A question for the experts from a not so expert. I have a Trustfire X9 running direct drive and it is my best thrower. I wonder how it compares to other throwers? I know we get all gushy over new lights and the older ones get pushed to the back of the shelf. I live on 4 acres and have a few hundred acres of farm fields on 3 sides of my property and I keep the X9 by the back door to investigate things at night. I have an Ultra OK MRV clone with an XR-E and it is a good thrower but does not put out near the useable light of the X9. I ask the question because I wonder if there is another budget light that out throws the X9 with the size of hotspot it has. My unbranded XM-L C8 throws a lot of light but not like the X9. Is there something new in budget lights that signifigantly beats an old TF X9?
LarryB,I have the x9 too and it it a good thrower but not the best,seems xml's throw best in a deep and wide reflector and the x9 is sort of shallow compared to others.The crelant 7g5 v2 is a very worthy competitor and at 86 bucks,its worth it's salt.On another note,crelant is coming out with an aspheric combination flashlight which is supposed to be a beast.Hope that helps,the throw issue is a long winded discussion with varying opinions,but useul throw with some side spill will be what you will get out of the xml.
Rikr tells me that his SkyRay STL-V2 is one bad light. I have the FandyFire STL-V6 ordered which is said to be the same light as the SkyRay STL-V2. I also have a UniqueFire UF-V2 which is another clone to these. It's a great thrower. It won't out throw my Crelant 7G5, Olight M3X, Sunwayman T40CS or Olight SR51 though. But Rikr tells me that his STL-V2 is very close to all of these XM-L throwers I just mentioned. He has all of them as well.
I'm thinking of getting the HD2010 because the deeper reflector supposedly gives better throw versus the X9, which I sold a few weeks ago. I'm also thinking of running it direct drive since the old man only needs one mode: ON. However, he was still pleased with the capabilities of the X9, although it was only being driven at ~1.8A.
madecov said on cpf " The newest model will use three 18650 cells.
That’s about all I know, It would be between
$30.00 and $40.00 more."
Sounds like a tn31 clone maybe? For $120-130 I’d be in!
My understanding from what others have been measuring is the x9 is 38k, hd2010 is around 42k and the stl-v2 / fandy V6 is 48k lux. As far as single cell xml lights go the hd2010 has the highest lux in stock form.
I was thinking of adding a couple of 7135's. Do you think the output will be noticeably improved? Not looking for long runtime. 5 to 10 mins at the most at one time.
The STL-V2 looks interesting but I don't think I want to mess with a multi battery light for this.
Difficult to say, because XML brightness and output linearity at 3.5A is VERY much a function of the thermal cooling capabilities of the host. From what I have seen of lights like the X9 and STL-V2, they have a thick walled body construction where the LED slug is attached with screws, so the thermal path from the LED spreads outward and then down away from the XML. Hard to say how well the XML at 3.5A will behave in a design like this... I'd be surprised if someone hasn't already tried it given the X9s popularity on BLF.
