Best EDC/SD

LED Flashlights – General Info
21

Only if you feed it twice a day with the highest grade of wagyu beef steak.

Haha jks. In an ideal world, yes it is very capable of that figure.
So if the current regulating chips were perfect, you had perfect heat sinking, no lens loss, etc...

OTF lumens would probably be anywhere from 650-750.

I'm going to +1 the S5 because I was really suprised at how nice a cheap EDC can be.
And being significantly cheaper than an EagleTac or Crelant or similar, you don't really have to treat it as a prized possession.

If you really are serious about getting into flashlights, there really is no escaping lithium for the near future.

Get some decent, non _____Fire 18650's, a reliable charger and you're guaranteed to use them in time to come.

If you're smart about it, you can get the S5, batts and charger for easily less than 50.

(The S5 fits only unprotected batteries well. Most protected batteries are too long. This should be fine with a single battery light with low voltage protection like the S5, anyway. Just keep that in mind when you use it for other lights.)


Welcome to BLF! Don't forget to use the coupon on appropriate sites.

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Tank 007 EO9
UF 2011
Anything Solarforce

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Thanks for the input 2 Dogs. I’m looking for a higher lumens output and preferably a light I dont have to cycle through to turn on and off.

Ramblings: What is the difference between the S5 and the S6, etc? There are many different variations of this light. I’m leaning to buying a charger and some lithium batteries. I guess I should wait until I order the light so I will know what size to buy.
What do you mean unprotected batteries? and also what do you mean about Non __Fire 18650s?

24

Avoid Ultrafire, Superfire, Uranusfire (yes there is such a brand), LiarliarpantsonFire batteries. They have been known, not only to greatly exaggerate capacity, but to be dodgy and even harmful in some situations.

Lithium batteries are not to be taken lightly.

There are protected batteries which have a circuit board on one end of the battery. This tends to make the batteries longer than usual, and sometimes too long to fit into certain flashlights. This is done by third-party companies, not actual cell manufacturers.

Protection comes in many forms. Usually this would include low-voltage or over-discharge protection which stops batteries from getting too low (because of chemistry reasons). There's also overcharge protection which prevents batteries from exploding (yes, exploding. People have lost limbs, eyesight, lung capacity and more) in a dodgy charger. Some include over-current or short-circuit protection which reduces the risk of the previous happening as well. Most protection includes one or two of these, and different combinations of the three, other times it includes all.


I personally have no idea the differences between any of the Convoy models.

I just look at pictures and see which ones are the prettiest :)

25

LOL :slight_smile: I hadn’t heard the pantsonfire one yet!

26

Looks like I am probably going to be purchasing the Convoy S6. As I said, I am very new to flashlights so I do not know anything about modding them or enhancing them. So I will need some help on what I need to improve on the flashlight :smiley: I have been suggested to get a neutral emitter for it, but can I replace the Convoy’s emitter with one with as many lumens? I know lumens are not everything, but I would like to get an emitter with a high amount of lumens for the self defense capability of blinding the target.
I was also suggested to change the tint of it. Does anyone have suggestions on these, and possibly other modifications?

How do I figure out what emitter, tint, or other specs the Convoy S6 has?

27

First I would get a few lights. See what tint you lean toward. I myself like CW… The idea of preferring cool white would send your average ‘tint snob’ into a seizure. They will tell you all the perceived advantages & blah blah blah. But in the end tint will come down to personnal preference.

28

OK thanks! I was told that a nw emitter is better over a cool white emitter even though the cool white has slightly more lumens. I was told that the neutral nw emitter adds many more colors. Any opinions? I really have no idea! lol

29

It will be all in what you like. I like to light things up brightly. Other fella’s will like the colors… I want bright! “Better” has no really bearing except to the owner.
I do have a few NW, & they didn’t lie. It will bring out colors better. The CW will light things up more.

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That helps. I want more “lighting up” over bringing out colors lol

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Keep in mind that the Convoy S6 is real picky about what cell you use. I have one, and the only cells I can use are my unprotected Sanyo 2.6Ah unprotected cells and some laptop pulls. Panasonic 3.1Ah cells might work, but I don’t have any unprotected ones I can play with.

About the tint, I got the T5-5C tint based on a review here. I like it; it brings out the outdoor colors a little bit better, and I can’t really say there’s that much of a difference in terms of brightness when compared to my cool-white lights (YMMV). I got the 2.8A, 3/5 mode version by the way, and it gets toasty on high after about 5 minutes, but it’s freakin bright.

33

+1 LOL

34

If you are looking for Convoy S series, I strongly recommend the S8 for the following reasons:-

  • It accepts longer 18650 battery, compare to S5 and S6
  • It has a strong removable pocket clip
  • pocket clip is attached to the body, not the tail cap. It is much more easier to screw/unscrew the tail cap when you want to change the battery.
35

I’d say to try both.

As I recall the higher you go over 4300k in the kelvin temperature, while the same output light appears brighter (to an extent), the naked eye can actually see less because we see most efficiency in a specific range. Thats usually associated with natural lighting conditions thats replicated with neutral or warm LEDS.

One real life example:
My brothers 6000k HID headlights
vs
My Philips X-treme Vision (halogen) headlights

His low beam is blindingly bright (more than my high beam) but is very cool bluish.

His HID’s will reflect off far away object brighter than my halogens but for example if there is a black cat on the road 100m away I can make out the difference between the black cat and the dark grey road because my lights replicate true colours, with the cooler HID’s both the cat and the road just looks black.

While with my lights I can see everything clearly, with his you are looking through a blue hue thats not a spectrum out eyes are efficient in.

I didn’t use that example because they are HID (though they are brighter) but because they are 6000k (CW) and a lot higher output but you have less visibility with them than lower output 4300k bulbs.

This doesn’t only apply to headlights.

If you are comparing a neutral (or warm) light to a cool light in the real world outdoors the cool white will make most colours appear like dull shades of what they really are and most natural colours look like different shades of grey. Thats not very good if you are looking for something in the trees or looking for something you lost in the grass.

2 of my brothers have convinced themselves that cool white is better for no reason other than they like the blue tint on their headlights, they are only concerned about aesthetics and what other ricers are doing to their cars.

Here are some examples (below), so while cool white will technically be brighter it depends if you are chasing ANSI numbers or want to see what you are illuminating.


image by brted

(all images taken from google search, I do not own them)

I’m not trying to swing you one way or the other, but you should find out for yourself what you like because its not all about numbers and higher output.

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The indoctrination of Kaleb

37

We will convert you Dale :bigsmile:

38

nw pah, cri is the important bit………

I wont get started yet lol

39

I’m not but a humble truck driver… psstttt I like the blue tint as well… :stuck_out_tongue:

40

Oh man! So much to take in! Thanks for all the input! I greatly appreciate the help.

The S8 only comes with 500 lumens, in what looks like nw. It does not say what the color temp is though.
Looks like I’m headed toward the
Convoy S6 Cree XM-L U2-1B 950-Lumen 6500-7000K 2-Group 3/5-Mode LED Flashlight
how do I tell what tint it is? Because this one looks to it has a nw tint, but I may be wrong.

Gords, I have no idea what you said.