For the purpose as described above I really dont care about UI of RJ02 - on & off, combined with that IR switch…more than enough as far as I am concerned, and there is actually more than that
I do have one (minor) remark tho: the thread on the example that I have is not so smooth, pieces tend to be loose too. My impression is that manufacturing process is not that precise
My list pick would be :
- Lumintop Tool AAA Nichia or Jetbeam µ
- Thrunite T10 AA or L3illumination L10C Nichia
- Olight S-mini 16340
- Emisar D4 18650
- Convoy C8 XP-L HI 18650
- Noctigon Meteor or BLF Q8
- 2*26650 (Liitokala 50A are good)
- A dozen of 18650 (Samsung 30Q flat top + button top)
- Liitokala Lii500 charger
- Ikea Ladda or Eneloop or Amazonbasics : AA + AAA (4 of each)
- Thorfire S70S or Convoy L6
Since you live in urban area, maybe don’t invest too much in big flooders and far throwers.
Small EDC sized lights with good aesthetics and nice UI would please you more and be more useful.
My favortie brand for e-switch compact lights is Olight. Same UI in all their models, just pick one that please you (S-mini, S1A, S2R, S1R)
I’ve reviewed all their products for 2 years now, and yet my EDC isn’t an Olight.
Why ? While e-switch UI are super practical for quick access to moonlight or Turbo they aren’t that intuitive when I have to lend a flashlight.
So I EDC a Thrunite T10… but you’ll have to find IF you want to EDC a light, and WHAT kind of interface you like.
If you begin to like custom lights, 300 bucks won’t even be enough for some models so beware of the addiction !
I started 5 years ago with a Convoy S2 host, Nanjg105 6*7135 driver and 4C XM-L2 just to see how good was a cheap flashlight and now my collection is 60+ lights…
In any case, pay attention to :
- UI (how much modes ? blinkies ? how low is the low mode ? does the turbo have a stepdown ? does it have thermal regulation ?)
- rear clicky, electronic side switch ? both ? twisty ?
- tint/CRI/type of emmitter
- battery format
I would suggest to do something similar to what I did (but more frugal):
Start with lights that are as cheap as possible, but not cheaper. Figure out what style suits you the most then go deeper in that direction.
This way you won’t spend $$$$ on lights are are superb, but not for you.
My suggestion for the start:
‘Boruit RJ02 headlamp — Hands-down the most useful light I have for “doing stuff”, whether it’s grubbling around in bags or a cabinet, when you don’t give much thought to holding the light with one hand and grubbling around one-handed with the other. Having both hands free is a breath of freedom you can’t appreciate until you experience it, and then you’ll NEVER want to go back. They’re <10bux each, so get 4-5 of ‘em. Seriously. Built-in charger, so all you need is a usb cable and you’ll never even have to open it up.’
I totally agree with you. I use mine almost every day for the same reasons you do, around the house/garage/shed. I don’t need or want mega lumens for that.
I love how you can dim it to how you like, it’s not over bright, the head strap is good as is the finish, I like the ir on/off feature too and finally it is very cheap. What more could you ask really?
There is a newer version with 2 leds, sadly it has lost the ir function.
Get a Q8 and 4x30q batteries. It will ruin a lot of lights at 3x the price.
Let me suggest a keychain light. Though I have many flashlights, I find myself using this the most:
Nitecore Tip
You can get them for around $15 from our member negotiated threads like this one from member Trevi_lux. Even if there aren’t current offers, you can PM these members for discount codes
Reasons I like this light:
- Bright! 300 Lumens (220 Lumens if you choose the high CRI option)
- Tiny, carry anywhere
Great advice! I suspect - to scatter some lights around the house - I’m going to find a particular light & buy 4-6 of them. To start, I’ll buy a sampling of the highly recommended lights. Right now I’m seeing things like, “you can pick this up for $9.” When I visit the suppliers I see $23.96. So, my next challenge is learning how/where/when to buy flashlights and accessories. Thanks for the tips.
Ding! THIS is precisely what I’m trying to figure out. I hope to buy enough initial variety to learn these things and then buy several of the light that fits the needs. Thanks for summarizing the issues!
The more I see here, the more I tend to agree with your thoughts. The S2+ continues to get lots of mentions, so buying several of those may be the starting point. Thanks for sharing your experience!
As mentioned above, I’m discovering that learning where to buy is as important as what to buy. I’m completely clueless about “member negotiated threads,” so plenty of work to do before I can order the stuff I want. Thanks for the keychain idea.
A BLF A6 will do what you are asking for in the first post.
Get that, 2 protected 18650 batteries and a LiitoKala Lii-500 charger.
Once you have the light and charger, you will have a better idea of what you might want next.
Use it for a few weeks and then decide what to spend money on next.
You may want to get a large thrower like the Convoy L6 for the “search a couple of acres”
With $300 to spend I wouldn’t bother with a Convoy S2+. They are fine but the A6 is better. I’ve got a couple of them. I keep one in the car and another in my desk at work. I’m going to try modding them with the A6 driver so that they all have the same user interface.
[quote=ERTD]
[quote=liteyear]
Yep. It’s beginning to look like 2 or 3 of the BLF A6, Convoy S2+, chargers, batteries, some reflectors along with 2 or 3 “specialty” lights will make up my initial orders. Thanks for the advice!
You have been given good advice, some of them might be right in your wheel house, some a little off, but remember: their advice is based on their habits/needs.
Very seldom will 2 different people have the same exact wants, even with flashlights. I started my flashlight journey not too long ago, i was reading these forum threads to try come up with a reasonable understanding as far as what i want/need. What i have found out the last few months (or a year), is that i really dont know what i want until i have something concrete in my hand. After i have played around with a light for a while i realize it should have little more of this or less of that or whathaveyou.
My suggestion is to get cheaper but still very usable lights and “fine tune” it from there.
Youve been getting a good starting point by the members.
I am perfectly happy with:
- Floody light with long run time (4x18650)
- Thrower
- Headlamp, a throwing version and a closeup non-hotspot version for mechanical.detail work in the dark.
My go-to lights are:
BLF Q8
Astrolux C8
Imalent HR20 (headlamp)
Convoy S2/Astrolux S1
Just my 2C 
BTW: i am still getting a small keychain light, just not too sure what, yet.
I am leaning toward a Nitecore tip
Some additional considerations to my comment that I’m not sure you have researched already:
The Astrolux S1/BLF A6 are the same flashlight with different branding, and have a FET driver (does not limit the current, so it gets brighter and hotter, and is limited by the battery and circuit resistance). The Convoy S2+ is extremely similar, and by default it comes with a regulated driver (max current is fixed, defined by the amount of AMC7135 chips on the driver). If you buy the S2+ (either complete os as a host) and put a FET+1 driver (like the one I suggested previously) you get basically the same product, with the advantage of more color options, more parts available for modding. Modding and S2+ can be a nice (grand)father-(grand)kid project, it’s easy to disassemble and see how it works. EagleEye and Jaxman also make very similar tube lights, but I think Convoy has the cheapest (and it doesn’t skip on build quality).
Since you are in an urban setting, the big flooders and throwers are less useful, so a smaller multi emitter lights (like the Emisar D4 or a modded S2+) and a small thrower (any C8 from manufacturers mentioned or Emisar D1 and D1s) will be better starting points. Of course, nothing is stopping you from going for the big guns (hell, I’d get the BLF GT if I had the budget just because it sounds super fun), but for a first wave I think maximizing the fun p/ buck invested is important.
AA flashlights can also be great fun, but I don’t have any favorites yet to make a solid recommendation. Same with headlamps, specially the “L” shaped ones that can be wielded as a regular flashlight. I like having one, but I’m not sure it’s the one I’d call favorite if I tested other models. Skilhunt headlamps are mentioned a lot, but I don’t have any to have an opinion myself
Here’s my recommendation:
Liitokala Lii 500 or Zanflare C4 charger - cheap 4 bay analyzing chargers. These let you test all the batteries you get to make sure they are legitimate, and lets you monitor battery wear over time.
If you think you might want to venture into the realm of 2000+ lumen lights, I would suggest getting Samsung 30Q batteries in button top form. If you plan on sticking to <2000 lumen lights, Sanyo NCR18650GA batteries will give you slightly longer runtimes, at the expense of lower max drain (not an issue if you are looking at <2000 lumens). Can get them from Liionwholesale.com, IMR Batteries, Illumn, or Mountain Electronics.
For starter lights, I would suggest the Convoy S2+ in Desert Tan, and the Convoy C8 Clear, both ordered directly from the Convoy store on Aliexpress. Would suggest ordering the S2+ in the 7135x6 configuration, and get both in the 3A tint. The reason for these particular models is they come with the improved Biscotti firmware (the Desert Tan model on GearBest only has the old firmware). They will also give you a decent idea of output, beam profiles and form factors, and you can use that information to influence future purpose.
I’d also throw in an Emisar D1 right away, as it will sit between the S2+ and C8 in both size and beam profile.
Edit: One more thing - headlamps. If you want a decent budget headlamp, I’d suggest the Skilhunt H03. Can be used as a flashlight, or put in the headband for hands-free use. Can come in surprisingly handy, as a lot of the times when you need light, you also need your hands free for something else.
Once you’ve got experience with those lights, then you can decide where to go from there.
Want even more output and good runtime? The BLF Q8 can do 5000 lumens, and runs on 4 18650s.
Want tons of output in a tiny package? The Emisar D4 can do around 4000 lumens, and is even smaller than the S2+. Can order the 18350 tube for it if you want something comically short.
Want something similar to the S2+, but more compact and “premium”? Check out the Zebralight SC64.
Want more throw than the C8? Check out the Emisar D1S.
After using the S2+, do you think an 18650 light is too big for everyday carry? Maybe you need to check out 14500 or 16340 based lights.
Lumintop AAA Tool w electronic switch and Nichia High CRI LED, just became available, you have 6 days to join the drop.
Go sign up at Massdrop.com
The price is decent, I just ordered the one with Nichia LED.
fwiw, the pocket clip is reversible, so the light works on a hat, like these:
The short one is a Maratac (comes with a Nichia LED also), available from here
the long one is a Tool (available with a Nichia LED option also), sign up at m4dm4x.com to see the best prices available. They also list a Titanium Tool, seen here on my keys:
for even less money you can buy a black anodized aluminum tool, also available with Nichia LED… (Im strongly biased against cool white and Low CRI)
I use AAA Eneloops, these are not intended for LiIon
For that kind of usage and application a hand held light is going to be totally useless. Unless you can change your car tire, or do general house-repairs with one hand.
Go with a headlamp first, and supplement it with a hand held of your choice. I personally am partial to thrunite and zebralight designs, but there are MANY to chose from. Both have served me very well around the house and on dozens of camp-outs and backpacking trips as my sons boy scout troop coordinator. The Zebralight is almost 10 years old, and pictured with its clip-on mount.
Oh… Don’t knock the harbor freight freebie!! Seriously my son and I have used the blue light shown below on half a dozen camp outs. I have one and so does my son for his load-out. Its been every bit as useful as any high $$$ lantern, and a fraction of the size and weight. Its not water resistant, but I bag it in a small zip lock freezer bag, with a small hole in the corner to run the hook through. In all honesty its been GREAT, and of course you can’t complain about the price. Several of our scouts use them as well and we have not had a single incident of failure. Its resistor direct drive, so just load up some duracell AAA and run them till they die. We use the magnet and stick it onto whatever metal we can find. The back of a Coleman camp stove wind screen works best. The button is firm/hard enough to press and it alleviates accidental turn-on.
Now I’m getting confused… 
And cheap is definitely good.
Yeah, they implemented linear ramping instead of logarithmic, so a 10% diff from 90% to 100% is literally imperceptible, whereas 5% to 15% is night’n’day. It’s bright… bright… bright… dimmer… >blink!<… brighter… bright… bright… bright. I admit that could have been done much better.
’Though I’ve gotten kind of good at “catching” it at the dip to get almost moonlight levels, but sometimes not.
And yeah, I learned the hard way about self-induced blindness. I just close my eyes before the swipe.
I want to stick a 219B in there, too, ’though 4000K or so.
Reading? Honestly, I’d love to stick a nice WW in there. 5D or even 7A/7D. Nice’n’relaxing…
… oh, someone above mentioned having a head lamp flood light and a compact hand held thrower. I agree with this approach. In addition to floody headlamps, I also use a UF-1504 DIY build. Its been awesome, paired with my headlamps and it FAR out-throws the range of my own eye-sight. Its great for those “WTH Was THAT NOISE???” moments… fwiw its usually deer or raccoons romping around the camp. Biggest drawback is pack weight… its heavy. But when zoomed out its wide flooding enough for general purposes.
Convoy L2 is another GREAT affordable, reasonably compact thrower…
http://www.mtnelectronics.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=80&product_id=652
