Which Led Torch

[Trail Snail]

Hi

With the night drawing in, I am looking for an LED torch at around the £30 mark, maybe a little more for something exceptional. Preferably one which uses 'ordinary' batteries i.e. AAA or AA.

Is the LED Lenser P7 still a good buy, or has it been surpassed? Amazon have it for sale for £30 at the mo.

Many thanks
ST

 

[Retired Member southey]

I have one of these chap, and really like it, simple to use and get use too, takes three AAA of which the current set have lasted me for the last three weeks so far with use every night but will swap to rechargeables as soon as they arrive and the current set run out, dropped and chucked in my satchel, only signs is a small chip to the rim of the bezel after a fall out of my pocket while a good few meters up a tree on to gravel, will try to find the ebay shop i got it from,

Maglight XL 100

 

[Johnnyboy1971]

I have a couple of LED lensers. Got the P3,P7 and P14. Love en to bits.
Can't comment on any others as I have never used anything else.

Got the 3and7 in a set for £38. And the P14 from my local gunshop second hand for £20 but like new.

Of all of them the P7 gets the most use

 

[pauljm116]

Ive got myself one of these.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-U...030?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item588f0330c6

from the same seller. I think ultrafire is a cheap rip off of surfire but Ive had a few of them over the years and theyve all been very bright, reliable, waterproof and rugged, so everything needed in an outdoors torch really.

 

[ged]

... looking for an LED torch at around the £30 mark, maybe a little more for something exceptional. Preferably one which uses 'ordinary' batteries i.e. AAA or AA.

Is the LED Lenser P7 still a good buy, or has it been surpassed? Amazon have it for sale for £30 at the mo.

You haven't given us much to go on, how are you going to be using this torch? There are lots of good products in that price region. And many for a lot less.

There are entire Websites devoted to torches so it's worth doing some searching if you haven't already. See for example (I have no connection with any of the sites)

example review sites:

http://bestledflashlightreviews.com/
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?19-Flashlight-Reviews
http://cpfreviews.com/
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/
http://www.light-reviews.com/
http://www.metaefficient.com/flashlights/best-flashlights-reviews-top-rated.html

I find the reviews on Amazon very useful, but it's harder work finding them than on the specialist sites. The P7 is still well thought of but I think you're right to wonder if technology might have passed it by.

Some example resellers:

http://www.flashaholics.co.uk/
http://www.thetorchshop.co.uk/
http://www.thetorchsite.co.uk/
http://www.torchdirect.co.uk/
http://www.torchesandbatteries.co.uk/

I agree about AA and AAA batteries. Most people here will probably say AA is more universally available than AAA, but in the UK and Europe I don't think that matters much. More important is that AA cells store about three times the charge that AAA cells store, typically approaching 2500mAh or even a bit more for AA as against 750mAh for AAA. That might be important to you and it might not, it depends on how you use a torch. I use both sizes, almost always rechargeables, and probably more AAA than AA. Typically I keep a few sets ready on the shelf for when batteries start to run down. Some torches have electronics to keep the brightness constant as the batteries run down but be aware that when the batteries are almost exhausted the light can suddenly go out without warning. Some of them can also behave very strangely when the batteries are low, my wife's Fenix LD10 for example. Either way it can be awkward if you don't have fresh batteries handy. With the performance of small torches nowadays it's almost as easy to take a spare torch as spare batteries. Some torches don't work as well on rechargeables, which usually give a slightly lower voltage than primary cells; it's worth asking.

Recently I bought a Maglite 3xD cell LED torch for my wife (22 quid from Lidl). At 120 lumens or so it gives a really impressive beam and you could tackle a burglar with it. You can get similar performance (apart from the burglar bashing and the battery life, obviously) from AA cell torches nowadays. But beam power isn't everything. If you're looking for something in your tent in the middle of the night, a smack in the eye with 120 lumens won't be much help. I need a torch which gives a useful amount of light for a long time and which doesn't switch itself on in my pack and run down the batteries while I'm not looking. That's a lot more important to me then raw beam power. I don't have any use for the fancy flashing modes that you get on some products; I'd rather they give me another low power setting instead.

The first torch that goes in my pack is always a head torch. The one I'm using at the moment was 2.99 from GJ;s in Alfreton, Derbyshire. Very adequate and at that price it's about a hundred times the price/performance ratio of my Petzl, which I hardly ever use any more, as well as being half the weight. Some head torches can double as hand-held, here's one I've been coveting lately:

http://www.flashaholics.co.uk/zebralight/zebralight-h51.html

There are some very cheap deals on sites like DX:

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/flood-...cree-q3-wc-130-lumen-led-headlamp-3-aaa-29435

 

[Martyn]

I took delivery of a new 2xAA powered torch a couple of weeks ago and am blown away impressed with it. The 4Sevens Quark AA with turbo head. See here...

http://www.4sevens.com/product_info.php?cPath=297_330&products_id=1917

Note it's also available in the UK but weith a different LED emitter...

http://www.flashaholics.co.uk/4sevens/quark-aa-2-turbo.html

The R5 direct from the US puts out 205 lumens for an hour and 50 minutes. I also have a fenix ld20 which is another 2xAA torch, and that also claims 205 lumens, but it's no where near as bright as the Quark turbo. I've got so many torches (at least 6 of em are surefires), I dont know what to do with em all, but this Quark Turbo I think is the best torch I've ever owned. It's the one torch I would not part with. It's the right size, the right weight, it has good spill, a very good throw, very bright, it has a great forward clickie switch which is the equal of a surefire and it runs (for ages) on 2xAA batteries. Very high quality item, with a really good execution of the design philosophy. The torch is programmable, but it's a tad faffy. That said, one you have your two modes programmed, it's dead simple to switch between them. I actually use a fairly low power most of the time because high is just too much for looking in bags, or drawers. It's nice to know all that power is there with the twist of the head and meanwhile, the output I use most, will keep on running for 5 days on one set of batteries.

 

[Trail Snail]

You haven't given us much to go on, how are you going to be using this torch?

ged, thanks for the links - got some serious reading to do!

I mainly want it for walking my dog in woodland and fields at night - a springer spaniel, so it needs a fair throw. It needs to be able to fit into a coat pocket until needed, and I'm not interested in head torches in any shape or form.

Apart from the dog walking, I'd also use it for general outdoor use, and don't need to consider in-tent activity!

I just mentioned £30 as I would like something well made, robust and waterproof.

Thanks to all for the replies so far.

 

[MartiniDave]

The one I use most I got in Asda for about £2, 3AAA bateries included. Nice and compact and a fair pool of light. I know it won't compare with a Led Lenser, but it's surely worth a look.

Dave

 

[maddave]

Alpkit Gamma.... Fantastic light and cheap as chips at £12.50

http://www.alpkit.com/gamma

 

[Swallow]

I find one of these on my belt or in my bag to be indispensable

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/mini-dynamo-xs-torch-175227274/

yeah I know it's a wind up torch, I got one for the kids thinking it would the same as all other wind up torches 30 seconds of light and then start winding again, but these don't do that, they constantly produce enough light to get by and are a great back up. We've switched one on after a month and it still produced enough light without winding.

I did the whole moot with just one of these, though I wouldn't want to rely it out in a wilder setting. I'm not taken with headstraps thought now I have seen Eric's baseball cap headlight I'm after one of those. Those are about £4 though I've seen one for 69p here.

http://www.adamsdiscountstore.co.uk...ht-work-light-4-fishingcampingother-105-p.asp

Back on the little windups I got an additional one on Saturday for the Mrs. which is solar powered as well as wind up. That seems to be the same deal only it holds more light. Too early to give a proper verdict though.

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/mini-xs-solar-dynamo-torch-175227437/

 

[Doc]

There are dozens and dozens of LED torches on Deal Extreme, but quality varies. I got a few of the single AAA 'Black Cat' torches which are extremely bright though the battery doesn't last long. Build quality is ok, but the anodized coating is cheap and a bit nasty.

Fenix are a good brand and are way above the unbranded Deal Extreme stuff in finish, reliability and general niceness. I've got a Fenix E15 which uses asingle CR123A - don't be put off by the crazy high street prices of these batteries as they are cheap from 7dayshop, deal extreme, ebay etc. It's tiny enough to be a keyring. The E15 is a new model and pretty cheap for what you get.

I've also got a Nitecore EZ AA. I think the Nitecores are slightly better finished than the Fenix, but there's not much in it.

The single cell aluminium led torches are great for 'just in case' everyday carry and inspecting things under brightlight. For outdoor use a headtorch is definitely the way to go, and I agree with the previous poster: Alpkit is your friend here.

 

[Old Bones]

The Lenser gets great feedback on this forum, and its worth checking out Maplin, since they sometimes do strangely priced packages on Lensers. Fenix is the other brand of course, and again the LD series gets fantastic reviews. The Photon shop has the LD20 in a R4 for £45 (2xAA).

Since I can't quite justify the above brands to my wife (yet), I'm using DX torches.
DX is kind of addictive, since it all looks pretty cheap, and then you find you've spent the same amount as you would have done on a Fenix or Lenser, but you've now got 4 torches which might not last very long. However, I've had no problems at all with the Romisens you find on there (The Shining Beam website was selling them modded, so it seemed worth taking a risk).
The little R2-G2 http://www.dealextreme.com/p/romisen-mxdl-rc-g2-cree-flashlight-black-1xaa-3607 is a steal at $12 . Its not the brightest, but very good workmanship, and is pretty small. Ideal for just putting in your pocket for a backup, and has a huge fan club on the torch sites. The RC-N3 is pretty good (although DX does not sell the more powerful version), and I'm impressed with the RC-A4, which is a Q3 using a C123 battery. It even survived being put through the washing machine (although now runs a little hotter). On the other hand, thats about $40 I've spent, which might just might have got me a P7....

The Alpkit Gamma is a bargain - for £12.50 its fantastic value for money, even if your just going to do some work in the loft.

 

[Doc]

Just looking at the original poster's requirements: one option is to buy one of the very very bright (600-1200 lumen claimed, probably really about half that) DX torches that use the 18650 rechargeable 3.7 volt battery. Still pocket sized but bigger than a single AA torch. You could probably get torch, charger and a pair of batteries delivered for thirty something quid. They vary in how much they throw versus flood. Read the reviews before buying as some have QC issues.

 

[TeeDee]

At the moment I'm quite impressed with this PAlight , its small and fugly but its by my bed and the 9V battery ensures its always on if I need to find it. With a good quality 9V battery is will stay on the 'glow' mode for 2 years.

For £12.00 ish , I think its a bargain.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcOrQNjxWa0&feature=related