Anyway, I had to move on from the police issue MagLite to the companies who sit on the cutting edge year after year. Move over Surefire, Streamlight, Pelican, Fenix, and all the other great new flashlights you can cut through the night like a knife in hot butter. I stumbled upon the Nitecore T26 today. The TM stands for Tiny Monster, and whoa, is it.
That is four individual Cree XM-L2 LEDs. Four! What is better than one bulb? FOUR! This puppy kicks out 3800 lumens. For perspective the new MagLite 2D Pro throws an excellent beam with 274 lumens and can pretty much keep your dog in sight from the front door to the end of the yard with ease. This bad boy is reportedly 13X brighter than the 2D Pro. I...I just can't even comprehend....
Better yet, it runs on four good and solid rechargeable batteries (you can charge them in the flashlight) or 8 of the popular (and much easier to find lately) CR 123 lithiums. Not convinced? It also runs in five different brightness modes or three flasher modes (SOS, beacon, and seizure induction). And for those of us who live in constant paranoia that the batteries are going dead? Yep, it has an LCD readout that tells you exactly how much time you have in each mode. Worried you might be stuck in that cave for a while? No problem! Low mode (150 lumens) has you covered for 48 hours. Not long enough? Maybe you're riding out the zombie apocalypse? How about 1000 hours at three lumens (about as much as a keychain light) in lower mode?
Still need convincing? It's fairly durable and water resistant. Check out this "ruggedness test". Seriously, you should watch it. With the lights off. It has some kick butt dramatic music.
I don't know if I'll get the Tiny Monster T26, but dang, it's just what the little boy in me always dreamed of. I mean surely the bank won't mind if you skip the car payment this month to pay $390 for a flashlight right? Did I mention its rechargeable?
