Looking to buy a true 1000+ lumen flashlight. It will will be used for home defense and maybe a mount for my ar. When not in use it will be in the car. Please let me know of your personal experiences.

Your choice, but you may be overpowering for your home defense purpose unless you have really big rooms. Reflectivity can be a problem inside a house at night. A quick search will turn up some discussions. Not telling you not to get what you want, but you might consider different truck light and home defense lights (coming from a flashlightaholic).

Listen to the above advice.

As far as the light you're looking for check out the Streamlight ProTac 3.

https://www.amazon.com/Streamlight-88047-Professional-Tactical-Batteries/dp/B00HYNMPH2?tag=vglnk-c102-20

I've been carrying this light EDC for the past few years and it's working great and well made.  The link I've posted includes a mount and end cap/tape switch for $80 on Amazon.com.


NiteCore P12

This runs on 18650's or 2 of the CR123's pictured.  I find that I can literally go months between battery charges with an 18650.

Whatever you buy I would look for something that runs on 18650 batteries. Then have two batteries and a charger and just swap them out as needed.

It sounds like what you really need is not one light but several. Personally I have at least a dozen flashlights and each has its own place. The lights range from cheapo costco lights that are only a few bucks a piece to a 3,000 lumen surefire hellfighter. My most go-to light is a fenix PD35 and that is also what I carry in my EDC bag I take to work with me. One of the features I like about that particular light compared to some of my others is that it has more brightness modes which means I can find one to suit what I am doing. For majority of what I use the light for the brightest settings are just too bright.

Check out the Surefire P3X Fury and the Elzetta Charlie

Zebra light SC600 3.

you might look at a SolarForce K3 head on an L2N body with an extender tube for a 3 x cr123 cell.... I have a slightly less output M3 head on a similar host... the M3 throws a wider glob of light than my Streamlight SuperTac and has 3 power settings... the P60 size L2M (modular) in the center is 1x18650 powered using the lower power requiring XP-G module... the smaller die size appears to be really centered in the focal point, and really puts out a lot of light for a small P60 size head

I appreciate your feedback I'm not a big flashlight guy but I just want a solid light.

21Savage... SolarForce and Convoy (check out Mountain Electronics) are Chinese companies that make pretty well built flashlight bodies, and sell LED modules (with reflector) of a wide variety, which allows you to custom build your flashlight... they also have completed units.. they are very well priced for what you get...the body is typically around $15 and the module less than $20 for  a P60 (Surefire 6P size) head... the SolarForce M and K heads are larger than the P60 versions... if you don't want to get into the re chargable 18650 cells, 2 x cr123s are the same length,  but put out 6v tatal as opposed to the 18650s 4.2v hence the need for attention to the voltage requirement of the LED module...

if you don't really need the 1000 lumens for a weapon light, a good compromise would be a P60 size like the L2M and an offset mount like a Viking Tactics unit... if you want a super short light, the L2M unscrews a section to a single 123 cell length, and with the low voltage module would make a compact weapon light

Lumens is just a measurement of ALL light being emitted by the diode (LED,) in all directions.

It doesn't mean that a 1000LM light is channeling those photons out the front of the light.

You want LUX, which a specific amount of light placed on a target at a specific distance.

Most light makers use something like .25 LUX at 100 yards, which isn't a lot.

If you want to blind somebody, lumens can matter, but really, anything over say a 300LM level, will cause them to see spots for a bit.

Beam profile is probably a better factor to consider if you want to burn some retinas--pencil beam is what you want.

Chris

I went through a lot of flashlights for EDC and potential home defense but ended up with a Fenix PD32. It's a keeper because of it's size, convenience, reliability and a 900 lumen light output (with one 18650 battery). It fits inside my jeans pocket with it's convenient pocket clip. The flashlight has a convenient switch on the side to switch light output intensity (4 levels) and an On/Off switch at the end. It always goes to the light intensity it was set to last time it was used.  I only use it at full output when checking the area outside. A lower intensity setting is enough for most jobs.  A single rechargeable 18650 battery lasts for long time, even at full power and the flashlight does not get very hot at full brightness.. Two CR132 batteries can be used instead. I like it a lot and highly recommend it.

Another thing I would highly recommend is a quality headlamp. They re awfully convenient. I really like a ThruNite TH20 model. It's small, convenient and has an adjustable intensity switch from barely visible to a full 550 lumens. It can be used with a single AA battery or a rechargeable battery. Quality is nice and it gets great reviews.

You need multiple flashlights, not one big flashlight.

If you need a flashlight for home defense, that flashlight should be right where you need it...already mounted on your rifle, not in your truck parked on the street; not sitting in another room, not sitting next to your rifle where it'll take you 15 minutes to mount it.

1000 lumens is excessive to the point of being counterproductive for a defensive light. You want to blind the other guy with a quick flash (and use the splash to identify anything else in the room). You don't want to blind yourself with light reflecting off the walls, furniture, etc., and into your eyes.

My recommendation would be:
- Get a Surefire G2X (or whatever the equivalent is these days) and mount it on your rifle. Should be around $60 not including the mount.
- Get a small EDC flashlight for your pocket. Something like the Fenix LD09 or LD12 is a good option, as long as you're somewhere around 100 to 200 lumens.
- Get a headlamp. When the power goes out for hours or days (yes, happens) having a hands-free light beats trying to hold a flashlight in your teeth while working on things. Personally I have a Fenix HL21, but I think the HL23 is the closest equivalent they currently make.

If you want a dedicated vehicle light, I'd probably add a couple more of the LD09 or LD12's. The Icon Rogue series used to be a really good deal and extremely durable, but I'm not sure if they're still around.

Correct answer, was going to suggest this too.

OP, why do you think you need 1k lumens? Why not 700 or 1500?

The ZL SC600 Mk. III is a nice light, but one needs to use li-ion 18650s, since it won't run on CR123As and it needs a high drain 18650 on top of that.  It's also more of a flooder, if that matters.  The U.I. isn't for everybody, either.

Chris

I've had excellent luck with the Klarus XT11.  I have several and not a single failure yet.  Very VERY bright, several settings, long run time, and uses rechargeable 18650 (1x) or CR123 (2x) batteries.  I've played with a lot of lights in this size/output range, and these are the best performers I've run across to date.  Not too bad on price either at around $65-$70 each, although I did find them on sale once at $40 each!  Bought 5 that time.

As posted above.....a 1000 lumen light, in the middle of the night while it's dark and your eyes haven't adjusted to light, will be painful for the user.

Most modern lights in that 1" x 5.5" 900LM-1000LM range like the PD35, P12GT, S2+ have more than one mode, some even come with dedicated moonlight modes, with memory, so whatever level you turn it off at, is the level that it comes back on at.

Chris

I use one of these while deicing airliners, on the bright setting it's got the reach to throw usable light just about any place on a 757 and lets me see ice my sprayer might not otherwise see due to the angles. It seems like a really good light, especially for $50.