Buying advice for >=100Lm LED with >=2modes and 1x CR123A (cold temperatures) for 10-15$ for car and EDC (in jacket)

Hello everyone,

I've been doing some research, but its getting darker and colder outside and I still didn't order a light for taking a walk in the dark (later than 5 PM).

I hope someone has some spare time to recommend me a light, that I can order from DX or a similar store with low shipping fess to Europe.

I'm looking to buy 2-3 LED-lights for leaving in my jackets or outside in the car (temperatures below freezing). I already own a Fenix TK11 (for work) but now I'm looking for a one CR123A light which can lay around for a long time and hopefully still work.

LED-Light should fulfill most of the following requirements:

  1. less than 15$ incl. shipping
  2. at least 100Lm (the brighter the better)
  3. must use one CR123A (don't want to invest in 18650 charger etc. since I own a good eneloop AA-AAA charger / temperatures below freezing / long time storage /2x CR123A would be too big for my intentions)
  4. should have one low power mode for battery saving (though I'll buy also multi-mode disco lights since I can't expect everything for the low price)
  5. low power mode should have at least twice the run-time than regular mode, preferably a couple hours (edited after 1st post from pacbough)

Thank you. I'm looking forward to a recommendation.

Greets Tim

This looks like a nice small light for you. Its 150 Lm and has 3 modes (high, mid, sos) it takes 1 CR123A.

Hello pacbough,

thank you for the quick suggestion.

I read up on the Romisen RC-A4 but in this review it is stated that the lower power mode consumes just around 10% less energy than the high power mode, so that the light might last less than an hour in low power mode. I will edit my post above to reflect that I'm looking for a longer run time in low power mode (>3 hours). (Being way too picky) I just want to add, that the holes for attaching the clip seem to be drilled through the battery compartment, destroying any hope of it being even a little waterproof.

Thank you

That looks like the Sipik sk68 which has only one mode and takes 1 x AA/14500 cells.

That is a clone of the Nitecore Extreme upon which the SK68 was build/cloned too.

You kind of narrowed down your choices with the price range and the batteries so I would say Trustfire Z1 recent review here.

How about buying 1 really nice keychain light instead? You can use the 1CR123 format and that way you will always have the light on you. I started packing lumens on my keychain a few years ago and it has been incredibly and surprisingly useful.

I used an itp A1 for a year then upgraded to the XM-L quark minix.

Check out this review: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/5158

This looks like a really interesting light and uses an XP-G emitter and has nicely spaced out levels.

Hello again, and thanks for the quick advice.

I ordered a Thrustfire Z1 Q5 from dinodirect, hoping that it will accept CR123As since dinodirect only mentioned 16340s.

Having read the suggested review it seems that the Z1 might be a nice light for EDC (I never carried an edc-light before).

For taking walks through the woods or working under the car or in the garage, it would be nice to have a similar priced light which tends to be more of a flodder than a thrower.

Any suggestions for a one CR123A flodder that can lay around for a couple years and fits the above requirements (less than 20 $ ).

Thank you.

P.S.: I haven't stopped reading reviews here, but a good suggestion from one of you might speed things up a lot for me, especially since a lot of lights seem to be throwers.

I just tried a CR123a in mine and it works it's not as bright as a 16340 but it does put out a decent amount of light. I also put an almost dead CR123a in it and it lit but was very dim.

I love teh Z1, it is such a unique light and puts out a lot of beam, even on CR123.

You might also look at the Ultrafire 501a, but you will have to find a cheap drop-in for it.

My thoughts exactly. A UF501A with a 5 mode XP-G drop-in with OP reflector should do the trick very nicely. Total Cost = $19.58 just under your $20 budget for a flooder. That would make a very capable light with decent flood, decent runtime on low and the ability to pump out the lumens on high if ever required.

Both of the above are free shipping, user45, and in case you are not aware, a P60 drop-in literally just drops into the 501a body to make the complete light.