Oh dang. I was out gift shopping the other day and came across a Fenix shop in the middle of the mall. So I had to stop and look, and play, and look, and play, and... BUY! And as I was playing with the flashlight, 4 more gentlemen see the action and wander up to the booth and start playing with the demo units. So at least I'm not alone in my flashlight toys.

Between flashlights and knives, everytime I see a new one the temptation is there. Do I need another flashlight - NO!!!

This time it was to buy their elite handheld light - the TK35. Powered by 4 CR123s it pumps out an amazing 820 lumens at its highest setting and is half the size of my 2-D cell Maglite. Doh! But at $112 it came in at under 14cents per lumen - efficient eh? Or so that's how I rationed buying it!

How bright is 820 lumens? Well, its roughly 4x as much light or as my other Fenix, the PD-30 at 215 lumens. I turned it on and pointed it at the ceiling and it lights up the room. I pointed it down a walking trail and can see a snowshow hare 1000' away. I do night geocaching and instead of seeing a tiny reflector on a branch in the distance I see the entire tree lit up! Hmm, overkill perhaps?
http://www.fenixtactical.com/fenix-tk35.html

Well, now they tell me there is a 4-D cell version with 3 of the same CREE XM-L LEDs and it puts out 2200 lumens!

the phased plasma rifle in the 40w range nears reality

I love giving flashlights for Christmas. Fenix is good, I mostly give 4Sevens lights.

D cells do make for a great light when teamed with decent LEDs. A 50 lumen LED upgrade to a 2-D maglite makes for a pretty decent light. Just a slight twist to focus the maglight reflector and those 50 lumen have a very good throw. Same with the 140 lumen LED I put in my 3-D maglite, just brighter and even more throw. I cannot imagine 800 lumen.

The Olight S65 "baton" light sure looks like a light saber from Star Wars.

But back to the OP, that's interesting. I've never seen Fenix sold in a physical location before (I'm expecting a couple 4Sevens lights in the mail myself). Did this vendor have other non-mainstream brands, too?

Why justify the purchase? If I saw that beauty in the mall, I'd have to buy because, well, it would be the right thing to do.

The problem is that I've never seen a Fenix store/kiosk around me. Buying over the Internet, I'm a step removed from having the product in my hand. So, I'm less likely to buy impulsively.

820 lumens? You could just about barbecue a steak with that.

I want one. (Mmm, lumens. Mmm, steak.)

The smallest fenix I've seen is the one a little stouter than the maglite solitare and it was $55 compared to $20 for the mag. I haven't been able to justify the cost of a fenix. I'm sure I'll come around.

I may go back and check Izzy, but it looked to be slightly shorter and fatter than the may solitare. $55 made to stop dead in my tracks. The sales guy was raving about it fenix quality but said he doesn't actually use one himself.

The may solitare isn't the greatest but it fits nicely in my leather sheath! Does anyone know if there's an led upgrade for that one?

Thanks Izzy! I think we now have our next holiday project. (I sense the road to flashlight addition approaching....)

That was probably the LD01. Its a three mode light (mid-low-high).

3 modes is tempting...

For a great light with more than just 3 modes, check out the Quark AA (as in 1xAA). Common battery and modes from a minimum Moonlight mode of 0.2 lumens to a maximum of 109 lumens OTF (out the front). The Quark AA2 with 2xAA has a higher max of 205 lumens.

From what I can tell, the 4Sevens Quark lights are made to the same standards as Fenix, but with a broader range of output.

IMO, FWIW, $.02, YMMV -- Caveat emptor, yada yada yada

Survival lights should use LED emitters. HID and other emitter technologies have their places, but LED emitters are extremely tough, essentially never wear out, and use less power within their performance envelope than other technologies. If you have incandescent flashlights that you rely on for survival needs, it's past time to start looking for an LED replacement.

The best performing 1xAAA flashlight I ever found was the 4Sevens ReVO. Unfortunately it's been discontinued. There are other excellent 1xAAA lights out there, including those from Fenix. This is the form factor of flashlight that I stash everywhere as being small, light, tough, reliable and being far better for finding extra batteries than button-cell lights. It also feeds my flashaholism, as 1xAAA lights tend to be less expensive than the others in my collection so I buy more of 'em and find more and better places to stash 'em. In this size there's no excuse to not have one with you.

My primary EDC flashlight is in the 1xCR123A form factor, a Quark 123. It's too big for keychain carry, so it's not for everyone, but I typically find that my EDC flashlight is better than the "let me go back and get my flashlight" flashlights that non-flashaholics carry. During my recent ride-along with the local police, they were outright awed when I took out the Quark to help them look for something.

For me, the 2xCR123A form factor works best for most of my non-EDC needs. It's small enough for belt or even pocket carry, but you can get serious performance out of it. The larger ones in this form factor can provide performance that wasn't possible short of carrying a car battery around with you only a few years ago.

As far as brands go, I used to say that MagLites were the best available. They're certainly tough and Mag Instruments has great customer service, but in terms of size, weight and performance they're still working to catch up. Inova makes tough and reliable lights as well, but with the same caveats. SureFire might actually be tougher and more reliable (if that's possible) with what everyone agrees is some of the best customer service in any industry, but their lights are very expensive for the performance. HDS tries to go further than SureFire in reliability, performance and expense and from what I've read does a great job of it. Fenix and (my favorite) 4Sevens are significantly less expensive than SureFire and provide some of the best performing flashlights around. I haven't had any reliability problems with either brand. Note that there are too many competitors in this space for me to try to write even a sentence about each of them -- by the time I tried there'd be three more that I hadn't heard about and one other would probably be out of business.

Without becoming even more long-winded, the point I'm coming around to is that you need to get a flashlight that suits your particular requirements. This doesn't mean to go buy a lame 2xD dimestore incan -- it means that you should figure out what performance you need, what form factor works best for you, and how much of everything you're willing to pay for.

I have no affiliation with any flashlight manufacturer except as a customer.

Fenix has a 24-month warranty (http://www.fenixlight.com/service.asp?action=tiaokuan). 4Sevens has a 10 year warranty (http://www.4sevens.com/information.php?info_id=5#4Sevens).

Get a good charger and a couple of pairs of 18650 rechargeable Li-ion batteries for the TK35 to round out the package. Trust me.

I try to keep one set of 18650s in the light, a second pair charged and of course you can always fall back to primary batteries in a pinch.

I just got my Mini123 in the mail late this afternoon. It's very small, smaller than I expected. I like it!

You have the energy density of the CR123 battery in a very compact package with multiple modes. I still have to try it out, but I think I may be able to comfortably pocket EDC this like I do with a 1xAAA Fenix E05 now. We shall see.

I highly recommend the E05, too. It's been recently discontinued but can still be found on sale.

I have tried it and it works. I also have the Mini AA which is a tad smaller in diameter but a little longer. Either will work for pocket carry.

As a flashaholic, part of my 12-step program is to admit to owning several of the models discussed above, and more.

Best bang for your buck in small flashlight is either the Countycomm.com Maratac 1xAAA or the ITP EOS A3 Upgrade ("Upgrade" means tri-mode). They are the same light with different tailcap/key-ring attachment. $25 for the Maratac, and around $19 for the ITP if you look around. The Maratac is my standard key-ring light and also fits nicely into the nylon sheath for the Leatherman Surge and Charge.

The Fenix LD01 is also a nice 1xAAA light, roughly same size as above, but more costly at around $40. One of these currently lives in the sheath for my Leatherman Charge AL in my BOB.

I avoid CR123A for the longest time, wanting to stick with more readily-available AA and AAA lights. But I got a Fenix PD30 R4 on sale, and it has become my favorite EDC pocket flashlight. It clips nicely inside my pocket and I hardly notice it until I need it.

I've looked at the 4Sevens Quark "X" 123². They seem to be well made, I like the form factor and extra brightness, but the low ranges and extra modes bother me. I like the 11-lumen low mode on my Fenix PD30, I think the 3-lumen mode on the 4Sevens light would be too dim. Too bad there's no place local to try one out. Then again, given my addiction, maybe that's a good thing.

My "thrower" is an OLight Triton M30 I picked-up on sale last year for $95. Only 700 lumens, but I manage to get by.

What's "normal" today in flashlights is just nuts.

Last time I was out in the woods with my 11 year old twins I took one of my old school flashlights from 25 years ago with us. Those boys looked at me like I was crazy when I handed them that light to use to walk through the woods after dark. You would have thought I'd handed them a salad fork to use as protection against bears.

{/tangent} Sorry, now back to your regularly scheduled program.

True, and what is neat is how much more reliable, inexpensive, and compact lighting is now, compared to "the good old days"

I have a bunch of photon LEDs which I typically attach as zipper pulls om my packs so they will be useful in probing the contents on dark nights. Those timy little lights are more reliable and just as bright, at least, as the main lights I used to use before LEDs.

I tried those 4 battery lights, they always end up sitting in the drawer not used. Now I stick with 2x 123a lights.

I had a chance to play with the TK35 at my local Wholesale Sports. And, I too have been seriously thinking of buying that light. I live on acreage with a couple of horses and having that much light would sure come in handy at times. After being a long time Surefire fan, I now have several Fenix lights, including one that is probably 5 years old and still reliable. They make a great light for the money.

No, just Fenix brand flashlights. But then again he was also selling a lot of other gear designed for para-military, guards, police, sportsman, etc. The handcuffs might come in handy some evening. [Opps did I say that out loud?]

I found fenix lights at our local military surplus store.

If you're in the east Tennessee area, Smoky Mountain Knife Works carries Fenix, Surefire, & Streamlight models. I haven't compared prices.

Y'all are not healthy for those of us that are easily addicted to gear!

It took all my strength the other day, while at Sail (new outdoor retailer in town) to walk by the knife and light displays and go directly to the gifts I planned to buy for others. I stopped at the impulse buy rack of 2 LED Petzl Headlamps for $14. I only escaped without buying one beause the Buff display was right beside and I've been wanting one of those for years. (yup, I bought a Polar Buff for my own stocking.)

Confirmed that it was EO1 - $55 and EO2 - $54. This is why I come here before making big purchases!

On the upside, I found a 3 X AAA maglite XL 100, that I've only seen in pics before, in another store today for $11!

It seems like a good light. I like mags. The question is, is there an LED replacement kit for it or will any mag LED bulbs work?

I wonder if the OP light does replacement LEDs available.....