Hi everyone.
I just recently ordered a Astrolux S1 and intend on carrying it with the short tube. I don’t know anything about 18350 batteries and i’ve read the back messages, but I was wondering if anyone would weigh in with fresh thoughts about type of battery and where is good to buy from. From what i’ve read i’ve been thinking about getting a 18350 Keeppower P1835C2 1200mAh Protected Button Top from ILLUMN.com, but i’d appreciate any wisdom.
Thanks so much!
The Keeppower from Illumn sounds like wisdom to me. 
The same (or almost the same) battery with different wrap is the Vappower 18350 and the Aspire 18350 (out of production but might be for sale still). All other 18350 batteries out there with lower capacity are outdated, not only lower capacity but also lower current-capability.
Have fun with the S1 and welcome to BLF!
I was going to recommend Vapcell, but it seems to be sold out everywhere I looked…
Thanks. Over the holidays I got a Thorfire TG06 for $12 while researching flashlights for my wife (I went with a Olight S1A for her) and then I fell deep into the BLF rabbit hole. Now i’m late night ordering lights from all over the place. I’ve got to stop. I’m hoping the Astrolux S1 features and size can be my new EDC. Though I think i’m falling hard for 14500 lights, but I haven’t been able to find one with a good moonlight mode other than the S1A, which is too floody for my taste.
Welcome to BLF!!!
And good luck climbing out of that “BLF rabbit hole”. . 
I think several of us are still looking for the way out…… :person_facepalming: . 
I don’t know how low of a moonlight mode you need but, the Reylight Pineapple AA has a great sub lumen low. A bit pricey for a AA/14500 light but very well built and beautiful in brass. The Ultratac A1 with a NiMh or Alky in it has a fairly good low but too bright on 14500. Any ZebraLight has awesome sub lumen lows. Expensive as well compared to other AA/14500 lights. If you can find a discontinued Thrunite T10 it has a really good low as well.
I don’t have a S1 anymore but did for a while. I don’t even have any 18350 lights anymore. I have a abundance of 18350’s that I don’t use. I can send ya a few purple Efest high drain 700mah flat tops if you want to just pay for the shipping. Close to $4 or so I think it will cost. PM me if you want a few.
I kinda appreciate the .5 to 5 lumen range, but I also like the 14500 battery ability to yield 500ish lumen. I’ll look at the other lights you mention. My first daily carry light was the Thrunite Mini TN30 (2016) I used it for two years as a carpenter. It was a huge save in crawlspaces and attics. I eventually went on to an Olight s30r, when I made it back into an office and I think it would have stopped there, but I found myself shopping for a light for my daugther which is how I found the Olight S1A, first for my daughter and then again for my wife.
What did you think of the S1? How did you like the the 18350 spec? What is your new carry light? Thanks for the offer, I sent you a PM.
I like the S1, the brightness was great even with the 18350, it just suffers in the run time department. Very compact and nice if you know you won’t need the brightest levels for extended periods of time.
Now days I carry either a ZebraLight SC64w or SC52w, Emisar D4, FourSevens Mini MKII, Olight S1A in copper, and a Reylight AA. Those are my go to’s for the most part. I keep a Nitecore TIP on my keyring so even if I forget to grab one of the above I still have one if needed. The perfect light for one person is so subjective to their needs and likes. It is becoming increasingly difficult to recommend a light. There are so many great choices in tint, beams, and UI’s. Try out as many as you can until you find your perfect one. I like the pure simplicity of a 3 mode light with well hidden blinky modes. Others swoon over ramping UI’s. Others still prefer a single mode light.
The great thing is there are so many great lights out there. LED’s have come such a long way. I’m sure you will find your perfect one and still have 30 or 40 of them around the house or sitting on a shelf. I love when the weather gets nice so I can head outside with a pocket full of lights to play with for a while.
A protected battery might not suit the S1. It has a mosfet driver capable of drawing high current on high mode.
The protection circuit of the battery will add resistance. This will limit the highest light output vs. an unprotecthted battery.
Also. I can’t say for certain but a protected battery might not even work in the S1. I have Mosfet driven lights that don’t work with my protected batteries. I dont own an S1. Maybe someone else can comment.
The light will have low voltage protection in the driver. A protected battery is unnecessary/redundant.
Just my $.02. There is a chance a protected battery is just fine.
By too floody, do you mean you’d like decent throw and a decent moonlight mode? There is a BLF 14500 thrower, BLF X5 XPL-HI 1400LM. For its size it throws like crazy and does good moonlight too. Banggood still stock them at around $25. Absolute mini powerhouse of a light.
The Manker Quinlan T01 v2 is another tiny thrower, not such a good moonlight IIRC, I sold it a while back.
the free Efest from toddcshoe are Great!
here is an S1 review that has an Efest runtime test on the S1
I just bought the 1200 mAh Keepower 18350 from illumn, yesterday.
Ive been running 650 mAh 16340 Protected ICR cells until now.
unrelated to 18350, I took a photo of one of their display cases…
afaik There is no Protection Circuit built into the S1, and the IMR batteries are UnProtected.
So I wont have the safety net of overdischarge protection, but,
I check my batteries on a voltmeter every few days
In my limited EDC use pattern, the 650 mAh battery goes below 3.7v (half empty) in about 4 days,
so Im expecting the 1200 mAh IMR (Keepower) will last about a week… we shall see
Im a little nervous about flying without a seatbelt (Protection Circuit)
otoh, I think its cool that the new 1200 mAh battery has almost double the capacity of the 650 mAh 16340 I had been using.
and I also think its cool that you just inherited some 700 mAh IMRs (Efest)
Congrats on your new light!