LUX COMPARISON now added to OP! :)
Ill see when I get around to post the beam shots (not today)
Glad you found it interesting.
Your Maglite, and the "retard light" does not have AR lens. The others came with AR lens from the factory.
Did some double checking once again on the Maglite. Im seeing 8,8A at the emitter (with freshly charged cells). Seing 8,9-9 A at the tail. Tried replacing tail with wire, same output, but there might be a little bit resistance in the tail.
Like the retard light, its highly dependent on having freshly charged high discharge cells in order to reach peak output. Due to the extreme heat, and also voltage sag, output will be dropping quickly.
Not sure what others would think, but having it regulated to... say 6A and with room for protected 26650 cells would make more sense to me. That is still a lot of light, and most cells will "fairly quickly" be down there anyway. You will also get less sag due to heat, and difference in output will not be that much. In some lights, I would not mind the more extreme currents, but those have larger heads with cooling. On a Maglite most of the heat will be in the "body", and the area that heats up quickly (above the switch)is not that large. When that is said, its not that important. The user can program high to be whatever he wants, and then he can ramp further up if he wants even more output.