Hi all,
Hopefully the right place was after some help with some suggestions for flash lights for a gift for my parents who live on a farm. I have e-mailed a few shops and were a bit surprised when they couldn’t recommend me 2 torches for $200 AUD. I was after a good throw/search light style to spot wild animals and maybe a more general more wide beam/flood style light. Budget of$200 total including batteries and charger. So far I am considering
I disagree, strongly on the first point and weakly on the second.
These are the discharge curves for the UR18650FM and one of the capacity leaders, the NCR18650B. Look how much longer the UR18650FM stays over 3.4V. 3.4 is kind of special: that’s about what’s required to put the 3A needed for around 1000lm out the front through an XM-L2 LED. I challenge you to find an 18650 with a flatter discharge curve. If you do, I want to buy some.
As for protected cells, I think they’re mostly overrated in single-cell lights. They can protect against some shorts, but if something scrapes through the wrapper, the positive contract running down the side makes shorts more likely. They can protect against overcharging, but you shouldn’t be using a charger that doesn’t know when to quit anyway, and won’t be if you stick with trustworthy brands (Nitecore is cheap too). Finally, they prevent over-discharge. A lot of lights have that built in, but those single-cell lights that don’t will be unusably dim long before they damage the battery.
I’d hesitate about giving beginners series lights unless they have pretty aggressive low voltage protection, or would recommend protected cells for that application.
will either get the xtar vc4 or the nitecore i4 whichever I can get cheaper for a charger they both look much better than the VP1
for the throw light I will grab the fandyfire unless anyone sees any problems with this light
any recommendations on a light with a good wide beam/flooder under $50 AUD
for batteries iwill definitely be looking for protected cells as this is for the folks so any added protection is good.
That’s more on the floody side. 7000 lumens is probably not accurate, but it’s likely half that on good batteries. Speaking of, the included batteries and charger are anything but. They’re known for exploding. Go with your original plan and get batteries made by Sanyo, Sony, Samsung, LG or Panasonic and a charger made by Xtar, Nitecore or something with a positive review here.
The Fandyfire V2 does not look like a throwy light. The Courui D01 is a popular budget thrower. A single emitter and deep reflector will result in more throw than multiple emitters.
so far I have purchased
olight sr51
Panasonic NCR18650B Protected Rechargeable 3400mAh 3.7V 18650 Lithium Batteries
xtar vc4 charger
now i just need to get one more flashlight
I can get the supfire m6 for around $70AUD
but was also considering the solarstorm t4 or skyray kung does anyone have any suggesting where to get these or any other light suggestions
faililng these I was thinkning another olight in m22 form but this is not really a floody light
