Off to the left of Alex Svetlovics’ pocket dump you’ll [barely] see his ThruNite Ti4 CW lm Compact LED Penlight. I’m not linking to it because everydaycarry.com makes their money through affiliate links with suppliers. But I’ll say this about the light . . .
Good idea!
I love my blindingly bright two function (on and off) Surefire flashlight. But it’s too heavy and bulky to add to my standard front pocket load of wallet, keys, spare mag and knife. With room (or not) for sunglasses.
A .32 ounce pen-thin flashlight that kicks out 252 lumens for 137 hours? Bring it on!
The price — $40 — not so much. Especially as batteries aren’t included.
Still, as our man Jeff Gonzales has written in these e-pages, a flashlight is an essential bit of kit for self-defense. And helps you find stuff that falls down the black hole between the front seats of you car and the center console.
And according to the Amazonian product page, you can use the ThruNite Ti4 CW lm Compact LED Penlight as an endoscope. How great is that?
You in?
So many you tubers and websites pushing this brand.
I’ve got the single AAA version in titanium. For whatever reason, it was on Amazon for only $15 and I couldn’t pass it up. I like the moonlight mode but it would make for a lousy tactical light if that’s what you’re after. If you’re looking for a tactical pen light, if there is such a thing, I’d recommend Streamlight. Their Protac AAA if you want strobe, standard Stylus Pro if you want something inexpensive, or their rechargeable Stylus Pro for higher output. All have forward switches for momentary operation, and Streamlight is a great company to deal with in my experience.
I double the recommendation of the Streamlights. I have one that is more silver than blue, 5 years or every day carry. Still works great. Finally replaced it with a new one (twice the output of the old)
“252 lumens for 137 hours?”, Rob, you really need to stop taking about flashlights. It would be like Ford saying the Mustang will do 165 mph for 400 miles, no, it will not, one or the other. Also this light it useless as a tactical one, it starts in moonlight (good for just carry)
+3 on streamlight, ProTac 1L is my EDC light.
I’m another Streamlight Stylus Pro user for EDC. They start under $20 on Amazon depending on color choice.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0019CR10A/
Stylus Pro user checking in here. Good lights, would (and have) buy again.
SureFire makes a bunch of pretty useful and nifty holsters for their lights. I’ve used them extensively and while they’re cheap (price wise) they hold up quite well.
As for SureFire lights, they’re not heavy but based on the complaints in the article I am reminded of Boris the Blade saying “Heavy is good, heavy is reliable. If it does not work, you can always hit them with it.”
Personally I use SureFire lights a lot. When in places/situations where I worry they might grow legs (get stolen) I swap to one of a few Fenix lights.
I take pride in my equipment. That’s why I try to own what I perceive is the best of most everything. Snap-On, Sig, Arsenal and Surefire are among the list. My neighbor bought a new Springfield Saint but didn’t know anything at all about any of it. ZERO. All he knew is wanted a black scary rifle as close to my AK as he could get without spending quite as much scratch. His weapon light is Streamlight and while I used a four AA Streamlight flashlight for an industrial setting and was well backed by the company, I’ve never owned any of their weapon lights, but the Streamlight he chose seems to be a fine product. I have to say though I like my Surefire 300 Ultra better than the Streamlight he chose for his Springfield Saint Free Float, which also seems like a pretty nice rifle.
I’ve never had a Streamlight weapon’s light. I have one of their flashlights though, an Xmas present from the P’s-in-Law a couple years back. It’s a Protac 2L IIRC.
I like it alright. I’ve never really screwed with the zillion settings it has though. My understanding is that once they’re set up they’re awesome but, as I said, I’ve never put the time into doing that.
I also like the SureFire 300 series for weapon’s lights but I don’t use mine anymore because I suppressed my main AR and the shadow that thing casts is obnoxious as fuck. At that point I decided that it’s not really worth it since that rifle isn’t really an HD gun at this time and I’m unlikely to go hunting BG’s with it in dark buildings. Love that light series though!
“Heavy is good, heavy is reliable. If it does not work, you can always hit them with it.”
Ya, why I like my elderly SureFire 6P LED. Built like a brick s-house.
I need to update its original dim LED module for a modern multi-brightness one, and bore out the body so I can stuff a 18650 in there…
When it comes to beating someone with a SureFire it’s the old school 9P FTW! Runs on 3x 123A batteries. Swap out the old incandescent bulb for the LED upgrade and the battery life increases by like 500% or more while doubling the light output. I think you can do the same with the 6P but IIRC you need to do the research to get the right module because otherwise you can end up spending over $100 for something that doesn’t work and that’s one bit of SF gear that generally doesn’t have a return policy on it (or at least it didn’t when I did this).
It’s also built like a brick shithouse just larger than the 6P for more… beatability but without the price tag of something like the UDR Dominator (which is something stupid like $1300).
My favorite right now is either my Vampire or my Aviator. Gave my dad a light a couple years back but I can’t remember what it was right off the top of my head. It’s been discontinued and to some degree I regret having given it away.
Still, love the Fenix lights. They’re about on par in terms of reliability in my experience (I’ve had one of my PD22 lights as an EDC light for about five years with no problems) and if you “lose” one to a co-worker you’re only out like $40. The beam isn’t quite as good but you have to do a side by side to notice a difference. They’re more than good enough and they’re cheap.
Let me know how boring out the body of a SureFire works for you. I’ve thought about it with one of my Fenix lights. I’d do it on that to make sure I had everything set up right before I attacked a SureFire.
“Let me know how boring out the body of a SureFire works for you.”
I’ll let you know – I’m planning on trying a hack-method instead of drilling-machining.
The hack is to wrap a piece of coarse Emory cloth around a dowel or metal rod and then chuck that in a drill, then just work it up and down inside the body and let the Emory ‘flap’ do the grinding. Being aluminum, it should go reasonably quick.
I’ll also get a ‘pronged’ bezel ring to up the ‘beatability’ potential even more…
Hand drill or press? Personally I’d go with a press so you can pre-set the depth but that’s just because I used to build reasonably precision stuff for a living.
I don’t have a press, no real excuse, cheapies are like 50 bucks new at China freight, but I keep hoping to come across one not made of stamped steel.
Depth is irrelevant in this job, the threads are on the *outside* of the tube, so it doesn’t really matter. And if I go a bit oversize, no big deal either.
You’ve been reading me here long enough, I’m all for high-precision, and when I have the room (and the money) I’ll get a lathe and mill and start learning to use ’em.
Hopefully, when silencers are de-regulated.
(I keep hoping to find “Free for good home, Bridgeport mill and accessories, but for some weird reason I haven’t seen that yet…)
The only time I’ve thrown a beating with a flashlight was an old 4 D battery mag light.
Ruined the light but saved my fat ass. Replaced it with a smaller light and a .38.
DON’T bore out the body. Get a 16650 battery instead. I run them in my Surefire lights instead of CR123a (still keep a few in the bag)
That’s actually a good idea, thanks!
(For the few that may not know, LiPo cells numbering scheme is straightforward, the usual ‘18650’ cell is 186 mm in length, 50 mm in diameter.)
Ultra-thin lights… Meh.
Had me an AAAA ultra-thin Streamlight ‘inspection’ light, it was a PITA to find batteries locally, and it was fragile…
The current crop of AAA pen lights are so far ahead of the original AAAA Stylus that comparing the two is almost akin to comparing an AR15 to a muzzle loader. They were fairly impressive for the time, though. Your criticism of the battery availability is valid, but that is why AAA is standard for pen lights now.
“And according to the Amazonian product page, you can use the ThruNite Ti4 CW lm Compact LED Penlight as an endoscope..”
Which end do you intend on scoping? I ask because this device doesn’t look very flexible.
My EDC light on my key chain is an ITP AAA at about $20 and 100 lumens on hi. Has gotten me out of a jam several times including just the other day where an occupancy sensor turned off the lights in the restroom of the local stop and rob. I dont know if ITP is even around any more. Pen light too long to be practical in a pocket IMO. Most flashlights are toys and not tools. I have Surefire lights everywhere in my house, in my vehicle and in my GO BAG. For the most part, bomb proof. Wish I could say the same for their batteries.
At least this guy knows he’ll need trauma gauze if he’s just using that clip without any trigger protection.
So I’m not so sure this guy is full of good ideas.
A single clip kydex IWB holster makes a lot more sense.
So an MX-99/U is not the thing, gee and it’s got all them pretty little filters in the end cap.