Help recommend me a torch....
 

As above, only brand I can think of is maglite but there are so many.

Budget is up to £40ish, bulbs need to be changeable, rechargeable if possible, and nothing too small; needs to be of a decent size.

Are these LED ones any good? http://www.etorches.co.uk/maglite-to...lar-choice.htm


Cheers folks



edit: just realised that LED torches aren't going to have replacement bulbs? :lol1:

Here you go

http://dx.com/

Bought a couple from here along with Li-ion batteries and a charger. Bright as you like. Take a week or so to arrive from Hong Kong but well worth it.

I'm a fan of LED-lenser.

We have five of them in the workshop of various types and all are given a good batterring and they stand up to the abuse, where many others have failed (usually teh switch breaks first).

Good warranty support too (the head torch had a design fault, they replaced it with a new one with a modified design, even though it was two years old!! ).

LED lenser all the way not only amazing amount of light but most have some sort of gadgetry like focusing and strobe which I guess have there uses.

I found mine for £25 and I'm so impressed with it and I use it very regularly for work.

OMG don't touch the maglite with a barge pole. Modern LEDs are completely in a new league compared to them. Try Klarus, Jetbeam or Thrunite from flashaholics and quote CPF for an 8% discount

For example I have one of these and its awesome (and fits on my keyring..) ! http://www.flashaholics.co.uk/olight/olight-i1-eos.html

Listen to this man! Do not even think about maglites and changing bulbs. There are torches that will literally blow your mind. I have a tiny AAA size light on my key ring that runs a Li-ion battery and puts out about 10 times more light than a big D cell maglite.

Have a look on candlepower forum, there's loads of info on there.

If I was you I'd go for something like a 2xAA light to start off. Get some Sanyo eneloop batteries and a charger and enjoy.

LED lenser are ok but there's much better lights for the money.

Go onto YouTube and type in going gear, the guy does dozens of torch reviews and compares them all to a D cell maglite, it will amaze you.

Cheers guys much appreciated.

So is it best to avoid the replacement bulb type torches and to go for an LED one instead?

D-cell Mag-lights are good for clubbing people with, then have a LED torch for seeing with! :D

Fenix.

My standard carry is TK35.
Well that's a lie, I carry a surefire p6 all the time but the TK35 is my "work" light.
PD32 is right on budget.
Surefire G2 is also in budget.

Another fenix fan
TK35 is an amazing torch but slight over the orig posters £40 budget.
I carry a LD20 as an edc.
Don't go on candlepower forum it will empty your bank balance

richard

http://www.heinnie.com/

Everything a man could wish for.;)

Good to know I'm not the only flashaholic on here lol

I have a strange fascination for torches and watches. (And naked ladies)

Torches, watches, knives, pens, lighters, etc are just some of the things that men are fascinated by :lol1:

Blokes love gadgets. It can't be denied.

Girls, on the other hand, don't know what the hell's going on lol.

What will you be using your torch for? You don't want it so bright that it will ruin your night vision for example, do you need flood or spot light?

Oh no don't get him started at Hennies, I can't stop adding things to the basket when I'm on their website.

Just all-round general purpose for seeing in the dark -don't need to worry too much about a specific purpose as such.... something which is the best bang for buck, reliable, sturdy, bright, etc.

You should do a search. There was a massive thread on torches a while back :thumb:

A thread.
.

For your best bang for buck you will be looking at a branded XP-G LED torch, which will be around 200 lumens, and be £40 give or take.

For unbranded you will get a lot better light for the money, but it will be unbranded and a bit lower quality in terms of build and R&D / testing. For unbranded get an XM-L T6 or better again XM-L U2 LED torch. Both will see you to around 800 lumens.

Just tpye XM-L T6 into e-bay! (or XP-G or XM-L U2)

Avoid anything that calims >1000 lumens from a single LED I would avoid!

I would get something that runs off 18650 cells too - 3a/h 3.7v battery thats not much bigger than AA.. :thumb:

Don't mind me asking but do you mean better in terms of performance, ruggedness or warranty?

I ask this because in a garage environment we've gone through shed load of torches and LED inspection lamps of various brands and styles, be it via led failure, dodgy contacts, or dodgy switches, or simply crushed, the LED-Lensers so far has been the only ones that have taken the abuse (Mainly the Hokus Fokus); they've been dropped, bashed, kicked, submerged in waste oil/fuel, and even driven over.

Plus when one did fail (H7 head torch) they replaced it FOC; Their warranty is 3yrs.

If there are other torches like that I'd like to hear about them. Especially something that takes an even number of cells or is Li-ion (having 3 cells is a PITA if you don't have a decent charger).

Led lenser actually got me in to torches. I bought their penlight (for looking in at brakes) and was totally underwhelmed by the output. I was looking for a bright penlight and came accross candlepower forum. One thing they do have going for them is their patent on the flood to throw. I was going to get one of their bigger models for inspections but ended up with a Jetbeam BA 20 and a 4sevens preon 2 penlight (which is amazing)

What sort of lights are the ones you're destroying? I've got lights from klarus, fenix, 4sevens, sunwayman, thrunite, led lenser, jetbeam, ITP, Tiablo. I've used my jetbeam for a couple of years every day and it's been dropped and smashed around, dropped in puddles and even been in the oil drain tray etc.. Still works perfectly

The toughest light I have is my Armytek predator, you'd struggle to damage one of those.

The main choice for the ba20 as my main inspection light was the batteries, originally i wanted a rechargeable light but there's not a lot out there. The ba20 takes 2 AA batteries so I keep 4 Sanyo eneloops in my van, 2 in the light and 2 charged on my 1/2 hour 12v charger. It puts out 270 lumens for over an hour.

Worth keeping an eye on Amazon, this time last year I got a Lenser T7 for £29 and a Lenser head torch for £10. Amazon slash prices on some brands for short periods of time to clear stock, and then put them back up again.

Any bulb torches are only any good in spotlight format which isn't very 'handy'. Smaller one just aren't bright enough.

I have a LedLenser I paid £50 for a couple of years ago which is good.
However a guy I work with got a similar sized Led torch from Aldi for £14 which was just as bright (had a square beam pattern though, which is no big deal)

My brother in law came round last night with a (I think) Ultrafire torch, fook me it was bright, like a mini flood light in your hand. He said it was £100 but I can't seem to find it anywhere.

Ultrafire is a Chinese cheapy brand, copying the Surefire name. I've got one of their lights myself, xpg-r5 18650 powered one, cost about £8. There's loads on eBay, usually quoting 1000lumens for a light that's probably 300.

Surprised he managed to find one for £100 even their 4 led thing is about £60.

Well, my girlfriend is still undecided, but my Father has bought a Fenix TK35 (max 860 lumens) and a Fenix TK75 (max 2600 lumens), and fcuk me they are so bright it's incredible.

I never realised how bright torches these days are. On the lowest setting of just 15 lumens, that's like my crappy maglite, but 2600 lumens is just amazing. Personally, I like the pocket size TK35 which is miles bright enough anyway :)

+1

I have the TK11 and TK21 and both are very good.

I think the TK11 might just about be in budget? Nuclear bomb proof, very bright, compact. Uses funny batteries though so you'll need a bit extra for those and a charger.