, and an E05 after seeing you mention it and checking out the review. Looks like a handy little light to have on your key chain.

Are there any decent tactical lights that run off of AA's?

I got myself a 4Sevens Quark 123² Turbo "X"

This puppy is BRIGHT. 450 Lumens. It can be programmed to hold 2 different lighting types in memory at a time, wich is with head fully screwed in, and not fully screwed in... lets call it low and high mode.

the different modes are, as shown on the website,
Moonlight: 0.3 lumens for 20 days, (1ma)
Low: 8 lumens for 2.6 days (10ma)
Medium: 60 lumens for 13 hours (50ma)
High: 260 lumens for 3 hours (250ma)
Max: 450 lumens for 1.5 hours (990ma)
Strobe: 450 lumens for 3 hours
SOS: 450 lumens for 6 hours
Beacon: 0-450 lumens pulse for 15 hours


I use the flashlight for both airsoft and urban exploration.

For urban exploration, I set the low mode to medium and high mode to either High or Max mode.

For aisoft, I set the low mode at low or medium(I prefer low so it doesn't ruin my night vision as much as medium...), and I set the hight mode on strobe, A strobe at 450 lumens WILL make everybody in front totally incapable of doing anything, especially when in extremely low light. The only drawback is that It totally ruin my night vision for a good 10 minutes lol.

So yeah, I say "I set it to", but actually its more like "I will set it up to" as I didn't used it for airsoft yet... I kindof hesitate because I fear the glass will shatter if a BB hits it... I' also need to find a way to protect it...

Anyone with the Fenix TK15, have you noticed a way to get at the lense to replace it? Does it need replacing? Can it take BB shots? I've seen people have their lights shot out at OPs, so I'd rather not have an $80 light smashed heh.

I had similar worry, the LED is good for what amounts to your life time of use some 50,000 hours of continuous run time. You don't really need to replace it. If anything buy a replacement bezel with a newer LED with better electronics when that time comes.

As for the BB. I was told by the Fenix dealer that the are rated to take simunition hits. Our local Sherrifs started carrying them I believe 2 years ago now. I was told that the Fenix TKxx is the issue flashlight for Calgary police.

Any decent brand will have replacement parts, though in the case of my Surefires I never had an issue, and these are work lights.

I did an installation job once with only my M3 as a hammer, the bulb had no issues taking the beating. That's why you pay a premium.

The prices are high, though you can rummage around on light dedicated forums like CPF to find amazing deals, especially on used items. My M3 setup cost me a fraction of the near 1000$ sticker price.

That site also has the best resources hands down for these types of questions.

I love my surefire. 2 years and still strong. Best thing IMO is the warranty. Any thing happens to it and I get it replaced. So to me the extra 20$ as the initial cost was far worth it.

Sheriffs are issued a Streamlight flashlight, not Fenix. Calgary Police are also issued Streamlight flashlights, but have the option to carry what ever they want. I do see several members sporting Surefire's and Fenix lights.

Sweeet :D

I am surprised that I did not post this last time - http://www.2centtac.com/?p=559

Review on the E05.

This may be a silly question but where do flashlights fit into airsoft? The last night game I played everyone got upset whenever someone used their flashlight. They preferred to walk in the dark using their natural "night vision". So everyone had lights but nobody used them. This was an outdoor game.

Clearing buildings, finding/blinding bad guys, finding your bag of beef jerky.

At night while patroling, lights are bad, but once you are bumped you need to know where the opfor is and the best way to do that is with light. If your light is bright enough you can fuck up thier vision too so they will be less effective against you.