Hi all,
I'm new to BLF but have been shadowing for a while. I'm wondering if anyone has tried out the 18650 lights they've started stocking at Princess Auto (Canada). Going price is $20 and it's a package deal:
http://www.princessauto.com/all-seasons/farm/security/flashlights/8378861-8w-led-aluminum-flashlight
I happened across it by accident tonight when I was browsing on my way home. The store was a minute from closing but I had to ask. Checked out the package, and this set comes with a 1200 mAh 18650 cell, the black "block" style charger (looks like the 4sevens one except with no switches/options or markings), and the light (which is unmarked on the badge area) that seems to have reasonably decent machine work.
Gazing down the business end, the emitter looked to be either XP-E or XR-E, and after checking the company's website it turns out they show a photo of this model with "Cree Q5" stamped on the side. I know I've seen these somewhere before, and they might have been going by a different name, I just can't recall what it was.
Seems to be a decent thrower by the look of things. They let me test one out in the store and the beam output is pretty tight, roughly on par with my 3D Mag LED @ tight focus. I found out after returning home, though, that I might not have been using this light at its brightest, as the package had next to no documentation and I assumed it was single-mode.
Def. has the specs to be a budget light, and seems to be not a bad thrower.
Anyone got a review close to hand? Like I said, I've got a feeling we've done this one before.