which light for <$150

AR-15 » Lights and Lasers

AR Sponsor:

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - which light for <$150

Posted: 7/16/2008 5:28:19 AM EDT

which light would be the best/brightest light for under $150 for the light alone? i will get the mount later. could you post pics of it, by chance? thanks

Posted: 7/16/2008 5:33:04 AM EDT

[#1]

G2 LED plus clickie cap (or tapeswitch) would be well under 150. I know you could spend more on a light, but for most non sandbox/LEO purposes, I dont see a reason too. It is a very bright and nice light.

Posted: 7/16/2008 6:27:16 AM EDT

[#2]

i got an e2d LED the other day, and that thing is awesome. Surefire lists retail as $136.

Light

Posted: 7/16/2008 7:00:25 AM EDT

[#3]

I bought a few 6P's on 3bay for $36 each. Add a Malkoff drop-in ($50) and COLO tailcap for $35 and you're good to go. The metal body of the 6P allows it to more efficiently dissipate heat -- making it a better host for a heavy use LED lamp, IMHO.

Posted: 7/16/2008 7:34:13 AM EDT

[#4]

Perhaps not exactly what you're looking for but, the Streamlight TLR-1 for $99 is worth a look.

ETA: you might also take a look here for some light/mount combos.

Posted: 7/16/2008 8:13:33 AM EDT

[#5]

If you're going to be using it indoors in close quarters, the 200+ lumen lights may be too bright, as they can dazzle you and wipe out your night vision when reflected off of light walls or doors at close range. For outdoors, large buildings, and such, they're great.

For indoors, the P60L style is good, at around 80 lumens. A Surefire 6PL or a 6P with an LED drop-in, as suggested, is a great starter light that can be used effectively hand-held or mounted.

Posted: 7/16/2008 9:04:45 AM EDT

[#6]

I received a Streamlight TL3 a few days ago and have been very impressed. They claim it produces 200lumens. It was $99.00 with shockproof bulb from Optics Planet. It's $40.00 cheaper without the shockproof bulb. I plan to mount it on my house gun, when I recieve my mount from Botach.

Posted: 7/16/2008 10:44:47 AM EDT

[#7]

Quoted:
which light would be the best/brightest light for under $150 for the light alone? i will get the mount later. could you post pics of it, by chance? thanks

Utility has always been a sticking point with me when it came to flashlights. I didn't just want something that could only be used on my weapon...nor did I want something that wasn't made to withstand the shock of recoil. I wanted something bright enough to easily identify my targets within 70-80 yds, but not too bright that the reflection off walls would blind me. Runtime was also a factor as well as price. So, I needed something that was a balanced blend of all those key performance parameters.

I bought a Surefire 6P LED with clickie tail cap from Brightflashlights. I believe the set up was approx. $110. You can find him in the Industry forums. Great guy to deal with.

Posted: 7/16/2008 11:03:38 AM EDT

[#8]

6PLED (or 6P with BugOutGear drop-in LED unit if you want more output), and a VLTOR/VTAC light mount.

A solidly built CREE LED unit (R2/P4/Q5) will put out over 200 lumens if driven correctly, and do so for over 4 hours, so keep that in mind.

Posted: 7/16/2008 11:22:59 AM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:
Perhaps not exactly what you're looking for but, the Streamlight TLR-1 for $99 is worth a look.

This.

Posted: 7/16/2008 11:44:13 AM EDT

[#10]

I really like the Surefire X200 and they are here one EE for $140 or so all the time. The factory mount works fine too. I just scored one with a Larue mount for $150 a month ago

Posted: 7/16/2008 3:12:33 PM EDT

[#11]

I agree that 235lm indoors can be too much. A flip-up diffuser or filter can let you have your cake and eat it too. But if 80lm is enough, then Malkoff's M60LL is what you want. It will run at full output (80lm) for 8 hours (6v) -- unlike the P60L which will will be stepping down output by that point in time. Gene also offers flood versions of his drop-ins that give tremendously greater spill at the expense of throw (and harsh glare off walls, etc. associated with the higher total hotspot output).

Posted: 7/17/2008 7:20:13 PM EDT

[#12]

Look at the pentagon lights they work great!

Mike @ CSGW

www.csgunworks.com
[email protected]

Here’s some testimonials about CS GunWorks
FEEDBACK about CSGUNWORKS on AR15.com
FEEDBACK about CSGUNWORKS on Snipersparadise
FEEDBACK about CSGUNWORKS on the HIDE

Posted: 7/17/2008 9:39:21 PM EDT

[#13]

I am in love with my M-3X if you can stomach something that is weapon-mount only (well, since my bayonet lug mount has not arrived yet, it is acting as a hand-held currently).

Posted: 7/18/2008 8:29:25 AM EDT

[#14]

I believe the OP wants the light to be multi-purpose (handheld or weapon-mounted). That is why I didn't mention any weapon-only type lights. The orginal SF offers a great deal of versatility and upgrade ability for little $$.

Posted: 7/18/2008 8:58:25 AM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:
Look at the pentagon lights they work great!

Mike @ CSGW

www.csgunworks.com
[email protected]

Here’s some testimonials about CS GunWorks
FEEDBACK about CSGUNWORKS on AR15.com
FEEDBACK about CSGUNWORKS on Snipersparadise
FEEDBACK about CSGUNWORKS on the HIDE

+1 Agreed. Love mine

Posted: 7/19/2008 7:52:21 AM EDT

[#16]

Check out brightflashlights.net I have a 9P on my AR. Great throw and flood and you can run 105L or 200L bulbs or a new 250L LED is soon to be out.

Posted: 7/20/2008 12:04:52 AM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:
Perhaps not exactly what you're looking for but, the Streamlight TLR-1 for $99 is worth a look.

+1, the TLR is a great value.

Posted: 7/21/2008 5:19:54 PM EDT

[#18]

Here's another consideration -- upgadeability.

I have an OLD 6P (somewhere around 20+/- years old) that looks quite well used. It is old enough to have the "LASER PRODUCTS FOUNTAIN VALLEY,CA" stamp on the tail cap. But when I turn it on, it pumps out 235lm of modern LED output. How? Because the Surefire light is so well accepted that there are many choices of upgrade parts and lamp assemblies. Now, I would only use Surefire parts and either Surefire or Malkoff drop-ins, because I've had others fail. The point is that 20 years has not been able to make my light obsolete! I doubt there are too many people (except early Surefire owners) who can say that about their flashlight.

Posted: 7/22/2008 5:40:53 AM EDT

[#19]

Quoted:
G2 LED plus clickie cap (or tapeswitch) would be well under 150. I know you could spend more on a light, but for most non sandbox/LEO purposes, I dont see a reason too. It is a very bright and nice light.

+1

Posted: 7/22/2008 6:02:20 AM EDT

[#20]

Surefire L4 Lumamax

Posted: 7/29/2008 2:11:15 PM EDT

[#21]

Quoted:
Surefire L4 Lumamax

Frankly, I'd stay away from using the L4 as a weapon light.

I used an L4 on a 6.8SPC SBR for awhile, and the recoil eventually caused the dome-like forward battery contact to dent the positive terminal on the battery. Result? Intermittent operation.

Use a G2L or 6P LED or some other Surefire light with either battery retention or a forward spring battery contact.

My L4 is now my EDC light.

Posted: 7/30/2008 8:58:22 PM EDT

[#22]

Quoted:
which light would be the best/brightest light for under $150 for the light alone? i will get the mount later. could you post pics of it, by chance? thanks

Fenix TK10
225Lumens or 60 lumens, so you can use it inside or outside.