Slim 18650 lantern

@Barry, I think it would be better to just make an 1865/21700 lantern.

Looks pretty naughty!

That’s a part of the reason why I like Naturehike diffuser. They reflect a lot of light to the sides thanks to having a downward directed cone at the top. They never quite keep a perfect shape and take a few seconds to get them in a fair shape. And the beam is never perfectly smooth. But they still work better than regular silicone / plastic diffusers while being very universal (my S-sized works on BLF Q8 (though barely) and on AAA light), smaller and lighter. I complained a few times that for a piece of cloth they were quite expensive. But really - if I had to buy a diffuser for every of my lights that I wanted to have it I would pay more.

These work well:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Camping-Hiking-LED-Waterproof-Light-Tent-Lantern-Outdoor-Emergency-Flashlight/383215848030?epid=24024316358&hash=item593971ca5e:g:PLoAAOSwC-5dp9bv

There are likely multiple sellers with essentially the same design. Look carefully as there are also ones that are two 18650s long as well.

It is a ?polycarbonate tube with caps on each end. As you screw the cap down it pinches an o ring that seals it to make it waterproof. I am not really a modder, but these things are completely simple to take apart and mod.

I bought a couple and they came with a 2000 mah 18650 which is soldered in place. I bought a couple of Panasonic 3400 mah 18650s with tabs soldered on and replaced the oricginal battery. They work well.

The don’t give 360 degree illumination, maybe a little more than 180 degree as the battery is on the back side, but are light, waterproof, and compact.

This one has better pictures to see what you are getting and comes with a 2600 mah battery for quite a bit more:

http://vi.raptor.ebaydesc.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemDescV4&item=113483595784&category=168867&pm=1&ds=0&t=1569288776000&ver=0&cspheader=1

On mine one press comes on low white then it cycles through high white red and I think blinking modes but at any time a long press turns it off without going through all the modes.

Here are the batteries I put in them:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2-NEW-PANASONIC-NCR-18650-B-Li-ion-BATTERY-3400mAh-3-7v-w-pre-welded-TABS/371386465607?epid=1337918909&hash=item56785bbd47:g:YSQAAOSwDNdVqKwW

I use this setup. It's a 35mm film canister. These are really cheap , in bulk, online. These fit all of my 18650 Zebralights, plus some of my other lights.

My kids use these when we go trick or treating. I just put a little bit of electrical tape around the bottom, so the canister doesn't get knocked off.

It makes a nice , inexpensive lantern, with great run times and slides on and off easily.

At 99 dollars, I am not sure if it qualifies as a “budget” light.
It uses a 26650 battery.
It is made by a company called Lantern. Seems like a really bad idea for a product name.

It is basically a flashlight with a diffuser on it. The tint looks kind of blue.
They sell the diffuser separately for $12.50. Opening is listed as 33mm or 1.3”.
Could maybe fit on a cheaper flashlight with a better tint and the same diameter bezel.

Anyone know of an 18650 or 26650 flashlight with good tint like Nichia 219C 5k for cheap with a 33mm or 1.3” bezel diameter?
I guess something a little bigger could be turned down, and smaller could be shimmed. I am not sure how much being wider on the top would negatively effect carrying and packing. I know for me it would always be falling over onto that wide part of the diffuser, so it would need to be sturdy.

Anyone heard of these and know about them, such as who manufactures them ?

This is not such a bad idea either:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32887936541.html

…but it’s AA…

i have bought many variants of that over the years, if they would only build one without the blue-tint Latticebright XPE knockoff LED, remove the blinky modes, and not use a horrible PWM on the low mode, they would be a good pocket light micro lantern for emergency uses.

That fenix diffuser is even more compact and cheaper than the Lantern one.

That Fenix AOD-S diffuser looks real nice.

It's kinda pricey for what it is, though.

By the way, on AliExpress, they have it with free shipping.

(I don't know if Fenix sells their stuff on their website with free shipping.)

There's a number of flashlight diffusers on AliExpress for under $2 shipped.

They couldn't be as nice as the Fenix one, but maybe they're good enough.

Search for:

flashlight diffuser

This one is the cheapest I've seen at $1.25:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33007563406.html

It's made for the Convoy S-series.

EDIT:

Here's something similar, and they actually deliver to the U.S.:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33004560643.html

Looks like a lot of the cheap diffusers are made for the Convoy S-series, which would also fit the BLF A6.

Because the FW3A is just a little bit bigger in diameter, I think the diffusers would sadly be too small for it.

I agree with Agro. I have too many diffusers and the naturehike is the one I use the most. Not as easy to set up but it works with almost all of my lights including headlamps, diffuses the light to the sides and not as much glare as using regular silicone or plastic diffuser because of the surface area. Doubles as a carrying pouch too.

How does the Nature hike diffuser stand around the light? Doesn’t it collapse under its weight?

LR12

The small one stands ok. Not sure of the large one since I don’t have one.

is that remote phosphor?
nice use of the 2 liter bottle blank too

Yes, that is a remote phosphor, used with a royal blue XT-E led. XP-E also has some royal blue.

Chromalit is the brand name of the phosphor. Digikey some. I think Arrow does too.

On this price it is not a solution against convoy+diff :laughing:)

18650 lipstick battery pack, 6 led dimmable usb light ,old pill bottle . Stays cool,runs all night easy , cheap . Pretty ghetto but it works awesome and I like the color. Its on high in pic , lower settings look more like a candle or oil lamp. My BFG LT1 is on order .