Alright thanks everyone ended up ordering the BLF A6 , about $18.3 after cashback.
Spent way way way too much time and couldn’t find anything better myself as well for the stuff I wanted.
btw are the high-discharge batteries really needed for these?
I have a bunch of old cells taken out from laptop batteries that I’m using , do you get any real performance boost with likes of samsung 30q or just a very tiny barely noticable boost with these flashlights?
You don’t need high-drain batteries for the BLF A6, but it will be brighter with them on max. I use both high-drain 30Q’s, and older regular 18650’s. It’s impressively bright on max when using the 30Q’s. However, max only lasts 45 seconds, and gets hot very quickly, so you won’t be running it on max when cycling. You’ll be using 1 or 2 steps down from max, and at that level it doesn’t make much difference whether your battery is high drain or not.
So, go ahead and use whatever 18650 cell you want. It takes flat tops, button tops, whatever. Run time will be your main concern if using older cells. Try to use a cell that still has at least 2000mAh, so you can get at least an hour out of the light on a high mode.
1)cycling
How fast you ride? How many seconds you want see forward? And you dont want it be too narrow. (runtime too and I think, you want changable batterys)
2)walking
You hold it by hand and if it get too hot in couple of minutes then you cant hold it. Are you wanting only see what there are or maybe high CRI that you can also enjoy what you see?
I personaly like Jaxman Nichia flashlights (and ride bretty slow)
Thrue.
Eagle Eye X5R also fits the bill.
Wowtac or Atactical A1s
Nitecore P16, with code P16SS:
https://www.gearbest.com/led-flashlights/pp_20323.html
Lumintop EDC25, with code gb3rdEDC25:
http://www.gearbest.com/led-flashlights/pp_596612.html?lkid=10974683
Anyone know which of the two has better build quality?
I recommend the BLF A6 so much, I sound like a broken record. 
Is the current price US$19.xx a good price?
Also, what batteries are best to go with this flashlight?
I think it’s the best price there is for that flashlight,
topcashback gives 7% back as well.
I read that the high discharge samsung 18650 30Q are good for it, but will try with the standard laptop cells I got first and maybe one of those samsungs to try out. at almost $5 a piece not cheap tho.
$5 is a pretty good deal, IMO. It’s a quality cell, with good capacity and excellent discharge ability.
I think of it this way: 4 standard AA Eneloops cost me about $10 in bulk. Yet just one good 18650 has the same capacity as 4 AA’s, and is only half the cost. Better discharge ability, too. Point is, that good batteries will always be a bit pricey. Over the long-term, and hundreds of charge cycles, they’re dirt-cheap per charge.
Considering its real capacity, that it’s a high drain battery, that it’s a safe chemistry I would say that it is cheap compared to any nasty ICR…but OK it’s not cheap if someone is willing to pay only $1 for a battery.
While I agree the INR 30Q cells are safer, I think ICR gets too much bad publicity. Take a look at a typical old cell you might get from a laptop battery pull:
It’s an old cell, only rated for 4400mA of discharge current, which a FET-driven light (like the BLF A6) will try to exceed. However, how dangerous is it to exceed this? Look at one of the tests that Samsung does on this battery, to make sure it’s safe:
External Short-circuit Test
Test method: To short-circuit the standard charged cell by connecting positive and
negative terminal by less than 50mΩ wire for 3 hours.
Criteria: No fire, and no explosion.
Heating Test
Test method: To heat the standard charged cell at heating rate of 5℃ per minute up to
130℃ and keep the cell in oven for 60 minutes.
Criteria: No fire, and no explosion.
I wouldn’t want to try that on an Ultrafire battery, but as long as you use quality name-brand cells, they should be relatively safe. You might wear out your battery if you use it in a high-drain device, but it should be fairly safe.
That said, I still recommend using a cell actually designed for high-drain, such as the Samsung 30Q.
It would be useful to test the battery current in a BLF A6 with a fully-charged cell like the ICR-22F. Maybe it wouldn’t exceed 4400mA (due to internal resistance and voltage sag). In which case, it would be operating within specs anyway.
If you like forward clicky / momentary lights then the Thorfire TK15S is worth a look - momentary is possible in any mode. My review is at: Review with X-ray image: Thorfire TK15S (18650, XP-L2, 1050lm)
You will be happy to hear that I ended up pulling the trigger on a BLF A6. I bought the non-anodized version as I haven’t had a bare aluminium look flashlight for quite a while. The black anodized version is no longer on sales. Also helps that the flashlight sales code 2017FNL works on the non-anodized version (but not the black anodized version) to bring it down to US$18.xx shipped. So I went with it 
Btw, I am a big Resident Evil series fan myself 
I hope you enjoy it. 
I was looking cheap 18650 flashlight as well. I bought Anker 18650 flashlight. So far it looks good to me. As a cheap light i cannot expect too much from it. I read review guide from this Best 18650 Flashlight Review 2023 website.
Does anyone know how much current max the BLF A6 will draw?
Noticed on the banggood deal thread the following Protected Samsung 18650 batteries are on promo for only US$15, and it has max discharge current of 5.5A.
Original Price: $21.37
Coupon Price: $15
Link: https://www.banggood.com/4PCS-3_7V-2600mah-Button-Top-Protected-18650-Lithium-Battery-For-Samsung-p-913785.html?
You should be okay, but just barely. Generally, the BLF A6 draws between 4 and 6 amps, depending on what battery you’re using (high drain are better), and if you’ve bypassed the tail spring. Stock, I think I’ve seen people reporting 5 - 5.5 amps, using the Samsung 30Q high drain cell.
I’ve used the unprotected version of that Samsung ICR18650-26F cell you’re considering, and it works well. Probably not quite as bright as the 30Q, but still very good.
I suspect you’ll probably get a drain around 4.5 - 5 amps using that cell with a protection circuit. Of course, the current drops a lot as the battery depletes.
That said, why do you want to use a protected cell? The light will work better using an unprotected cell, and the light has built-in low voltage protection. So, a protected cell doesn’t seem to add much safety. The downside of the protected cell is you might trip the protection circuit on max, and it won’t be as bright.
It’s a good price for that battery. So, I guess it doesn’t hurt to try it. If the drain is too high for it, you can always use it in a Convoy or something without a FET driver.
it will be fine, the A6. if the cell limits current, it just limits the light output.
mine is plenty bright using recycled laptop random (free) 18650 cells, though the top level is the same as the next-to-top
wle
I believe I use that exact battery from banggood in my A6, and it works great.
It does NOT, however, work all that well in the Astrolux S41 (same driver, quad emitters). And my experience with protected cells is that they shut off when the current gets too high. With those batteries in my S41, I only get 10 seconds or less on turbo, then the light just shuts off. Cycle the switch and it comes back on, so not a big deal. I’ve tried a couple of those in my A6, and they both ran on turbo for over a minute with no problem.