Due to recent improvements in LED technology (in particular, Cree’s XM-L emitters), now is a good time to grab a new flashlight. Of course you already have several. But if you haven’t bought a new flashlight this year, you are probably holding some inferior device which puts out a mere 200 or 300 lumens.
The Fenix PD32 Ultimate Edition, pictured here burning holes through retinas at high noon, more than doubles your pathetic year-old pocket light with 740 lumens. That’s the equivalent of a 60-watt incandescent bulb, which is quite a milestone in the world of pocket-able flashlights. Nitecore has a similar eyeball-blasting model MT26 available if you are not absolutely hooked on Fenix. And if you want to spend more money, Surefire has just upgraded their E2D Defender to the new “Ultra” version with 500 lumens. The E2D’s lumen count is lower than the others, but note that it uses Surefire’s TIR internal optic system which sends more light to the spot beam and not quite as much to the flood area to make their spot beams as bright as higher-rated standard flashlights.
I picked the Fenix for its neutral white LED, but if you just blindly buy an upgraded version of whatever might be your favorite brand at the moment it should be pretty impressive. Do be aware that all of these will reduce output to the 2nd-highest setting after a few minutes of continuous use at maximum power to avoid overheating. Fine for harassing cows at night, but don’t expect to leave it on at full power for 2 hours straight.
Makeiru, Thanks for the heads up on LED Lenser. I have been looking for a good helmaadp for hands free work in dark places (like the inside of industrial carbon tank water vessels). I went to Lowes today, found the Lenser display, then played with the Lenser H7 helmaadp. This unit exceeds way above and beyond what I was looking for, this one’s the real deal.At first it was hard to swallow the $43.00 price tag, but putting the beginning paings of buyer’s remorse aside I ponied up. Now I am so glad I spent more and purchased that model over the other $10-15 gizmos No joke, the H7 helmaadp with 3 AAA batteries, is at least 4x brighter than my 4-D cell LED Mag-Lite! I even have Energizer NiMH rechargeables in my Mag, which make it perform better over the regular alkaline batteries.Next time I am in the market for a light I would definitely not hesitate to go with Lenser. Go play with one (the packaging has a try it before you buy it feature), I highly doubt you’ll be dissapointed, and if you’re in the market for a light, I doubt you’ll leave the store without one. -Thanks again Makeiru, And thanks ToolGuyd!