Thanks for the tip.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/400588514791?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&\_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
Cheap roche clone
My personal favorites.
Convoy L4(solid and bright as hell from the factory, first light i never needed to mod)
Convoy M2 (2800ma)
Roche F8
Convoy C8
Ultrafire C20 (remove resistor R1 and R2, replace with solder, get 3amps)
Solarforce L2N
Sky ray king 3xXML
P-rocket II (best anodizing i’ve ever seen)
Best bang for the buck and gift light. $3.50 shipped.
http://www.amazon.com/FordEx-Group-300lm-Flashlight-Adjustable/dp/B006E0QAFY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1383763471&sr=8-3&keywords=7w+led+flashlight
While very bright and throwy lights are nice, I find that an EDC with a wide variety of levels is more generally useful. Like, a sub-lumen mode, a single-digit lumen mode, a two-digit mode, and a three-digit mode. Preferably fairly floody and in a small body, and preferably with a neutral tint and no PWM. Bonus for a clip and long runtime.
So, I love my Convoy S3 for some purposes… but it’s a bit large and even its low mode is still way too bright for most of what I want. Same for a SK-68; it’s just too bright. Like, I don’t want to blind myself during a 3am trip to the bathroom when even 5 lumens hurts my eyes. I find that a ZL SC52 or L3 L10-219 (4-mode) are much more generally useful for me. Only a small portion of my needs involve shining at things more than 50m away.
OTOH, any collection would be incomplete without a good thrower and a good photon grenade… even if they aren’t used daily.
Banggood 90 DEGREE ROTATING FLASHLIGHT XML T6
Converts from a straight flashlight to a L shaped one that
clips. Has multi colored filters. Can be used for cycling,
camping, hiking, etc. Plus, I really dig the camo. 
The TrustFire Z8 is certainly one: Review: TrustFire Z8 - XM-L Flood-to-Throw.
The new one is the un-branded AA 3 mode at WallBuys and Bangood: 3-mode Zoom AA/1450 EXPIRED ! "Black" $1.99 Max 3ea . This may qualify as ultrabudget.
I am fond of my Sipik SK73 and my Raysoon 18650/XM-L SK68 clone: Review: Raysoon TD-398 (XM-L T6 | 18650) .
All zoomys. Once I got used to working the zoom, there seemed no advantage to having throw and spill at the same time. Maybe for a headlamp or a bicycle light where it is not in your hand.
Convoy M1 is my favorite. Has multiple modes making it handy for any application.
Anybody of you remembers Benny`s best budget light thread on CPF?
If you want to get some of the above mentioned lights.. Go quickly to Wallbuys because they have some great deals;
please read here; ?page=46#comment-490361
Spot+spill is nice when you’re looking at things both up close and far away at the same time. For example, lighting the ground ahead during a walk. Looking across a long narrow room or into a cave, etc. The result is that things appear to have a roughly uniform brightness because the change in intensity is countered by the change in distance.
I used a zoomie on flood mode as a bike headlight for a while. It made the nearby ground bright and everything else was too dim. I’ve been much happier with spot+spill lights for biking.
However, a zoomie in flood mode is great lighting for taking pictures. It’s so even and uniform! And in narrow mode, they’re fun because they can be used as a portable image projector. Just put an image on the lens, aim it at a magnifying glass, and it’ll project the image.
My first two choices are both headlights. For most of my uses, a headlight is a much better light than a hand torch, because I need my hands for holding a dog lead, carrying tools, etc. Plus the height of a headlamp illuminates the ground much better for walking.
- Cheap XM-L headlamp with 2 18650s, for about $15 to $20 from various Aliexpress sellers. Sometimes branded Ultrafire, sometimes supplied with a side switch and sometimes with a rear switch (both have their advantages, but the side switch models have more durable battery holders). Huge bright floody beam is like walking around in daylight; zoomable for long range. If only the 3rd mode was a low rather than a blinky, it’d be perfect. But as it is, it’s my one absolutely indispensable light.
- Cheap XP-G headlamp with 3 AAA batteries, for about $7. Looks very flimsy, but actually survives a lot of abuse. Cheap enough to keep a few dotted around, and lasts for ages on cheap alkalines so no need for a charger.
- Convoy M1 with warm tint. I’m not quite sure why I love this light so much, but it just feels right. The size is a handy compromise between a tube light and a C8, giving a little more throw and a little more heatsinking than the tube lights. The M1’s throw and heatsinking are nowhere near as good as a C8, but somehow the convenience of the size makes up for that. Ordering direct from Simon allows a choice of power and emitter; I love my XML2 warm white T4 7A3, with a 2.8A driver (AMC7135*8)
- Jacob A60. An astonishingly good thrower for only $13. Nasty cold tint, and an XP-G2 would be better, but that’s about my only criticism of it.
- A C8, which offers a wonderful combination of throw and spill in a relatively compact package. A little too big for comfort in an anorak pocket, but for most purposes it eliminates the need for a pure thrower. For $30, the XinTD C8 is superbly made, and is available with a gorgeous firefly mode; but the ~$20 Convoy C8 is pretty good, and arguably better value.
ToyKeeper, I read this post a few weeks ago and book marked it for when I could find time to reply. You might like to see how you can adapt a cheap zoomie for cycling for $4.95 with a wide angle lens. I posted it a description here.
pic
I saw a post on here somewhere about someone using a C8 as a bike light. They replaced its lens with a horizontal diffuser, and ended up with a nice wide beam which produced a similar pattern to what you got. However, C8s are generally more waterproof than zoomies, have nicer drivers available (in the XinTD one, at least), and produce more lumens for the same amount of power. It isn’t optically adjustable like a zoomie though.
Instead of doing that, I just try to get a relatively floody spot+spill light where the spot is wide and fades smoothly into the spill. It does, admittedly, shine upward more than necessary, but otherwise produces a pretty decent result. And the upward bits help cars see me more easily (I’m probably brighter than some of the cars, even on a relatively low lumen setting).
I’m hoping to find a 17mm frosted lens for my brass light, which I think would make it nearly ideal for my purposes. Until then, a Convoy S7 is good enough (S4 would probably be a bit better though, due to better heat shedding).
Akoray AK-12: the lightweight and smallest (112*21) 1*18650 (all cells fit well) flashlight able for EDCing. It can be easy upgraded to XM-L on 16mm star + 17mm 4*7135 driver (nanjg-101).
http://www.easylightbuy.com/akoray-ak12-cree-q3-led-aluminum-flashlight_p202.html
I ordered one. I have been trying things larger than button lights in my shirt pockets. I now have 3-mode Zoom AA/1450 EXPIRED ! "Black" $1.99 Max 3ea there, but I am thinking a bigger battery might more than make up for the lack of zoom. 21 mm. is slimmer than the larger parts of that new three mode zoomy and much slimmer than an SK68. It is about as long as my Sipik SK73 but much slimmer.
Although I’m new and don’t have any cool lights yet (except for the one’s in the mail), it’s still nice to see what others prefer as a must have. Props on the thread idea!
I recommend you to order an AK-12, easylightbuy is the lash source of them 
It doesn’t seem to be in stock right now, but the DQG 18650 is nice… 90mm x 22mm x 25mm, which makes it the smallest 1x18650 light I’ve seen. It also has decent modes; 2.5, 25, and 100% at 2A (or about 13lm, 125lm, and 500lm). IIRC, it’s a XM-L emitter and a TIR optic.
I have a similar light, but it’s even less likely to be stocked again —the DQG “brass beauty”. It’s 97mm x 21mm, brass, and even manages to fit both a reflector and a clicky button. Similar modes (2, 25, 100%) at 1.4A, but it’s XP-G2 inside so it’s actually pretty throwy. I’m sad it’s not available any more.
For size reference, the DQG brass 18650 is in this pic, between the Convoy S3 and the SK-68:
My three budget must haves, would be:
SkyRay King (the original 3 led style with the 3 toroid driver) Dollar for dollar, the best all round light I have ever used.
HD 2010 A great thrower with a little modding TLC
SkyRay S3 Great belt light, been wearing one now daily and it's bright as heck with a good sturdy clip.
Of course, they all need to be modded.
The King needs the resistor mod to the driver, for higher output
The HD 2010 needs an XP-G2 dedomed with a 5 amp nanjg driver
The S3 needs an nanjg driver at 3 amps
I think they are all classic lights that serve their intended purposes well and they all do much better when modded.
I’m surprised that a tweaked King took this long to be mentioned. The WOW factor is undeniable.
SRK
Zebralight H50. Not budget but it was 7 years till I bought another headlamp. A small/light (light is important for headlamps)/pure flood AA headlamp is a very, very good thing. Anything over 90 lumens is a waste for that use.
Zoomies - where I'm coming from they are a waste of money as I've given away more of them than I've sold - and I've sold on a lot of them. Yet to find the zoomie I wanted to keep.