"Throwiest" LED?

Sorry if I'm being annoying, but this is my last question. Between the XPL-HI and the XHP35, with would get farther throw?

The XPL HI does.

Thanks

They have a flat silicone layer instead of a dome, so there is no need to remove the dome yourself.

Does the XPE2 belong in the thrower category in the right torch?

They are very similar though. The luminance difference is so small that it can hardly be seen. The XHP-35 HI has a 50% larger die though, so more lumens and a fatter beam at almost the same luminance. Because of the higher Vf it can also be driven by more compact drivers (lower currents).

What is a die? Is it the size of the LED?

The die is the the Yellow Square that Emits light , The colour of the Die Depends on the LED UV/IR/White….

there are LEDs with 4 Dies Connected Together like this

Thanks

All this discussion misses an important point:
to get the most throw from a LED you need to drive it to the max.
This is not what typically happens with any of the mentioned LEDs.

What LED would be good for maximum drive?

Any. You just need the right driver for your host. Which may or may not be available.
So if you have a host, tell us what it is. If you don’t - ask us to help you find the one that’s right for you.

I'm planning to use the Astrolux X when it comes out but I don't know what driver it uses, so I'll guess 17mm

You are unlikely to get some definitive answers until more is known about the light.
But:
Do you intend to keep USB charging? Replacing a driver while keeping charging may not be easy. Also, removing it will free some space for large drivers. Which is likely unneeded, but we (I?) don’t know yet.
You intend to run it off a single cell, a pair of 18350s won’t do, right?

XHP-35 HI has the generally best tint I’ve seen from any Cree LED; domed or flat. Flat LEDs have the benefit of minimizing tint shit from hotspot to corona to spill in a reflector as opposed to a domed LED. The tradeoff is that they lose some overall lumen output, however I feel that the improved throw more than makes up for it.

You are probably initially opposed to domless or dedomed LEDs because you’ve seen the early 3rd party dedomed Crees with their very Green tint. the factory flat XPL HI and XHP35 HI don’t have that issue.

XPL HI and XHP35 HI have very similar throwing capabilities, but the XHP35 HI does it while outputting more lumens. SST-40 dedomed or thin domed will actually out-throw an XPL HI, and have more lumen output plus less green in its tint as well.

Single 18650, but no USB charging

True, but I haven't really found a 17mm driver capable of running an XHP35 HI off of a single cell, so I can only practically use an XP-L HI

If you are after the most throw check out the black flat LED. It is a domeless LED with 1mm x 1mm size (XPL HI is 2mm x 2mm). You can run it direct drive and it will have significantly more throw than the XPL HI. But be aware it has an unusual footprint; I think it doesn’t have a neutral thermal pad.

Realistically I see 3 options:

  1. Wait for a suitable boost driver and use XHP35 HI. It will provide the highest lumens, but will overheat shortly and need to step down. Once it cools down you can get output again. Such driver should become available sooner than X, but it is not yet, so you never know. Expect roughly $30 for LED+driver.
  2. Use XP-G2 with FET+linear or pure linear driver. It will produce less lumens. XP-G2 will probably have higher throw than XHP35, but not much. XP-L HI will be similar. Little to no overheating problems, but your output will slowly diminish as the battery discharges. Much cheaper than XHP35.
  3. Boost the stock driver, maybe replace the stock LED. We don’t know if it’s a feasible option.

Do note that if you want XP-G2, buy it from
https://intl-outdoor.com/cree-xpg2-s4-2b-bare-led-p-885.html
and buy it NOW as this is the last known-good batch and may run-out any time.

And, BTW, why Cree?
You may be better off with Osram Oslon Black. VERY throwy, but few lumens. Somewhat harder to use than other emitters too. EDIT: I see I was not the first to suggest that. :slight_smile:

Thanks for the help, I'll probably go with your first option