Member III
I have been using Fenix lights I think for about a decade now.
My current Fenix PD22 has been with me through three combat deployments. We operate in remote areas (Iraq, Somalia, etc) and sleep in tents. Because everyone is on a different 24-hour schedule, there are never lights on inside the living tents. So, between working, navigating at night, and simply using it as a lamp in my room, I actuate the switch probably 3-dozen times per day on a given deployment. I find a single 123 would last about a month downrange, providing light for perhaps 3 or 4 hours per day at mostly-low settings.
Far and away the biggest two advantages of the PD22 are its compact size (1x CR123 and 20mm in diameter) and widely variable settings; it will burn for 120 hours at 3 lumens, and goes all the way up to 210 lumens for finding things quickly (like locating a loose dog in the dark).
In my experience, the best gadgets in the world are the ones you actually have on you when you need them, so I tend to advocate for smaller lights like the PD22, rather than large ones that sit in a box or a backpack.
I lost my first PD22 a few years ago in Afghanistan, then I bought three more and am still on the first of those three (though I gave one of those away also.
I also carried a Fenix TA20 for probably 5 years, but it kinda got too big for pocket EDC (2x CR123 with a 1" body and like 1.25" bezel). However, now it sits on one of my AR15s (and previously two 12gs and two AR10s). Again, I love its super-bright strobe feature that can be tempered to a 170-hour 4 lumen burn with a simple twist of the bezel ring.
If you hadn't gathered, I happily support Fenix stuff, if for nothing else their ingenuity in design. Most of the Surefires and Streamlights (at least, before the last decade) always seemed to focus on just being as bright as possible for a few hours, whereas I really wanted a good long-running EDC light for finding my keys under the car or digging through a closet, while still having decent power in reserve.
My current Fenix PD22 has been with me through three combat deployments. We operate in remote areas (Iraq, Somalia, etc) and sleep in tents. Because everyone is on a different 24-hour schedule, there are never lights on inside the living tents. So, between working, navigating at night, and simply using it as a lamp in my room, I actuate the switch probably 3-dozen times per day on a given deployment. I find a single 123 would last about a month downrange, providing light for perhaps 3 or 4 hours per day at mostly-low settings.
Far and away the biggest two advantages of the PD22 are its compact size (1x CR123 and 20mm in diameter) and widely variable settings; it will burn for 120 hours at 3 lumens, and goes all the way up to 210 lumens for finding things quickly (like locating a loose dog in the dark).
In my experience, the best gadgets in the world are the ones you actually have on you when you need them, so I tend to advocate for smaller lights like the PD22, rather than large ones that sit in a box or a backpack.
I lost my first PD22 a few years ago in Afghanistan, then I bought three more and am still on the first of those three (though I gave one of those away also.
I also carried a Fenix TA20 for probably 5 years, but it kinda got too big for pocket EDC (2x CR123 with a 1" body and like 1.25" bezel). However, now it sits on one of my AR15s (and previously two 12gs and two AR10s). Again, I love its super-bright strobe feature that can be tempered to a 170-hour 4 lumen burn with a simple twist of the bezel ring.
If you hadn't gathered, I happily support Fenix stuff, if for nothing else their ingenuity in design. Most of the Surefires and Streamlights (at least, before the last decade) always seemed to focus on just being as bright as possible for a few hours, whereas I really wanted a good long-running EDC light for finding my keys under the car or digging through a closet, while still having decent power in reserve.
