High output Single 26650, 21700 or 3×18650 EDC

[mattadores]

@Yoordie

@mattadores

@Yoordie

@mattadores

BLF Q8 5000 lumen 4x18650 on sale for $45
Best bang for your buck

Flood?
Same as others: emisar D4 $35 or D4S $46 or Fireflies E07 $49 or hold out a bit for the Astrolux MF01 mini

Throw?
BLF GT mini $30 or convoy L6 for $46 or Astrolux FT03 $29

Really, you should buy all of the above! :smiling_imp:

BLF Q8, BLF GT MINI, Astrolux ft03 and Convoy l6 are to big for me. D4(s) and EO7 are looking pretty good.

If you’re primary goal is sheer output with the smallest package then Emisar all the way. TBH you should really look at the new D18… it’s 3x18650 and the smallest multi 18650 light ever (basically)… not going to be an edc though.

single emitters use more power than multi emitter lights because the emitter draws more current rather than sharing the workload with other emitters. The cost is that you need expensive optics or shallower/narrower multiple reflectors rather than a single larger reflector. If you want throw then you want a single large as possible reflector or an aspheric optic (not much in the $50 price range for aspheric). it seems more like you just want great output which means the D4 / D4S should be great. You can order a more floody optic right from intl-outdoor when you buy an emisar product.

the biggest difference is that lower emitter count lights with high output tend to be one of the XHP variants which have max output and ugly tint. Most 3-4 minimum multi emitter lights are designed to give us flashaholics choices of great emitters such as the emisar or the fireflies which you can choose Nichias, SST-20s or XPLs

If you want the best price with insane output and smallest package buy the Emisar D4 with 5000k SST-20 at 4200 lumens $35 (your sacrifice is going to be runtime and heat production - it’s a mini flame thrower)
if you want the best price with insane output and some bells/whistles such as extended runtimes and auxillary leds buy the D4S with 5000k HP-L HD V6 3D at 5000 lumens $48 (less heat than D4 but still hot)

If you want to spend more money and gamble on quality go with the fireflies E07 with the 5000K XPL-HI V2 (discount code still available from Neals or BG)

out of those I already own the Fireflies and the only reason why I don’t own the Emisar is because I’m buying the D18 instead of collecting any more lights that are nearly identical (D4S or E07 or MF01 mini are direct competitors that are only ever so slightly different EXCEPT Emisar is leap years ahead in quality control - all are designed very well but fireflies has had a lot of problems and astrolux is quite reliable but not at Emisar levels)

Thank you for your explanation. What if I want both a good flooder and a good thrower should I get a single emitter, multiple emitters or a zoomie?

I like zoomies, others do and don’t but there simply aren’t many and more important: there’s virtually none in an EDC format. they’re typically 6-8” and about 1.5” wide head

single vs multi emitter isn’t what you should focus on. The variables you need to consider are:
tint - both the kelvin temperature (cool, warm, very warm) and the color (1A or 3D or 5A see figure 1 and figure 2)
if you determine you don’t care about tint and want max output, cool white is always brightest and also washes all colors out and appears quite blue on the edges. If you’re fine with that then XHP50.2 or 70.2 emitters provide the most output and should be your choice (single or multi doesn’t matter with quad diode leds)
if you determine you do care about tint, you dislike cool white and want to represent colors as much as possible then you’re going to automatically end up with multi emitter high cri or better cri lights that use things like XPL-HI, SST-20 or Nichia
throw - how far do you want to throw? For an EDC 200 meters is a lot more than you’ll typically ever need and most of the options above reach that far not by design but by sheer force of their output (3000+ lumens). If you decide you need to see things 350+ meters away then the Emisar D1 or D1S or BLF GT mini or GT micro will be your best options but you’re not going to light up much in front or around you

IMO an EDC is 99% of the time used for flood lighting. Dark place you want to ceiling/wall bounce, looking underneath or behind objects or lighting up to 20 meters in front of you in the dark. If that’s what you’re looking for then you’ll never use 5000 lumens except for showing off. I can walk my dogs at night and light up 35 meters in front of me easily with 500 lumens and when I feel like making it almost daylight I use 1000-1500 lumens but even at those outputs I aim the light significantly down so I’m not pouring light into peoples windows. If that sounds like what you want then highest lumens doesn’t matter and you should focus on a good tint with highest CRI available and you’ll love your choice! There’s a lot more variables such as hot spot, diffused hot spot, light coverage, the list goes on forever but to me the above is the most important.

Figure 1

Figure 2