It's nice to see you, easyshades!
The Sofirn SC31 Pro is an amazing flashlight, and very inexpensive considering what you get.
I prefer the similar Lumintop FW3A because it has a tail switch, but it's a lot more expensive.
Being unregulated, the output of the Sp36 will drop as battery voltage drops. Fully charged, I’d say it can sustain 1500 lumens without excess heat. If you don’t mind the 4 step ui of the M3-C it is great. I don’t use the ramping option because after Anduril, the M3-C’s ramping can’t compare. The 4 step ui is ok. Long press for lowest setting, Double press for highest and single press for memorized .
Gotta confess, that’s a hopeless question, as 99% of it would be personal taste. It’s like asking what’s the “best” flavor pudding, as there’s chocolate, vanilla, pistachio, tapioca, french vanilla, key lime, etc. (damn, now I’m hungry…), and one person’s must-have is someone else’s “ewww”.
Get one (eg, the SC31 is a good all-arounder), then see what different thing you want in the next.
My nighttable has like 6-8 lights on it, depending on what I want a light for. GTmicro for a small thrower, runtime not important. DC7 (Q8ish light) for a wall o’ light. EC50 for a nice wide hotspot and great beam. MH20 as my un-dethroned EDC light that does almost everything pretty well. E05 (Wuben) if I want a diffuser. Etc. And that’s not even listing others that go into rotation for one thing or another (WK30, SC31, E2L, etc.)
Same analogy I’ve been using forever, there’s no such thing as a do-all wrench, not even an adjustable. You might need a box-wrench, crescent wrench, socket, deep-socket, or even a special wrench for an O2 sensor or sparkplugs.
So forget about “Which light is The Best for me?”, and just start buying. 
thanks mate, the sc31 pro seems to be a favourite amongst the forum members here, what would be your choice from the second section “mid ranger flooder’?
i see, so as far as a ‘full charge’ you would say that it can also hold at least 1500lm till battery runs out without getting too hot to hold and is there anyway to program it to not drop below 1500lm?
haha buy em all is not an option atm lol, but whats your pick for a mid ranger flooder? usb rechargeable, good battery life, good size, good throw good spread just an overall daily use mid range thrower.
I don't know if this is what you're looking for, but my other favorite flashlight (the FW3A is my fave) is the BLF-D80v2.
It used to be dirt cheap, and now it's more expensive.
If you're looking for a pretty compact thrower with a tail switch, it's an excellent choice.
It fits in my pants/shorts pocket really well.
If it were still about $28, and if the brightest emitter were still available cheap, I would recommend it more.
Wellp, “mid range flooder” and “mid range thrower” are mutually exclusive.
Will toss it out there, my MH20s are as yet un-dethroned by anything else as my EDC, even the ’31.
Simple dual-stage switch, incredibly intuitive UI, as compact a light as I’ve seen for an 18650, and a nicely balanced beam (ie, “compromise”) as is possible. If you still want throwier, get the MH20GT. If you can find ’em, that is. Might have to hunt around a little.
Let’s put it this way, my MH20 and i332 have almost exactly the same shape and dimensions, both have on-board charging, yet the MH20 takes an 18650 whereas the i332 takes a 16340!
But as you’ll find out, Grasshopper, is that mid-anything will always be a compromise. It won’t reach far enough to be a good thrower, nor spread light enough to be a good flooder. It literally is mid-range. Fine for dog-walking or whatever, but forget about looking 100yd down a trail† or lighting up a whole basement at once.
† Yeah, some wanker will hoot’n’howl that cranking up a light to 3000lm will light up whatever it is 100yd away, but it’ll be useless to see because the foreground 10’ in front of you will be lit up and washed out like with stadium lighting. That’s all that “useful spill” everyone talks about…
UPDATE: ill be buying the sp35 for EDC and for the midrange I’ve short listed these 3 ill buy one of them by the end of the week. any input on which of the three to choose would be appreciated. most important thing to me again is maintainable (at least %40-50) brightness throughout the battery cycle without drop in brightness or getting to hot to hold.
Sofirn SP36 BLF Anduril 54usd (rechargeable mid ranger, with batteries included)
convoy M3-C 54usd (rechargeable mid ranger, with batteries included)
convoy 4x18a 86.4usd (rechargeable mid ranger, with batteries included)
No. If that is your main concern, get the M3-C.
I see, so there is no way to lock in the lumens in the thermal settings of the sp36? I was thinking maybe that would be an option since everyone mentions the flexibility of the anduril UI I thought that would be a fix to the gradual drop in light as its being used, i just don’t like drop down in light while using a flashlight, id rather maintain the same light strength (example %40) till the battery runs out (I don’t mind if the heat/warmth of the light goes up) but if it does not do that or has great thermal handling than that is also a huge advantage.
EDIT: I just searched up the manual that comes with the sp36 there is this part in there.
[“2. Temperature limit. This
sets the maximum
temperature the light can
reach before it will start
doing thermal regulation
to keep itself from
overheating. Click once
per degree C above 30. For example, to set the limit to
50 C, click 20 times. The default is 45 C (15 clicks).
Hint: If you don’t click, the lamp will leave the value
unchanged. The lowest value the user can set is 31 C,
by clicking once.”]
Could this be it? i mean its set at 45c i could raise it to 50c (122F advertised touch limit) but than how long would it hold the light on high beam before thermal throttling kicks in. would it hold it till the battery runs out like a good flashlight should?
I just purchased the convoy with 5500mah battery from aliexpress specially when i asked for a coupon from Simon and he sent it %10 off, it was $48.77 delivered with the 5500mah battery. thanks yall
in my growing collection, my SC31 Pro is my love-hate torch. Buy it. You won’t regret it :). Except, maybe... when you compare it to the more expensive torches you buy...
I love its great brightness, good heat management, superb small size, and long runtime. I hate that it outdoes my other lights when I take all the factors together.
(I also have Wurkkos DL30, DL40, and TS30 and like them all. The DL40 is awesomely bright and long-lasting, with good heat management - but it’s 2 x w21700 :). The DL30 is definitely more of an underwater torch -it rapidly heats up, because it’s a much smaller torch, so less mass to dissipate heat.
The WK30 is fun, the UV is neat and the deep red, the reason I bought it, is brilliant. It’s white is totally outdone by my SC31 though.
The HD20 I mention last: bought after reading a very a favourable review but it’s the only light I regret buying. The brightness and throw and runtime just disappointed relative to my expectations. If anyone is in the UK and wants to buy it nearly new... ;) It would make me happy to pass it on to someone who’d appreciate it more,)
Look your original post was massive & my patience prevented me from reading it all. A year ago I had a plastic dolphin torch with a flat big 6v battery. I needed a good light for a number of reasons likely similar to yours. Ok I got out of control & probably own too many but now over 50 lights. They all do something better/worse and are different. Point being you ideally need more than one light to have the right light for the situation. Good news is your at the right place & great performing top quality lights can be bought very cheap. Don’t sweat every detail, generally the more lumens a light produces the more heat it generates & if it’s small that amplifies things. But you don’t need to run then full noise all the time, often @50% output it’s more light than anything from decades padt. All the lights your looking at are decent quality affordable options. For about $100 you can buy a 2/3 lights that will last many years. I say just buy a few and get ya feet wet.
easyshades….please update us with your opinions
about the new flashlight(s) you bought.
no problem once they come in,
for the EDC I got the sc31 pro as the price was too good to pass ($23.09 with battery and taxes all delivered).
for a mid range flooder with good throw I got the M3-C with 5500mah battery for ($50 delivered).
only reason I chose the m3c over the 4x18a was the cheaper price and its a little more compact, the 4x18a beats it in more throw, a wider spread, longer battery life, but its also 25 percent more expensive and its much bigger in size and heavier. they both share the same xhp70.2 though so I went with the m3-c as it offered a better value and fits my needs better as far as size.
I thought it was just me……
What about Sofirn SP33 v3.0?
Of all my lights, this is my most used one!
I love these threads! I'm late to the game. I'd say- sc31pro, unless you really need the extra battery life from sp35.
and my timeless favorite for your second light- astrolux ft03 with either sst40 or xhp50. Neither get too hot, both have great throw, just comes down to whether you want a little more throw a little less flood or vice versa. Either way for under $50 everyday of the year, you can't go wrong. They don't get too hot, they have many battery choices, they are well built, usbc charging, and later on they're easy to mod lol.
whaddya end up with OP?
Hi mate, as posted above for EDC I got the sc31 pro with battery for 23usd, and for mid ranger I got the m3c with battery for 50 usd. the astrolux ft03 was not far off though, very close to the m3c. i also picked up a headlamp sp40 for my old man 26usd. I’m eagerly waiting for them.