Hi all,
I’m going to show my age, but the last time I looked seriously at flashlights, there were pretty much only Maglights, and LED flashlights were those things they give you free at Harbor Freight that are darn handy to leave strewn about the house.
Well now I’m starting to get into them and learn, but I’ve completely confused myself with information overload, and I think it’s time to ask for help.
I got a Nebo flashlight/laser combo because I thought it would be good for a shotgun.
At the same time, I got a Ultrafire Wf 502b Cree Xml T6 3 Mode Cree Led for a general purpose flashlight because “Wow - that sounds like a lot of lumens for $10, and it’s on Prime”.
I got them, and I’m so over the Nebo. The Cree spoiled me to it. When you shine them both at the same time, you can’t even see the light from the Nebo. So - pfft - you don’t need a laser on a shotgun, anyway. I don’t know if it’s really 900 lumens (I’ve read that it’s both really 500, and really 700), but it sure is bright to me.
It’s such a great light - the most light I’ve ever seen from a flashlight, but I want something a little different for the shotgun. First and foremost, can “modes” be avoided or bypassed? I’m finding the “memory” feature to be anywhere from flaky to unusable, so there’s no telling what will happen when I hit the switch - that’s bad. I’ve seen a couple that have the modes elsewhere than the switch - that would be great. High and high strobe would be great, but if I can’t get both of those to switch on and off consistently, then just on/off in high.
Secondly is the format. Is there a “small-headed” flashlight in a 2x18650 type length format? I’m actually considering putting on two mounts and using a longer flashlight if it buys me either brightness or run time or both, but I’m going to be limited on the size of the head. I don’t know the exact diameter yet - I just ordered the mount today, but I’m assuming over 2” is going to be out.
Lastly is a battery question - is 18650 pretty much the way to go or can old school formats compete? The only reason I ask is if I ever wound up far from fancy batteries, there would be some charm to using readily available batteries.
I appreciate any input. Like I said, by the time I got well into part numbers of everything and putting stuff together and which parts go where, I thoroughly confused myself. I’m pretty much hooked now, and I’m sure I’ll catch on more eventually, but I’d like to get this project going with an awesome light.
Thanks,
Kevin