I'm getting a lot of orders from friends and family now so I keep coming to you guys for advice. I do A LOT of research on this forum but in the end I need a recap from you guys. Also, it's nice to summarize the latest and greatest across different categories once in a while.
So what do you think is the appropriate choice for a single 18650 flashlight with a wide spot? Basically, the brightest under $50. I'm not worried about the keywords like "throw" and "flood." I'm just looking for a wide spot at a close range. I don't care if the manufacturer decides it's a thrower or a flooder, haha.
I would think that just about any Ultrafire, Solarforce, etc that uses an XM-L with a p60 drop-in and an OP reflector would do the job for you. XM-L's by nature tend to have a very wide spot unless you mate them with a very large reflector like a C8 or TK body.
Lots of choices for about $20-25 each on manafont and DX, I would not be afraid of any of them, but would recommend the Solarforce, then the Ultrafires and Sky Rays.
If you want longer runtimes as opposed to brighter beams, look for one that pulls 1 to 1.5A, not one of the 2.8-3.0A powerhouses. The V-Shark would be a good choice for an XM-L with low draw.
But stay with the P60 style, once you go to larger heads you are going to get more throw and a tighter hotspot. Likewise stay away from the smooth reflectors, and go with the OP reflector. You will end up with a wall of light that you will like.
I know it sounds strange to ask for a wide spot instead of spill. It's almost like asking for noisy tires, haha. The person wants to primarily use this light in the engine bay or under the car and would prefer to concentrate the light on a specific area, so I figured a wider concentrated beam of light would be more appropriate than "spill." I might sound as strange as the request. This person seems to think he needs a huge, powerful light for these demands, but I know a P60 light would do just fine, and even would be the most appropriate. I'm trying to talk him into using a P60 for the mechanical work and get the big boy in addition to it if he thinks he'll have other primary uses.
I think they just start catching a little bit of that flashaholic bug that it begins to distort rational thought, haha.
That's a light I already had bookmarked as a potential future purchase for myself
Actually, the SS would be good for working on a car when it's getting banged around on various metal parts. Okay, I think he'll be getting that for the smaller light and then I might just go with the Trustfire X9 for a bigger light, since it's also reasonably priced.
For working in close quarters, you might want to try out an aspheric light. I use these for illuminating stuff at my desk because any hotspot no matter who wide is going to create glare unless you turn it way down. A lot of people like the Sipik sk68, I like the C78 from lightake or the Romisen RC-29. They use AA/nihm's, so easier to manage than lithiums, too.
