Just a heads up… ANY light with a focusing reflector dish is going to have some form of a hot spot in the beam. No matter how small or how severely orange peel’d the reflector surface is. Most of the recommendations in this thread will not meet this requirement.
So your choices are limited… AA, PURE flood, low-low candle mode.
The Zebralight SC52Fw meets all your criteria except price and the tail clicker.
If you don’t mind a little DIY ingenuity, you can add a layer or two of frosted scotch tape over the lens to diffuse the hotspot on any light…. doing that will surely open up some more options for you.
Good Luck!!… I am also severely near-sighted. I can’t even read the clock on my nightstand!!
No worries, I just wanted to make sure it was clarified for the original poster. It can get confusing when looking at a model that uses different emitters over subsequent generations.
I have an E11 on order but it hasn’t arrived yet so I can’t make a direct comparison. That being said the current T10 (NW) has a slightly larger (and also less intense) hot spot than either my Klarus Mi7 or ZL SC5W.
How about the nitecore LA10? it will do everything you need, except a really low-low mode. Although if you retract the dome diffuser, it may reduce it down to single digit lumens OTF… depending on the optical design.
Its a twist switch though, but it tail stands very stable with a magnetic base… the latter is something no tail clicky has,
I have a similar vision problem and like the Zebralight SC5Fw with the frosted lens because of the wall of light and warm tint and although it has a side switch it is easy to find. My other favourite is Olight S2a Baton which has a TIR but cold white tint :rage: :person_facepalming:
One can turn any light into a flooder (similar to a frosted lens not a real mule) with some dc-fix over the lens, i believe a lot of BLFers have some, i do if you need, i can send it for free.
Its not a 14500 light. But still small enough to pocket/shirt carry can be bought in the 7135x4,6,8 convoy s2+ and buy a pocket clip. 3 mode group no blinks. Good long run time, tail clicky. And mostly a flood light.
I have a couple of the sk68s mentioned there ok but seem to fall apart after awhile. But for $3 can’t expect much 1 out of three has really held up well. The others work still but loose lenses, or the tail cap assembly gets pushed in.
Given the close-in working distance you want, and a completely smooth wall of light, I’d recommend an aspheric lens zoomie like an SK68, or a mule (unscrew the front bezel from said light).
As much as I dislike zoomies for their steep lumen-loss as you “zoom in”, if you keep it in wide-flood mode, you’d have exactly what I described above.
I’ve always liked flashlights but only really got into them when I was diagnosed with myopic macular degeneration along with dome shaped macula. Right eye is still fine, but the left one’s central vision is distorted as all hell. The avastin injections lessened the fluid, but the macula still scarred.
As others have suggested, since macular conditions lead to sensitivity to light, a nice neutral tint is best. And since you specified a flooder, I love my BLF A6. the 3D tint is wonderful, not too warm, with a hint of rose, so not too orange and definitely no green.
I know you wanted a 14500 light, but if you get either the 18350 shorty tube or buy the Astrolux S1 with the tube, the light becomes super small… Plus you have the option of going back to the 18650 for extended runtime.
There is the astrolux S2 which is a 14500 light, but it’s bulkier than the S1 with the shorty tube and it’s more of a thrower.
I am definitely open to an 18650 light. I went through my toolbox and found one of the lights I had forgotten about. It is a SolarForce L2P with a 3 mode XML drop in. It is a low, Med, Hi light with memory of the last mode used. I like it a lot. Now If it only had a moonlight mode and I could make it a true flood beam without the hotspot…it would be perfect.
For $19.95, this seems like the light for you. BLF A6. 3D tint, 7135/FET hybrid driver, 7 modes including moonlight. 1400 lumens out of the box. 1600 with spring bypass. Not only can you do half presses to go forward on modes, you do a longer half press and you can go backwards!
oh wow… since you put it that way, now I think I understand better what the OP has. I suffered a bout of traumatic iritis… inflamation of the iris, from blunt trauma and in my case it was severe enough that my eye was “stuck” and dialated to a wide open state. It was like this for a month, even with very powerful prescription steroid eye drops to aid the tissue in recovery and rebuild.
At its worst, ANY ambient light was excruciating. I had to wear a pirate eye patch!!…LOL so I can see how any hot spot of light for the OP would not be wanted in his application. You guys recommending lights with hot spots in the output (no matter how small or faint) need to stop doing that… that is not what the OP needs.
OP I think you should look for any light with a 4-5 Lumen low mode, no PWM flicker…and strongly consider doing a 2-3 layer scotch tape diffuser mod I mentioned earlier.
Side note… during this time, I found out why pirates wore eye patches. I always thought it was because they got their eye poked out, or gouged out in a sword fight. That may be the case, but it It was mainly so they could keep one eye dilated open for night vision when they ventured below deck.
Side note #2… I have NEVER taken steroids before, but they DAMN well DO work!!! Its too bad they are so harmful in so many other ways…LOL
Since you’re open to an 18650… Convoy S2+ with a 45 or 60 degree TIR.
Zero hotspot, total smooth wall of light. And it being a Convoy, you can choose a driver with the amount of amps you want, even reprogram it to get the modes you want, you can use a shorter 18350 tube, put a forward clicky, add a pocket clip, change the LED to a high CRI Nichia, like I did…
Thorfire TG06,Really well built light, for about 10.5 USD. Forward clicky, so you will have to set the mode and then press it in fully to keep it on that mode. Takes AA and 14500. I swapped the LED on one to a Nichia 219B , and on another to a XPL. Its BRIGHT with a XPL!!
There is PWM in the stock driver, so if you are into building drivers any 17mm driver will fit, and you can tweak it to have the modes to your liking. But such a modification will take away the AA boost driver capability. In true BLF spirit, there are many good quality AA/14500 lights you can mod and tweak to have something quite unique.
Oh well, I didnt notice the “no hotspot” requirement, Try a low loss zoom flashlight like the optics of LED lenser, Warsun A7 is one, 18650 though. LED lenser also have a AA model with TIR Zoom. If you not want a zoomie then a convoy S2 with a TIR optic of your liking should do.
OP… have you considered light color sensitivity? In my case of traumatic iritis, I was using my red LED lights as well as low-low white light. After a long day working and staring at the computer screen, red lighting was easier on my eyes in the evening.
