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Posted: 8/15/2005 12:59:06 AM EDT
[#1]
Inova XO3 - very bright, long battery life, relatively inexpensive and durable.
Also the Electro-Lumens XM-3, which is a more affordable alternative to the Inova....and uses 3 AAA's instead, which are cheaper than 123's. |
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Posted: 8/15/2005 1:00:53 AM EDT
[#2]
The XM-3 is nice but I wouldnt trust my life with it. Its a good, dependable everyday light, but its definately not my go-to light when things go bump. |
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Posted: 8/15/2005 1:03:46 AM EDT
[#3]
My vote is a surefire E2e. Very compact and very bright. It will only set you back $100.
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Posted: 8/15/2005 1:08:45 AM EDT
[#4]
I did some poking on surefire's website and the dual beam L2 Lumamax caught my eye. 100 lumens for 60 minutes or the option to switch 15 lumens for 18 hours. Cost is $165.
How does that sound? |
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Posted: 8/15/2005 1:18:48 AM EDT
[#5]
It really depends upon what youy battery life needs are. How close are you gonna get to the house numbers? How long do you expect the light to be on? Do you need your hands free? Will the light double as your "combat" light. Will the light be used mainly from a vehicle(in which case a lighter/spotlight might be a much better idea).
Surefires are great but their battery life sucks so if you plan on doing something like this for hours on end, then a Surefire might not be the right tool for the job. A cheap $40 plug in spotlight will be many times brighter than a Surefire and never run pout of bateries until you run out of gas, but aren't exactly portable. |
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Posted: 8/15/2005 1:26:58 AM EDT
[#6]
If all your doing is reading house numbers its hard to go wrong with a C or D cell Maglight. And you'll come out ahead by far in price.
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Posted: 8/15/2005 1:50:18 AM EDT
[#7]
Get 5 Surefire G2's.
Then buy 3-4 of the battery and spare bulb carriers. That's what I did. |
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Posted: 8/15/2005 2:38:48 AM EDT
[#8]
$5 LED flashlight or a Maglite with NiMH rechargeable batteries.
I can always charge them up in the car if the power is out and I manage to somehow run out of NiMH batteries. And people wonder why I don't like Lithium batteries like the 3V shit for the Streamlights and SureFires... |
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Posted: 8/15/2005 2:49:10 AM EDT
[#9]
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Posted: 8/15/2005 3:09:07 AM EDT
[#10]
While I like Surefires the best, I would say the Streamlight TL3 is the best value for the money and would meet your needs. It has great "throw" and is about $55 shipped from amazon.com. It is quite a bit better at moderate distances than my Surefire L4.
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Posted: 8/15/2005 9:21:17 AM EDT
[#11]
I took my E2e scuba diving last week down to a little over 60 feet. Used it alot looking into crevaces and such. Other than needing to back the tail cap out a little to adjust for the pressure switch, it worked just dandy. Yep, I know it's not a dive light.
My vote: There are very few circumstances where the E2e is not the ideal flashlight. |
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Posted: 8/15/2005 9:24:21 AM EDT
[#12]
While on the topic of dive lights - there are some absolutely amazing dive lights out there - especially with the new LED stuff, but even the more traditional ones. Things like the UnderwaterKinetics (UK)Light Cannon are really, really bright (in a pretty focused beam)- and obviously pretty durable and very waterproof. You can find them for about $150 if you look around, IIRC. |
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Posted: 8/15/2005 12:40:13 PM EDT
[#13]
The a three D cell maglite is whats currently in service.
No one seconds my L2 Lumamax choice? I'll take a look at Pelican, thanks. |
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Posted: 8/15/2005 12:45:22 PM EDT
[#14]
Streamlight Ultra Stinger - rechargable with a mounting bracket in the car (read always there and always read) and it's really bright.
R. |
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Posted: 8/15/2005 12:50:28 PM EDT
[#15]
I believe the criteria was reading house numbers. I have used my XM-3 in rough conditions, and it has been banged, beaten, dropped and abused - still working fine. I don't know how rough reading house numbers is, but I'd guess he'll be doing something else before a good aluminum LED flashlight breaks on him. |
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Posted: 8/15/2005 12:52:06 PM EDT
[#16]
3 d maglite with the ever led bulb. $65
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Posted: 8/15/2005 12:54:07 PM EDT
[#17]
I have a Surefire L2 and a Surefire 6P. While the L2 is an exellent flashlight, in fact it is my favorite camping flashlight, the beam is more of a flood than a spot. I'm not sure it would do the job out past 10-15 yards or so. At my house, from the street I can read my house numbers easier with my 6P than with my L2. I still love the L2 though - it's my favorite flashlight.... |
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Posted: 8/15/2005 1:01:50 PM EDT
[#18]
That would be my recommendation! I'll post pics later!  BigDozer66 |
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Posted: 8/15/2005 1:05:28 PM EDT
[#19]
pelican
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Posted: 8/15/2005 1:12:55 PM EDT
[#20]
Surefire G2, only 34$ shipped from LAPOLICE GEAR and you get 6 batteries.
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Posted: 8/15/2005 1:19:37 PM EDT
[#21]
Surfire A2 Aviator
You have the bright light when you need it, 3 LED's when less light will get the job done and conserve battery. I've carried it daily for a year and a half it's great. At about $185 its getting close to your $200 limit but It's worth it IMO. |
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Posted: 8/15/2005 1:26:47 PM EDT
[#22]
I have the stinger HP and two ultra stingers. I have car kits for all of them. Cannot go wrong with them.
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Posted: 8/15/2005 1:41:34 PM EDT
[#23]
Well the Lumamax L2 was on backorder with Surefire, so I settled on a 9P, just like the 6P, but more power
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Posted: 8/15/2005 5:00:26 PM EDT
[#24]
I don't think you will regret that at all. congrats. The flashlight bug bites just as hard as the ar-15 bug. Come on over to www.candlepowerforums.com if you would like to learn more. I am a member over there. Wait till you learn how to make 900 lumens out of a 3D Maglite. |
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Posted: 8/15/2005 5:01:33 PM EDT
[#25]
900 lumens? How the hell? 
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Posted: 8/15/2005 5:09:52 PM EDT
[#26]
900 lumens my ass! Tag anyway. 
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Posted: 8/15/2005 5:47:01 PM EDT
[#27]
Mag85 3D Maglight NINE AA rechagable batteries in a special bolder Welch Allyn 1185 bulb Metal reflector... (cause you will melt the plastic one) 1,234 Bulb lumens. |
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Posted: 8/15/2005 5:59:47 PM EDT
[#28]
Hard to beat the Pelican lights. Here are som others to consider. www.lightshipenterprises.net/products.html
Hotrod YOUR flashlight darkgear.com/mrbulk/index.shtml |
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Posted: 8/15/2005 6:06:52 PM EDT
[#29]
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Posted: 8/15/2005 6:12:05 PM EDT
[#30]
I agree with you 100%, I'm just making my opinion clear that while the XM-3 is a good light I wouldnt want to put my life on the line with it. |
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Posted: 8/15/2005 6:20:50 PM EDT
[#31]
Pelican +1 They are guaranteed against everything but children under 8? and bear attack. I kid you not. We use these at work, waterproof, explosion proof [I work with Nat gas] drop en, kick em, even drove over one with a 6000 pound truck, broke the clip but it still worked. Bright as heck too with a nice focused beam. We use triple c size. Excellent o ring design. |
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Posted: 8/15/2005 7:45:18 PM EDT
[#32]
ComputerGuy -
I know you have already made your purchase (and a good one at that, imo), but I thought I'd just go ahead and post a couple of pics of the L2 vs the P6. Both of these pics are taken at a distance of 45ft. The L2:  The 6P:  Note that as I said the L2 is more of a flood than the 6P. That 9P you ordered ought to really light up a spot..... |
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Posted: 8/16/2005 2:56:49 AM EDT
[#33]
pelican lights are worth the money,i use 1 at work daily,watertight,good for methane rich environment(i'm in the HVAC industry),very bright and the warranty covers everything but bear attacks,shark bites and children under 5
i bought the stealthlight 4aa model about 6 years ago for daily work usage,after dropping and banging it around the replaced it(switch broke),guy opened the light-yep it's broke then handed me a new 1-no questions asked,even come with batteries www.pelican.com/about_guarantee.html |
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Posted: 8/16/2005 9:11:36 AM EDT
[#34]
To hell with buying batteries. Get a Streamlight! I <3 my Strion. |
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I'd recommend checking out Pelican flashlights. Most of your FF and EMT units use them. They're damn near bomb proof like their cases and bright. Also if you break it they replace it for life.