State of the Industry

For the first time in a long time, the flashlight market has been pretty disappointing.

The division between the gee whiz gadgets powered by Anduril, what I think of as gizmo lights (yes, I purposely chose the word “gizmo” to make me sound older…after all the Anduril Army contends that I am dinosaur for liking the HDS Rotary at all) and the tactical market has grown a bit.

The positively silly array of “features” and cratering output after seconds of headlight highs makes me think that the budget overseas lights just aren’t getting better. They are getting brighter and more complex, but not better. Light after light that comes out from these companies gets a heaping helping of “more” but nothing in this array of “more” makes the lights more reliable, easier to use, or longer running. The trend of moving away from 18650s to 21700s is proof of this. There is no real reason to drop an already too large battery for an even bigger one, unless you buy lights on specs alone. Flashlights only became worthwhile as an EDC item when they shrank to finger-sized tubes that could be pocketed or put into a bag with ease. A paper towel roll-sized light, regardless of output, just can’t be useful enough to carry. Once you pass around 1,000 lumens, the utility of additional lumens, especially without a throw head drops quickly to zero. Remember the old saying from Quick Beam (which I am paraphrasing)—like with lights and lumens, the highest proof bourbon isn’t necessarily the best.

Tactical lights, on the other hand, are bad for another reason—there is no innovation. Surefire’s last EDC light, the Titan Plus, is now 6 years old. It is a good light still, but 6 years is a long time. Where is the clicky version already? That can’t be all that much of a challenge to make. I would love to see a higher output HDS, something in the 500 lumens range. Similarly Malkoff would do well to bump up the output on his otherwise stellar lights. Strangely, it is Streamlight that is innovating. The Wedge is one of the most exciting new lights out there and as soon as they are more widely available, one will be in the review queue for sure.

Jason Hui continues to find success bucking trends. There are three of his lights on this list for good reason—they are ideal lights for general use. If you want a small, bright enough, good runtime torch, Jason’s two brands Prometheus and FourSevens are the place to look first. The Mini Turbo Mk. III continues to set the pace for inexpensive EDC torches. His new magnetic operated light is a masterstroke—so against the grain that it is truly innovative and interesting, not just more marketing bullet points. Is it too obvious a pun to say that Hui’s stuff is a bright spot in the market?

The gizmo end of the spectrum is gaudy and the tac end is slow, but the custom end is even more worrisome. Focus EDC raised the ante in terms of baroque torches with the Cylon. Its offering price of over $1,000 was stunning (largely matched by the machining, but still). Barrel and Hanko have also released new bling lights and none of them are cheap. Still, the market eats them up and ultimately places no priority, again, on usefulness. The custom market has a lot of what I think of as the “Shirogorov” feel to it—a fixation on noncritical aspects of the tool as a justification to raise prices to insane levels. In the same way that good flipping action is incidental to knife performance, barrel decorations are incidental to flashlight performance. If you are paying big bucks for a custom light you should get high end performance, at the bare minimum.

All around, the flashlight market is pretty depressing. The good stuff is, almost universally, older stuff, which is fine, but sad.

There are a few trends I am tracking that buoy my hopes for the future. There is a ton of innovation that is JUST around the corner. New UIs, new electronics, and hopefully the normal price drop due to tech advances that could make LEP reasonable purchases. We are ALMOST there (and I have noted which category those changes would impact below). Meanwhile, there are some signs of life in the tech we do have. Friction fit clips continue to dominate the market because they are cheap and easy to make, but lots of companies have upped their effectiveness by creating a clip channel that does serve to lock the otherwise pop-tacular clips into place. There is also a good thing in charging—high speed USB-C is much more common than a year ago. It would be nice if they weren’t used solely to fill the huge power tanks of giant lights and massive batteries (see above: 21700s). Finally, there are more than a few good custom torches out there. The Lau Lima Hoku is absolutely stunning and one of the best lights available. Similarly CWF has released the Micro Acadian, a clicky 1xAAA flashlight. Copper and Current has an interest page up for the Hinton, a custom AA flashlight. There are people making good solid lights without bling or “accessories.”

The EDC flashlight market, both on the production and custom side is in a sad state right now, but there are innovations that make me hopeful that the trend away from useless features and bling will abate sooner rather than later. The flashlight market is always behind the knife market, and we are seeing what it was like before designer produced blades compelled companies to release smaller, more useful blades. Think of the flashlight market like the knife market 2014—fifeteen different Axis lock knives or Cold Steel doubling down on size without good blade steel. I feel like we are a year away from turning a corner.

Ten Best

Best Light for Most People: Four Sevens Mini Turbo Mk. III

Still the best all around light on the market under $100. Its size allows you to drop it in a pocket and forget you have it (until you need it). Its interface is simple and flexible. It also has a surprisingly decent reflector. The last few lights that have come in for review are much brighter, but seem less so because of lesser optics. If you want a light that you can buy, that is high quality, and doesn’t need a lot of fidgeting, this is it. Think of the Four Sevens Mini Turbo Mk. III as the Delica in ZDP-189 of the light world. The throw reflector is quite nice and now a difference maker as the lumen counts keep going up.

Best High End Light: Torchlab BOSS 35

I have written about this light so much I don’t know what else to say. The fact that it is still the best and most functional light in the world, price no object, years after its introduction tells you just how amazing it was back then. And if you are bling dragon, there are high end Zirc versions that offer the impress-followers-on-IG feature that the sane and reasonable aluminum versions don’t (the above is the now rare BOSS 35 in aluminum—BTW, aluminum is the best performance material out there other than copper, which is heavier and significantly smellier). The new body tube adds variety to what is already the best flashlight system in the world. If you wanted a light to pair with your “only the best” folder, this is it.

Best Keychain Light: Nitecore TIP SE

Candidly, you could have a TIP 2 SE as your only light and be fine like 90% of the time. Sure, its boring and has a pretty atrocious beam pattern, but it does just about everything you need a light to do and it is self-recharging (no batteries to remove). Its not the sexiest choice in the world, but as a keychain light you will have a hard time finding better. The two button UI is also nice, but the buttons are super exposed and while that never created a problem for me, some readers report accidental activations and the curse of all flashoholics everywhere—the dread Hot Pocket.

Best Full Sized Light: Four Sevens Quark QK16 Mk. III

I know, I know…I just ranted for two paragraphs about lights getting bigger. But this light is not a behemoth. Lots of folks would be okay with his as an EDC, but its a bit big for me. That said, it is also almost universally a “full sized light.” If you want something that is dead simple to throw in a junk drawer in the kitchen and still work as a full sized light, this is a great choice. With the delrin cap it can tailstand. It has a washer style clip so you can remove it if it truly lives in a drawer, and the 16650 is big enough for long run times and relatively high output, but still slender enough to make the light pocketable (I like the 16650 MUCH better than the more widely used 18650…but what can I do about it?). This is Jason’s insights distilled down to a simple, high utility light.

Best Muggle Light: Prometheus Mag

“You kids and your gizmo lights drive me crazy.” If you think the HDS Rotary is too complicated, then this is the light for you. It literally has no external switch. Pull the magnetic quick release and the light comes on. It has no reflector, no high or low, no strobe, party, or lighting storm mode. Its just on or off with absolutely beautiful color rendering (thanks to the new Yuji emitters, which run better than 95 CRI) and tons of runtime. The output, 40 lumens, will get you to your car in a dark parking lot or sight a door lock. If there is a simpler light in existence is it unknown to me. What a masterstroke this light is—unlike anything else on the market and good where it matters.

Best Runtime: Muyshondt Aeon Mk. III v. 2

This light will win this award for almost as long as the light can run on a single battery. Honestly, like with the BOSS, I have written so much about this light I don’t know what else to say. Its wonderful.

Best UI: HDS Rotary

NOTE: The Streamlight Wedge, which has been delayed or slow in its release, appears to be a serious challenger to the HDS Rotary’s perch on the top spot. Alas we will have to wait until next year as the Wedge is not scheduled to be released for at least another month.

Anduril Army, make no mistake, this golden oldie has the best UI available. As the only light on the market that allows for selector ring control and direct access to any level of brightness from off with a single push of a button. I’d much rather have a few less lumens (and be clear—after roaring for 90 seconds all of the gizmo lights drop down to around 500 lumens on high, which, given light is perceived logarithmically, is not significantly brighter than the 325 lumen output on the current Rotary) than weird party and lightning storm modes.

Best Budget Light: Folomov EDC C1

Sure, the product literature has been mashed through an gibberish translator (“sports a Nacha 219 B emitter”). And yes, the pocket clip is oriented in the wrong direction. And the button switch can activate by accident, but the core of the light is spectacular—a ultra tiny 400 lumen 1xAAA.

Best Light for the Zombie Apocalypse: HDS Rotary/Streamlight Protac 1L-1AA

NOTE: The Fraz Lab lights are currently out of production, but their design with the QTC and no wires seems like a brilliant innovation. As soon as one is available, it will be in the review queue. If it works as advertised it might bump out of the HDS Rotary as it has an even simplier UI.

The HDS Rotary is a singular torch and an easy choice for the Everyday Commentary Hall of Fame. To this day it is my nightstand light—the light that simply must always work. And thus far I have never been disappointed. Sure, it is bigger than most lights on this list and it is not a screamer, but the runtime is long and the drop off after 90 seconds is minimal (read: none) compared to the modern gizmo lights.

For all of its heartiness though, the Protac has a major advantage and this advantage is why I will continue to recommend it for most people—it can run on either a high output battery (CR123A) or a common cell (AA). This versatility, coupled with the fact that it costs around $50 makes an emergency superstar. If you don’t have a Protac 1L-1AA in your bugout bag, repack it.

Best Reasonable Thrower: Lumintop Micro GT

NOTE: Nothing is quite as exciting in flashlights as a new emitter technology and nothing throws like a LEP (laser excitation phosphor) light. Unfortunately, after about 18 months of regular production, LEP lights are still wildly expensive, the cheapest I could find at the time of writing this article was the Acebeam W10 Gen. 2 at around $280 street. We are getting close to a reasonable priced LEP torch and once we do, they will own this category. Why? The W10 is the “short” LEP thrower and it goes a kilometer. This from a light the size of a Surefire 6P.

There is not much in the way of sane throwers under $250. They fall into two categories: “throwers” like the FourSevens Mini Turbo Mk. III which is not really a thrower but instead a light that is merely NOT BAD at throwing, and throwers designed to hit spots 450 meters away that look like a midsized telescope. Until the Micro and the Nano no one made a light that was reasonably pocketable AND good at throwing. Both the Micro and the Nano are the right size with plenty of brightness. It is only the Narsil UI, which is a brother of Anduril, that holds this light back. Even the price is pretty decent.

Amazon Links

Four Sevens Mini Turbo Mk. III

Nitecore TIP SE

Hot Pockets (oh wait, not THOSE kinds of Hot Pockets)

Folomov EDC C1

Streamlight Protac 1L-1AA