I picked up another flashlight today. First one I've bought in quite a while actually (tried to kick the habit, but I can't)

I was killing time at a Wholesale Sports (new name for Sportsman's Warehouse here in the PNW) perusing their lack luster light selection (a long story, but SW wasn't paying their bills, went bankrupt, got bought up by the Canuks and they're slowly trying to restock their shelves...)

They had good quality lights - a small selection of SureFire lights, a good selection of Streamlight lights, some wearing the Gerber name, a lot of Coast brand lights, and a few from Smith & Wesson, plus a whole shelf of Mag products.

I've been trying to find a local source for replacement lamps for my G2 for a couple months. SW/WS is the only place I know of that routinely at least attempts to stock them. This time they had them - the xenon versions anyway. I was hoping for the P60L or P61L LED lamps, but no dice. I did break down and get a replacement P60 standard. They were out of batteries...

Then there's this Smith & Wesson branded light that catches my eye. Similar in appearance and design to the SureFire stuff - twist-type push button tailcap - meaning you screw it most of the way on and it performs in temporary-on push button mode. For constant on light you must screw the cap down all the way - just like on the SureFire light. This one claims 100+ lumens from a 5 watt Luxeon LED. It's powered by 2 AA batteries instead of the more expensive CR123A batts. $33 - $3 cheaper than the SureFire G2. This Smith & Wesson light is aluminum, with a bezel that appears to double as an impact device. The body and head have some nice knurling, and the light is equipped with a lanyard attachment at the rear as well as a clip for pocket carry, or attach to the bill of a hat.

The things that appealed most to me about this light were the claim of 100+ lumens, and the fact that it uses relatively CHEAP batteries. PT Barnum wasn't wrong when he said there's a sucker born every minute - and I'm a sucker for work lights.

Seeing as how we're heading into fall, which has this nasty routine of heading into winter, my need for a good work light is increasing again. Especially for a work light that takes cheap batteries, as I use my lights alot in low/dim light. And especially for a relatively inexpensive light - in case I loose it.

I can buy a big value-pack of AA battereis for the price of a two-pack from most stores. This is a big plus in this light's favor already.

So far I'm pleased with the light - what little I've actually used it. I installed the batteries and played with it for a bit - I'm not sure how fresh the batteries it came with (Energizers, which is nice to see, instead of a cheaper no-name battery. Would've rather seen Duracell, but hey, Energizer is good too). I did a quickie beamshot test between my Streamlight TLR-1 weapon light and this light, along with a little River Rock single cell AA LED light. The TLR-1 doesn't have the freshest batteries, but it still putting out a LOT of light - in the 80-90 lumen range easily. The Smith light was just as bright, with a similarly sized hotspot (the TLR-1 would normally have a larger hot spot - this is how I know it's almost time to replace the batts in it). The little River Rock light was probably putting out light in the 20 - 30 lumen range - not bad for a single AA cell pocket light. Better than a photon microlight that's for sure.

I'm going to withhold judgement of the 100 lumen claims until I've had a chance to put known-fresh batteries in it, but it's close right now. I do know that a quick look into the beam (yeah, I ain't the brightest) was uncomfortable - JUST like looking at the TLR-1 beam. I had two lovely blue halos in my vision for about five minutes afterward. (Heh, little wonder my eyesight has deteriorated since I was younger - I do stupid things like blast myself in the eyes with high powered lights, and stare at a computer monitor a lot.)

Long term longevity is another thing that has yet to be seen. For the price, this light better last. I've had too many lights in the 15-30 range crap out on me - it's always the switch that goes tits up. This being the twist-cap type, that shouldn't happen, but we'll see.