A USB charging version based on 2x21700’/ 2x26650 would be really promising as a ‘civilian’ light. Even moreso if they designed it to also function as a power bank.
I feel like a 150 lumen C8+ is just not going to be enough light
I’d recommend a driver with 4* 7135 chips which you could remove one at a time to get what you want. It’s going to be disappointing to receive a light that’s too dim and you have to buy another driver.
I spent $100 on a Malkoff MD2 M61LL, specifically to have a single mode, 100lm light that could run 10hrs.
So by comparison, 150lm is 50% brighter, and at $25, the C8 350mah is 400% cheaper.
I’ve been around flashlights a pretty long time; I had a 65lm incan Stinger, back when that was considered ‘blindingly bright,’ and later Innova X5’s ~2003, back when that was the height of LED tech. That was pumping out ~31m (on High!)
As such, I remember that 150lm is actually really bright. And paired with a decent reflector, 150lm has plenty of effective range; my Armytek Predator on 150lm mode (44mm head) has no problem at 100yd.
That’s why real garbage C8 clones on Amazon would still appeal to some as “blindingly bright”.
Stick a cheap Angry Blue™ XP-E clone (not even a real one) behind a plastic reflector and belt out a whopping 70-80lm into a teenytiny hotspot, and it’ll be pitifully dim but still manage some decent throw. And they’ll get those 5-star “Wow! That’s BRIGHT!!” reviews on Amazon.
You could get Convoy’s ramping driver and set the 1st mode to whatever brightness you like. It always starts on the first mode. You can’t accidentally change modes either, to get to the 2nd level it’s a very quick double tap, 3rd level is a quick triple tap.
I see this was first suggested by forsh but was ignored. He said to configure to 50% which is probably why.
I have this driver in most of my C8’s and it’s awesome. You can then set the first level to anything you want from 2 lumens up to 1250.
Get Simon to install his ramping driver into the C8 with XPL HI, he’ll then suggest it’ll burn out the led but it’s perfectly okay.
I guess the question is, what is the advantage of some programing driver vs just a single 350mah mode, when the goal is a single, 100-150lm level for 10hrs?
Does the 10% setting (presumably ~125lm if 100% is 1250lm) run longer then then the 350mah single mode?
Thank you for testing that. So 350mah should be ~125lm. Were those ‘OTF’ lumens?
In terms of multi mode, I’m well aware of the advantages, and the vast majority of my lights are multi mode, and with a better UI to boot (the previously mentioned ‘head tight - head loose’ interface. As such, I have no interest or need in a tailcap switching multi mode C8.
The goal here is a single mode light with an goldilocks level of light to runtime (~100lm x 10hrs). Which is actually an extremely hard to find flashlight; at this point there are hundreds-possibly thousands - of multi mode flashlights on the market.
There are a handful of single mode flashlights - but they are almost exclusively Turbo Lumens X 1hr runtimes ala Surefire. Useful for blinding muggers, but little else.
As of right now, there’s only 1 Single mode light that offers ~100lm x 10hrs - the $100+ Malkoff MD2 w/ M61LL lamp.
To me, this is pretty crazy, because thats the flashlight best suited to 99% of the worlds regular human beings.
The Average Person:
-Doesn’t collect flashlights
-Is not up to date on multi mode user interfaces (and does not want to learn them)
-Views a flashlight as a tool / emergency device, similar to a hammer or fire extinguisher
-Will use a flashlight for either basic utility (inspecting a dark area, walking at night) or as a primary light source in a power outage
-Doesn’t regularly change / charge their flashlight batteries, or even think about their flashlight until its needed
All of which points to a single mode flashlight (fire extinguisher simple) that offers enough brightness for the majority of tasks, and can last for hours even at 25% battery life (because batteries are likely to be old.)
Yet this simple, practical requirement has been completely neglected.
Which leads to this C8+ project. To create a practical, optimized performance flashlight for regular people. Or at least in my case, for handing out to friends and family.
That way they don’t need a charger, they can just charge them using their ubiquitous Micro USB cables.
Quick question - does the C8 have ‘momentary’ on, where it lights with a partial forward tail press? Or does it have to actually be ‘clicked on’ to turn on?
So the C8 350mah Single Mode arrived 2 days ago, and it’s awesome. I’m writing up the full review with runtime tests now.
Short answer - it maintained full brightness for 9hr 30min, then dropped in brightness steadily, ending around 5lm at 11hr 30 min where I ended the test.
The only issue is that config can be entered by someone playing with the light resulting in it becoming a multi mode light. Simon also sells a single mode only driver