Help with EDC

[u/Spardasa]

I work as an on call engineer for a power utility. I do have my vehicle equipped with the usual go light for riding lines + stream light spot.

At times, I do need something more EDC. I don't really want to go down the line of Hank lights or complicated UIs because I just need a light that works, whether being called out in the night or having to troubleshoot something in a substation or POP site.

I have the oclip2 ultra right now and it's just kinda blocky / not really good for EDC.

Any suggestions on a flat light that I can carry with magnetic base and usb-c charging? I have tried the TS 10 as well but hated the complicated UI.

I don't need UV or laser pointer. Just a good in between for when I don't grab my stream light spot light or can't use my vehicles go light.

[u/Death_Eludes_Me]

I love my olight Arkfelds. Never have issues with them

[u/NovaS2X → u/Death_Eludes_Me]

I’d have to agree with this. This sub tends to focus on enthusiast lights and features and tend to overlook a lot of the important things people who use their lights for work look for.

The Arkfields are popular in the trades for a reason. Good performance, easy UI. No bullshit.

[u/Grand_Extreme_365]

Fc11c is good enough id say

[u/AD3PDX]

Flat flashlights don’t really have very strong magnets. If you want it to be able to stick horizontally to marginal surfaces without worrying about it dropping you are better off with certain round base flashlights.

I would suggest a Skilhunt EC200, choose the 519A LEDs for HI CRI for accurate colors which can be helpful for inspections

Or the SFT25R LEDs for a little bit more focused beam (not very focused as it doesn’t have a single large reflector)

Alternatively get a right angle light so when you stick it to something you can rotate it to aim it more or less where you want it without the fragility of an articulating head.

The Skilhunt H200 with 4000K or 5000k 519A LEDs or H300 with F50S LED (The H300R has a reflector for a little bit more focused beam)

Unfortunately they don’t have usb-c. They have usb magnetic charging cables. Extra cables are not expensive. Also you can skip the standard 3500 mah capacity battery and get the 3300 mah capacity battery with on battery usb-c so you can use usb-c to charge the battery whenever the magnetic cable isn’t handy.

https://www.skilhunt.com/portfolio/bl-133c-3300mah-18650-built-in-usb-c-port-protected-battery/

There are similar right angle lights with usb-c but they don’t have LEDs or UIs as good as the Skilhunts

[u/AD3PDX → u/AD3PDX]

BTW you hated the TS10 UI… do you know if it was in simple mode or in advanced mode?

Most good lights will have UI’s similar to the TS10’s “simple mode”.

Basic Operations in Simple Mode
Turn On / Off: Click 1 time (1C).
Ramp Brightness: Press and hold (1H) while the light is on. Release and hold again to reverse the ramping direction.
Moonlight Mode: Press and hold (1H) from the off state.
Turbo Mode: Double-click (2C) from either on or off.
Lockout Mode: Click 4 times (4C) from off. To unlock, click 4 times (4C).

Most lights will cycle L-M-H instead of gradual ramping but otherwise the TS10 simple mode is pretty standard.

If you want a simpler UI it’s hard to think of something with a magnet.

One of the simpler UI’s is tail + side switch. The side switch only changes levels once the light is on. The tail switch simply turns the light on/off at whatever the last level used was.

But that precludes a magnet…

[u/BonerOfTheLake]

how big you do need for edc tho?

similar size to ts10 is sc13 with 519a (not sc13a because anduril is a bit complicate)

[u/Darkest_HourEDC]

For a flat light with out any of that extra stuff, just a straight forward lighting tool in an edc format, with a very simple UI , regulated buck driver with excellent run times, and a proper moonlight mode, i can highly recommend the sofirn st1. The only thing, is it is a cooler cct light, the main led being 6000-6500k and you have 4 smaller led’s at a more neutral 5000k temp that gives a lovely soft spill which helps, the beam profile is actually very versatile and optimized for edc using a tir lens that gives a nicely diffused hotspot which blends nicely into the spill, that being said is still capable of reaching out to 215m if needed. It is priced very budget friendly as well. The only thing that may be a deal breaker for you is that it doesn’t have magnetic tail feature, and i probably should have led with that. However they did upgrade it recently with a two way pocket clip which can clip to the brim of your hat if you need to go hands free.

[u/chamferbit → u/Darkest_HourEDC]

You could superglue a few/couple neodymium magnets on tail.. Aliexpress is goto for best $

[u/NRiyo3]

Armytek Wizard C2 Pro Warm

Or look at the Predator line.

[u/Familiar_Curve_6614]

Wurrkos hd12 with 14500 or AA batteries.it comes with USB-C charging port and really Bright red light

[u/Familiar_Curve_6614 → u/Familiar_Curve_6614]

Skilhunt ec150 is a better but more expensive choice

[u/c0ff33m0n5t3r]

Since you're coming from an Oclip, it might be worth to check out it's competitor, the Wurkkos HD04? Has both spot and flood, clips to your hat/shirt or can be attached with it's magnet.