I have not tried the other small size lithium ion battery flashlights yet. I am waiting for the smoke to clear so to speak. I want to see which size turns out to be most efficient, cost effective, and reliable. I am not comfortable using the CR123 size rechargeable batteries currently available. I use as few primary type batteries as I can because batteries are a large source of pollution. Thanks for the info. I will take a look at some 16340 flashlight now.
I have heard a lot of love directed about the Zebralight flashlight brand. I just can not allow myself to spend more than $50.00 for a flashlight or multi-tool. So i do not have any Zebralights or FourSevens. Sounds like you have a real nice selection of gear for EDC. I opted for the Lumintop edc05 instead of the Utorch UT01. I naively felt more comfortable thinking since it was a larger company than Utorch that I would be more likely covered by their warranty. I like the design of many Lumintop flashlights. And to date have never had any issues with my Lumintop flashlights. I think I would be person non grata with my wife if I owned 220 flashlights. I own about 15 different flashlights models and feel overwhelmed choosing which one to use. I do have multiple units of some. I do have a Klarus Mi7 ordered from Massdrop. I am going to give another go.
My 14500 flashlights are:
Jetbeam MK-1
Klarus Mi7
Lumintop EDC05-Warm Tint
Lumintop Tool AA V1
Olight S15
Olight S1A
Sofirn SF14-Warm Tint
Thrunite Archer 1A V3-Warm Tint
Wuben E05
Xtar 007-Most bluish tint I have seen in a name brand flashlight.
I like the designs of the Nitecore flashlights. The two negatives for me is their beam tints tend to be very cool white and of course the price. I have two Nitecore HC50ās headlamps I purchased on sale. They both have warmer tints. I have a Nitecore P16 18650 original version. These are great products.
What I donāt like about 16340 cells is their low capacity. Youāre much better off with 18350 cells instead. Maybe there arenāt as many 18350 lights out there as there are 16340 lights, but some 18650 lights can be easily converted to 18350 lights by using short tubes, for example Convoy S2+ or BLF A6/Astrolux S1 or Emisar D4. An 18350 cell can also typically deliver more current than 16340.
For me getting the Zebra I really liked was cheaper than buying 5+ other lights, not being quite satisfied with them and going with ZL in the end anyway. If others work for you thatās good but I will say I feel more confident in the durability of my ZL over other lights Iāve owned or handled. At this point the only other EDC Iād really be interested in is a PFlexPro or if something totally new comes around.
I replaced the lens entirely with with DC-Fix but it wasnāt the stick on stuff it was the non adhesive thick and stiff like a credit card material stuff. Worked wonders.
I mistakenly did not actually use DC Fix film on my Wuben E05. My bad. When using the Wuben with the supplied 14500 battery on turbo all the defects in the beam can be seen. When using AA battery the film is able to create a blemish free beam and tint. In the next few days I will replace with genuine DC fix and see what happens.
I havenāt tried the thin peel and stick stuff yet. I know this thick stuff I have blocks more light than the original. Might try it. Donāt know why I didnāt try it the first time.
I have DC Fix (thin original) on 3 of my lights . It cuts throw and makes a smooth floody beam. On lights that donāt put out a lot of lumens, it may seem too dim.
FTR, I didnāt buy the Zebralightā¦ it was a gift. I liked the overall look of it so much that when a friend was ātrimming his herdā he gave it to me.
Arenāt 16340 cells 600mAh, same as 18350 and 14500? The Aspire 18350 came out claiming 1300 but that got changed pretty quickly. I know there are some variations between 600 and 700mAh but itās typical for the better cells to be on the low end.
I have bought a great many lights, sold quite a few and had my stable grow yet again. Need to sell another 100 to be honest but after selling some 70 lights before itās just really difficult deciding what to part with. Iāll thin em down again, eventually, or build a flashlight storage buildingā¦
Iām really not keen on the 14500. I had to get into them when I bought a couple of BLF X5s. At that time there seemed to be only one good choice, 700 mAh as I recall, so I bought four.
Which sit sadly on the shelf, along with the X5s, that serve no purpose for me. Like Goldilocks porridge, just a bit too big, under-performing, not quite right.
I donāt think things have moved on at all since then. An Eneloop has more overall capacity and just quietly delivers the goods. NimH still has a place at the AA size, in this weird world of ours, that continues to ignore boost and buck drivers, perhaps because itās just too difficult. Or out of the comfort zone. Just a decent linear driver could enthuse me. I think I see some progress happening there, thanks to Mike C.
Stick an Eneloop into e.g. an Olight S15 and be happy. You could use a 14500 too, it would work, but that would be pointless, once you analyse the results. As with any other 14500 powered thing.
Another point, having charged up 14500s in e.g. a domestic environment where they might easily be mistaken for AAs, is not a great idea.
Vapcell seems to have a direct line to the the SOTA cells, which are rather different, if sheer capacity is the be-all and end-all.
I used some actual DC-Fix this time and it made an tremendas improvement in beam quality. Photos taken on a white basement wall. Beam photos are same distance from wall. The beam of the the flashlight is quite nice when you take out the reflector also. It is the Wuben E05 flashlight of course. An important thing I forgot to mention that it was Boaz that sent me the DC-Fix last year so I could do some mad scientist work. It took me almost a year to find a flashlight worthy of needing the fix.
I've tested 14500's against eneloops in my zebralight H52's & they give more or less the same run time exept you get turbo (+200 lumens) for 1 min with lithiums.
Well I took my new Wuben E05 on a test drive tonight. I used both the supplied 14500 battery and a couple of old worn out Energizer rechargeable AAās. I live in an urban environment so lots of ambient light even on a nature trail close to my home. Even the old Energizers could kick out enough light to make a difference on high mode. But using the supplied 14500 the flashlight can light up a field a couple hundred feet right in front of the user. Nice little flashlight I must say.
I feel you there, it was the same story for me regarding reverse-clicky switches (though I was burned on next mode memory of nuckfutty cheapos). Thankfully Convoy changed that right quick
2) 18650 all the way, for several reasons. Iām a sucker for long runtimes but not in the slightest for lumens, Iām a big guy with big hands that isnāt bothered by a slight size increase from AA, and most importantly, 18650 is all the li-ion I have. I live in one of those countries where itās all but impossible to get li-ion cells imported, so if I am to jump through hoops to get those, Iād much rather get cells for my lights that donāt have an alternative like AA or AAA.
As a side note, Iāve been finding myself using my two sizes of Lumintop Tool and my Thrunite Ti3 and T10 the most often, but thatās always when I have my Convoy M1 or S2 handy, just for peace of mind.