LED flashlights, what are they?

[usakicksass]

I recently saw a youtube video ad of a cree led flashlight. It had adjustable brightness(digital). Memory power settings, strobe, etc. etc. What are these flashlights and what are the best ones to buy as far as quality goes. I love lights of all kinds and these have got me intrigued.

 

[Razako]

I have a ton of these.  Just check dx and you'll find every type you could ever want.
Tell me what you're willing to spend and I'll give you a good recommendation.
http://www.dealextreme.com/products.dx/category.901
http://www.dealextreme.com/products.dx/category.925

I have this one and I absolutely love it.  I've had it for more than a year now without it breaking or having any issues.  It's got mode memory/tons of modes/great battery life with 3x rechargeable 18650's/you can run it at around 60% output until the batteries die without it overheating.  At 100% it puts out ~600ish lumens, but starts to overheat after around 5 minutes.  It also has various tricks that you can do like double tapping the tail cap quickly to switch it to strobe without needing to mess with the buttons.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.11917

IMO it's better to pay a bit more for a quality one than one of the ultracrap/trustfail models.

 

[Kenom]

IL agree with coherent. There are a TON of led's out there that are just insanely bright. More bright than a bulb (HID excluded) like for example cree and soul semiconductors has a dual led (MCE and the P7) that put out an insane amount of light. I personally love how bright the P7 is. If I had the money and it wasn't so hard to do, I'd have a light with 3 p7's just like the one above!

 

[Cyparagon]

Are you sure it's dual? I see four dice in my P7.

 

[FireMyLaser]

I reckon a P7 LED is four P4 LEDs.

I'd really like to get a P7 flashlight some day.

Maybe this one?
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.14212

 

[Kenom]

sorry that was a typo it does have 4 dies

Your going to get more ooomph from a host that has 2 18650's as the p7 draws up to 2.4A

 

[chipdouglas]

a really good brand for compact flash lights is SUREFIRE. most models come in LED or Halogen. And they all carry a limited life time warranty. They are pricey though, so not good to use for laser hosts


thanks
michael

 

[Kenom]

OH sure the surefires are nice. But when it comes to features and brightness, I don't care for the surefire. It's like the Nike of flashlights. do you really need to spend $150 for a flashlight that you can get the same thing and is just as bright for $35? Hell No!! But there are the flashlight die hards that refuse to get a cheap as hell flashlight.

 

[Kenom]

on the left you'll see a regular Q5 Cree LED. in the middle is a basic minimag Luxeon LED and the right is a P7 SSC