So I carry my little Cloud Defense light around when I'm over at the property. LLike most CR123-powered lights, it works well, for 20 minutes.

My brother and I tracked a deer for 30-40 minutes, and my light looks like a keychain light, had to switch to my cell phone.

So for just normal use around the property, what light is good for carrying in a cargo pocket?

Maglite? Something rechargeable? I'll go broke before I can buy enough CR123 surefire batteries.

I use an Olight Warrior mini 2 daily at work. magnetic rechargable and super bright.

I also have a S1R Baton 2 that's about the length of a chapstick. I keep one in the litte fifth pocket in my jeans when I'm not at work.

quote:

Originally posted by OttoSig:
Maglite? Something rechargeable?

Maglite is old technology.

Definitely get a USB rechargeable flashlight. You can top it up at night, just like your cell phone, and never be left with a dead flashlight the next day.


Fenix is a very solid lower-mid price point brand, and gets you a lot of bang for the buck. I used Fenix lights all through my LE career, and continue to use them daily currently.

They have several dozen rechargeable options:https://www.fenixlighting.com/...argeable-flashlights

Something like a E35R is perfect for clipping in your pocket and carrying every day (like a pocket knife). It has ultra high output when needed, and you can still have a couple hours of runtime at the highest setting. But at the typical mid to low settings, you're looking at 10-20+ hours of runtime.

https://www.fenixlighting.com/...eable-edc-flashlight


Or, if you don't need the ultra high output or super long runtimes, you can go a little smaller and cheaper with something like a Streamlight Macrostream: https://www.amazon.com/Streaml...hlight/dp/B084SW1465

Mia bought me a Mod Lite for Christmas a couple years ago. Rechargeable battery. It’s by far the best light I have owned. Couldn’t be happier.

https://modlite.com/collection...riant=40747878383652

Look at the various offerings from Olight and Streamlight. I have a recently purchased Streamlight Macrostream and an Olight pistol light (both USB rechargeable) that I'm so far liking. But I haven't put either to that kind of use.

quote:

Maglite is old technology.

The C and D-cell ones make good billy clubs while still remaining legal.

I am a massive Fenix flashlights fan. Their lights are bright and last a long time. They have many that are rechargeable and some that can also take a CR123 battery. I own many from keychain lights to larger carry lights and some in between. I would highly recommend checking them out as they have come a long way since first coming out.

Some I own that I can think the top of my head are:

PD36R Pro
PD25R
PD32R
E30R
E02R - excellent keychain lights

The ones I listed are the newer kind. I also have many older ones. On the rechargeable ones you have the option of plugging into the flashlight itself to recharge or in some cases pulling the battery out and the battery has a USB charging port. They also sell a battery charger that you can fit many batteries in to charge them.

Olight was also a flashlight I bought back when new brands came out, but Fenix seemed to lead the pack.

Streamlight is good and I own several, but to me Fenix is more bang for the buck.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
Look at the various offerings from Olight and Streamlight. I have a recently purchased Streamlight Macrostream and an Olight pistol light (both USB rechargeable) that I'm so far liking. But I haven't put either to that kind of use.

quote:

Maglite is old technology.

The C and D-cell ones make good billy clubs while still remaining legal.

I no longer have it, but but my D cell Maglight from back in the day had many marks from hitting certain things.

Same. We were still issued incandescent D cell Maglites when I first started.

Which were then replaced by LED C or D cell Maglites.

These in turn were replaced with lighter plastic-bodied LED rechargeables (following a notable incident with which I wasn't personally involved, involving a smashed knee and a large payout...)

I typically always had at least two handheld AA or CR123 flashlights on me at any given time as well. Even in plainclothes, where I didn't carry a full-sized duty light.

Get a duel fuel light that takes either 123a or the USB rechargeable 18650. 18650 beats the 123a on runtime and brightness without any doubt. Look at Streamlight since they have quite a few duel fuel models.

Check out the Princeton tech headlamps in the px. 2 AAs, whey don't throw a ton of light, but they are light and fit in a pocket just fine.

My olight i5t has a pretty robust runtime on a single AA battery, especially on the lower brightness.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Same. We were still issued incandescent D cell Maglites when I first started.

Which were then replaced by LED C or D cell Maglites.

These in turn were replaced with lighter plastic-bodied LED rechargeables (following a notable incident with which I wasn't personally involved, involving a smashed knee and a large payout...)

I typically always had at least two handheld AA or CR123 flashlights on me at any given time as well. Even in plainclothes, where I didn't carry a full-sized duty light.

I am beyond impressed with flashlight technology today. How well a hand sized flashlight can fully illuminate an area and the runtime compared to the large D cell flashlights from days ago. Awesome! Not to get off topic, but like going from no internet to internet, or pay phones to cellphones.

In larger cargo pockets that I presume are not filled with other objects, you can carry a bigger light than the Macrostream.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
In larger cargo pockets that I presume are not filled with other objects, you can carry a bigger light than the Macrostream.

The Fenix PD36R PRO is currently what I keep in every vehicle and carry on me when I can. Excellent flashlight and in vehicles I have the traffic wand attachment and at home the diffuser to be like a lantern.

Buy several 18350 batteries and a compatible charger. Cloud has them on their site if you want to play it really safe.

or buy from:
liionwholesale.com
mtnelectronics.com

I've had good luck with both places.

Cloud has photos of their battery charger and its a rebadged Nitecore,(18650 3pack photo). With that just buy the orginal:
Nitecore charger

Seeing Cloud also sells Vapcell, I suggest:
Li ion Wholesale Vapcell 18350

Finally it gives you a reason to buy a Thyrm Cellvault
Thyrm battery case

I am also a fan of Fenix Lights, and having just used Surefire's warranty on a Fury DFT, they were easy to work with.

For something like that I like larger flashlight. I have a Fenix LD41. I am pretty sure they do not make it as I have had for a few years. Bought from a member here. A great light. Takes 4 AA batteries has an on switch and a second switch to activate ffour different brightness settings. Gets used almost every night. Has been rock solid and the beam is perfect at each setting for brightness and throw.

I have a Fenix E12 that uses one AA battery and has three light output levels.

They now have a Version 3 that is 200 lumens.

https://www.amazon.com/Fenix-C...anizer/dp/B08HDL6NWF

Here’s a good deal for a small light:
https://www.olightstore.com/i3...&irpid=10451&irgwc=1

quote:

Originally posted by OttoSig:
So I carry my little Cloud Defense light around when I'm over at the property. LLike most CR123-powered lights, it works well, for 20 minutes.

My brother and I tracked a deer for 30-40 minutes, and my light looks like a keychain light, had to switch to my cell phone.

So for just normal use around the property, what light is good for carrying in a cargo pocket?

Maglite? Something rechargeable? I'll go broke before I can buy enough CR123 surefire batteries.

What model?
Likely No need for a new light. Just get some rechargeable batteries for the light you have.
Not sure which model you have but most Cloud Defensive lights have a slightly higher output with rechargeables but it’s not a huge difference.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Black92LX,

There are a myriad of high quality 18650 powered lights out there and are the perfect pairing of power vs longevity. Here’s why- led emitters do not need more than 4.2V to operate at full brightness which happens to be the upper end of where rechargeable li-ion batteries charge to. CR123 powered lights using 2 CR123 batteries (6V) are stepped down in their circuitry to operate at 4.2V and below. The excess voltage is wasted as heat. Add in that CR123 batteries power density is on average around 1600 mAh. Rechargeable RCR123 batteries are worse at around 1000mAh and can discharge unpredictably, shortening runtime even further.

When run in series (Batteries end to end) the mah value for CR123’s remains 1600 mAh. Running in series increases voltage but not runtime. Modern 18650 batteries have densities exceeding 3000 mAh which essentially doubles what CR123 batteries are capable of. Add in that 18650’s are rechargeable whereas CR123’s are trash when depleted and the choice is obvious.

As an aside, many laptop batteries utilize 18650 cells (or used to before flat cells became all the rage in super slim models) which can be recovered and used for nothing. Just be aware that these cells have no protection circuit that keeps power draw above a low of around 2.75V. Drawing below this point will damage the cell, possibly beyond reuse. A high quality light will have a protection circuit that keeps this from occurring. If you’re going to use unprotected cells, when the light begins to dim, switch out batteries and keep going. If you don’t want the hassle, simply buy protected batteries with a circuit built into it that stops discharge before the critical limit is reached.

The bottom line is that CR123 only lights are fine for small tac lights for short bursts of use (think weapon mounted lights) but suck for scenarios where long runtimes can be expected.