I use it for general stuff but I’m looking for something to throw a beam further than that, I don’t mind buying separate parts and assembling them although I would prefer not to deal with any electronics like soldering.
With that said, could anyone link me to a list of parts or even just a flashlight, ideally 18650 and single mode that will throw a beam much further than my current flashlight for around 20 dollar?
Welcome to BLF… hmm… thrower less than $20? I can only think of 1 light… Tangsfire C8 from Tmart that should fit the bill.
As other lights mentioned above is over $20 … now I wonder if Tmart ship free to UK?
:~
And the rest… I don’t think that a charging Port and a side switch are better than no charging Port and a Clicky.
Harder to mod [either you buy a side-switch driver (where there are not much) and have one empty hole or you have 2 empty holes in you flashlight].
And it looks cheap.
15$ For a XR-E Flashlight? Come on…
I can get a Convoy with 800Lm for that price.
Oops, I’ll have to find a different link. Didn’t notice it had the charging port and side switch. That’s a change from the original. As for it being an XR-E, I bet you it’ll out throw most all unmodified C8’s. I’ve had a Convoy and the Jacob would out throw it all day every day. I actually own no C8’s now. Lumens don’t dictate throw. That’s why XP-G2’s and XP-E2’s can throw further than most XM-L2’s
I don’t have the Jacob A60 - but 40 other lights, most with XM-L/2.
I have the Courui with a XM-L2@4.5A, the Yezl Y3 (stock) and a few other throwers (I like flooders more), I don’t think that a XR-E light would f*ck the Courui up
And I don’t whink that OP would be happy about a light only half as bright as his current one
BUT, the Courui is not stock. It appears the OP is looking for a stock light as he doesn’t want to solder. True, the A60 is a pencil beam, but one that is an awesome performer. I have multiple that I have modded for hunting. Most of my lights are XR-E, XP-G2, and XP-E2 with just a few XM-L2’s that have all been dedomed for throw. The link you posted, the XP-E2 still out threw the XP-G2, just not by much. The advantage of the XP-G2 is you can push it harder than the XP-E2, and in a modded light pushed hard the XP-G2 wins.
Here is a thread comparing the led’s in a C8. In a smaller reflector light like the C8, the XP-G2 wins. Lux over Lumen!
Back to the A60, there are several mentions in this thread of the A60 out throwing the Y3. The OP asked for a thrower. I mentioned one. Yes it has a pencil beam, but its a cheap thrower and one of the better ones even with a 2-3 generation old LED.
a thrower throws a beam the furthest. some have usable spill, some don’t, but the point is to throw the furthest. a flood has the less throw but the most spill. I’d put a C8 in the middle. It’s got OK flood and OK distance. It does neither the best, but it’s a good all around light.
A C8 with an XM-L (dome on) is much more of a mid range at best IMO. It has pretty good beam distance and pretty good spill beam. But won’t be excelling at either. This makes it a highly usable light and very flexible in which situations you might want to use it in. But a thrower it isn’t.
An XP-G C8 or de-domed XM-L2 still isn’t really a thrower, but would have a more thrower like beam profile.
As an example, the Small Sun ZY-T13 has a much bigger reflector than a C8 and with the same emitter/drive current will throw a beam further with a more tightly focused hot spot. i.e. a C8 won’t be throwing as far as the Small Sun in this shot.
Yet a mere 180 led lumens (much lower OTF) XP-E in a similar sized reflector easily out throws it.
And even more so with an aspheric lens:
Throw typically requires a large reflector.
The Jacob A60 is so good in stock form, because it’s reflector is actually quite a bit larger than a C8’s and the XR-E is so tiny it creates a very intense focused beam.
Go up a size from a C8 and bump the current a lot and XM-L2’s throw quite well.
This is an Olight SR52 with an XM-L2 pulling 4+ amps. Large reflector, think Olight rate it as 84,000 lux
Compared to my XP-G2 C8 @ 3amps.
And something C8 sized with an XM-L
The XP-G2 C8 does ok to be fair and is almost pocketable. But as you can see an XM-L in a C8 size reflector is looking more like flood than throw. Even if you bumped up the amp draw it wouldn’t change it’s beam profile. De-doming it would make a difference for sure however.
Olight sell a de-domed M2X Javelot. Basically an SR52 sized reflector with a de-dome XM-L2. They rate it at 168,000 lux. This is a real thrower and IMO the SR52 is probably only entry level and still has a massively bright spill beam.
