EDC Flashlight recomendations?

[tradertator]

I've carried stuff daily from Streamlight, Fenix, Maglite, Coast, Surefire, etc.... The only one that has ran 100% of the time is Surefire. For the money, Streamlight is tough to beat, but will wear out with hard use. Fenix has been pretty temperamental for me, Maglite is bulky and low performance, and my Coast stuff performed poorly outside of 20 feet or so. My current favorite is my Surefire E2D.

 

[cedartop]

Do you guys tend to find that an EDC flashlight is a necessity for you? If so, is it related to your occupation?

I'm just curious as to what situations you find yourself in where you find you have to have a flashlight on your person at all times.

I'm almost to the point where I would be without my gun before my flashlight, almost. Part of that is work, I use it multiple times daily, but much of it is just how handy it can be in everyday life that unless you have one to use you might never realize. Then of course there is the tactical application, though chances of needing it for that are slim (just like those of needing my pistol), when you need it, you need it.

 

[jb1911]

 

[MikeDVB]

Surefire LX2 for sure as my EDC .

 

[MattCFII]

While I always have a Surefire G2 with an aftermarket drop in LED lamp in my pocket, I really think Surefire especially is being left behind in light tech and cost. I agree with Cedartop and others that it is actually my most used EDC tool, even more than my pocket knife. Brands like others have mentioned like Fenix, FourSevens, JetBeam, and for me, Olight, offer more bang for the buck.

I have had my G2 somewhat fail. The spring in my tailcap came off and I mangled it trying to find a way to get it to stay back in. Surefire was responsive to my issue and sent me a whole new tailcap free of charge although it took them a couple of weeks partly due to it being close to Christmas, partly due to they taking a few days to ship. I basically carry a G2 because it rides in the pocket that I have my keys in. I don't really care if my keys scratch up the polymer (which they don't do that bad), but I'm pretty sure they would tear up most anodizing.

My last three lights were a Olight M20X and T20 and a JetBeam PC25. Before that it was a JetBeam clone as a "try it out" thing, and a Surefire G2X Pro.

The Olight M20X and JetBeam PC25 are weapon mounted. I like that they have a side button on the tail switch to access the strobe mode and the normal tail button is your programmed brightness (which can be selected by the strobe button with the traditional clickie switch on). I don't get too wrapped around the lumen axle, but they the M20X is listed at 500 and the PC25 is 406. While the M20X has a few more features, the PC25 is my favorite because it is a little lighter and has JetBeams random interval strobe which is more disorienting (strobe IMO has its place in the right instances).

The Olight T20 is an great EDC light and if I didn't have my personal issues of possibly getting beat up riding in my pocket with all my keys, it would probably replace my G2. Instead it rides clipped IWB next to my Glock when I carry (I often work in NPEs which are felonies to carry in). The first time I picked one up I couldn't believe it was a 2x CR123 light with how thin and light it is, I had to ask to confirm it wasn't an 2x AA. The neat thing about the T line of Olight's is that they select mode by twisting the head while on. About a quarter turn will switch between them, high at 270 lumens, medium at 150, low at 8, and strobe at 270.

The JetBeam RRT2 clone was a Ultrafire ZF7371. I tried these because it had pretty much the same innovative features that the RRT2 has, magnetic ring switch mode selection and randomized strobe. I like both of those features a lot but since I was shopping for a weapon light when I found the Olight M20X and JetBeam PC25 and it's separate strobe button, I went that way.

Then there is the Surefire G2X Pro. It is the microcosm of everything Surefire. Solid light, dependable, but not cutting edge and pricey (fortunately I bought from dealer that had got his stock before the price jump). They still list an "LED" as a feature, when in other brands they have now started to list the LED type so you can judge its basic performance potential if you are a major flashlight junkie. It has some good brightness at 200 lumens (and I would trust Surefire to be more accurate in their ratings), but at the same time Surefire's attempt at mode selection is dated at this point even though it is semi-cutting edge for them. One click is low at 15 lumens, if you click again within two seconds, it goes to high. No mode memory so you can't set it to come on high and then low, no way to lock out the high or low, and just two modes. Honestly, I tend to only use the highest and lowest constant on modes on other lights anyway, so I thought I could live with it. I was going to replace my old G2 with it but decided since it might be used in a self defense situation, I would prefer it to come on at higher than 15 lumens at first for some blinding effect, hence why the simple G2 rides in my pocket, and the T20 set to strobe is next to the pistol. The G2X Pro sits at home as the around the house light, which it excels in that role, it just is pretty expensive for that use.

IMO, Surefire somewhat is resting on it's brand name and with the general ignorance of a lot of customers not knowing what is out there, they can get away with it. They are unfortunately also somewhat limited by being made mostly in the USA like a lot of things these days (besides for the LEDs, the pretty much have to come from overseas). Because of being made here, they are always going to cost more. But please give us some more cutting edge, a lot of that is in the electronics that wouldn't take much to do.

There is a place I always go Surefire, and that is in the CR123 primary cell batteries (I use Tenergy rechargeables in the G2 and T20). I will do not cheap out and buy no name, shoddily construction batteries that may only cost a dollar or less a cell. The problem is that I've seen pictures of blown up flashlights and have also accidently left lights on in my pants which is often the cause of blown cells. I don't want that bomb of a cheap CR123 going off there. Yes, I know that Surefires are basically rebranded Panasonic cells. But I like that piece of mind and maybe better performance over "camera" 123 cells.

 

[MikeDVB]

Do you guys tend to find that an EDC flashlight is a necessity for you? If so, is it related to your occupation?

I'm just curious as to what situations you find yourself in where you find you have to have a flashlight on your person at all times.

I use my flashlight more than anything else in my pockets besides my keys and my debit card . Beyond that... If you are going to carry a firearm at night, you need to have a flashlight.