Do people still make flashlights?

LED Flashlights – General Info 18650 Flashlights
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Hello im new here and I was wondering if regular people still make flashlights?
There is so many flashlights on the market and parts are getting expensive So I was wondering if this was even a thing?
I used to be able to obtain UF-501B Flash lights for under $7 on ebay. Now they looked to have doubled in price.
For $20 I know I can get a better unit when on sale.
I harvest 18650s from used laptops/battery banks and used these cells in various cheap lights that I own.
I recently purchased a Coast XP9R on sale and it seems to be alot nicer than the flashlights I already own.
The UF-501B is good but the Coast seems just a little better overall.
Another interesting light I own which they dont seem to sell anymore is the UF501A which runs off 1x 16340

Id like to take my existing UF-501B and other similar variants and upgrade them to see what I can achieve with a single 18650.

Do you have any recommendations on the LED, Driver, Heat Sink ect and where to buy them?
Or would the cost be about the same as buying a flashlight outright?

Also if there anyone out there that reviews the flashlight and tears everything down to the type of chip used?
Im looking to find some of the following to upgrade the UF-501B
The most battery efficient assembly or Chip to run off a Single 18650 ( Protected or Unprotected)
The brightest assembly or Chip to run off a Single 18650 ( Protected or Unprotected)

Thank you in advance for any guidance.

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$6.76 Kaidomain unbranded 501B host

P60 parts

kaidomain and convoy has drivers, mcpcb.

Luxwad did a great write up if need a refresher on some of the new LEDs
Quick Guide to Popular LEDS - UPDATED FOR 2024

Tear downs are pretty uncommon. they are scattered across different threads here and on reddit. Tom E used to do regular teardowns but he hasn’t been seen in a while. tear downs on review sites are also pretty uncommon unfortunately.

Convoy sells some Buck/boost drivers which are more efficient than the old linear 7135 / fet designs

p60 drops have been superseded by threaded pill design/integrated shelf. sofirn, convoy, wurkkos are good starting points if you need newer lights budget branded lights.

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Yes, people still buy hosts (empty flashlight casings) and install electronics to their liking.

Convoy flashlights make some nice hosts for all battery sizes. The s2 is an 18650 or 18350 host for small money. The c8 is a cheap 18650 thrower. The m21 and L21 are larger 21700 throwers and more expensive. You can also buy bigger multi cell hosts if desired. Kaidomain makes some good hosts.

Next you have to choose a led. I reccomend cree xhp50.3 for best overall. XHP70.2 for the highest lumens and cslnm1.tg for long range. Ensure correct mcpcb is used. Different diameters and configurations.

Based off that, choose the driver. Convoy make some, but also MTN electronics and Kaidomain. Choose the correct led input voltage and current. Also keep in mind the input voltage depends on the type and number of cells. For 1x 18650 thats 3.7v. Also check the diameter is correct for the host.

Heatsink is usually supplied or integrated into the host.

Best battery id say is a molicell not sure the price.

Thats basically how you make a flashlight. You choose the specifications yourself. It works out about the same prices if youre buying Convoy anyways. Not sure about KD. Might work out cheaper by buying parts off Aliexpress.

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Thanks for stopping by, Jehmin!

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At a time where Convoy sells a complete flashlight with LED and driver for ~12-14$ (S2+) I wouldn’t bother with ordering hosts and parts from KD and assembling 7$ host, add 2$ LED and 5$ driver and it is more expensive than the Convoy anyway :sweat_smile:

I assemble myself if I want some special combination of LED/driver/host not available otherwise (ordered a S2+ host and a 1800K FFL LED), but otherwise… Eh.

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Depends. Is budget more important or the fun of making a priority?

If you like building then have at it.

If budget is a concern then you’ll likely find something ready to purchase.

As eblaster pointed out, if you want something that’s not available then buy something that only needs that one thing changed to make it perfect.

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Thank you all for the input and sharing links. Im going to be reading up on everything. I like the idea of modding my existing lights but at that same price I could just buy an entire new unit. Im going to have to keep searching around until something speaks to me. Such as if they sold a solid copper drop in what I call a heat sink they might call a pill?
Iv been going down a rabbit hole of information and I stumbled across a Sorfin S13. Not sure why im carrying these 18650 lights when this little guy seems alot more convenient for EDC.

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Did you guys get a glimpse before he disappeared down that hole…? I think he said something about finding a better light…:rofl::rofl::rofl:

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There is better availability nowadays for stock lights with different tints/drivers/etc than back in the days of the UF-501B.

That said, sometimes the exact light you want isn’t offered as a stock product does require modification(s) of existing lights to get what you want.

Building lights from parts is satisfying (when they work!). I normally use AliExpress or Kaidomain. Fasttech is unfortunately no longer operating. Depending on what you want to do with your “old” lights, they might represent an opportunity to use as hosts for “weird” light options that are less performance based; maybe cyan or blue or red just for fun? Then buy new “stock” lights as an upgrade?

If a DIY light with ultimate efficiency is your priority, I still think availability of drivers is an issue, I’ve not looked recently but premium drivers “off the shelf” are extremely limited.

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Wellp, I’ve got enough S2+ and other hosts (S5, S2, etc.) to be able to open Convoy America over here. Plus crappy options like the nice charcoal-gray body but with a 1B (so greenish-blue tint) emitter in it.

Same with C8 variants, like when Thorfire had a blowout, and sold a bunch of really nice C8s for like 7bux a pop, plus a bunch of no-name C8 clones.

And of course the '501s and '502s.

Fasttech had a dizzying amount of stock of everything you could always want. Reflectors, pills, drivers, brass nubbins, springs, switches, whole drop-ins, boards, emitters, gitd rings, you name it. I probably still got enough crap left over to build a Flashlight Army if I wanted to.

But they were all tailclickies. On/off plus modes. No e-switches, no operating system, no satellite boards, nothing. That’s all custom shiite and NOT suitable for the DIYer.

And since people will refuse a light because it doesn’t have the latest version of the OS, or doesn’t have flashpads, or doesn’t have 26-channel rgbw aux lights, etc., that part of flashlight DIYing just died a slow withering death.

The fun days of DIYing died because quite frankly, too many people became flashlight snobs. No more discussion about chemical dedoming vs slicing or heat-dedoming, or shaving/shimming to “tune” a beam from a reflector, etc. Everything’s off-the-shelf.

There are a few folx who’ll crack open an OTS light and swap in a 519 or whatever, but the old days of slapping together a hotrod with stacked 7135s are pretty much over. Now, it’s “If it ain’t got a boost/buck constant current driver, I ain’t interested”, etc. Kfine, nothing wrong with that, but that means everything now is “buy, not build”.

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That seems to be true for most items these days and not just flashlights.

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Huh, nobody else joining in? I was hoping someone would, with “Hey, I modded a XYZ to do ABC!”, but I guess the point was made. If anything, I didn’t go far enough.

Like any new light discussion, it’s more like, “If it doesn’t have a buck-boost converter with a 519A and 26-channel rgbw aux lights… and the latest version of andy2 and must have flashpads and bidirectional usb-C charging and a removable magnet in the tail and a metal button but not plastic button on the sideswitch and 14 ano colors and… uhhh, where was I?.. oh yeah, then I don’t want it!”.

I was just happy to get cheap hosts and a pile o’ stuff from Fasttech to throw together my own frankenlights.

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The 519 is overestimated, in my opinion. 5A draw for 1240 lumens. Why? To have High CRI? Why? Plus the heat… plus the crappy rosy tint.

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Well, it is the second most efficient R9080 LED I know of. If one values CRI, it is the best 3V allround emitter around. B35AM is more efficient, but 6V only and way more floody.

Domed 519A are, in my experience, mostly neutral. Depends a lot on the bin the shops order. Sofirn recently sold me a green 519A. Convoy sold me completely neutal and slightly rosy 519A. As long as you don’t dedome, most of them stay pretty neutral.

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I have Convoy S2+ 519A 5000K.

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Seriously, thanks for asking the question!
After losing my BLF A6, I figured i would stop in here and see what new stuff has appeared in the past few years. Aaaand crickets. check the usual go-to-stores and nothing new, not much exciting. And if you want parts, its really convoy or nothing…

Sure thats an exaggeration, but the days of a million choices for cheap arent really out there.

I couldn’t figure it out, and i found this thread. I guess people are too busy sitting inside at their glowing boxes to need a flashlight.

I was really surprised, and sad. This will be part of my airing of grievances in front of the aluminum pole. (another old reference)

I’m old, I don’t want to be old!

73 (another old reference)

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I still got my 1-mode '502 with… don’t even recall what emitter, some XP-L or something. Literally just a coupla 7135s on the driver, not even a µC or anything.

Damned nice SHTF light, if the S ever HsTF.

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I never understood why people S so near TF. :grin:

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Blows the stank away…

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NGL it’s cheaper to buy off the shelf and it doesn’t really make sense to build unless you have very specific criteria in mind that just can’t be found… which is a rare thing considering the massive breadth of off the shelf lights available.

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