LED flashlights keep improving

[Hogbear]

Some pretty amazing new lights out there now. The Tiablo ACE puts out 700 lumens for 3.5 hours on rechargeble 18650 size batteries. Basically one 18650 is the size of two CR123's and I've been using one for a few years in lights designed for two CR123 batteries. https://www.4sevens.com/product_info.ph ... cts_id=692

If you want to stick with AA batteries, the Fenix TK40 puts out 630 lumens on 8 AA batteries, either alkaline, recharcheable, or lithium. https://www.4sevens.com/product_info.ph ... cts_id=696

Seems like just recently it was a big deal for an LED light to break the 100 lumen barrier. The brightest LED flashlight I currently own puts out 130 lumens and it will easily light up the shed a little over 100 yards from my deck.

 

[mike243]

i use & carry a 3 watt LED lite,it uses AAA,great flashlite & battery life for work or any thing else,i use a smaller wattage for hunting as i dont want to lite up the woods & the batteries will last more than 1 hunting season,mike243

 

[Hogbear]

The light I carry now is the Fenix L2D that's being discontinued. It has 4 brightness levels and runs on 2 AA batts. I mainly just use the brightest for far stuff or the dimmest for close up and hardly use the middle two levels. Dim is 9 lumens and bright is 130 lumens. https://www.4sevens.com/product_info.ph ... cts_id=407

I also have a cheap Chinese knockoff of a Surefire LED that runs on one 18650 battery. Really like that it runs a long time and I can just pop the battery on the charger instead of buying new ones. Be careful though because not all lights designed for CR123's will work on one 18650. They are slightly larger in diameter and wont fit in some CR123 lights and the voltage is lower than two CR123's end to end so some digitally controlled lights won't work right on it. You can always check on the candlepower forums to see if they work in a particular light because those guys are always trying everything to see what will fit an work.
A lot more lights are being made to work with the 18650 battery these days because it offers such a long run time per charge.
https://www.4sevens.com/product_info.ph ... cts_id=650

Here's where I got my cheap Chinese light. The fit and finish is nowhere near as nice as the Fenix (also Chinese but well made) and the light won't be quite as white/clean as the fenix because they use cheaper LED's but the light works and they're bright.

http://www.dealextreme.com/products.dx/category.942

{edit} I see they even have their own 700 lumen model now for $43. http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.16501