Thatās a bummer. I tried to search for a review of the floody optics, but no one seems to have them and everyone suggests default because it already has a lot of flood. I searched with confirmation bias, hoping Iād find something that would say it would be a desirable setup, but no luck. I might just see if Hank will refund that part of my order. Shame, because I wanted to get a D18 while I was sure his SST-20ās had good tint
What do yāall think about a D18 in SST-20 4000K with floody optic? Should I just stick with it? Do you think Iāll like it and find good use for it? Or would I just be settling? I canāt find anything online about the floody version. Doesnāt seem like anyone has one, and if they do, they havenāt put forth any reviews or opinions on it.
Itās hard for us to answer a question about what you will like. Donāt pull the trigger on something just cos you want it now. Only you can answer these questions really and see how they match up to your use case for the light.
I have floody optics in mine on the 2700/4000K emitters and the middle W2ās have normal optics. This way at low ramp i get a nice light tint that fills out in front of me but when I ramp up the W2ās take over and can throw as far as possible.
I understand. Context matters. I just donāt know what to expect of a D18 with default optics, so I canāt extrapolate what I donāt know about it to make a reasonable assumption of what to expect from different optics. I just wish there was like, one review, or one video, or even one beam shot photo I could find that would give me some indication. Itās not that Iām certain I will inherently prefer a non-floody optic, I just really donāt know. I wish I knew what kind of throw it would still have.
Thank you for the feedback. And your setup/configuration sounds really cool.
Anyone have any 26650 suggestions for my new D4SV2 with 4x W2ās? I assume a continuous discharge rate of 20A is probably a safe number. I canāt go with the trusty name brand Japanese companies like I would for 18650ās because, well, they donāt make 26650ās. Looking on Parametrek (which is an amazing resource if there happens to be anyone out there thatās not familiar with it), it seems like my only good options are this Vapcell 5300mAh 20A cell at Liion Wholesale, or this Shockli 5500mAh 20A cell from Mountain Electronics, or this Orbtronic 5750mAh 22A cell from Orbtronic . Iām worried the Shockli will be too wide, and I canāt find a āmaximum cell diameterā spec on any Hanklights (maybe yāall can point me in the right direction to find those specs), and āOrbtronicā isnāt in my trusted group of battery supply stores (18650BatteryStore, Illumn, LiionWholesale, and Mtn Electronics), so Iām less inclined to order from there.
So I guess Iāve more or less answered my own question, or at least narrowed it down, but I would still like yāalls blessing/assurance that the āVapcell G53ā 5300mAh 20A 26650 is an appropriate cell for this light. And I still want to know what yāall personally use, because that could very likely sway my decision.
Edit: After reading more, I believe the Shockli will fit, and I might be better off with it or the Orbtronic (which could very well be the same cell as the Shockli, with a different wrap) rather than the Vapcell.
Great news!! Hank just said the clear optics should be arriving and back in stock in one week! I asked him if he would wait to make my D18 until those come in. I was afraid it was going to be a lot longer than that.
Sorry, I haven't read all the responses to this -
I did message Hank the other day and he said themregular optic will be back In stock ASAP. He did not indicate if it was a week, two weeks , a month.. but Im Waiting for that to be in stock before I order my first d18.. I think I would not like to be limited to a flood set of optics on a throw-ey light..
i run a molicel p26a 18650 in mine a lot of the time,with an adapter. The rest of the time I run the efest purple 4200mah 26650. They both work well.
https://www.18650batterystore.com/collections/26650-batteries/products/efest-26650-4200mah
I've read a lot of people hating on efest, but I've been vaping there batteries for 7-8 years and I've used these 26650's for over a year and have had no issues, and I feel they work very well.
And youāre still alive?! 
I could not agree more with Lojik. The bad thing is that these are a generation old now and when they are gone, they will be gone! My personal stock started at around 75 of the sw-45kās years ago, now I am down to 7 or 8, they only went in to special builds and someday, depending upon tech, they may get moved to another light host. They really are that special.
i think so?
Iāve heard the gasses from lithium batteries is pretty nasty! :disappointed:
yea, I didn't know if it was knock on vaping or on efest. But I figured probably both. Anyway, I switched over to molicel and vtc6's about a year ago, maybe less. A little after I got into flashlights.
althoygh off gassing off batteries would explain a lot of my mental shortcomings!
my last order from Hank (June 6) took 5 days to ship to me, 7 days total from ordering.
the order im waiting on now has been 19 days, and 14 days of shipping, still not here. So wierd how that happens. Although the package has been "sitting" in the US airport (customs probably) for the last 11 days, and I finally got the update today that it's thinking about moving. I was getting a little worried though..
:person_facepalming: :laughing:
I was only joking. I presumed you werenāt actually vaping the batteries! Haha
It was neither. It was a classic dad-joke. You said that you had been vaping their batteries for 7-8 years. When taken literally for the sake of a good pun, it reads as though you had actually been inhaling the gases of batteries. Terrible humor, but thatās whatās so great about it. Thatās my kind of humor.
I just found out that the Panasonic/Sanyo NCR18650GAās (flat tops) will work in the D18! Pretty cool. I do have a question though: I know that the CDR of 10A that the GAās have should work fine, but do you think they will hold the light back at all? Will I get any better performance with 30Qās and their CDR of 15A? The light will have 18x SST-20 4000k, if that makes a difference.
Iām asking because Iām about to place a big battery order. I like the extra capacity of the GAās (500 extra mAh is nothing to scoff at), and I donāt think any of my other lights I ordered need more than 10A. So itād be cool if I could just order a bunch of GAās and be done with it.
Thanks!
I have used both of these with my D4SV2, W2.
- Shockli 26650 5500mAh 20A / 30A
- Vapcell G53 26650 5300mAh 20A
Both work great, but the Shockli is probably the better choice.