Looking for the smallest EDC with this LED. Looking for it as an urban security blinding defense tool. Currently carry Acebeam P17 but looking for something smaller as that leaves quite a bulge in the pocket (41 mm head)
Looking for 18650 or 21700 battery.
Considering Convoy M21B but it still has a bulging head albeit slightly smaller at 35.7.
Edit: I just saw that the SC33 was already mentioned but I will leave my post because i think it’s good to know you may be able to get a great deal on it.
Dazzle ability I think comes down to candela. Perhaps that’s the same as lux. I will generically call it light density.
So I want a lot of candela. Maybe 40,000 or more.
My other concern is being able to light up someone at a short distance. Maybe 5 to 10 meters.
Some emitters such as SFT 40 may be so focused that in a rush, or if the subject moves, the hot spot will be so small that I can’t adequately aim it at the subjects eyes. A very bright but floody light would work at short distances.
In truth I’m not tied to that emitter. I wish in beamshot reviews someone measured the hot spot diameter at 5 or 10 meters. I roughly guestimate I need 1 meter diameter hotspot at 5 meter distance. My Acebeam p17 does that.
Also I wish for minimum spill because I don’t need spill, and it wastes energy, creating heat, and therefore less time at high power.
I probably want something that doesn’t exist. Maybe a small light with TIR to focus the spill to the hotspot?
Nitecore EDC33 (or a bit bigger EDC35) is being advertised along those lines. They use different LEDs but have both momentary spot beam intensity of over 50k candelas.
Sofirn SC33 and Convoy S26A are 33mm diameter with xhp70.3. You can mod a Convoy M2 that has a 31mm diameter to fit an xhp70.3. Convoy M21b and Emisar D1K are 35mm and have similar reflectors. The Convoys can run the 6v8a driver for hella lumens out of the xhp70.3. The CULPM1 or SFT40 at 8a would both have much brighter hotspots even in smaller diameter reflectors. My T3, a 14500 light with a 5a buck driver and cslnm1, the hotspot can be seen clearly when shined across my M21B with the 6v8a driver. I think CULPM1 or SFT40 in S21A with smooth reflector and 20mm 8a buck driver might be a great option for you. 27mm diameter.
After all of that garbage text I remembered pocketable sbt90.2! This is what you want. Noctigon dm11, Emisar D1K. Convoy sells it on a 20mm star so you could make your own.
JLHawaii has a FW1A with sbt90.2 and a fet driver left for sale.
Also JlHawaii has Emisar D4SV2 customized with 4 sft40’s. 39mm head.
Just remember its 3V XHP50.2 with awfull tint, i took dome off mine and it was beatifull blue light, no green tint-shift You can put XHP50.3HI 3V but it still will be not regulated because of lack of boost driver.
That FW1A with the sbt90.2 is hella expensive. But I guess that’s what you pay for custom.
Anyone have any comments about this combo? Heat? Lumens? Candela? Maybe I should call the vendor to ask.
Frankly I’m also a little afraid of an Anduril light. This would be my first. But I guess my engineering degree might help me have the discipline to figure it out.
I have L90 round die emitter 9090 and FET enabled, its pretty hot after while. You can expect not much sustained output and candela is pretty low too, Vinh had it long time ago also but delensed 4400lm, 45Kcd ~424m.
I think I may have found my answer - by looking at xhp50.3 instead.
I just ordered a Convoy S3 with xhp 50.3 R70, 6500k, 6V 4A driver and some TIR optics (as narrow as 10 degree plus others). Here’s why I’m hopeful it will work:
xhp50.3 puts out a lot of lumens. Not as much as 70.3. But more than sft40 can be driven in a small host. See attached charts. Note 50.3 on chart is high CRI version. My R70 will put out more lumens
6V 4A driver is putting more wattage than other emitters in this size convoy.
-s3 is very compact body, same size and as S2+, S6 and S8. Unfortunately hard to mod as no removable pill.
I’ve defined my hot spot requirement as 1 meter wide at 5 meters distance. That’s an approx 11 degree beam angle.
-10 degree TIR will help concentrate light into required beam angle reducing “floodiness” of this emitter. TIR will Increase candela needed for visual impairment of assailant.
-6500k produces more light than other temps which will help achieve desired visual impairment of assailant.
You might find yourself disappointed–the concentration/candela is bounded above by the emitter and the effective size of the optic, the precise type of optic almost does not matter. I’m not sure why these TIRs are called 10-degree TIRs because the angle also depends on the emitter, in your case the beam would be much wider than 10 degrees. It’s good for getting more coverage on the assailant, but the intensity/candela is drastically decreased (halved or more) compared to, say, an SFT40.
Also, the larger the emitter is relative to the TIR, the more light is lost instead of collimated–the efficiency of total internal reflection depends on the emitter being well-approximated by a point source. The small TIR will be very lossy (would not be surprised if it loses more than 40% of the light) for an XHP50. You might have better luck sticking with a reflector, which is less lossy.
Thanks for your detailed reply. Since I’ve ordered I’ve become less optimistic. I think the TIR I ordered (from Convoy) are sized correctly for the bezel and depth. However I think they have the wrong (too small) aperture for the emitter. The TIR says it’s for 3535 size. I think that’s smaller and will not fit or only get a portion of the light emitted.
However I will experiment. I also have an S6 with a CSLNM.1 emitter. Beam angle is too small but will see what happens with a TIR.
I think my next try may be with an SFT40 in a reflector that’s not too “throwy” so as to widen out the hot spot to my need. Fortunately the costs are so modest that I can afford several tries without upsetting my wife too much.
Any thoughts on better ideas (about the flashlight not the wife!) are appreciated.
I have to say my Acebeam P17 with xhp70.3 does achieve my illumination goal. But its head is kind of big for an ideal EDC. Also its bezel will be hard to get past TSA onto a plane.