Looking for a recommendation please

[snerkler]

After my recent purchase of the Astrolux EA01s I’ve got the bug and am looking for a flashlight that’s a little more ‘premium’. Budget is around £100/$100 I guess.

I’ve been looking at lights such as the Nitecore P20ix, Olight Seeker 2, and Fenix TK16 V2 but am open to recommendation. I prefer a flooder with nice even beam (although if I can get good reach too that’d be great). I prefer the ‘whiter’ lights.

Type of UI doesn’t bother me, but ideally I’d like a light that stays bright for a prolonged period of time rather than ramping down. I know for example the P20ix ramps down quickly but I believe that it’s still pretty bright?

Having a propriety battery doesn’t bother me. Size wise no bigger than these listed. With lights such as the Fenix can you remove the clip or is it a permanent fixture.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[zoulas]

Too many options. Consider Fenix. Pass on Olight. Don’t think spending more gets you more. Sofirn and Wurkkos made damn good lights.

[snerkler]

@zoulas

Too many options. Consider Fenix. Pass on Olight. Don’t think spending more gets you more. Sofirn and Wurkkos made damn good lights.

Thanks. I looked at the Sofirn IF25a but on a couple of reviews I saw I preferred the beam spread of the Nitecore P20ix. I also looked at the Wurkkos ts21 but I’m sure I read it ramps down to around 400 lumens IIRC.

[jon_slider]

@snerkler

ideally I’d like a light that stays bright for a prolonged period of time rather than ramping down
…
I also looked at the Wurkkos ts21 but I’m sure I read it ramps down to around 400 lumens IIRC.

that sounds normal

the sustainable output for an 18650 light is about 3-400 lumens

if you dont want a light to ramp down, dont use higher than sustainable outputs

you can get an idea of the sustainable output of a light by googling the name of the light plus the word “runtime”

eg:
.
pic is a link to the review

[snerkler]

@jon_slider

@snerkler

ideally I’d like a light that stays bright for a prolonged period of time rather than ramping down
…
I also looked at the Wurkkos ts21 but I’m sure I read it ramps down to around 400 lumens IIRC.

that sounds normal

the sustainable output for an 18650 light is about 3-400 lumens

if you dont want a light to ramp down, dont use higher than sustainable outputs

you can get an idea of the sustainable output of a light by googling the name of the light plus the word “runtime”

eg:
.
pic is a link to the review

Thanks. I appreciate these smaller lights are not going to hold very high brightness due to the temperatures but 400 lumens sounds low to me. The reason I say this is that when I first started looking at flashlights my comparison was this that I bought from Amazon years ago.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07KJ5G52H/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It claims 2500 lumens which it clearly isn’t as it runs off AAA batteries and it’s much less brighter than a friends Exposure Diablo which is a claimed 1800 lumen bicycle light. I was told it’s probably more likely to be around 400 lumens, and if so I don’t find this bright. For general use if I could get something that had a consistent runtime like the Exposure Diablo that would be fine. (The reason I’m not just buying the exposure diablo is down to cost)

If 400 lumen is average for an 18650 flashlight then the P20ix (which I appreciate is a 21700) sounds quite good at 850 lumens?

[Yokiamy]

If you are looking for flood, i’d recommend something with a quad carclo TIR optic.

[snerkler]

@Yokiamy

If you are looking for flood, i’d recommend something with a quad carclo TIR optic.

Thanks. I’ve no idea what that is (apart from the quad part) so will look into it :+1:

[toddcshoe]

Zebralight. SC64 and it’s bigger brother SC600 can easily sustain the 500 to 600 lumen range. Of course choice of emitter will change that a bit. Can’t really buy a more efficient light for the money. Damn well built as well. Haven’t bought a ZL in quite some time and I have heard that ZL is behind on production or not even making lights. I don’t know, I don’t keep up with it as much as I use to.

You will get tons of advice, take your time and decide what you can and cannot live without. $100 on a flashlight will sound like insanity to some, others, like us, get it.

[snerkler]

@toddcshoe

Zebralight. SC64 and it’s bigger brother SC600 can easily sustain the 500 to 600 lumen range. Of course choice of emitter will change that a bit. Can’t really buy a more efficient light for the money. Damn well built as well. Haven’t bought a ZL in quite some time and I have heard that ZL is behind on production or not even making lights. I don’t know, I don’t keep up with it as much as I use to.

You will get tons of advice, take your time and decide what you can and cannot live without. $100 on a flashlight will sound like insanity to some, others, like us, get it.

Thanks for the recommendation, however I would like something with a higher turbo if possible.

So far top of the list are the Nitecore P20ix and Fenix PD36 Tac, both appear to have a sustainable runtime of 700-800 lumens. As much as I thought I wanted a floody light the Fenix looks great in that it’s more of a throwy lens but has plenty of spill from what I can tall on youtube so could be the best of both worlds. However, the UI doesn’t look as good as the Nitecore as there’s no memory and no one click access to turbo.

[pennzy]

If sustained lumens are what you want look no further

Review: Convoy M3-C. Single 26650, USB-C, XHP70.2, 4300lm, 365m throw

This review was originally written for and appeared on 1lumen. Read the review there or on my site for all the images. This flashlight was sent to me for review at no cost by Convoy. I have not been paid to review, nor have I been holding back on problems or defects. [image] [image] Introduction Convoy is well known amongst flashlight enthusiasts. Especially for their low cost and easy to mod S2 and C8. Convoy also sells the hosts to many of these lights by themselves, so they’re well-l…

[snerkler]

@pennzy

If sustained lumens are what you want look no further
Review: Convoy M3-C. Single 26650, USB-C, XHP70.2, 4300lm, 365m throw

Thanks, I’ll take a look.

[toddcshoe]

That is a good one for sure. I don’t know why I was thinking the smallest. Now I have to rethink this whole thing.

[fogdart]

I just got one of these….
Zebralight SC700Fd 21700 XHP70.2 Floody 2910 Lumen Neutral White High CRI Flashlight

$119 from GP Knives

Just walked the dog with it. Outstanding floody light! Simple UI with programmable settings so you can set the ‘high’ at a level that won’t ramp so much or crank it up for a crazy bright floody beam. Mid and low settings are also programable so you can have a true firefly or something a bit brighter for low light needs. I’m extremely impressed with this light and highly recommend it!

[how_crazy_is_this]

@pennzy

If sustained lumens are what you want look no further
Review: Convoy M3-C. Single 26650, USB-C, XHP70.2, 4300lm, 365m throw

Somehow I missed that. I have been wondering how much mass it would take to dissipate the heat to accommodate something like that. Going to have to look into more. If I did the math right in my head that is a very good battery and an efficient driver. Winter jacket pocketable. Pretty amazing thing.

[snerkler]

@toddcshoe

That is a good one for sure. I don’t know why I was thinking the smallest. Now I have to rethink this whole thing.

TBH after looking at that it is bigger and heavier than I’m wanting.

After watching more videos the Nitecore P20ix is top of the list. Has the brightness and beam profile I’m after, I like the sound of the UI and I like the look of the flashlight itself. I also like the P10ix but the P20ix has a bit more throw.