4xFoorOffroad
Active member
Figured this is one of the most important things when the days are shorter and also under a vehicle. Rock (service if you're Morgan Clark) lights are / can be part of this solution, but working in the dark, having light from multiple directions and especially the one you’re looking in are necessary.
I've dabbled extensively in the realm of low cost lights and have been pretty let down. I'd bump my head / hood on some of the cheaper ones and they'd manage to survive a couple falls before they crack apart. I tried lights that use AAA batteries that usually go dead between stretches of not being put to use. By no means are the lights I'm using top tier, but by no means are they cheap either, I understand that.
#1 - The Mofo'ing GOAT, The one and only HF Icon 800 Lumin Light - I've dropped this so many times with no damage and I don't think it’s ever run out of battery even when the indicator is telling me it’s going to for a very long time. I'm talking late night thrashes using it the entire time (there’s lots of choices on what direction and intensity the light comes out in so I keep it on the lowest and it’s still bright). I gave my first one to a friend as a thanks for welding an AC line for me and went straight out and bought another, it’s that good.
https://www.harborfreight.com/800-l...280ss44zwdGAUbsaEd6HhHjbSajwzkV8aAj7mEALw_wcB
#2 - HF Braun 750 Lumin Ultra Compact Light - This looks just like the Snap On 700 Lumin Light ($116 lolz) and I can't image the Strap On providing 4x the output for the difference in price. Limited applications compared to the #1 because it's short and husky, that said, it's like a perpetual motion machine if battery life was motion.
https://www.harborfreight.com/750-l...xNsJCwdAFjFedvi3uj4lQGyDWrF8u-BcaAoSrEALw_wcB
#3 - Astro Tools 52SL 500x2 - As the jones for more light grew stronger and I found myself scouring the most suspicious and probably desperate parts of the internet (Reddit, Quora, Only… oh wait that’s from another deep dive) for the best light out there. I noticed one brand kept popping up to such a degree, I had to see what all the bros were talking about. Two things with this light - on its regular setting, it’s super duper bright, like surface of the sun bright, but while only having about half the battery life than my other two. It does have an all-directions mode which basically fast forwards the universe into daytime and my most commonly used method is to use the small LED on the top of it and point it at stuff like ceilings & walls to bathe your room in more of an ambient light in combination with one or both of the other two directed at what I’m looking at.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0877794DG?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_2&th=1
If I had to pick, once the ICON goes on sale at $25 again, I will buy another one just to make sure I follow the 2 is 1 policy with this one. Probably wouldn't buy another Astro as it's 2x the price of the Braun and over double that of the ICON when the ICON is on sale. I’d like to pick up another Braun on sale too. Any others you like to use?
That's the Astro on the left and probably the Icon on the right.
I've dabbled extensively in the realm of low cost lights and have been pretty let down. I'd bump my head / hood on some of the cheaper ones and they'd manage to survive a couple falls before they crack apart. I tried lights that use AAA batteries that usually go dead between stretches of not being put to use. By no means are the lights I'm using top tier, but by no means are they cheap either, I understand that.
#1 - The Mofo'ing GOAT, The one and only HF Icon 800 Lumin Light - I've dropped this so many times with no damage and I don't think it’s ever run out of battery even when the indicator is telling me it’s going to for a very long time. I'm talking late night thrashes using it the entire time (there’s lots of choices on what direction and intensity the light comes out in so I keep it on the lowest and it’s still bright). I gave my first one to a friend as a thanks for welding an AC line for me and went straight out and bought another, it’s that good.
https://www.harborfreight.com/800-l...280ss44zwdGAUbsaEd6HhHjbSajwzkV8aAj7mEALw_wcB
#2 - HF Braun 750 Lumin Ultra Compact Light - This looks just like the Snap On 700 Lumin Light ($116 lolz) and I can't image the Strap On providing 4x the output for the difference in price. Limited applications compared to the #1 because it's short and husky, that said, it's like a perpetual motion machine if battery life was motion.
https://www.harborfreight.com/750-l...xNsJCwdAFjFedvi3uj4lQGyDWrF8u-BcaAoSrEALw_wcB
#3 - Astro Tools 52SL 500x2 - As the jones for more light grew stronger and I found myself scouring the most suspicious and probably desperate parts of the internet (Reddit, Quora, Only… oh wait that’s from another deep dive) for the best light out there. I noticed one brand kept popping up to such a degree, I had to see what all the bros were talking about. Two things with this light - on its regular setting, it’s super duper bright, like surface of the sun bright, but while only having about half the battery life than my other two. It does have an all-directions mode which basically fast forwards the universe into daytime and my most commonly used method is to use the small LED on the top of it and point it at stuff like ceilings & walls to bathe your room in more of an ambient light in combination with one or both of the other two directed at what I’m looking at.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0877794DG?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_2&th=1
If I had to pick, once the ICON goes on sale at $25 again, I will buy another one just to make sure I follow the 2 is 1 policy with this one. Probably wouldn't buy another Astro as it's 2x the price of the Braun and over double that of the ICON when the ICON is on sale. I’d like to pick up another Braun on sale too. Any others you like to use?
That's the Astro on the left and probably the Icon on the right.
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