What was your best flashlight of 2016

I bought a Meteor this year at the reduced price and is my favorite light but for a 2016 light I would have to give it to the L6 in neutral!

There are some online options and some offline. If it is convenient and easy to order the desired lights online then you check out the online solutions as available. It is good to select the company that is an expert in these products and that would send you across the very best lights.

Klarus XT11GT for me this year, keep in mind i do own BLF A6, Convoy L6 and many other good budget yet bright option but the innovation on the Klarus XT11GT is something impressive, having the ability to operate from the sideswitch grip to tactical reverse grip is something you dont really see from other flashlight.

Difficult to choose one…

  • Manker U11 - for it’s versatility, power in a small package, built-in charging. To go for a trip - just need to take this light and standard phone charger, that’s it. For most occasional users it’s perfect.
  • Astrolux A01 - almost perfect keychain light, finally with high CRI. Need more of those. I wish it was not a twisty…
  • BLF X5 and X6 - power & beauty…and great modes and everything is nice in those lights.
  • Olight H1 - don’t have it yet, but I’m in a remote love with this little one :wink: Waiting for delivery…
  • Eagle Eye X2R - best proposal for an ordinary, unexperienced user.

I'm gonna be the odd ball here with older models that only clones are left.

I built my first 2 lights this year. An sk68 and an sk98. Both were total garbage so I gutted both and asked all the right questions. Thanks to all of you both lights are EDC used at work and blow everything around them totally away

If I listed all the details on both it would take the entire page. Basics upgraded emitters in both and boards. Even the o-rings are changed. pills smoothed and polished. No part inside is the same.

Thanks to Mountain Electronics and all of you both were a total success. I have even sold 4 or 5 that are being completed now.

This forum ROCKS....

Convoy L6

Olight X7 is a monster, and the Acebeam M10 was a good durprise.
My preferred might the Skilhunt H03 though

My pocket friends:

  • Skilhunt H03 - flooder
  • Manker U11 - thrower

If you don’t mind a quick diversion, what did you do about the dreaded Hollow Pill of the ’98? I’ve heard solutions from pounding pennies in as a shelf, filling with Cu shot and Fujik/solder, filling with JB Weld, etc., etc., etc.

Anyone test all the various’n’sundry solutions, see which was best?

Call me overly paranoid cautious, but I’m not about to push more’n 1A through any LED on a hollow pill with a near-zero thermal path.

I had all kinds of big plans until I tested everything. It does not get any hotter under normal use than most lights I've seen. a little tjermal compound inside the pill and the threading. Now if I leave it at 100% for half an hour I might be pushing it. Really the only time I use 100% is if I'm showing off. The 68 get much hotter and I use it constantly. Probably need to put both of them under the IR gun. Neither have ever heated up a battery. But again my normal use is working. Maybe 15 minites at a time, any longer and I switch to a headlamp. Let me get through the next 2 nights at work and I will put both under the IR gun. If you happen to get lucky enough to find a reasonable 98 it will be at or above 2amps out of the box. At least the ones I've found are and I have half a dozen of each here now.

  • Best modified of 2016: Sunwayman C10R, equipped with triple XPL, FET e-switch driver with moppydrv firmware, and enlarged battery compartment that fits an IMR 18500 (modded by me). Fantastic pocket rocket mod. External appearance and dimensions are unchanged from stock except for the triple TIR and 10x the original output.
  • Best stock of 2016: Probably Zebralight SC600w III HI. Great tint, throw, quality. Bit too big for EDC, but an overall fantastic light for what it is.

BLF A6 (bare and anodized)

Convoy L6

Klarus XT11S

Klarus XT11GT

Testing now. will have 15 minite results soon.

15 minutes checked at 5 minute intervals. All taken at the pill.

SK98 5min= 96F 10min=105F 15min=112F

SK68 5min= 91F 10min= 99F 15min=106F

C8 5min=88F 10min=89F 15min=92F This light has heat sensitive circuits to lower light level as it heats. So it was dimming through the entire test and was a lower light level than the sk68 at the end of 15 minutes. Rebounded after a 5 minute cool off.

Battery temps after 15 minutes. SK98 =101F SK68=99F C8=90

Temps below pill half way between tail cap and pill. SK98=99F SK68=98F C8=88F all after 15 minutes on highest setting.

Rebound, 5 minutes after turning off. SK98=88F SK68=85F C8=85F

A lot can be debated and or said for these results.

Battery temp was much lower than any part of either the 68 or 98 host which means the aluminum was doing It's job and allowing the heat to escape through the body away from the cell and emitter.

Very often it is thought that the outside heating is a bad thing when it is most often a good thing. The heat is escaping as it is designed to and with no special circuits. The SK98 was still easily at 1000+ lumens throughout entire 15 minutes, same with the SK68 light level had not changed at all. I still need to complete the math on the highest output from the 68 with the emitter I have in it but it is easily 400 to 500 lumens.

The C8 did stay a good deal cooler than the 98 or 68 but at a major loss of light output. I did not meter it but it looked to be about half the original output. (a guess not fact but was visibly lower).

Would I take my 68 or 98 out into the woods or into a tactile situation. Without a doubt I would if for no other reason than I can go to full 100% for 15 to 20 minutes with no worry of failure with a blasting light. I can always back the level down to medium or low and right back to high and still get full light level.

The C8 I am growing to love,it is just a great little light. With that said I could not do the same with it. It would still be bright but not close to 100%, even if lowering the level the going back to high. I would still take it with me as it will outlast the others by an hour or more because of the temp sensitive circuits.

Thanks for asking, I have been needing to do that for several weeks now. On these I would not change anything, they are blistering bright. But moving forward I will be looking deeper into shedding the heat faster.

Convoy L6.

Manker E14/ Astrolux S41
Very beautiful beast. Just love it. Even though it is heavy iam using it as my EDC

I got an Astrolux S2 from Banggood for $20.37 in July. At that price it has to be my best purchase of the year. Great output, great driver, good tint (3B, prefer 4B), and I really like the lighted tailcap. I don’t know that I want every light to have a lighted tailcap, but it does make it very easy to find.

Also got the copper A01 and S41. The A01 is on my keychain, but heavy and a twisty. The S41 is too floody, but a great novelty anyway and not a bad light.

I got a nice P60 drop-in from KD with a Nichia 219B that I really like too. It’s just about the perfect P60 drop-in in my opinon. 3 modes, bright enough for most uses, great CRI and tint.

Klaurus Mi7 is SS with clip.easy to pocket due to small diameter,700 lumens makes a good EDC

Large Light - Convoy L6

Smaller Light - Manker Quinlan U11

Small Light - Klarus Mi7

Pen Light - Lumintop IYP365

All at good prices (Thanks to discount sources here on BLF)! 2016 was a good year indeed!

I also bought the m43 this year and I like it so much I bought another one! But I would have to say my L6 in neutral is a great bargin.