How dim is it on 3AAA's? (Can you compare to another light?) What about runtime on 3AAA's?
Thanks,
Garry
P.S. Don't let the bed bugs bite!
Why would you give this light such a good rating if it is very underdriven?
If that is the case, then its practically useless. An XR-E works way better for flood to throws, so if you are gonna drive an emitter at only 1 amp, mine as well be an XR-E, or XP-E. The emitter is cheaper and works better.
If it pulled 2.5 amps it would be quite nice. One of the reviews said that it did. Your measurements are kind of disappointing though, and more likely to be typical/accurate.
Too bad. Maybe one of these days someone will decently drive a flood to throw light at the same level as all the fixed focused XM-Ls...
I think Benckie's amperages are off. See this:
This has been the case with other amperages he has measured. I'm not saying expect it to be driven at 3A! The way I understand it, the XM-L still gives a much wider flood which is what I would want. Probably also more efficient (more lumens at less current draw) resulting in longer battery life (again, my interest).
-Garry
Thanks for the review benckie! 
Beacuse it has huge flood and throws well and puts out as much light as my L2P with an ultrafire 3 mode drop in. When white wall hunting this seams brighter, more intense and throw's further.
You could always put in a KD 8 x 7135 V2 and drive it 3 + amps for an extra cost of $4.79 shipped if you brought one and found it is under driven, then you could get rid of the s.o.s and strobe modes, money well spent IMO to have no strobe and s.o.s modes.
Im with you here Garry, plus i can not say 100% my DMM readings are acurate and i still can not find my fluke DMM since i moved house in december.
I got up early this morning and had a play with this torch, inside my house at 3 meters from a white wall the beam is too wide it lights up the wall, the roof and the floor making it hard to get a measurment @ 3 meters.
I had the same problem out side, my walls are only 2.5 meters tall if that helps. It gives out more of a wider throw then my TR-3T6 at the same distance to me thats impressive.
It is slightly dimmer on 3 AAA's then li-on's, i have compaired it to a ultrafire 3 mode drop in and a trustfire A8 when white wall hunting it seam's to still be brighter and it still give's out a wider beam then my TR-3T6 it must be the aspherical lense. Estimated run time on 3 x 1000 mAh AAA,s is 75 min's.
I picked this one cause i dont mind the looks, it was cheaper and becuase it has more battery options, i like that it can run of 26650 batteries giving it the longest run time.
Thanks benckie! Sounds awesome to me! A great flooder with some decent runtime and brightness on AAA's! Now I'm off to bed.
-Garry
Nice review. I like the fact it takes a 26650 battery. That screw-in pill looks like it'll help dump heat, so upgrading the driver should be no problem.
I rarely find "AAA" and "decent runtime" as compatible. Normally not used in the same sentence. 
See the review posted on Manafont's product page - it says it pulls 2.5A from a TF 26650. I'm going ahead and ordering one. Would like to have it in my hands before June 3rd (my upcoming camping trip).
-Garry
Some one else on here said they got 2.8 amps
I posted that manafont review. With the varying results reported here, I thought I should do a retest. Here's what I found:
- TF 26650 after what seemed like light use: 1.8-2.0 A (I decided to recharge the battery and test again.)
- TF 26650 hot off the charger: 2.5-2.8A
I tried some 18650s that I had around and they were all in the 1.8-2.0 range. I'm topping off a TF "flame" 2400 now to see how it does fresh off the charger. UPDATE: 2.1A fresh from the charger.
Results are with a Craftsman 82345 Multimeter with the stock leads.
I was who had 2.8A, here was the review: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/7687
I don't find it ugly, maybe because I am uglier? Haha.
For the price it is a good light, I replaced the retaining metal ring by a rubber o-ring and feel much better now for cents.
Thanks for the confirmation & update ronparr. I'm still ok with it driven at 2A. Once I receive mine I'll try and remember to update this thread with my results (don't hold your breathe though!). I'm even ok with a driver swap if deemed necessary.
Thanks yavi. I remember now reading that review, but forgot about it until just now.
-Garry
Just now received my Poppas W-878 26650 - order placed 4/26/12, shipped 4/27/12, received today 5/7/12 - just 11 days. Haven't tried a battery in it yet. I just received my King Kong INR26650, and it needs charged up.
First impressions: kinda rough on quality - rough threads that seem like they would easily cross-thread. Missing o-rings (at bezel and on main body to head connection). Slider is stiff, but does feel like it's scraping metal as it slides. +B spring at backside of the driver is off-center. The 3AAA & the 18650 spacer are much narrower than the body of the light so they will rattle significantly - need wrapped with something to make them fit better. Not too bad for the price.
-Garry
I thought it was good for the price, i use a 18650 spacer from IO
Ok, finally got my King Kong INR26650 charged up and tested the light (only in a well lit office so far). Wow! Huge flood when zoomed out, and bright! Low doesn't look much different than Medium, but I can't say much about that until I see it in the dark.
Tailcap currents (measured with my low resistance modified test leads which yield 3A+ on my KDC8):
King Kong INR26650:
High - 4.16A (up to 4.55A if I press down hard to compress the +battery spring on the driver)
Med - 2.10A
Low - 1.06A
With 3 fresh new Duracell Alkalines:
High - 2.0A
Med - 1.08A
Low - 0.56A
My only AAA NiMh cells were not charged up to test at this time (my single channel NiMh charger is out on loan right now). Hmm . . . seems to be direct drive on high. Seems to be a 100% - 50% - 25% mode spacing. 4A is a bit too high, but I bet I would see a little lower result with a protected 18650 (I don't have any on me to test at the moment). I would say benckie needs to quit using his cheap DMM and find his Fluke! He's going to be leading people astray! (benckie, feel free to update your O.P. with my measurements if you want.)
benckie, did yours have thermal grease under the LED? From your photos it looks like it didn't (or at least not much). I haven't disassembled mine yet, but I'm thinking I'll need to add thermal grease under the LED and at the pill threads.
Now I just have to find a PVC sleeve which adapts the 18650 and 3AAA carrier for a better fit. Perhaps I should ask around for where to get a better sized 18650 to 26650 adaptor. My King Kong 26650 fits well, not too loose. The 3AAA carrier seems to be better than expected; the plastic is more solid than other ones I've seen.
-Garry
I suspected mine is around 3 amps the same as my Trustfire A8 that I'm in love with right now. I don't trust my DDM to be honest and as i mentioned in my OP.
I sold a light to some one who got 4.89 amp at the tail when i was getting 2 amps but the light was a monster for light out put for what it was.....
I will not change the amp draws of the OP just yet, as i rather be under they say 3 amps and others get lower result's, plus if 10 people do current draw test's you will get 10 different results IMO, due to batteries, charge voltage, DMM, DDM leads, how hard you press (i didn't not press hard either) and the torch its self.
I put some Arctic silver thermal past under the LED, i use it for CPU's it is not to bad.
I have been using these for 18650 to 26650 battery spacers, it works well in this light but is a bit tight with redilast 2600 mAh cells.
18650 to 26650 battery converter case sleeve
I like the 3 x AAA battery holder it is solid, but is smaller then the battery tube, but is is spring loaded for good contact with the torch and batteries with solid bras contact,s. I use mine for charging.
If you find the zoom in and zoom out a bit ruff put some silicone grease on the rubber o-ring around the the pill and there is a alloy c-clip that ad's slight pressure when zooming a bit of grease on this helps it feel smoother with out loosing stiffness.
All in for a cheap zoomible 26650/18650 flash light that can be used with 3 x AAA in a emergency and a battery holder you can use for charging i found it good for the price.
Has anyone actualy measured the width of the beam at wide? If is so wide then the measurment from 1m distance would be the best. Also interested in flood more than throw because of taking caving pictures....
How about led tint?
Tint is a typical cool white T6, I would say around 1A. After my daughter is in bed I'll do a 1m measure.