What’s the best bang for buck li-ion batteries sold in the USA? Specifically, protected 18650. Don’t bother with TrustFire, UltraFire and the like. I’d prefer to stay under $10/each.
I’ve only purchased 18650/26650 from overseas but I’d like to establish some local vendors for when I don’t care to wait long, which is most times 
I believe kumabear on these forums is highly recommended. I’m from canada so I haven’t ordered from him.
Yup member kumabear is the person you should email, there is also Shane at protacticalshop (member and on Ebay) who also has good prices and ships from USA
Good call. I haven’t emailed Shane in a while for any good deals. I totally spaced
On a side note, I noticed he’s one of a hand full of sellers right now who has the XTAR VP1 charger in stock. Just a few though. All the other familiar names seem to be sold out. I guess XTAR wasn’t able to ship much for the first batch.
Kumabear (Bob) - good prices, fast shipping - well protected packages. There is an entire thread for his services/pricing.
Knows his stuff, answers lots of questions, doesn’t try to oversell.
Lots of other reputable sellers too…(me too, no more could be fake batteries for me). I bought lots from Lighthound too, as they are a big SF dealer in TX, first class service.
Latest threads on Kumabear indicate he seems to be AWOL for ten days or so at a time. Guess he’s busy. His batteries are excellent though. First rate stuff.
Yeah I was viewing his threads and noticed he hasn’t signed on in a while. I don’t mind purchasing from him for personal use but it’s nice to have a reliable vendor when you’re on a time schedule (buying for others) and Shane sells through ebay.