while researching a flashlight with some range, I stumbled across this great forum.
I have 1 FC11 which was my first light some years ago.
Recently I bought a FC11C for another backpack.
Then I looked for a 21700 lamp and shot a TS22 for 20€.
I like the magnetic end caps, they always come in handy, while working on bikes, boats…
I also have a Vapcell s4+ charger and plenty 18650 and 21700 batteries from a friend who welds big batteries for electric vehicles, all of them high quality LG or Samsung.
For a light with more range, I cannot decide:
SR15 (like the body and magnetic cap, reviews are marked as disappointing)
TD01C seems more powerful (reviews are marked as disappointing)
L21B is recommended here in this forum, because of better regulators. But which LED? the most expensive one? Do not like that this lamp has no USB C.
I also like switches on the side not on the end. I tried a SC33 but did not like this one at all. Screwed Clip, strange feel, muddy button. Is the SR15 Quality better than SC33? In comparison to the L21B the SR15 seems like a bad deal. The TD01C is more expensive, but neither has the Case I am looking for nor the efficiency.
Do other Wurkkos 21700 end caps fit the TD01C?
So the L21B it is? but which LED? Do I miss another great light? Buy both SR15 and LB21B? One in a handy build form as flooder the other one for fun?
It depends on how much more range and size you really want.
I wouldn’t worry about a magnet because once you get into a 21700 " thrower" size it’s not really useful for lighting up small work areas.
Do you want something with a tight spot to really reach out or are you looking for something with the same size spot but twice the output and reach?
You may not really know exactly what you want until you’ve played with a few more lights.
For the same length but just a tiny bit larger diameter I would look at the convoy s21e with an sft40 in your choice of color temperature.
It’s like an fc11 on steroids. A lot more throw. And plenty of spill.
If you really want throw then yeah a large reflector is the way to go.
The S21E will throw some more than your existing configuration, but not by a lot. To really move up a class in throw, look at lights with 40mm or greater head, like M21E/M21F. Go with SFT40 5000K LED, which should give you 700m ANSI for M21F, and 800m for M21E. Usable throw is generally considered 1/2 to 1/3 of ANSI throw.
In particular, the M21E throws almost as well as the TD01C but is a lot more compact. TD01C has the worst efficiency I’ve ever heard of despite having a buck driver, really cannot recommend it when L21B performs much better at the same size and cheaper price.
If you have plenty of wide open spaces around you and you have a convenient way to carry or keep the large one near you then you might find good use for it.
It’s a larger emitter (so technically less throw at the same brightness) but also brighter. I think you’ll be satisfied because even of it throws less - it’s will be ever so slightly less but with larger spot and more lumens which means it will illuminate larger area. Convoy’s 6V driver is also pretty efficient. You will be happy with either of them but consider the 5000K variant for nicer tint.
Ordered one m21e with sft40 lets see.
Does not seem that they pay eu vat, so lets see if the seller is able to smuggle it into the eu via belgium/lüttich.
You should be quite happy with this light. BTW, emitters with larger light-emitting surface generally throw less because they cannot achieve the same power density without overheating. The SFT70, in particular, has a dark spot in the center of the beam when used with a smooth reflector, due to the quad-die construction.
SFT70 has almost zero gap between the dies so the potencial donut hole is minimal. Good thing is though that the OP reflector doesn;t reduce throw by much, someone measured it to be less than 5% iirc.
They actually come through Netherlands. All mine slipped without VAT.
I’m pretty sensitive to artifacts of this sort, and am envious of people who aren’t bothered by it.
How much OP cuts down on throw depends both on the strength of the OP texture and the size of the emitter, so a single measurement does not generalize; for this particular combination, I can believe a <=5% reduction in distance.
lets see.