My new light

Well after all the praises for the fenix aaa light, i finally decided to get one to replace my mag-light solitaire in my Victorinox S.O.S. pouch. I ordered it friday, june 30th and just got it today. i can say im very impressed, just as bright as my Gerber Infinity to my untrained eye. Its a little shorter than the solitaire, but by using the supplied split ring it more or less sits at the same height. There is no comparing the light output for the solitaire vs. the fenix.
For those who might be interested i got mine from Fenixstore.com. Price was $15.00, free shipping via USPS.

-Bill Liptak

I have their single AA light

80 lumens on high.


Very nice lights.

I hope you enjoy yours as much as I have mine.

fenix lights are very good i have several and am looking forward to getting the Fenix E20 Black Finish Q2 which i have preordered

Even though i have had bought many more modern lights, mine favorite is still the good old Fenix L1P. Still going strong after 3 years on mine belt.

So i'm a happy customer, i didn't even had te replace the o-ring or spare switch cover. Although i did worn out the belt holster.

I just got my Fenix L2D CE today, and thus far I'm very happy with it. Granted, I've just been playing around with it and will know more as time goes by.

I was in the market for a light to replace my Pelican M6 2330 LED, which served me well for the last couple of years and still works great, but had a number of shortcomings in my opinion.

My first problem with the Pelican is that the CR123s that power it never caught on like I thought they would and therefore remain very expensive. Sure I can still find them locally, but they usually cost between $9.00 and $12.00 per pair. I found many places online that sell CR123s in bulk for a lot less, but I really had to buy a large quantity to start seeing some real price breaks. I did eventually make a bulk order and so have batteries for the Pelican in case of an emergency, but I soon ran into another problem.

The second problem wasn't so much the Pelican's fault, but my own. The M6 just wasn't made for what I intended to use it for, which is a solid light source for use in an extended emergency or for long repetitive hikes at night. From the second you turn on the Pelican M6 2330 it begins to dim, and at the 2 hour mark it's at 50% brightness. I perceived it as being dimmer than that, but I'll go with the more scientific tests at Flashlight Reviews. I figured I could never carry enough batteries in my BOB for an extended emergency without making a number of weight related sacrifices. The Pelican just burned through batteries too quickly. In the end I decided it was more bright than necessary in most situations as well.

So, I started looking around and reading some reviews, which led me to the Fenix L2D CE. This light seems to fix the two problems I had with the Pelican M6. The L2D uses 2 AA batteries, which are widely used and so are much cheaper than CR123s, and it has multiple output levels so I can choose between brightness and runtime. There's a good review of the Fenix L2D CE at Flashlight Reviews.

I have no affiliation with Fenix, Pelican or Flashlight Reviews.

So what made you pick the Fenix over the Gerber then? Just curious. I like my Infinity but I'm not married to it...

Wow. I missed the introduction of the E01. That's a nice light for $15. I've carried the similar $50+ Arc AAA-P on my keychain for over 2 years. It barely shows any wear and is still on its first battery.

I like the Fenix tribe in theory, but in practice (grouch alert!) my experiences have been hit-and-miss.

I had major problems with an L1T (bought the L2T body as well). Low mode died. High mode continued. I should note that the retailer sent a replacement, without a fight. Can't complain about that. But my trust has gone "conditional." I would definitely, always carry a backup.

Compare this to the Streamlight line (again, my personal experience): heavy, reliable, bombproof, un-sexy-techie. Now we're talkin'. Gotta talk to my source (wholesale!) about the next generation.

Even my un-sexy 2AA LED Maglite has performed above and beyond the call. But (as everyone knows) when the batts go low, the light goes out without warning. Be prepared. Otherwise, it's a workhorse.

I've been half looking for a new EDK light. The Fenix E01 looks nice but doesn't meet one of my requirements. Sorry if it's a touch off topic but this seemed like a good thread to ask.

I do like the price but I would really like to find a single battery light that used AA. It's just a personal preference but I like to have everything using size if possible. I did see mention of singe AA light by them in the thread but I haven't found one yet at that very nice $15 price point.

Any thoughts on a single battery, AA, waterproof enough to survive a swim and able to survive the occasional drop for around the same price range as the E01.

Thanks for the time,

Mark

Nishnabotna, first lemme say sorry it took so long to reply....I primarily surf this site at work on my phone. Compression and loading times means I don't always keep up with posts that get burried under "hotter" topics of discussion. I carry and love my infinity, it still resides on my keychain. I got the fenix to replace my maglite solitaire that's with my Vic swisschamp. I have the original S.O.S. "Survival Pouch/sheath" that they came out with back in the late 80's. I just started to carry it again, kinda like getting re-aquainted with an old friend. On the older model pouch its split into 2 side by side compartments. One side is the knife, the other is for the various survival items. On the outside of each pouch, on the side is a leather tunnel. One for a sharpening stone, the other for a maglite solitaire. LED technology has evolved by leaps and bounds since then and I figured it would be of benefit to replace the solitaire (pathetic light output) with something more akin to 21st century technology. I chose the fenix over the arc, 35 buck is a big savings in my book and both seem to be comprable.

-Bill Liptak

On the cheap but reliable side, for a single AA light, something like the River Rock (from Target stores) is a good bet. I'm not sure they still carry this particular one, but their "River Rock" flashlight label has had great bargains on excellent lights.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=167899

The second generation Inova X1 would be a good light as well, but with two other generations of the same model, it can be hard to find the better second generation one.

another inexpensive AAA light is the Gerber Sonic - around $4 from smoky mountain knife works.

I like the Fenix lights - I have a couple of L1Ps, a L2d w/ spare single AA & Cr123 bodies (can use the head & tailcap - offers a bit of flexibility), and a T1 - they all work great, no problems whatsoever.

I hate to keep upping a thread like this, but I went camping this weekend and I'm thoroughly pleased with the way my Fenix L2D CE performed in many roles.

One thing that made me feel good about the purchase is that I continually checked the setting to see what mode it was in. The low setting was so bright* that I often checked the bezel because I couldn't believe it was on low and that I could expect more than 80 hours** of useful light at that brightness. I could easily walk around in the dark with the light on low and be confident in doing so.

The high setting on the Fenix L2D CE is incredible, but it's hard to appreciate how bright just by looking at the wattage. We compared the Fenix (3W on high) to a MiniMag LED 3 Watt and the difference is unbelievable. The Flashlight Reviews site says the Fenix L2D CE (3W) on high is brighter than Surefire L2 (5W) on high. Though in all fairness I must admit that the Maglite costs $25.00 less than the $50.00 Fenix.

I must also admit that these numbers, used as as ratings to compare one light to another, confuse me and make my head spin; Watts, Lumens, Lux...

The "Strobe" mode, though I don't know what it's actually for, incapacitated one of the other campers for a few seconds, and made him feel sick to his stomach for a few moments after that. Simply put, I shouldn't have done it, and I didn't expect the results.

* 9 lumens according to the Fenix Store

** 80+ hours with Energizer E2 Lithium Batteries according to Flashlight Reviews. 59+ hours with the extra Kirkland Brand AAs I purchased from Costco. I also use Sanyo eneloop NiMH, but they are 2000mAh as opposed to 2650mAh NiMH rechargeables so I don't have runtime information on those.

Yes, after complaining about the expense of CR123s I purchased a bunch of Energizer e2 Litiums because I liked the look of the runtime graphs.

I'm not affiliated with Fenix in any way, just happy with my purchase.

The brightness of the dimmest mode is one of the reasons I have not got a Fenix. I like my LEDs to go really dim, to 1 lumen or lower (and to have corresponding battery life). My ideal would be a five-level light with something like 0.1, 1, 10, 100, max. (Actually I can agonise for hours about what specific brightnesses are best for various tasks, but you get the idea.) Either that or fully adjustable.

Well Nicodemus, actually you found out what the strobe setting is for. In "tactical" lights a strobe setting is used for blinding and disorienting a hostile target rendering him temporarily safe to take down and secure.
Care should be taken when playing around with this feature on a light amongst friends (or innocent bye standers) as it can very well induce epileptic seizures.

-Bill Liptak

has anyone noticed a decline in Inova products on the shelves. I really like their products and buy them as gifts and personal use but in Phx, I am not seeing them as much.

Then it works as intended, at least on one unlucky camper I know.

I'm surprised that there was no mention of what this feature was for in the instructions.

Still, I should have remembered warnings about strobing light and the potential to induce epileptic seizures in those who are susceptible. Thanks for bringing it up!

I think the last place I remember seeing INova lights was while I was in a Target store, but I haven't checked in quite some time.

Orchard Supply Hardware stores, owned by Sears I believe, carry some of the Inova flashlights.

John E

I've seen microlights and Radiants locally.

Price a killer, though.