I was in the market for a new flash light and was absolutely dumbfounded by the explosion of brands, models and battery types…I simply had no idea there had been such fantastic developments. Needless to say I have already been sucked in from wanting a bog standard torch to something much better. Thank goodness I stumbled across a forum of such well informed members who can shed some light on my darkness.
Having just read the thread on peoples battery collections I have decided to start with focusing on what battery to use as I do not want to end up with a vast collection of different types and multiple chargers, although I can easily see I may end up with multiple lights!
I am only interested in rechargeable and I am familiar with Li-ion from other applications I have around the house. Could someone give me a quick overview of the benefits and detractions of the various types, protected and unprotected?
Welcome to BLF.
It really depends on what type of light you want to carry. I like both 18650’s and 26650’s a lot. There are more and more lights that take 26650’s but there are still some of my favorite lights that only take 18650’s.
Chargers that work with 26650’s will work with 18650’s but not always the other way around. So find a good charger that takes 26650’s because chances are if you get into this as a hobby you will want some of them eventually.
As for 26650’s the king kongs are very hard to beat.
Protected 18650’s I would go with panasonic 3400’s.
Unprotected it depends on what kind of light. If you are looking for high amps the samsung 20r’s are very hard to beat.
Hi there Bamboozled, Welcome to the forum.
Start getting ready to clean out your pockets regularly, my cards crap themselves whenever I sign in here.
On the batteries you say you are familiar with Li-ion type of battery so the most prolific size is 18650.
I go for protected cells but depending on your use the protection is not needed. I’ve bought several Nitecore and Panasonic and Samsung cells, basically stay away from anything with Fire in the name.
For a charger I got a Nitecore intellicharger i4V2, not the best but not the worst by a long way.
There is a lot of trouble getting batteries out of China so you’ll probably want to buy from a U.K. seller, I’ve used ecoluxshop on ebay a few times. Not cheap but reliable.
There are more sellers and if you pay with PayPal you’re covered for any bad deals.
Remember the rules of the forum If In Doubt Buy Both.
Thank you both for such a prompt and unhesitating response. It gives a focus to start my search in this new world. I am certainly getting the picture that the motto “If in doubt buy both” is no joke on this site!
No problem.
I found this to be a relatively cheap and painless way into the torchy world - Solarforce that is the sales outlet for the factory and the prices are good. The P60 is a standard form factor, once you have the “Host”, the bare bones of a flashlight, battery tube tailswitch head and bezel then you can start looking for a P60 drop-in (led reflector, driver, contact springs etc) there are good and bad for any task that you want the torch to do.
The beauty of the Solarforce L2type is that everything is interchangeable, you don’t like a switch, change it, you don’t like a bezel shape, change it, battery tubes can be added on for extra run times or to power a particular drop-in. It becomes addictive, in about ten months I’ve got 8 or 9 Solarforce complete with enough “Lego” parts to make up about 4 more, twenty something drop-ins Anti reflective glass lenses, Lantern kit, titanium lanyard rings - the list goes on.
There are many other makers Solarforce is just one that I feel gives good quality at a modest price.
Hello and welcome, Bamboozled!! :party:
I have seen quite a bit of chatter on the Solarforce P60 but most of it was way over my head….but I am starting to get a handle on it after a full night reading up! I shall look into it as an option as it will certainly focus my attention on the various options.
Just about ready to dip my toe in the water with the first purchase but starting out cheap (isn’t that what this forum is about?) with an AAA format key ring EDC (even picking up the TLAs!).
I had a good read through the thread on everyone’s favourite key ring light and ended up with about 20 options from nearly as many brands to look up. Finally got it down to a choice of 3: the iTP A3/Olight i3s, the Tank 007 and the Maratac AAA. My definite favourite was the Maratac but Countrycomm were out of stock….not sure I can wait until April! So I think I am veering towards the Tank 007 e09.
I need to focus a little more on what I want out of a larger light.
And thanks for the welcome Tallboybass.
Welcome to the forum. I have the itp a3, my 1st one died in about 30 days so had it replaced for free, my replacement lasted about a year. I loved that light, it will be the first member of my flashlight hall of fame. Bought the Olight i3s as replacement, it’s pretty much the same, I love it, my edc. I also have the tank e09, while its nice I prefer the i3s over it because of the tight clip that comes with it, I keep it clipped to my pants pocket because I got tired of my itp dangling from my keychain and getting so scuffed up. Anyway, I love both but prefer the nice clip option on the i3s. Good luck whatever you choose.
Welcome to BLF, Bamboozled! :party:
I do no think you can go wrong with the Tank007 E09. Indeed it has replaced my beloved Preon P0.
For single cell 18650 light I’d recommend looking at Convoy S range and their C8 is also popular. They are available in many configurations depending on your requirement. For multi-cell lights you will need protected cells.
It's good to have you here, Bamboozled!
Welcome. :bigsmile:
18650 is the most common size by far.
- Protected (LiCo) Pros:
Safety. Very important with li-ions. Protects from over discharging, over charge, over current. Each of which can be dangerous. If over discharged, cells should be disposed of. - Protected Cons:
They are a couple mm longer & slightly thicker. Some lights (that imho are poorly designed) have trouble fitting them. Most lights should mention if they won’t fit protected. If it doesn’t say check here on BLF.
- Unprotected (LiCo) Pros:
Couple mm shorter & slightly thinner. - Unprotected Cons:
Risk. Manufacturers say li-ions need protection. It is not meant to be optional. You could use LiMn batteries instead where protected don’t fit.
- LiMn (aka IMR) Pros:
Safer chemistry then standard LiCo li-ions & as such have less need for protection. Couple mm shorter & slightly thinner then protected. Can safely produce higher amps for hot rod flashlights. - LiMn Cons:
Lower capacity then standard li-ions.
For protected batteries only buy ones known to use quality protection (Seiko IC & quality MOSFETs ). Too many reports of junk protection failing. The false sense of security make them worse then straight up unprotected.
Best price currently is RMM’s Panasonic NCR18650B Protected 3400mAh Protection teardown & comparison with keeppower
Good links to check out: batteryuniversity.com, Battery & charger reviews at HKJ’s site.. HKJ’s reviews on BLF Some chargers seem ok but really there are better choices so its helpful to check the review thread here. Don’t buy any charger before checking the review. No review, move on. Some chargers can be very dangerous.
Thanks for the responses, all very informative and very welcoming.
Heggood, from the specs the 3 light levels are quite different for the i3s and the e09, do you have a major preference for one over the other as a general purpose light?
Helios, thanks so much your summary. It was exactly what I needed for choosing a battery type. I was getting there steadily but it is so much quicker to hear it from someone knowledgeable.
General purpose I would prefer the e09. It is brighter and the low is more usable for me. The low on the i3s is so low I don’t have much use for it at all. The i3s is my personal choice for edc only because the clip keeps it in a handy ready to grab spot, and keeps me from losing it without it getting beat up on the keychain. Although my e09 is brighter on high, its definitely not a huge difference. If I had a perfect fitting clip for my e09 it would be my edc.
Hi and welcome Bamboozled. If you work out to become unBamboozled here let me know.
Welcome to BLF, Bamboozled! Not a lot to add to the suggestions already provided by the others before me except to reiterate the suggestion of Convoy lights as Chloe suggested and quality cells from Panasonic or Sanyo as 8steve88 suggested. Once you have an idea of what type of cell to start with you need to decide what type of light you want from your new flashlight. Flood? Throw? Or a compromise between the two.
Anyway, you will end up with a bunch oh flashlights, you need them or not 
Been a member less than 24 hours and just made my first purchase, the e09 from Fasttech. Can’t say I am not listening to the advice given.
I will be taking a time out to settle on my next purchase but will undoubtedly be back, I can see where this is going! Thanks for all the really helpful feedback so far.