Hi, I’m not a knowledgeable flashlight guy. I know what I like for what application and that’s about it. I don’t know all the flashlight lingo.
I have several Ultrafire flashlights, but what I am looking for is a possibly brighter, good throwing LED screw in replacement for my C8. It says it is a Q5 on the side and it’s pretty good, but I am going to use it for night time varmint/predator hunting and just thought there might be better/brighter LEDs for it now. It might be better to just buy a new light, but I just don’t know all the differences in the flashlight market nowdays and I don’t want to spend a lot of money on a fancy varmint rig. I have a remote switch and scope mount for my C8 already. I also don’t really know where the best place to purchase a replacement LED is. I’ve just bought most of what I needed on ebay.
Thanks for any help and if I missed a post covering this already I apologize, I’ve been all over Google’s world researching this and I’m just tired of looking.
Sorry, I do not believe there are any screw in’s for the C8 you have. If you want a little brighter they do make that particular light in XML or XM-L, the latter being slightly brighter. And will be at least 3 times brighter than the Q5 emitter. If you have soldering skills you could begin reading up on replacing the Q5 emitter and driver for an XML/XM-L2 setup.
Yes, that is one of the nice features of the C8 that everyone really likes. Usable spill with a very good amount of throw. Oh, since you were talking about screw in or drop in units, there are also flashlights like the Ultrafire 501b, 502b just to name a couple. Those have drop-in modules that can be used in any of those types of hosts.
Welcome to BLF btw! This is a fantastic website with tons of friendly people to help and work with.
Something like this drop-in might fit but it’s a gamble because Ultrafire branded lights are made by several different manufacturers and the threads might not match.
You can order one of the XP-L HI models, and that will give you much MORE light, and it will be very throwy, BUT:
Depending on the emitter in your flashlight, if it’s a true Cree Q5, you have one of the better long-range narrow-beam thrower emitters out there. Your light should have a narrow beam with long throw and a very small hotspot. If you like this beam profile, other emitters will likely give you a wider hotspot with more spill than you are used to. The C8 is a very good light with an XM-L2 style emitter, but is an entirely different type of light with the XR-E/XP-E/E2 style emitters.
My C8 does have a very narrow beam, it’s why I like it so much. Can I get a C8 with those last style emitters you mentioned or do you have to mod them yourself?
Is there possibly another flashlight, not too expensive, I could get that would have the same diameter tube to fit in my scope mount but be a better/brighter focused beam? I know, lots of questions. Oh, I prefer a single mode for this type of use.
Thank you all for the help and the welcomes. Any additional knowledge sent my way will be greatly appreciated?
Unfortunately, I don’t know enough about your light to tell, but a newer gen emitter still has a hard time out-throwing an old XR-E emitter. I recently built a light using a hard-driven XP-E2 emitter and compared it to the same model light using a gently-driven but dated XR-E emitter (possibly similar to yours) and the throw seemed to be almost comparable.
If you want better throw with an EXTREMELY tight beam angle, you might wish to consider one of the higher-powered zoomie lights. For a budget option:
…Buy this host, get Richard to build it with a 2A driver, CW XP-E2 or XP-E2 Torch emitter, and you would have a long-range VERY narrow beam thrower. Or, install a 3A or higher Qlite driver and an XP-G2 or XP-L HI emitter for a wider beam with a bit less throw.