I found myself mostly nodding in agreement all the way down.
With respect to batteries, there was a thread recently about BIC batteries being crap. I’ve bought from AW, Xtar directly and hkequipment.net. I have tried to stick with name brands in the hope that I don’t get done like this: Ultrafire fakes, opened up and refunded ! (see post #39 especially for a laugh/cry).
If you’re riding off road, you might consider a helmet-mounted light. The folks over in the MTBR.com diy lights forum are super helpful.
Batteries from an Aussie seller on ebay - I’ve bought a bunch of protected 3100mAh 18650s and a charger from this guy : http://stores.ebay.com.au/supersports600
quick delivery and appears to be an excellent quality product. ( better than my xxxxfire cells ).
Also got a good Ultrafire C8 from this guy : Security measure
but the int-outdoor.com sourced XinTD V3 C8 with C3 emitter is way better because of the tint, and as good as they get imho. (without modding) Reasonable delivery time from memory.
I’ve also bought stuff from manafont and have had no problems, and even the ebay HK C8 clones with XM-Ls are OK for around $10-$15. Just make sure there’s a picture of the LED in the listing and the store doesn’t sell mostly crap. I got a Q5 instead of a T6 once.
They’re easy to distinguish - the XM-L T6 has two metal corners : LED close-ups.
Thanks for the heads-up Suncoaster. I’m in need of batts and this seems a good bet, as I’m in Brisbane.
Fields, I’m about to get a couple of UF2100’s to try on the bike. Have been using 2 Ultrafire C3’s with 14500 batts on the road bike for a couple of years. Bit of foam and an o-ring to clamp on bars.
Now I want something brighter for the cagers of Brisbane and the 2100’s aren’t much bigger than the C3’s
UF2100 is a well made light ! I would have Erik also known as E1320 put 2 new pills E-Tomic 7135 3.5 amp and you will have around 1800 lumens in front of your bike !
You go away for a few hours and there is a lot to read,
I’m in Brisbane everyone too, nice to know there are BLFers everywhere,
I ride a roadie, mostly on a trainer but are getting out more and more and for longer and longer and don’t like some roads with no light and also being less than visible to motorists
OK so the gist is that if it looks ok then go for it in terms of torches and then make sure I get what I paid for
I like the look of the international outdoors c8, that site previously would not open for me
Would you guys recommend buying as much from one store or from multiple?
What’s the best place to buy solar force from?
I did not know that E120 sent overseas, I guess I’ll have to PM Him
Does anyone have a link to the aliexpress drop in?
Batteries and chargers will be my next challenge, balancing budgets vs quality vs safety
Do yourself a favor and buy the Jacob A60 from Deal Xtreme. The Small Sun C10 is another winner for the price. $15 for either of these lights shipped is hard to beat for the money for what you get.
Concerning the TwoFish (TwoFake) knockoffs: I bought some from DX (one and only order) and CN Quality Goods this Spring. Both work about as well as the original. DX took exactly 31 days. CNQG usually take about 3 weeks for regular mail. If you go for air/tracking and include some of these in a larger order, 10-12 days, but I'm in U.S.
CNQG has a sister site called fancyflashlights.com Mostly the same look and selection, prices are different with shipping included. Sometimes you can find a mis-match and get a great deal. FF seems to be better for single item purchases, CNQG better for multiple item purchases with the shipping spread around. Run by Ric-CN, a member here on BLF.
I have a few Solarforce lights, the L2, L2m, L2i and L2p are all good, I really like the l2p for look and feel (quality) and wish I had bought that first and may not have bought the others and some other cheapies if spent the dollars in the first place. http://www.solarforceflashlight-sales.com/product_detail.php?t=FB&s=7&id=432
Batteries - The Sanyo Xtar 2600 are good and protected and I normally set my friends and family up with those, Most of my gear now has drivers that alert on low voltage so I am using unprotected Panasonics, there is not too much in it as far as performance goes but I want to know I am getting the most out of my setup.
Compare:
65mm Ultrafire Blue “2400 mAh” claimed on wrapper. cough
64mm Ultrafire Red “3000 mAh” claimed on wrapper. LOL
68mm Ultrafire Black “4000 mAh” claimed on wrapper. ROTFL
Some say the extra length may cause problems with some lights,
but they work in all my C8 sized torches, my E1320 modded Ultrafire UF2100, an Ultrafire C303, and my Sipik SK73 lights.
Assuming that all above is OK, i’m now looking at batteries,
I’m getting confused what will fit and not fit, I’ll need at least 1x10440 1x14500 2x18650
Now I’m not sure what batteries will fit and what won’t fit
I’m sure there are great but expensive batteries and i’m sure there are gambles the cheaper you go,
What I can’t work out is that if you go cheap and you don’t get the MAh that’s advertised will they still pull the appropriate current - but require replacing more frequently?
I think your list looks pretty good. Suggestions on batteries, but I think you'll get some good Aussie suggestions that would trump mine, as I'm in the States:
Solarforce has a new 2600mAh 18650. I would recommend you get 4 so you have 1+ spare for each torch. You can combine this with your order and save on shipping. Alternatively, they offer a 2400mAh that will save a few $$$. These are both good quality cells, not fakes.
I do not agree with your selection of charger + cells off ebay. The cells are complete crap and no telling what's under the wrapper. I don't have that charger, so I can't comment on it, but while you're at the Solarforce site, check out their charger/battery combos. This is probably the best deal - Looks like the same charger from ebay rebadged to Solarforce + 4 2600mAh cells referenced above. Combining the SF charger with cells will be like getting the charger for an additional $7.50 (US).
This will get you started. I usually use eneloops for my AA and AAA needs. I do have a few 14500s, but those were bought domestically and I only use them in a couple of lights, so hopefully someone else can reco a good source for 10440/14500. Just be careful of buying batteries off ebay - too many fakes unless you get a vendor recommended by someone. If someone recommends based on the best price, it's usually too good to be true in my experience.