Hello everyone. I am new to this site and I have some questions. I am not upset or trying to put any other sites down, but I did fall into that "expensive flashlight trap" on another site and to be honest I am not happy. I am not a flashoholic, I simply want bang for the buck. I do not have a lot of money to just throw away in trying this and that. Now I have a few lights that I bought on Craigslist and I learned about them on another forum. They are good lights but not bright enough for what I want to do.
Now not knowing any better at the time I bought a modified Surefire 6P that was drilled for an 18650, has an upgrated tailcap switch and a 3 mode 493 lumen drop in. Well it all sounded great to me for $85, well i get it home and it is no brighter than my Quark 123X2 flashlight. Now I already have the 18650 body, so I am thinking that a bright drop-in is what I need....or do I?
I am legally blind (visually impaired) and I was born this way. I can see but I want a bright light for the total darkness of a farm. I have two 18650 cells and charger. The cells are UltraFire 3000MAH (the red ones). I want a floody type beam, wall of light....not a focused beam of light.
What should I look into on a budget? Should I look into another light all together or get a drop-in for what I already have? Thank you for the help.
Welcome to the forum, hope you like it here. You might consider using another 18650 battery. Those red "3000" mAh Ultra Fires have a pretty bad reputation.
Give this thread a little time and see how many people recommend that XML from Manafont. I have never had a P7 so I can’t say about the other one. You would probably get the manafont dropin faster.
E1320s recommendation for batteries is a good tip too.
A little cheaper than the Manafont package but you might wait a little longer.
I have both the Manafont and the DX drop in and they are both limited by the batteries you have on high. I get 3.5 amps which is around 800 lumens with both drop ins on high but I prefer the 3-modes I don't need 5.
I have never used either of the sites listed above. I only know about DX from that other forum and they said to always stay away from DX, but then again they tried to get me to buy a $200 flashlight. LOL :)
The Cree XM-L T6 (or U2 if you can find it) is insanely bright for the price. Also it is floody by design. Some will say that a Seoul P7 will be comparable, but I think the XM-L has the edge. I believe Luminus SST-90 will be brighter than the Cree, but the price is nowhere near comparable. An SST-90 can be had in P60 form for around $80, but as this is a budget forum, you won't see much info about that here.
I think you'd be pretty satisfied with the XM-L. Check the reviews for some beamshots with XM-L T6, keep in mind, most XM-L lights will have a larger projector than a P60 dropin:
Manafont definately processes and gets your order quicker than DX. So whenever I have a choice I order from Manafont. Even if DX has the same item for slightly less I still would go with Manafont :)
Manafont tests all of there lights before they ship DX doesn't. Manafont ships within a week, you never know with DX I have seen stuff ship the same day and I have had stuff sit for weeks before it ships. You can save a couple bucks using DX but it is risky, I would rather pay a couple bucks extra and get stuff in two weeks that works.
I have the 3-mode Manafont drop-in and it is very good. Sign up with an account first before ordering so that you can keep track of the order status and earn Manafont points that will get you a small discount on your next purchase.
I prefer Manafont over DX as well. The problem with the DX drop-in is I don’t know how hard they are driving the XM-L LED and we have lots of people here who have measured the Ultrafire drop-in at Manafont to be driven pretty hard.
I got one of the 3 mode xm-l and the emitter is off center, so the beam is somewhat crooked and just kinda not pleasant when combined with the shift in tint across the beam. I'm trying to find a OP reflector for it which should at least make it somewhat more bearable.
The $19.99 Solarforce Mini that comes with an installed XM-L is pretty floody (from Kai Domain), more so than my other XM-L's.
Downside is that you will have to buy rechargeable CR123's or a batch of expensive CR123's to keep it going. Upside is it slips into your pocket pretty easily.
And remember it's a Solarforce fake of inferior quality...
The Manafont Ultrafire 3-mode XML is probably the best option, as people have said already. Forget P7/SST-50/SST-90, they are never fully driven in the drop-ins you can buy (and just draws more current for less light than an XM-L).