Anybody have any experience with Fenix brand LED flashlights? What did you think of them? http://www.fenix-store.com/

Jeff

I keep three AA lights available, a 4xAA UK eLED, a 1xAA Gerber Infinity Ultra and a Fenix L2D CE, one of the new Fenix lights using Cree LED's. It's a quality light, with multiple settings from low(9 lumens) to really high(135 lumens), SOS and strobe. The Fenix could probably do the job of either of the other two lights although the Gerber is smaller and the UK has a great runtime with its 4 AA batteries. The Fenix is a great light though. For the money I'd buy the Gerber in a 1xAA size. Once you size up to the 2xAA the Fenix gets more worthy of the price tag. YMMV

I got an L2D-CE, and an E1 and love them both. If you feel like spending the money they're hard to beat. The best part in my opinion is that most of their lights use common AA and AAA batteries. There's a gazillion threads on CPF forums on fenix lights. Hope that helps.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/

Fenix makes the L2D in single AA. They also sell just the body tube. IIRC its about $12 for the body. Its about the same diameter as the Infinity before Gerber got hold of the design & a little longer. It will handle the job of both of the other two and also replace a Surefire E2 on normal high. Run time for the L1 is advertised as 25 hrs on low.

I thought the L1D CE was the 1xAA version. My point is that in that size the Gerber Infinity Ultra at $21.95 is a better buy than the Fenix L1D CE at $55.50. Considering that the L2D CE is only $1 more, the L1D is overpriced IMO. YMMV

I have one (L0D, I think), it runs on the CR 123 batteries that Surefire does. Since I have an E1 Surefire as well, I feel the Fenix is a more versatile light, and fairly robust. More variation with lighting options, longer battery life, brighter. But, on hi power, the Fenix does heat up quite a bit, so the point where you could probably use it in a pinch to ward off some frostbite

I am thinking about picking up a Fenix P2D Premium, max light is supposedly 185 lumens, six times my Surefire E2L which cost me double. Seems like an excellent deal.

I want to get a Fenix Digital L2D CE to replace my Pelican M6 LED. I really like the idea of moving from CR 123s to AA cells and from a 1watt to the variable output cree .I've read so many great things about Fenix Lights on cnadlepower forums it seems like the right move.

I have an L2D-CE and an L1T/L2T. They are solid lights, in my opinion. Good battery life (esp. the Cree LED ... amazing). They like NiMH rechargeables. And the multi-mode options let me switch from "max batt life and preserve my night vision" to "pocket blowtorch to identify the unknown animal in my yard" in half a second.

CandlePowerForums.com is a good source of information. So is FlashlightReviews.com, even though they are only semi-active now.

The finish on the Fenix lights is slippery. Wrap some friction tape around the center; you'll be glad you did. Also note that the pocket clips from a MiniMagLite will fit on the AA versions, though it takes some doing to get them on.

First I'll point out that Fenix is a Chinese company, not US. It matters to some people.

Also, I don't think Fenix-Store is affiliated with Fenix - I think it's a retailer that just picked that name. But, they do have a good reputation. http://www.lighthound.com/ is another good retailer.

The Fenix lights have good output and reliability for the price. My biggest concern from an "emergency" or ETS perspective is waterproofing an durability/ruggedness. An emergency light needs to work, even if it's cold & rainy, even if it gets dropped on concrete, even if it gets dropped in a puddle. And it may need to work even if you've forgotten to change batteries in a couple of years in your kit.

Probably the best small emergency light today is the NovaTac. Waterproof to 100' as I recall, and a proven rugged design based on the HDS EDC. Probably the only downside is that it uses a single CR123 battery and changing the battery in a wet environment (emergency at sea) might require some inventiveness. But that's true for any battery and light.

Keep in mind that LED flashlights vary considerably in beam shape even if they use the same LED. Some are "throw" specialists that can light up targets 100' feet away but have such a narrow beam as to be useless when looking for a screw dropped on the ground. Others have a broad "spot" and considerable "spill", great for walking a trail but not much help beyond 50'.

The 1 watt, 3 watt and 5 watt Luxeon LEDs work fine but are older technology and not efficient. Cree and SCC are newer and much more efficient - a Cree or SSC at 3 watts is putting out more light than a Luxeon 5 watt. The new kid on the block is the Luxeon Rebel LED which is the most efficient as I write this. Efficiency means longer run times as well as brighter output.

I would select an emergency/ETS light based on what you want it to do. Does it need to have a runtime that supports reading or trail walking all night on one set of batteries? Are you going to have to search for trail markers at a distance? Will you be on water, or in an extreme cold environment? Are you caving or such where failure of all light is catastrophic?

My pocket light is a NovaTac 120P. All of my emergency lights are Surefire, with a C3 & 1 watt LED in the car and a couple of G2 incandescents in the house. I keep a pack of a dozen spare CR123 batteries in the car and in the house. I have a couple of Fenix lights as workbench lights.

PS. For extreme cold environments keep in mind that AA batteries generally perform poorly (except perhaps Lithium AA). If the light needs to work reliably below 0F consider a light using CR123 batteries or some other Lithium battery.