EDC Handheld Light - What's hot, what's not? Surefire preferred.

[Erik]

I remain a big fan of the HDS Systems EDC Tactical. It's got a great interface and a good range. It's expensive and the high is not nearly what newer lights are but it's been more than enough for me as a light that's always in my pocket everywhere I go and I have never regretted spending the money. I like it enough that when my original disappeared somewhere, I didn't hesitate to buy a replacement. If he updated these lights to provide more output on high, I'd buy another in a heartbeat. I understand these have been out of stock for a while so it may not be an option currently, but if it is available, I think it's a great light.

[newyork]

Super expensive. 325 lumens max. Supposed to be bomb proof though.

[Magsz]

That is definitely concerning. I’d like to hear the outcome, but I think he’ll just get a replacement without much of an explanation


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I have a feeling that they're going to simply replace the head and drive on. Cloud's customer service is stellar so we aren't really worried about that end of the spectrum. What we are worried about are lemons and whether or not these super high output heads can handle the use case we are subjecting them to. Numbers are fantastic but if you can't use those numbers for more than five or ten minutes then the light is worthless to me. Lots of super powerful lights have voltage regulation where they will step down output based upon drain. I don't think these lights have any such features.

This is the kind of thing that makes me wonder about a lot of these one off oddball brands.

Are the “gains” really all that important or valuable when offset against the parts availability, general fiddle-fuck involved, general uncertainty around the brand…

I find myself less and less interested in “bespoke” anything. Ultimately I either wind up let down or having to invest more time and/or Money, or all three.

I can kinda understand why the op would say “Surefire preferred”. Even if they aren’t the new hotness, they are a known entity with a support systems and parts network (including aftermarket, which admittedly then gets us back to bespoke).

I get that the industry has become more tolerant of China lights (and optics), and that gunerds have always loved some bespoke shit, but it strikes me that if protecting and serving or legit need for defense, old standbys may still be best. Maybe a few less lumens, or a few less buttons, or a few less clickies, but does any of that matter of the (n)ew hotness simply doesn’t turn on?

Surefire is not immune to lemons. I just blew over two grand on Surefire XVL2 IRC's and they're both duds out of the box.

The arms race in flash lights may seem a little bit stupid but it serves a purpose. The problem is the influencers tend to drive a lot of the hype. The whole switch to candela as the favorite flavor was a stupid ass move as its a balancing act of the whole package. A SUPER high candela light may be awesome if you want to ID a predator during hunting at 300-500 yards with white light (errr?). Its useless to me as an EDC or work light. I need spill. As a whole, lights need a good lumen rating, good candela for throw and a good reflector that will provide a nice hot spot but enough throw to allow me to place light into the periphery of my vision.

For 99% of my job, I'm currently using a stiletto pro. Prior to that I was using a 750 lumen First Light Tmax LE for six years. I never gave into the modlight handheld craze or any of the other higher candela options as I didn't really need them. Even more so, I didn't want them as they're not utility lights, they're fighting lights.

Fast forward six years and i'm carrying the stiletto pro AND a Cloud Defensive MCH. I see the value in a high candela output light for PID in vehicle cabs at distance, PID across some of our open spaces in the city and PID against photonic barriers on felony stops.

For EDC, I really don't give a shit about any of that.

A 250 Lumen Microstream can do everything I want for EDC.

I want manufacturers to continue pushing the envelope. I also want the end users to be realistic with their use cases...

Last point. For EDC, I really wish the Stiletto shape would catch on. I know that it requires a proprietary battery and it is bucking the trend of round lights but man, it is comfortable both in the pocket and in the hand. The ergonomics are next level.

[GearFondler]

Fast forward six years and i'm carrying the stiletto pro AND a Cloud Defensive MCH. I see the value in a high candela output light for PID in vehicle cabs at distance, PID across some of our open spaces in the city and PID against photonic barriers on felony stops.

I'm a truck driver but I think like you do... I carry a Stiletto Pro for utility/EDC work and a Modlite OKW for defense and long distance work.
The Pro handles 99% of what I need a light to do, especially with its 3 levels of output and its broad floodlight. However I do find that sometimes I need to push light into shaded areas during the daytime (usually underneath a trailer) and here is where the OKW shines as a specialized utility light, the high candela pushing through the ambiant daylight to let me see into the shadows.

[newyork]

Would be cool if there was a way to load the stiletto up with a common battery as a dual fuel situation in case you weren’t near a cord/outlet/usb whatever it is.

[NH Shooter]

Fast forward six years and i'm carrying the stiletto pro AND a Cloud Defensive MCH. I see the value in a high candela output light for PID in vehicle cabs at distance, PID across some of our open spaces in the city and PID against photonic barriers on felony stops.

A 250 Lumen Microstream can do everything I want for EDC.

As I'm very much in the 2-light carry camp myself, this sounds like a good pairing to me.

[Default.mp3]

I find myself less and less interested in “bespoke” anything. Ultimately I either wind up let down or having to invest more time and/or Money, or all three.

I really would not consider the likes of Cloud Defensive or Modlite to be bespoke. That would be something like Prometheus Lights, Frelux, HDS, Okluma, etc. I also don't really see them being a bigger gamble than SureFire for short to medium term use, the real advantage SureFire has is long term parts availability due to its market share. SureFire has had a few bobbles as of late, most notably the issues people were having with M600DFs dying or having other issues.

[Magsz]

Would be cool if there was a way to load the stiletto up with a common battery as a dual fuel situation in case you weren’t near a cord/outlet/usb whatever it is.

Agreed.

What I will say is that my Stiletto lasts five to six 11.5 hour shifts depending on use before the low battery indicator comes on. That's all that I require from the light. Given that its a multi mode light, it offers a TON of run time. A lot of people that champion how single output lights are the only lights that wont get you killed in the streets give up the fact that a multi mode light lasts a REALLY freakin long time. I used to run RCR123a's. I would charge them on my first day and run my four day work week on that single charge. I never ran out of light but I was also running a multi mode light. Realistically, I would say that during an 11.5 hour shift, if I totaled up the full power run time, I would probably only be at maybe five minutes of total cumulative use? The light spends so much time on the reduced lumen settings.

Is this an issue? I'm honestly not sure but I like the idea of at least having the capability for hours stacked upon hours of SOME semblance of light, whether its full power or a reduced lumen output.

I'm not sure if we've gotten off topic lol. OP, have you chosen something? Did I miss that?

[rob_s]

I really would not consider the likes of Cloud Defensive or Modlite to be bespoke. That would be something like Prometheus Lights, Frelux, HDS, Okluma, etc. I also don't really see them being a bigger gamble than SureFire for short to medium term use, the real advantage SureFire has is long term parts availability due to its market share. SureFire has had a few bobbles as of late, most notably the issues people were having with M600DFs dying or having other issues.

At $1m in annual volume (according to dnb), and an average light sale price of ~$300, leading to total number of light sold being just over 3,000 (an over-simplification, since they sell other lower cost doodads, meaning they likely sell nowhere near 3,000 lights/year), I would.

What defines “bespoke” in the tactical light fixture world, if not that?

Yes, the manufacturers you list appear to have even lower sales volume, when available, but that doesn’t mean CD isn’t bespoke too.

[Default.mp3]

At $1m in annual volume (according to dnb), and an average light sale price of ~$300, leading to total number of light sold being just over 3,000 (an over-simplification, since they sell other lower cost doodads, meaning they likely sell nowhere near 3,000 lights/year), I would.

What defines “bespoke” in the tactical light fixture world, if not that?

Yes, the manufacturers you list appear to have even lower sales volume, when available, but that doesn’t mean CD isn’t bespoke too.

I wouldn't consider Cloud Defensive bespoke because, well, it's not. Bespoke means that there is a level of working with each individual customer to allow for customization; it's not just an issue of low sales volume, but the interaction with the customer for their specific individual order, where the customer drives the requirements, and not the maker. With things like lights and other electronics, you're a bit more limited just due to supply chain, so it can end up being closer to being analogous to MTM clothing rather than true bespoke, but to me the key difference is to have a plethora of options to choose from for each specific order, not just a few variations. Look at how HDS has a custom option that allows for 15120 permutations; with the CD MCH, there are only 32 possible permutations, 8 if you dismiss cosmetics. Some of the other names I listed deal more in making a bunch of variations, rather than true customer driven customization, but still offer a much wider variety of options that allow for some degree of user selection for a more unique light.

I'll also note that the D&B figure is modeled, so I've zero idea as to how accurate it is.