Looking for some decent 18650 cells. Was going to get the 2400 mah trustfire from dx.com but that seems to be unwise. Where should I get them from manafont.com?
Welcome to the forum frankslan. Now for your first piece of good advice: forget about UltraFire batteries. They’re shit, no matter where you buy them from.
EDIT: Let me qualify that for your own education. Go here: Battery test-review 18650 comparator
Select the UltraFire cells listed, and compare them to all the other cells.
In a nutshell, UltraFire cells have overstated capacities, but perhaps more importantly, they exhibit significant voltage sag under load. This means your high powered XM-L lights will be less bright. That’s just sacrilegious!
Thanks for linking that cool chart. I have done a bit of research and it looks like the trustfires flames aren’t that bad. I’m looking to get about 20 batteries so price is an issue. I was just wondering where I can get the best trustfires for cheap but not the fakes. . . If there is another brand that is better that is similarly priced let me know.
edit: changed ultrafire to trustfire
Anyone order them from tmart?
i got them from manafont
If you go for TrustFire flames, stay away from the 2400mAh cells. Get the 3000mAh cells. The ones HKJ reviewed (HKJ is the person who put together the battery comparator I linked to) were purchased from Manafont.
They’re cheaper at DX (especially with bulk-rate discount), but I have no idea if they are selling the genuine ones. Probably a good idea to wait for some other people to chime in.
Hkequipment sells genuine Trustfires, got a pair of 26650:s from them two weeks ago.
Price is a little higher, but you always get what you order… 
Great company to deal with!
Ric at FancyFlashlights sell the trustfire flame 3000mah genuine for a good price
http://www.fancyflashlights.com/goods.php?id=482
Regards
Dude, original TF2400 is the one having consistent performance. The 3000mAh has been tested to give 2300-2600 mAh, but performance drops quickly over time.
As for TF2400, DX sold fake before under same sku (early 2012) but I believe they have "severely punished" the responsible parties. 
Latest batch seem to get good reports, I think it should be safe to buy there now. Cheapest at around $9.40 with free battery case.
Manafont has always sold original, but about cost over $1.40 more ($10.80) and does not include battery case. Instead, they throw in free No-aftersale-service package for free. Good luck if you lose your stuff in the mail.
Dinodirect sells "Rechaigealle Balleiys" that clock in around estimated 100mAh and no protection circuit for not much cheaper than above. And seem to happily continue to do so. Highly recommended (NOT!!!).
That’s some pretty shocking sag under load for the 2400’s. Perhaps HKJ just got a bad sample? If it’s typical, consistent or not, I wouldn’t waste my time with them.
If you check my 2011 test the 2400mAh TrustFire did good, bud for this test they where not very good.
From other people there has also been reports about the 3000mAh TrustFire, that you risk getting bad cells. I have got a new set of the 3000mAh batteries and plan to test them and if the result are significantly different from the above curve I will post the result.
Hope you get some that reflect actual conditions of the batteries. My TF 3000mAh (Manafont) after 6 months (not so heavy use), now can only maintain 3.2V under 1A discharge. Never abused or depleted, nor stored under heat, just normal use, and had about 20 or so charge cycles.
It was great when new, but not very durable from the looks of it.
okay so maybe I should go with another brand any other suggestions? I was looking at the tenergy but those are twice as much basically.
They might cost twice as much, but you can expect to get more than twice the performance or use out of them. My TF2400s (seem to be pretty decent) do give me a fairly consistent 2000-2200mA (to near cutoff) however their internal resistance were pretty high to start off, and have not really changed much since then (i.e. consistent), but its certainly too high to properly drive my TN30 to full output.
(high resistance seems to be fairly normal for such cells, as I’m comparing to Radio control use lipos that will happily give 50C discharge, so my 2000mA pack gives 100A rate while maintaining a happy voltage)
Where I can I find genuine trustfire flame protected 14500s? I got my last pair from Manafont, but all I see there now is unprotected.
I've consistently received genuine Trustfire cells from Manafont:
Protected 14500s here:
what about 14500? I only see unprotected there now unless I’m missing them. Thats where I have gotten them in the past along with my 18650s.
Nevermind, found and ordered on Manafont
Sanyo UR18650FM 2600 Keeppower Protected Thinking about getting them from KumaBear. about the same price as the flames and fast shipping.
The TF Flames at Tmart seem to be the real McCoy but only ship from their Chinese warehouse. I am working with Louis Huang to have them available form the US warehouse. It'd be real nice to have them available from the States. Getting my stuff in 5 days or less puts those vendors at the top of my lists.