And do a decent job of it too. Think some of the zoomies are needlessly dumped upon. (could that be because of crappy manufacturing, little to no product development, etc ?) I have a few of the 18650 UF CG-C8 model and I love them.
Be interesting to see if someone comes up w a mid-grade model as requested. (I wouldn’t spent $100 - too many flooder and throwers still on that list and it seems to be growing)
$100 is the maximum I’m willing to spend. I don’t have a problem spending $30 or $50 if the flashlight is high quality. For example my two SolarForce lights cost $30-ish, but they feel at least twice more expensive.
It's not 18650 without using an adapter tube, but I'm looking forward to getting this one: http://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10002094/1153401-palight-m900-cree-xm-l-u2-6-mode-900-lumen-white-z
please tell us about that one when you receive it!
I’d love to know exact lens measurements…
Hi Ventsi,
This sounds like a fun project ( finding a light to super wow your dad).
I am certainly not an expert in this field, but I do have 3 of the zoomies. For the most part all of these lights that use the 30 ish mm zoomable head have around the same performance.
I have one of these.
http://www.lightmalls.com/trustfire-z5-cree-xm-l-t6-1600lm-zoom-torch-light-2-x-18650
One of these
http://compare.ebay.com/like/251181831426?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar
And one of the 14500 zoomies mentioned before. Maybe different brands of them but basically as far as build quality and output most are very similar.
I am inclined to agree with what djozz said about a factory zoomie probly not being too impressive to your dad (just my opinion).
Also as dthrckt mentioned the driver in these typically run about 2.1A, meaning they are under driven.
I did some testing on these, not for lumens but for lux ( throw at maximum) and across the board the average is aobut 8,000 to 14,000 give or take.
The thing I cant get past about both of the factory 18650 powered lights I got is the driver board wont stay in the same mode. Every time you turn it on it moves to the NEXT mode. It doesnt start in the same mode each time, nor will it ever memorize the last mode. What they do ( at least my 2) is if that last mode you were in was low, when you turn it on the next time you will be in STROBE :(
Not only that what they call "heat sinking" is a PCB over the top of a big empty hole.
I dont know your dad so, I'm sure you will know what is going to be best for him far better than I can, but I do have another suggestion.
How about a custom/modified light?
Those $20-30 zoomies have decent bodies and believe it or not the lens in them is competitive with some of the high end AR coated lenses of equal size.
What I personally have done with them is to start by making a heat sink for the PCB to sit on ( I have a lathe), then by de-doming the emitter this will almost double the output. Then by replacing the factory driver with a custom 7135 based driver to increase the current to around 2.8A. This puts the light in the 30,000+ lux range, with brighter light, dependable heat sinking and USEFUL modes for the light.
Again this is only a suggestion based on my experiance. If you think this is something that would tickle your dad, just give me a holler. I'd be glad to put something together for you and it would come in price wise right around your $100 budget mark.
Good lux with your search :)
Will do, the one other Palight I own, I was impressed with the quality, but absolutely hate the design. ( http://www.cnqualitygoods.com/goods.php?id=1757 )
If shipping timelines are the same as in the past, I should have it mid to late next week, it left HK on the fifth.
id go with the ultrafire uf t20. and the one that you linked looks good, but i have never seen reviews on it so im not sure about the brightness
I’d have recommended the Sipik SK98, if only those wouldn’t be in serious need of re-engineering to perform as-is, already, out-of-the-box; let alone with a souped-up NANJG sporting stacked 7135s. If you are handy with a lathe and a soldering iron, the SK98 would be just the thing for you.
s.: German Zweibrueder torches are well-machined and have quite a reputation, but European (German, especially) non-wage labour costs make the selling prices quite ridiculous. They will live up to their promises, but still… as they say in automotive hotrodding forums - you can go faster for less money.
This zoomie is not for sale but I though it might interest some of you :)
That’s not really helpful, dude.
Thanks everybody for the help.
I’ve ordered this:
http://intl-outdoor.com/lxp-adjustable-zoom-18650-xml-700850lumens-flashlight-p-439.html
Seemed like the best option. Still looking for other high-quality zoomies, I may buy more than one, lots of that $100 budget is untouched 
Does it take a 18650?
No, 4 AA batteries
This shotcut leads to the P14 which is 4 AA, not 18650, but i like your choice. It would make a very Classy Gift that is Extremely well made, with Gold Plated Contacts, very bright and comes with Clip, Lanyard, Holster, Batteries and an Instruction Manual all Dressed up in a Classy Black Box. I have one of these, and the P7 and P17 as well. I doubt there would be a Classier, as well Made Zoomer to compete, quality wise with these, and they have long Run Times on Standard AA Batteries. These are selling for up to $100 bucks on Ebay, well worth consideration if you’re looking for Classy and well made. Even though it is not an 18650. $49.80 is so cheap for one of these.
Just a thought.
After reading this thread I picked up a Sipik SK98 18650.
Found an old link that was still valid here Sipik SK98 for $9.99 with free shipping
Yes, sorry my mistake. I meant P14
I’ll be very surprised if it turns out to be as you described, the lxp hosts are very nice quality lights and intloutdoor does not seem to sell crappy quality lights. It does not look cheap to me, looking at the bezel choices, driver choices etc. I’m not a fan of zoomys, but I’d be more inclined to buy one of these than an ebay sipik with questionable assembly, weren’t the sk98’s the ones you had to cheap for the emitter not being mounted on arrival and burning up?