I’m on a mission to sort my next light with some specific needs.
My use case is night shooting for rabbits in NZ. For reference, I am currently using a Courui D01 with a XML2 at what I guess is about 1300lm and it is absolutely perfect for the job, but unfortunately I only bought one of them and they are no longer available anywhere! The combination of 3 batteries with the large reflector and single emitter is ideal! So basically I need the 2021 equivalent of the Courui D01.
I need to be able to light up a long way >500m with a resonable beam profile for scanning large fields, and run for 1-2 hours while maintaining good brightness.
For starters, I recently got a Convoy L21A XHP35-HI to see if it would be good enough. Well, it is a fantastic torch, but not for my use case. The beam profile is about right, but the battery doesn’t last long enough and it dims from full brightness quite quickly due to thermal throttling.
I’ve had a look at other options, and it looks like the Convoy 4x18A would be perfect IF I could swap out the XHP70 for a smaller emitter (probably SFT40) and suitable driver. This would tick all the boxes: multi cell, large reflector, single emitter.
Is there anyone that has experience with the 4x18A and could advise me on what would be required to mod with a SST40/SFT40?
Or maybe there is another model of torch I’ve completely missed that’d fit the bill?
Convoy L21B has SFT40-W. I tested it at a little under 1200m throw and 2000 Lumens output. Use a 21700 with 5000 mAh (like Samsung 50G) and it will give long regulated runtimes.
It would be easy to fit to a rifle.
You could alternatively do an SST40 Astrolux FT03 with 21700 or the SFT40-W version as well.
Thanks, but as I’ve found out, L21A and any of it’s derivatives or relatives or anything smaller (L21B, M21A, FT03) are not a viable option. Anything running hot like 8 amps with only 5000mAh just isn’t enough, the D01 is only running ~4 amps and has 10200 mAh capacity
Instead of buying a new light - taking one or two extra batteries with you is not an option?
We’re talking about maybe 10 seconds of time per change vs. spending money for a new light.
But buying a new torch is more exciting than buying more batteries!
Yes that solves the runtime issue but doesn’t solve the heat issue. A bigger torch is generally going to handle the heat from a hotrod single emitter better than a smaller torch.
I will look into that Sofirn, thanks
What is a reasonable beam profile for scanning large fields? I just purchased the 4x18a with an SBT90.2 emitter. It has just shipped so I can’t leave an impression, but it is supposed to have some serious throw. Alternately, the 3x21a is available with SST40 and SFT40 emitters, this may be exactly what you are after?
I don’t have mine yet, but judging from the reviews, it maintains high output for extended periods of time. Everything is a compromise in the end, but it seems to be very well regulated and have sufficient thermal mass for the emitter.