Hey Guys! I'm Brand New to This Forum and I want a Major Thrower!

How’s it going guys? I’m brand new here and I’m looking to begin my collection with a major thrower. I have read this forum way too much and I’m ready to just get my first flashlight purchase over with so I can get started. I’m not the type of guy to start small. That said, I’m also not a sucker who will spend a bunch of money when it isn’t necessary, I understand the law of diminishing returns, and that’s why I’m here. Not to mention, I’m a school teacher who needs to invest his limited income wisely. I just ordered the Fandyfire Stl-v6 (since it costs less than the Skyray twin), some protected sanyo 2600 batteries (since they cost less than the xtars), and the double xtar charger for my dad’s birthday present. That seemed to be about the best possible value for a present. He’s a farmer and is crazy about flashlights. Anyway, I’m considering starting with the same combo, but don’t want to become upset about a better decent value thrower existing at the time of my purchase. In order to cut to the chase & save money in the long-run, I see the Thrunite TN31 as the best option. However, the multiple mentions of quality control make me wonder if the Supbeam K40 is a better idea, given the closeness in performance. I refuse to spend $200 on a flashlight, as this makes me feel like I’ve handed my money to a smiley faced guy who doesn’t need it, while receiving a marginal advantage over a much less expensive alternative. What do you guys think? Should I just go with the Fandyfire and call it a day or will it upset me and make me want to get something bigger? Will I be ok with the TN31? I think I’m smart enough to fix it, if the quality control issues are minimal enough (I used to work at RadioShack). My overall goal is to get six main lights. I want a massive thrower (that’s what this post is about), a very bright flood light (probably the skyray king or fandyfire equivalent), a very small pocket light (probably the UltraFire V6-T60), and a medium sized light that acts like a massive light (either the KE5 or the trustifire X9 (Yes, I know to get Panasonic batteries for the single 18650 lights)). Then I’ll probably get the TK35 clone, and the Nitecore EA4 just because they’re both awesome. I’m a guy with too many hobbies (custom cars, home theater, pro audio, wrist watches, cigars, and folding knives) who can’t afford to spend more than necessary on any one hobby, but refuses to take a shortcut on one any one of those hobbies. For this month, I’m getting a thrower and I appreciate your help that has given me the amount knowledge I am lucky enough to already have. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks everyone :slight_smile:

HD2010, good thrower, easy on the wallet!!

I’ve got a nice enough collection of lights and own a tn31 (terminator, tk75, 75w hid etc etc). I wouldn’t buy one if you have the option for a tk75. If you get the tk75 you will have all the throw and flood you will need.

The tn31 will beat the tk75 in throw but it is much nicer to throw and light up an area for use in my mind.

If you got the tk75 you’d cross off two options too as you definitely wouldn’t need a sky ray king etc.

Oh wow, I expected to only confirm what I thought I already knew! These first posts, received within minutes, have already started to open my mind toward a much more glorious direction! All I can say, within these few minutes, is thanks!

Welcome to BLF!

First decide how much throw distance you approximately need. Then figure out the cheapest light that will fulfill your requirements.

"Throw / price"-ratio is not so straightforward as you would think at first. See attached graph:

And here's the data behind the graph:

Fandyfire STL-V6 is still a great thrower for the price. If you dedome it, you'll get about twice the lux.. Nearly TN31 throw with only fraction of the price.

..but you really want to have also TK75 (or BTU Shocker)

:)

Last time I really researched this hard, I arrived at the TK70 and realized that I was getting a bit carried away. Then, I went back down to the Stl lights, calling that a reasonable compromise. Put in the real-world, however, maybe the TK75 is really the best option to avoid future purchases and also avoid the whole concept of diminishing returns.

I just received my first Sipik 68, ever.
I have to say it’s insanely impressive for a $6 torch! I put a fully charged 14500 in it and was blown away!!!
I bought this light for the missus to keep in her handbag (because the TF Z8 turned out to be a big, heavy dud) and now I want to keep it!!! Bugger it, I feel like ordering half a dozen of them for myself!!!

Anyone that doesn’t own a Sipik 68 (and I’m sure most of you do by now) go out and get one asap!!!

this

also jacob a60… even cheaper and a good thrower

What about a Capt. or Lt. ? There are all kinds of throwers out there. They range from $15 up. The real question? How much money do you wanna throw @ a light.

Hi JD, welcome to BLF! Apart from throw distance, you should consider how narrow you want the beam to be. If you like pencil-thin beam reflector-based throwers, an extreme example is the Peakbeams Maxabeam which throws 12million cd up to 3.2km with a very narrow beam almost ala laser for$2.4k. For the Thrunite, you may want to check out the OSTS TN31mb (monster blaster) which gives almost 3 times the lux (half a million cd) til 1.3km for $295. A more affordable one is the Solarforce Masterpiece Pro1 for $61.99. Another favourite are the throwers which use aspheric optics lenses to ‘collimate’ the lumens into a square spot like the Dereelight Nightmaster V2 XR-E EZ900 for $98. An extreme example of an aspheric thrower is the OMG DEFT-X throwing 2km with 900,000cd for $695.

I would either get the TK75 or the Supbeam K40 XM-L2.

Welcome to BLF! Watch out with the HD2010. It's a great light, but lately many have come way underdriven. You also have to watch out for the reflector shorting across the emitter wires. And a good 26650 in the light may be too much for the direct drive driver. Great light after modding though.

How about the Home Depot Defiant 3C Super Thrower? $23 and a crazy thrower on alkalines available locally.

The Jacob A60 is almost a "must buy" at only around $14.

-Garry

I was just going to suggest the Defiant Super Thrower from homedepot ^

For $23, you cant really beat it I don’t think. Specially if your looking for something on a budget (isn’t that why were all here at BLF?)
Its a great maglight sized light, takes C batteries (can be sort of a downside, or an upside, depends on personal preference), and looks to be built better than most of the other china lights(the switch being the only cheapy looking part of it.)

If we all did that!! We wouldnt be able to put forth our personal preferences & show case the insane amount of money we spend on lights!! Not to mention the invariable pissing match that will result from someone disagreeing… LMAO :bigsmile:

I wouldn't buy the same thing twice ..that's usually done out of fear ....There isn't anything to be afraid of when buying something like a hd2010 it's a lot of throwand very inexpensive for what it is .. Same with a sky ray king .. tons of flood .

Somehow thinking you need to buy a 100~150$ + light is somewhat disturbing to me ..

It sounds like you're playing it WAY too safe and trying to buy a perfect light .That's one reason people think they need to overspend .Either that or they just want bragging rights .But I don't know who they are bragging to, since anyone I know who ever heard I spent over 100$ on a flashlight would think I'm the stupidest person on the planet .So the only people you could brag to would be us ...And we won't really be impressed :P

I'd get the fandyfire and play with it for a while first .

one word ...fasttech

Hello Again Guys,

I appreciate all of your warm welcomes and great advice. I know whatever I get will destroy what I have, in terms of performance. Currently, I have an enercell light from RadioShack & the Brinmkann Armormax Tactical 3c from Tractor Supply. The Brinkmann does better than the Maglite LED & the RadioShack comes close. This started because I live by a state park with small dogs, I need to search for owls who may eat them, & if a guest or roommate ever accidentally lets one of the dogs out, search lights may help me stop racoons from eating them. Anyway, I went to Home Depot about a week ago & they don’t have the Defiant thrower. Ebay has it for about $50, which makes the 1,000 lumen Coast a better, more conventionally styled, light. Locally, the $50 500 Lumen Coleman from Walmart is about the best. It looks great, but doesn’t throw as far as my Brinkmann. At $50, after tax & some rechargeables, I should be looking online. I’m sort of thinking that the TK75 will make it very hard to be able to go bigger, which I will eventually try to do, knowing myself. Yes, I think this is too much to spend, but doing this instead of ordering two or three lights may be smart. I’ve seen the comparison between the Stl-v2 and K40; the K40 seems quite a bit better. Now, this TK75 will have close to that much throw, but with a massively wide beam. I can’t imagine how much light that will actually be, both long and far in one light. Although all of the lights discussed in this thread are amazing, I’m thinking this price difference might actually be worth it. I don’t mind spending it, as long as it actually is that much better. Given what I’m reading, it seems like the combined depth and width of this beam may actually produce something twice as intense as these other lights. If I’m wrong, please correct me because then it might not be worth the money. If this choice was irreversible, like a tattoo, I think I’d have to get the Olight SR90. However, I think that’s just stupid money for a flashlight. The next best thing without dropping that type of money seems to be this TK75. I’m thinking this TK75 might be the light to get even though its like 3 times too expensive, just because it seems like it will be really really awesome. What do you guys think? Will this produce something that is much more intense and altogether ridiculous, or am I getting carried away? I mean, after seeing this picture, its hard not to order it. http://www.myfenix.co.uk/media/catalog/product/cache/2/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/p/i/picture7_5_1.jpg

Just expensive…

jdecker just get an ebay HID 85watt flashlight. You will sell all those xm-l after u get one. The HID will make those tn31s and high end XMLs look like candles.

From someone that owns a SR90 - I say don’t get it. It’s an awesome light with great throw and power. And excellent quality. But it’s a little out dated. With lights light the TN31, BTU, and TK75 out, they are far better deals. Between my brother and I we have all of those lights. And while the SR90 has the slight edge on throw, all 3 of them (slight meaning 95k-126k vs 142k), in real life your talking 40-100m difference. And the TK75 and BTU comes that close while spanking the SR90 in actual lumens. Even the TN31 gives you 60-75% of the lumens depending on which versions. And then there is the obvious issue on its monstrosity size.
I actual de-domed my SR90 to give it a noticeable throw margin over the others. And even dedomed it only out throws the TN31 or BTU by 150m. I’m now in the process of getting a SBT-70 installed in it try to widen the gap more and to try to justify the much higher cost of the SR90.
Now don’t get me wrong about the SR90 - it’s still a beast of a light and I don’t regret buying it in the least. And when it came out, nothing but a TK70 even came close to it. But now there are better choices that offer similar performance for 1/2-1/3 the cost.
This is the way I see it -
Best thrower under $50 - A60 or Fandyfire
Best flooder and powerhouse under $50 - SRK
Best combo thrower/flooder under $50 - HD2010
Best throwers $100-$150 - K40, TN31
Best thrower/flooder $100-150 - TK75 & BTU
Other than a TN31mb, DeftX, SR95SUT, Polarion PH50 (&other highend HID’s) no other light on the market, regardless of price, will perform NOTICEABLY better then those lights I mentioned in the $100-150 range.

Hi jdecker, I’m sure being a school teacher doesn’t like to read long wall of texts and prefer some paragraphing. I find it difficult to read your posts. :party:

Anyway, welcome to BLF!

I would say HD2010… so far (pun intended) mine has been okay despite having some initial problems, with the reflector shorting the LED or something. It’s good for the money, but somehow I’m not very impressed by it.

If you have the money to spare just go for TN31. I have not bought one yet but it’s good given the reviews here.

And for an all-rounder, TK75 is one of the best flooder and thrower combined.