I’m really not keen on the 14500. I had to get into them when I bought a couple of BLF X5s. At that time there seemed to be only one good choice, 700 mAh as I recall, so I bought four.
Which sit sadly on the shelf, along with the X5s, that serve no purpose for me. Like Goldilocks porridge, just a bit too big, under-performing, not quite right.
I don’t think things have moved on at all since then. An Eneloop has more overall capacity and just quietly delivers the goods. NimH still has a place at the AA size, in this weird world of ours, that continues to ignore boost and buck drivers, perhaps because it’s just too difficult. Or out of the comfort zone. Just a decent linear driver could enthuse me. I think I see some progress happening there, thanks to Mike C.
Stick an Eneloop into e.g. an Olight S15 and be happy. You could use a 14500 too, it would work, but that would be pointless, once you analyse the results. As with any other 14500 powered thing.
Another point, having charged up 14500s in e.g. a domestic environment where they might easily be mistaken for AAs, is not a great idea.
Vapcell seems to have a direct line to the the SOTA cells, which are rather different, if sheer capacity is the be-all and end-all.
I used some actual DC-Fix this time and it made an tremendas improvement in beam quality. Photos taken on a white basement wall. Beam photos are same distance from wall. The beam of the the flashlight is quite nice when you take out the reflector also. It is the Wuben E05 flashlight of course. An important thing I forgot to mention that it was Boaz that sent me the DC-Fix last year so I could do some mad scientist work. It took me almost a year to find a flashlight worthy of needing the fix.
I've tested 14500's against eneloops in my zebralight H52's & they give more or less the same run time exept you get turbo (+200 lumens) for 1 min with lithiums.
Well I took my new Wuben E05 on a test drive tonight. I used both the supplied 14500 battery and a couple of old worn out Energizer rechargeable AA’s. I live in an urban environment so lots of ambient light even on a nature trail close to my home. Even the old Energizers could kick out enough light to make a difference on high mode. But using the supplied 14500 the flashlight can light up a field a couple hundred feet right in front of the user. Nice little flashlight I must say.
I feel you there, it was the same story for me regarding reverse-clicky switches (though I was burned on next mode memory of nuckfutty cheapos). Thankfully Convoy changed that right quick
2) 18650 all the way, for several reasons. I’m a sucker for long runtimes but not in the slightest for lumens, I’m a big guy with big hands that isn’t bothered by a slight size increase from AA, and most importantly, 18650 is all the li-ion I have. I live in one of those countries where it’s all but impossible to get li-ion cells imported, so if I am to jump through hoops to get those, I’d much rather get cells for my lights that don’t have an alternative like AA or AAA.
As a side note, I’ve been finding myself using my two sizes of Lumintop Tool and my Thrunite Ti3 and T10 the most often, but that’s always when I have my Convoy M1 or S2 handy, just for peace of mind.
Certainly thought of it, but times are tight and dosh is shorter than ever, so I’m keeping to the cheapest formats for now. Any budget-friendly (as close to Convoy-tier as possible) recommendations you can think of right off the top of your head?
Well, if you like Convoy, there is the BD06 - it can run on both 18650 as well as 26650, thanks to the included adapter. But the Sofirn mentioned by the previous poster is capable of higher output, if that’s of some importance.
Actually what I liked most is that the Sofirn can optionally come with a 26650. That’s HUGE when you live where it’s almost impossible to import li-ions.
I’m not a fan of the 14500. I sometimes use them in a couple of older Zebralight SC52’s, just to give them a bit of a pop. But, they’re still plenty bright enough on an Eneloop, so the 14500 isn’t really necessary.
If I need higher output, I’ll go with 18650, which gives some reasonable run-time on a bright level. 14500 just doesn’t have enough juice.
Some other (non Zebralight) AA lights I have really do benefit from a 14500. Many 1xAA lights can be pretty mundane with a AA, but turn into nice lights with a 14500. The problem is those lights often get too hot with a 14500. Okay for brief use, but not so good for more than a couple of minutes.
Yep. I once propped up a SK68 with a 14500 to light up under the house while I was doing some repairs.
It had become scary hot by the time I picked it up again.
Love the 14500:
Sofirn SF14v2.0, SF12, SP10A & SF10
Lumintop Tool AA2.0
ThorFire TG06S
Enogear AA Stainless Steel (AA/14500)
and most recent, Wuben E05
Favorite? Wuben for top lumen, Tool AA for accessories, Enogear AA for tint, Sofirn for budget and ThorFire ’cause it was my 1st 14500
