So the term “EDC”, as you know, has become the handy prepper acronym for ‘Everyday Carry”. It’s also used as a noun in interrogatives, such as “Hey man, show us your EDC” which is an invitation for every swingin’ johnson to dump his pockets on the bunk and display magazines, ammo, knives, watches, multitools, pens, flux capicators, or whatever they think they need to have on them at every moment of every day.
Theres only a handful of things that I keep in my pockets – wallet, flashlight, pocketknife. And, surprisingly, the flashlight gets quite a bit of use. So, imagine my annoyance when I discovered that I somehow lost my Fenix E11. Not a big problem since they now make the E12 which is virtually identical. Put when I went to Amazon to replace the E12 I pulled out of storage, I discovered that the E12 is also now history. Instead it has been replaced with the E12 V2.0. So..I hit the buy button.
Here’s the skinny on the E11 and E12 line of little AA-batt flashlights. For the money, I like these a lot. I’d like a SureFire even more but given that I just lost my last E11 I’m reluctant to spend $200 on a flashlight that has a higher than 50% probablity of winding up lost and rolling around on the floor at CostCo.
I got the new E12 V2.0 yesterday and it is as handy as my older ones, but has some differences. It is slightly narrower in diameter than the older ones, although the emitter section is of the same diameter. It is also noticeably shorter, which Im not sure I like. The shorter length makes it hard to hold in your fist and operate with the thumb. But, the more compact design is welcomed by my pockets. Biggest difference is that the tailcap switch has three modes…low, med, high..which means if you want a small task light for reading menu’s in a restaurant of finding your dropped wallet in a darkened theater you can do so without lighting up the area like a movie set. Also, theres a very welcome and remarkably clever belt clip that allows you to orient the light up or down when you carry it.
Price is about the same..$27~ so no real change there. My experience has been that these are excellent little flashlights for everyday pocket carry. Pretty unobtrusive, puts out a good amount of light, pretty bombproof, run on easily acquired AA batts, and have features that make them more useful than 3-for-$5 pocket lights you find at Horror Fraught..I mean, Harbor Freight.
YMMV, of course, but if you’re looking for a solid performing little pocket life that can withstand alot of abuse and won’t break thebank, this might be worth looking at for you.
Hate losing stuff.
I carry the Pelican 1920. It’s two AAA batteries, has a nice satin machined feel, and is bright. Only two function end cap switch, bright, and when clicked again, dim. No silly SOS strobe to go past, no nothing.
The clip is a bit stiff and I usually use a thumbnail to ‘help’ open it to slide over my pocket material. They all fail the same way, the rubber cover on the switch tears and comes off.
It runs well on eneloop rechargables, lasts a reasonable time, and is really bright.
I use mine many times a day.
n
Nick,
I’m a streamlight fan, and found the strobe function to be annoying when I first started using it. However, I’ve noticed people using it while walking at night, and it does make them much more visible to cars than just a flashlight.
The above is not meant as criticism, just to say that I agreed until I saw something that changed my mind.
Have you looked at the Streamlight AAA rechargeables? Seem to be two versions. One starts at half? power, and goes to full (250 Lumens) when clicked twice. The other has a switch that does it in reverse. Pocket clip that has a double clip to also fit hat brims, although the double layer brims are too thick, generally. About the same price as your Fenix. The non-charging version is a little bit shorter.
Black, low start: #66604
Coyote, high start: #66608
AAA batts are not part of my logistics. My battery needs are streamlined to AA, D, and CR123. I refuse to add in another battery size.
Have you tried the USB cable charged flashlights ? I’ve been happy with the NiteCore LE Tiki flashlight. Extremely light, secured to the ring that connects the carabiner to the trucker’s wallet chain. If I have my wallet, I have my flashlight onboard and it doesn’t end up in washer like I’ve had other pocket flashlights happen to. I’ve had this nearly two years and have not lost one (I keep multiples as back-ups and occasional gifts). NiteCore also makes a UV light version if you have need of that feature. Mine has the red / blue lams but they are body mounted, not actual lamp. So their light is definitely limited to immediate, more of a personal marker than light casting.
I‘ve carried the same Olight S1 for about 6 years now. I did break the clip once but was able to buy a replacement. It’s taken a beating over the years and shows no signs of diminishing function. It’s tiny but has provided plenty of light for my needs. Definitely the most used item in my EDC.
I also carry an E12, along with a spare AA battery. It gets at least as much use as my pocket knife. Indispensable.
OOOOH! Shiny!
Last time you mentioned this light I commented. My ideas are similar to yours, I like the AA battery! My old headlamp, my GPS, My SPOT tracker, all run on AA. I searched high and low for a compact AA, not AAA LED flashlight, and the FENIX was it.
I still have my two original E-12’s, but I DEFINITELY need to pick up a couple of these!
One of the things I particularly like is the lack of a so-called “Strike Bezel”. I really don’t care about using it as a weapon and capturing my assailant’s DNA on it. It just tears up my pockets.
The bi-directional clip is a great addition. One of the issues with my old light is that I would fish it out of my pocket backwards every time! The clip will solve that, and work as an anti-roll device if I lay it on a table.
All in all, a great improvement!
Personally carry a ThruNite Ti3. It runs on a single AAA battery and is a twist-head vice tailcap button design. I find that this works well, as it cycles through a 0.04lm/10lm/120lm brightness series, with a 120lm strobe at the end of every other cycle. Fits very comfortably in a pocket with my Gerber Shard, and the reversible pocket clip turns it into a headlamp on any ballcap in short order. Also, the medium setting is good enough for most tasks, and when the high setting dims to around the same level as medium, I know it’s time to swap out the battery. Just another decent option for folks to consider.
carry one of these in my bag… https://inforce-mil.com/products/flashlights/tfx/ not a bad little light…surefire fan myself and this is about as cheap as you can find, have one sitting on my desk, pretty good little light… https://www.amazon.com/SureFire-Flashlight-Foliage-Batteries-Lightjunction/dp/B00CW7GHXI/ref=sr_1_5?c=ts&keywords=Tactical+Flashlights&qid=1647468797&refinements=p_89%3ASureFire&s=hunting-fishing&sr=1-5&ts_id=3222130011
have 6-7 of the old surefire G2’s around the house, non led, have debated converting them, there are parts you can buy to do that but to convert all of them would be a tad expensive…
Consider changing one each time it blows a bulb, or gets too dim. Years ago I bought one of the G-2’s, and the bulb didn’t even last as long as the first battery set. Surefire told me to get lost, so it sat in a drawer until the aftermarket conversion kits hit the market (nite-ez?) Might have been the last Surefire item I bought. Carried the original P6 metal version for a decade until the plastic ones came out. Converted that one also. Still carry it in the horizontal belt holder designed by Mas Ayoob. Had a very nice vertical one, but that vendor never made it back from Afghanistan.
Are your G2 lights polymer or metal around the lens area? I’ve seen both and have an all polymer G2 here, somewhere, with an actual Surefire LED conversion (80 lumens I think).
I’ve got a few Sure 6P lights floating around as well. I converted them with whatever cheap chinesium LED drop-in I found on EvilBay. If you watch you could find one of the deals where the more you buy at once the better the price each gets. A quick search gave me one that was $7.13 each if you got 4 or more with free shipping. Flip side is that they’re shipping from China…
Or there’s similar models on Amazon for $11+ each with Prime shipping.
I expect to get a couple hundred lumens out of the light regardless of whatever the seller is claiming. But it’s still a reasonably tough light that you’ve brought back online to be a spare.
You can get a 16650 (yes, 16650 not 18650) battery to drop in if you wish to shift them to rechargeable. Or a pair of cheap 16340 batteries (basically a rechargeable CR123 with higher voltage). I’m currently running at least 1 light each way.
I’m also running a 16650 in an early 6PX-Pro (200 lumen) that lives in my car.
Steelheart
One of the finest Chinese light made.
I carried some Fenix’s for years and they were good lights. I switched to carrying an Olight SR2R II about 2 years ago and love it. I also tried the SR1R II which is about half the length but it didn’t functionally save much room in the pocket and was harder to grip.
That SR2R II Baton has lots of easy to use settings that you won’t accidentally scroll through while trying to use one fixed setting. I like that I can switch to the lowest “moonlight” setting as I turn it on so I don’t blind myself for covert tasks like sneaking into my toddlers room after he is asleep to see where I dropped my phone when doing our bed time story, lol. The very highest setting is like a spot light (1,150 lumens) with great throw, I can see deep into the field behind my house at night when I Iet my dog out. Would work great in a self defense situation also and can be jumped to immediately in the controls.
The battery seems to last forever with daily use on one of the higher (but not highest) settings and can be recharged from a USB port like on a portable battery I carry for my phone.
Also while I normally like a tail end cap I think this button is easy to use, it never comes on in my pocket and it is well worth the trade to have a magnetic tail cap. I use that function all the time when I end up impromptu working on something with both hands. I’ve dropped mine lots on pavement and while dinged up it keeps on ticking.
What. You mean nobody had an Oscillation Overthruster? I never leave home without mine.
The best EDC light: the OLIGHT I3T EOS. One AAA battery. Good tail switch. Clip for pocket or hat bill. Dual output: 5 lumen and 180 lumen. Weighs 1.4 oz. Best of all $19.00
Recently bought a few of the Streamlight 1L-1AA run on CR123 or AA
The CR123 is considerably brighter. Keep with CR123 in it. Always have spare AA & AAA in my bag for stuff. Very happy so far.
https://www.thefirestore.com/streamlight-protac-1l1aa
I’ve used a Nitecore MT10C as my EDC light for over 3 years. I wore out my first set of 3 18350 (yes 18350 not 18650) batteries over the winter and am now rotating through a set of 4 batteries.
Yes, it takes an odd-ball rechargeable but will also use a CR123 with reduced output at the higher levels (which I rarely need). I expect the cost savings over CR123s is worth it.
Plus the light has a secondary red LED that’s easy to shift to.
https://www.nitecorestore.com/Nitecore-MT10C-Tactical-Flashlight-p/fl-nite-mt10c.htm
Steelheart
If you need 3.2 volts for your CR123 flashlight or other item and want rechargeable batteries you can get lithium iron (LiFePO4) in the same size.
Surefire and a few others make the batteries and chargers. You can use any lithium charger that can be set to 3.2 volt lithium iron (LFP / LiFePO4) to charge them or use the surefire brand purpose built charger. https://smile.amazon.com/Surefire-Rechargeable-Batteries-Charger-SFLFP123-KIT/dp/B08MZCGPH1
The advantage to these is the batteries should last over 10 years and a 1000 charge cycles and are safer than other rechargeable chemistries. The downside is you have about a third the capacity per charge of the non rechargeables and they don’t like devices that will run them to 0 volts.
I’ve tried a lot of flashlights for my pocket light. Since I’m a professional tradesman, they get a LOT of use.
The Streamlight 66608 has won that competition as far as I’m concerned, since I’ve not carried anything else for years and bought a second one when I thought I’d lost the first one (ended up finding it in the garden).
It’s small and super light weight, clipped into the corner of a front pocket I forget it’s there until I need it. Tail cap switch is robust and offers high 250 lumens or low 100 lumens. Low is almost always plenty enough for what I need a light for. I like that the tail cap requires solid activation and doesn’t tend to get turned on accidentally while in my pocket.
The two features that push it over the top are USB recharging and the clever clip that doubles as a hat bill clip.
And it’s only $30.