Hi Joe, welcome. CopperTop loves that SS-A100! Search his old posts. Very very wide flood with excellent runtime. I've read good things on that Tank too. Me, I just ordered the Poppas W-878 due to 26650 ability.
Oh no !!!...The MXDL also is sold as a small sun and is one of my worst lights ...I remember having long loving discussions with budgeteer over which one of us got the worst version of this pathetic light ..It has to be me .Mine is so bad you can just pull the tail straight off ..if I said cross threaded it would be being too generous . that would insinuate it ever was threaded .Even if I drilled a set screw to hold the tailcap on the light is anemic in every way known to man .
I've bought a lot of bad lights .. this one is in the top ten .
The definition of a good flood to throw is the throw...Any one can make a floody light .take the head off or lose the reflector ....Lots of people fawn over certain flood to throw lights but
the "good ones" In my personal opinion...throw
if you're looking for more of a flood than your search should be easier and an xpg or a xml will work for you .
I'm always looking for a nice body .. [Between rides ...if you like that style than the tank 736 is exactly what you want ] if you're looking for a nicer flood to throw buy a tank /romisen/ or an edi-t....the jump in quality is just like.... a solarforce vs a ultrafire
EDi-T P-4 is a great light if you can find it ..(it took me a year) I have 3 edi-t lights and I assume they all have similar quality ..yet still cheap at about 13$
Edi-t T-11 is a nice little light too cr123 version with ramping as well
I have the tank 737 too which is a twist head but feels very well built and does 3AAA or 18650 too
Tank lights impress about everyone whose ever had a flashlight ..and romisen lights are almost never spoken poorly of .
three companies that almost universally don't make a bad light ... in the budget world that speaks volumes
You know I was kidding, right? Well, hopefully, in time, you'll learn to take very little of what I say seriously. Very, very little.
This isn't your preferred battery format, but I have this Romisen from Shiningbeam and it is quite nice. Use "BLFuser" for a small discount, 6% if memory serves, and it will around $15 to your door. Get yourself a few AAA Eneloops and you'll be all about it.
A "good' flood-to-throw light in my opinion is one with a balance between flood and throw. For instance my SkyRay ZY-C10 throws far but it's almost a dedicated thrower compared to my other zoomies because it's lacks flood. However I do agree that an XML can only be good if you are wanting more flood than throw.
I originally thought about getting a Rominsen but I read that it isn't as bright overall as the other lights mentioned. I also believe that it is twist style and not slide. I prefer the slide.
I have heard a lot about the Edi-T P-4 so I will add that one to the list.
I'm not sure that a light ran off of AAAs can compete with some of the lights mentioned. I really like the 18650 batteries and I think that I will be able to get a lot better performance out of them. That it is nice looking light for $15 though.
Joe, and anyone else who hasn't yet got one of these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190529994052?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l264
Most definitely a budget offering, but IMO one of those incredible bang-for-the-bucks lights where you really can't go wrong. Don't know how seriously to take the '2 left' tag, but it could be true. I have two of them, seriously thinking about pulling the trigger on a third one. They can't last forever at this price..
I don't know about the standard one, but the one from ShiningBeam has been modded so it is brighter than it you would think. It is however, a twisty, but you can still adjust it with one hand. Personally, I think the biggest drawback with that light is it has no memory and, therefore, always starts on high.
I have a thing for the EDI-T P4 also. I have a couple of them kicking around great little do everything light. Awesome knurling and threads, nice tint, super long run time if you get the ramping mode 18650 one and it fits in your pocket. Can't be beat for the price, good luck finding one.
I have both the EDI-T P4 (18650) and T11 (16340) zoomies from DX. I love both. Great uniform cylindrical body and thus very comfortable in the pocket. Both are about equal in brightness. Wide flood, tight zoom. Superb value at less than $12 each.