Most of this is pretty simple. If my videos weren't terrible I'd make one. If you want crazy bright, the highest output on short of very expensive custom ones, is the Manafont XM-L T6 dropin.
The plain glass lenses that come with the hosts tend not to be all that great, the coated ones reduce losses and are a cheap upgrade at 2-3 dollars. Comparing a new one of these to an old (and probably dirty) plain glass lens made an enormous difference. Just giving the lens (Actually its only function is to keep things off the LED and make the light water resistant, it is actually more of a "window" than a "lens") a good clean (Take it out and wash it in hot water with whatever you use to wash dishes) will let more light through. Swapping the glass is usually just a matter of unscrewing the bezel and popping it out to clean it. Here are the numbers for a coated lens against an (admittedly dirty) plain glass one. The "Lens" numbers are with coated glass. My throwiest light is an XR-E Q5 with an enormous reflector (65mm deep, 45mm wide at the top) which has a throw value nearly 100% better than this XM-L module. You'd probably need a wider and deeper reflector to get the crazy throw out of an XM-L
Light | Battery |
Ultrafire XM-L T6 P60 dropin High | 18650 |
Ultrafire XM-L T6 P60 dropin High Lens | 18650 |
Ultrafire XM-L T6 P60 dropin Low | 18650 |
Ultrafire XM-L T6 P60 dropin Low Lens | 18650 |
Ultrafire XM-L T6 P60 dropin Med | 18650 |
Ultrafire XM-L T6 P60 dropin Med Lens | 18650 |
You can't go far wrong with any of the Solarforce dropins.
With the constraints of size, and that most reflectors are designed round the Cree XR-E, the XR-E series of LEDs still tend to throw farther. If you look at my 40 metre beamshots, ignore the edges and take a look at the target branch you can see that lights with a sixth of the sheer output of the XM-L (or a tenth of the Varapower) can still light up the target. Next time I'm looking for a 50-100 metre target. The actual are of the LED that is emitting light is very much larger in the XM-L than with the XR-E. Some XP-E modules throw very well too, though my memory can't recall any more at the moment.
Here is a chunk of my light measurements spreadsheet. The two best throwers (neither of them are P60) both use XR-E Q5 (or it might be R2 - there is no way of telling without lab-grade equipment). the Manafont dropin above is by far the best-throwing P60 module just by virtue of its enormous output.
Light | Battery |
Solarforce L2m DX R5 dropin High | 2 18650 |
Solarforce L2m Solarforce HV R5 dropin | 2 18650 |
Lumapower MRV SE Low | 18650 |
EastwardYJ J06 Medium | 18650 |
Solarforce L2i R2 low voltage dropin | 18650 |
Ultrafire XM-L T6 P60 dropin High | 18650 |
Ultrafire XM-L T6 P60 dropin High Lens | 18650 |
Varapower prototype | 4C NiMH |
EastwardYJ J06 High | 18650 |
Lumahunter MRV SE High | 18650 |
RQ Spear Clone High | 18650 |