Be aware that every light you order will be about half as big as it looks online.
Great source of information for everyone just starting out and some who have been around for awhile.
Thanks
This is exactly the experience I had when I got my first SF P60 host. I looked huge in the picture and got me thinking for a while before ordering because I was worried about the 'large' size. 
Great thread, it deserves to be stickied for all new flashaholics to read.
Great post. I wish I would have had this when I was getting started. I still have lots to learn. Here is another thing that a new guy needs to know.
Double the lumens doesn't mean that your light will look twice as bright. Generally speaking, everything else being equal, you will need 4 times the lumens to notice twice the brightness. For instance, to notice twice the brightness of a 100 lumen light you will need somewhere around 400 lumens.
Another thing I have found. Just because your light has the newest emitter like the XM-L, doesn't mean it is a better light. I have found that many lights work better with XP-G or other older emitters. Most often I have found that the smaller the reflector, the better the older emitters seem to work. For instance. Shiningbeam makes a S-mini light that you can buy with either an XP-G or you can buy it with the newer and more expensive XM-L. The XP-G is listed at 360 lumens and the XM-L is listed at 400 lumens. I own both and in real life I much prefer the less expensive and older XP-G version. It doesn't have quite as much spill but it seems brighter and has a more useful beam IMHO. Bryan at Shiningbeam feels the same but he makes the XM-L because people want the latest and newest technology available.
Great guides trooplewis, this thread will definitely shows a path for the new flashaholics! I become a flashaholics for almost a year until now. When I started collecting and looking for flashlights I learn everything one by one in CPF and of course here in BLF. I used to have so many questions in my head and then I slowly understand them by looking at these threads. So, this is the way I gain my knowledge.
To the new flashaholics: BLF is such a resourceful place to learn about flashlights!
LOL +1 on that. My girlfriend still cannot accept the fact that I always purposely went out at night and keep shinning my flashlights on some distance buildings... 
LOL +1 on that. My girlfriend still cannot accept the fact that I always purposely went out at night and keep shinning my flashlights on some distance buildings... 
That is the coolest part of having a good flashlight
Great Post, Troop!
8 ) There is no such thing as that one, perfect flashlight. If there was, I would gladly pay $500 for it and stop buying flashlights, but it does not exist.
I don't believe that for a minute! 
To paraphrase the Notorious B.I.G., number 10 should have been number one to me.
Budget lights are cheap in terms of bang for the buck (ie. value), but in the long run you'll probably be spending at least as much on cheap lights and accessories as if you were buying reasonably priced brand name lights (not überrarium custom lights). The difference is you'll probably have more fun.
I offered selling custom made lights with neutral and warmer tints as a flashaholic usually prefers. None sold. Everybody asked for the cool blue- white beam instead. Neutral is usually a rarety in flashlights. It is always a plus if a flashlight has an option for tint.
Throw works similarly to perceived increase in overall output even thought the two aren’t related.
As mentioned to perceived twice the output it actually needs to be four times brighter. With throw the lux (brightest part of the hotspot) needs to be four times greater for twice the throw.
You increase throw by increasing the surface brightness of the emitter and by increasing the diameter of the optic/reflector.
XR-E is generally the emitter you want for throw if you are looking for absolute throw. If you are really looking for decent throw with a larger beam then you may go to XM-L with a larger optic/reflector.
Finally useful spacing in brightness modes seems (to me) to be X 3 as in 10 lumens…30 lumens…90 lumens…etc… Lumens being a measurement of the overall output of the light.
ROFL :bigsmile: Perfect flashlight with XM-L, perfect light with XPG, perfect P60 light with SMO... :bigsmile:
Nice post, mate ;)
I love # 15 LOL :-)
#16 The flashlight beam consists of the hotspot which is the brightest center part. This may be well defined in a SM reflector light or diffused by a OP reflector light from the same emitter. Around that hotspot is the corona which is also sometimes called spill.
#17 A good "thrower" flashlight for 1 man is useless to the next man. Some people love a laser/pencil thin beam because it projects light only on the exact spot that you point it at and there is little to no backscattered light from the spill around the hotspot. This is typically users who like the higher contrast that this gives plus if it is from a no spill light and the object you shine the light on is far away it does not kill your night vision. The most extreme pencil beam lights are aspheric lens lights. Others prefer a light with varying degrees of spill because they need to light up the area around the object being examined or even to navigate through the terrain to get to it.
If you are in doubt about which type of light you like and dont mind using a little dough and time to find out before you buy bigger and more expensive lights here is my short list of tried and tested (by me) lights for that purpose.
Aspheric light would be : Sipik SK68 which is 9,20$ at dealextreme for 1 mode that takes both AA and 14500 li-ion and comes in either black or grey.
and then a P-60 host such as the Ultrafire WF-504B with a XML 5 mode drop-in also at dealextreme which comes in black or grey too. ~ 21 $
Then a XP-g drop-in so you can compare the smaller output but longer runtime and different beam profile with its smaller hotspot and less bright spill. Also from dealextreme. ~ 11$
And last a 1 mode XP-E R2 drop-in which is the most throwy dropin for the P60 format. This should set you up for some fun times and the options of changing the reflectors around on the drop ins. Also from Dealextreme. ~8~$
For this you would also need to buy at least a pair of 18650 batts and a charger. These come recommended ( by me because I have them and they work) and are protected. ~10~$
# 18 It is much cheaper to buy more batteries of lesser capacity and then swap them in your lights than it is to buy high capacity ones. ( $/mAh)
# 18 Chargers come in all sizes and prices. I recommend the XTAR chargers based on my research from reading the tests some of the more knowledgeable members make. I have the Xtar MP1 myself and have the Trustfire TR-003 on the way because I bought so many batteries lately. They both come recommended by those in the know. Xtar MP1 is ~25 $ and the trustfire is ~18 $
Now that you have so started your deroute you might as well add these 3,7v li-ion 14500 batteries to drive that little Sipik SK68 at the power it is meant to be :-) ~ 6 $
# 20 Cylindrical Li-ion batteries (and batteries in general) are measured by their diameter followed by their length and given a numerical suffix of 0 (zero) to indicate that they are round. So a regular AA battery would be a 1,5V 14 mm by 50 mm round battery and thus a 1,5 V 14500 battery. So a 18650 is 18 mm diameter 65mm long and round.
If you just added all of the above to your cart you might as well throw in a C8 style light to really see for yourself how much a bigger size reflector does for throw. And you should be set up for ~100 $ if you chose the Trustfire charger. Not bad all things considered :-)
If SWMBO nags you about this then say it is all for (pseudo) science LOL
PS: Can someone proof read this (not grammar/spelling) but fact about batteries and such. I am tired after a few hectical days and should have been to bed hours ago :-)
EDIT: I've edited out the misinformation about battery nomenclature - Thanks to Agedbriar et al. for the help :-)
i guess the number 1 of the list that you shall put is "FLASHLIGHT IS HIGHLY ADDICTED"
I seem to remember reading that the last digit stands for "battery shape", with zero meaning "cylindrical".
I don't think that flattop/buttontop execution is evident from the battery type code, but I may be wrong.
I believe agedbriar is correct.
I've edited the post :-)
How to explain simply ? [ If thats possible ]
In the end , individual cell quality is the bottom line for battery life [ cant get past this ] ...
If a battery is designed to go to 2.5v , then it can be done ... [ But its not good for the battery ]
Its the voltage range 2.5v to 4.2v , now within a certain voltage range , lets call it 3.8v to 4.2v , the battery will only suffer so much degradation [ wear and tear ]
If you stretch it to say 3.5v to 4.2v , you will shorten the life of the battery a little bit [ more than keeping voltage 3.8v to 4.8v ]
Now the lower you go , the more stress [ cellular level ] is placed on the battery and there fore the shorter its life ..
Now how important is battery life ? , some people try to squeeze out every last possible minute , others dont give a hoot at all ..
Now , why I dont go under 3.5v as a rule , is because the battery can no longer supply enough VOLTAGE + CURRENT to maintain good output or even reasonable output [ in high + medium ]
If you have to run a battery down , it pays to charge it ASAP , as the longer it stays discharged , the more likely for damage to occur to the cellular structure .
There are a few other things as well ,
But the bottom line is , if you dont need to , why would you , throwing the battery in the charger before the battery is depleted just makes sense , if in an emergency or what ever situation you run the battery down , its not the end of the world , just charge it ASAP .
Its just a general rule I work on , I aim to charge my batteries @ 3.8v , its just a aiming point , so when batteries hit 3.8v or less they go in the charger ..
If I detect batteries that self discharge too much and run down to 3v or less , they are retired from service right away .
I still have some 3+ year old 18650 batteries that do a Stirling job , and a few that after a month or so gave up ... Or didnt even make it through testing .
You make your own rules , guidelines , for how you treat - service - maintain your batteries .
If your batteries are in for a hard life , buy better batteries .
I'll use the word battery and pretend it's the same as cell, forgive me.
I've read a quite nice text/study about Li-Ion battery life somewhere, but I can't remember where. I do remember what it said, though.
What Old wrote makes PERFECT sense, and is in accordance with that study 100%, but only of you actually use the batteries. And I mean at least for some minutes every day.
The same study also says that:
- batteries stored at nominal 3.6V lose least capacity % per year
- charging 90% -> 100% damages battery (or reduces capacity) less than charging 30% -> 100%
both of which agrees with Old.
I for instance do not use most of my batteries all that often. So I keep most of them at nominal 3.6V, EXCEPT those that are in a flashlight. Once I notice that battery is getting depleted I take it out, measure the voltage, and charge (or discharge) to 3.6V. My batteries are numbered. I find the next battery that comes after the current, charge it to full, and put it in the flashlight. That way, those not used are always at 3.6V or near that, and those that are used are always full.
If I know I'll need or use a bunch, I charge them and keep them ready. For instance, after a few days of using my favorite flashlight I predict that the active battery will get depleted soon, I pre-charge the next numbered so it's ready at the moment current one gets depleted.
I seldom discharge my batteries below 3.3V, especially if used in a high powered flashlight that draws high current, like any decent XM-L. Why? Old already explained it. While the battery may still have enough capacity for smaller current, it's simply not at it's best for high-current application. In other words, XM-L flashlight will look very dim, compared to the full charge. Actually, from my experience with XM-Ls, I usually take it out even at 3.5 or 3.6V. Now, in my Sipik SK68 I noticed that I usually notice the dimming closer to 3.0V. Which makes sense, because much lower current is needed for normal operation, and it gets dim enough (to be noticed at once) somewhere around there.
Batteries suffer if they are stored. They are LESS USEFUL if not used than if they ARE used. Simple logic: If you store them for a year, they wil lose certain % of their life/capacity without being used at all. If you use them for a year, they will probably lose more capacity % by charge/discharge, but will be infinitely more USEFUL than if they were in storage only.
Conclusion, get more flashlights and use all of your batteries, do not keep any in storage. :)
Hope this helps someone.
Viktor
I used to wave my big, powerful light in the shower too...until the neighbors called the cops.