350 Lumen "Bonfire X" 3-Mode UltraBright Cree LED Flashlight, Tactical, Graphite Grey

Initial review (April 24, 2012) When I read the other reviews for this light, I was iffy on whether or not I would be getting a good light, because of how brief and glowing the reviews were, as well as my inability to find much information about the light or, as a matter of fact, who actually produces this product. My review will be a little more in-depth than theirs. I will be writing this review as someone who is not familiar with the high-end flashlight world, and as someone who buys flashlights out of necessity for camping and general purpose. This is also my review having just received the light, and not having put it through any real-world use. This is a great light. My light shipped with the flashlight, a lanyard that attaches to the split ring on the end of the light, 3 (cheapish) utilitech AAA batteries (in cylindrical battery pack held together with phillips head screws), and a plastic adapter for a 18650 battery. I'll probably replace the batteries with rechargeable lithiums or a 18650. The body of the light is all aluminium. It seems to be well built, but came a little dirty (?) on the inside. The finish could be better; it seems to scratch easily. The strike bezel on the front seems adequate; I'm sure if you needed to, you could whack someone in the head with this thing and it would certainly ruin their day, but they're nothing to write home about. I think they serve a better purpose protecting the lens than as a weapon (which they seem to do fairly well), but I'm no tactical flashlight commando. The light unscrews in one place at the tailcap and two places at the lens housing end. You can pretty much field strip it like a hand gun, which I like. My only real gripe with the body of this light is that the lens housing end of the light (part with the strike bezel above the zoom dial) does not seem to be o-ring sealed, which means that the lens and the led are not weather sealed, while the battery compartment is. The other two screw off compartments have o-rings, so I'm not sure why the manufacturer left it out on that one. It seems to me that the lack of an o-ring on that part of the light greatly limits its water resistance, while if it had one I would feel pretty comfortable saying this thing would be totally waterproof. Overall, a good quality body. Onward to the light itself. It is very bright. I have no equipment to test its brightness with, nor do I have any other quality flashlights to test it against except for my 3 D cell Mag Lite, and it's much brighter than that. The beam is adjustable via a clicking, rotating dial around the lower part of the lens housing. The adjustments are crisp and functional, and the beam can be adjusted to be very large, or it can be dialed down to the point that it actually projects the image of the led through the lens, which is a very tight beam, and everywhere in between. This is a pretty cool and useful feature. The beam has a very nice rainbow halo around it, whether or not this a useful feature I can't say, but if nothing else I think it's indicative of a good lens in the light. By the way, in case you haven't gathered this already, the light works like an LED lenser, and has a rather round, convex lens. The light has 3 modes: High, Low, and Flashing High, although I'd say that low is closer to "Medium," which is my only other real gripe with the light. The low power is still pretty bright. I would prefer a "low" setting on a light to be low enough to read by or do minor tasks at night without ruining your night vision, but this one is just a touch too bright to do that. But that's more personal opinion than a flaw in the light, I'll admit. I'm not sure what the flashing mode is for, but I'll chalk that up to ignorance and see if I can't find a good use for it. The tailcap switch works well. It's pretty standard, click on and off, and light pressure cycles the beam modes. The light comes with a removable pocket clip attached and a rubber hexagonal anti-roll device around the barrel.Tl;drBad: -Finish is easily scratchable. -Lacks an o-ring on one of the screw-off points, hindering weather resistance. (Update: never had a problem with this - not sure if the lack of an o-ring here matters.) -Low mode is a little brighter than I'd like it to be.Good: -Very bright. -Easy operation. -Solid construction. -Great adjustability. -Multiple battery options. -Easy on the wallet. -Very high value. Bottom line, you're not going to be impressing any flashlight snobs with this thing, but it works. It's functional and it (seems) tough. It's bright as all get out, and it's easy to use. If you're not looking for a dive light or a $300 zero-fail combat light, but instead just need a do-it-all medium-duty flashlight, I'd get it. At $35, I'd say it's a great piece of equipment and a great value (considering how much some people pay for flashlights), and would recommend it. You get a lot of flashlight for 35 bucks.UPDATE 12/6/2012 I thought I'd just give an update on this light as I've had it now for almost 8 months. I'm upgrading my rating to a 5-star. And the reason I'm doing that is simple: value. As of right now, this light has never failed me, it's outstandingly bright, and I only spent 35 bucks for it. (<soapbox>) so many people will rant about how important it is to spend zillions of dollars on super high end zero-fail gear, and would scoff at a product like this. I'm a student on a serious budget and I am glad I went with this over a high end light. (</soapbox>) It's been with me backpacking and camping, as well as being my every day carry light in my backpack as a student, and it has just never quit. I've gotten it wet,I've abused it, carried it and used it and it just hasn't let me down. The finish isn't as scratchable as I though it was either, no noticeable damage on the light. I took the anti-roll thing off my light, and don't really miss it. It's rubber and it hangs up on stuff. The click on the tailcap is still nice and positive, no hangup when changing modes, the lens hasn't scratched despite many opportunities to, and it's still working great. I did end up putting some energizer rechargeables in it as my primary battery for the light, and they work fine. I've learned to like the low mode for what it is, it is very useful for everyday tasks that don't require the full brightness and would require more light than a "moonlight" mode, which is what I was initially looking for, as mentioned in my initial review. I find that I like the "zoom" lenser type light suits my needs more than a fixed beam would. I find myself constantly changing the wideness of the beam. With the beam zoomed all the way tight, on high mode, this thing is a spotlight, if it's really dark out. Which is pretty cool. As of right now, everyone I've shown it to has wanted one. I do think it's worth mentioning again that the fit and finish on this light is not going to compare to really high end flashlights like fenix and surefire and all those, so people who are looking for a conversation piece or a collector's item should probably look to spend more money elsewhere. But if you just want a reliable tool, not a name, then get this light. I love mine, and I don't recommend lightly. By the way, the company who makes this light is called BrightMedic, and, from what their website says, is a New-Mexico based company made up of firefighters, paramedics and EMT's. They also offer a 45 day return policy in which they will accept the product back for a full refund, even paying return shipping. All the lights they make also have a 1-year factory-defect warrany. Because it's just a great light for so little money, I think now, having had it for 8 months, that it deserves a 5 star rating.

Purchased this flashlight to use at work. It seems like a sturdy little unit that fits comfortably in the hand. So far the light output has been more than adequate for my needs. Overall I am satisfied with the purchase and feel it is a decent value for the amount paid.What I do like is that the flashlight is compact yet has a decent weight to it. It does not feel cheap in the hand. I believe that it should give many years of useful service without any problems. The belt clip is a nice feature, allowing me to hook it on my belt without having to purchase any additional accessories to carry the flashlight. It is also nice to know that if the batteries become weak you can purchase new ones from any store. I have purchased and tried the rechargeable batteries for this flashlight, however it does come with the necessary insert to allow one to do such.Negative aspects? The brightness perhaps is not what is advertised? Hard to tell without some sort of comparison test or equipment. Perhaps I was expecting something brighter? I am not disappointed as it does a fine job of illuminating the equipment that I am using it on at night. It does not seem to be that much brighter than an old incandescent Stinger brand light that I once owned.The switch on the other hand is a bit disappointing. It is the traditional three position switch that the user must cycle through to get the desired setting. It is very sensitive and even the slightest brush against the switch membrane will result in a change in setting. One must also remember what setting was last used due to the next setting being activated when the flashlight is turned back on. This may require an immediate cycling of the switch to get the desired setting. Given the sensitivity of the switch it is also very easy to turn off while trying to cycle the next desired setting.Overall, pleased with the purchase. It was either this or the Nebo Redline. This flashlight was a bit less expensive and quicker to receive resulting in my decision to go with the Cree.

UPDATE 11-15-12I Give bright Medic 5 Stars for customer service! My unit began to fail the other day.By fail I mean that ANY slight movement it would switch settings. There was no impacts or anything it just started acting wonky. Sent them an e-mail and within days I got a brand new one and a hand written note. Nice touch. So +1 for that.First off, I am now a Next gen L.E.D( cree )flashlight junky !The Bonfire X is undoubtedly better than any light you can get in a local store. Well built,slick looking and it does light up my ENTIRE back yard(over half acre) and I can see all the way to the end of my street(well over 100 yards)!I also got a new Nebo redline SE which is rated at 250 Lumens and is a few bucks cheaper than the bonfire(non-issue to me).Side by side comparison revealed...... The Nebo SE was just as bright and covered the same coverage as the Bonfire X !?!SO....The Nebo is underated or the Bonfire overated ! I don't have the fancy light measuring equipment to meter these things BUT I do have eyes ! I am a photographer and thus light is very important to me....My suggestion is the Nebo SE which is(by the way)significantly smaller and lighter than the Bonfire X and appears to match its 350 Lumens.Thanks, Mako. Nebo RedLine SE Flashlight Or if you are on a budget.. NEBO BLACK Redline #5610 Flashlight It is almost as good as the SE but not quite and the red plastic ring was annoying so I electrical taped it...Question? Type me and I will respond.UPDATE 10-20-12 SORRY BONFIRE !NOTE: The unit is still working great and I am happy that my wife stole it and it now resides in her purse. The reason for this is....Nebo JUST came out with possibly THE best LED unit in this category !Check it out in this link. Nebo 5620 Redline Select Flashlight Your choice,Mako.