Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I am a collector of flashlights, especially compact, high qualilty LED torches. But I don't want to pay $50 or $100 for a flashlight either, so I am always on the lookout for quality flashlights. In the past I have purchased other CREE flashlights, and found the construction to be very high quality, rugged,and BRIGHT! Until my latest purchase, my favorite flashlight was a CREE SA-9 7-watt unit. It is 5 inches long, about 1 inch in diameter, and crafted from high grade aluminum. And did I say it was BRIGHT?! It was advertized as being capable of 300 lumen output, and I can attest to the fact that when you turn this flashlight on at night, it throws out a column of solid, blinding light that is just staggering. Then I saw the CREE 300LM on sale for a little over $6.00. The description says that the light output is 300 lumen. This flashlight was only about3.5 inches long, and about 0.7 inch in diameter. So this was a compact model meant to be pocket carried. I have several other flashlights of this size. Some of them are quite bright, but none could compare to the big CREE I had. The output of these other compact units are in the 100 lumen range. Bright, and in fact pretty impressive for their size. But certainly not 300 lumen. Was 300 lumen even possible in a flashlight this small, and at this very low price? Hoping for the best but fearing the worst, I bought two! I had bought from an Asian dealer, so the shipping took some time. When the CREE 300LM's arrived, I looked at them carefully. Like my larger CREE, they had the same rugged, yet finely crafted construction. It looked like a high quality tactical flashlight, but in a very compact size. Best of all, this flashlight uses a single AA battery. So I won't have to spend a mint to keep it supplied with exensive lithium batteries, which are needed by many of the high-output flashlights. I loaded the battery, which was very easy to do, and then I turned the flashlight on. An extremely bright and widespread cone of light shot out, totally lighting up the room that I was in. Then I noticed that the front of the flashlight could be slid out or in, clearly a focusing mechanism. I slid the front part of the flashlight out, as you would with a telescope. The cone of light narrowed, and concentrated, until it threw a relatively small spot of light on my wall that was blinding just to look at. The brightness of this narrowed light was astonishing! I reached across my desk and grabbed my trusy CREE SA-9, and shown the light on the wall, side-by-side with the much smaller CREE 300LM. No difference! If anything, the smaller flashlight, perhaps with its brand new battery, actually seemed slightly brighter than its bigger brother. Stand outdoors on a dark night, and turn this flashlight on. You will see what looks like a light sabre coming out of your hand, except this near-solid beam of light will reach out 100 feet, 200 feet, and light up distant targets with unbelievable brightness and clarity. So now I am here on the internet looking for this flashlight, and I plan to buy maybe a half dozen more. I already own more flashlights than most people will ever need, but most of them throw out 100-150 lumen. This CREE 300LM is smaller, cheaper, and far brighter than all but one of my flashlights. It fits all of my needs. I will now put one in each of my cars, and in my tool box. Several will go around the house in handy spots. For short power outages and such, the wide-area light of the CREE 300LM is perfect to light up a room. And, for lighting my way at night on a city sidewalk or a wooded trail, I can think of no other flashlight that would be as good as this little monster. Buy it, or buy several. You'll be glad you did. Now, what the heck will you do with all the old flashlights you will never use again??