Personally I’d buy quality only batteries and stay away from too good to be true Ultrafires….
So far I’ve got cells from AW, EagleTac, In’t Outdoor and Solarforce. I’ve been happy with them all.
I’ve also got some Trustfire Flames from DX which are ok. Nothing against them, although I don’t think they last as long as my AW RCR’s powering the same drop in. But they were cheap.
I’d also got some blue and grey Ultrafire’s. These are fit only for the bin, which exactly where they’ll be heading.
I’d say buy quality. You may also consider several chargers if you are going to have multiple lights or multi cell lights.
I’ve got a 4Sevens single bay charger which I’ve been happy with so far as it’ll charge just about anything from an RCR right up to a 26650. But it’s only one cell at a time.
The Sysmax i4 seems popular on here, but I have to say I’m not convinced by it. Seems it’s not the best charger around and can be rather slow.
HKJ seems to like the Xtar SP2, this is the charger I’ll be buying next. Here’s a good review of it: Test / Review: Xtar SP2 charger
Do you have a budget in mind? I think there are many many options open to you. But if it really needs to be durable and hassle free without modding you might want to consider some premium lights as well as budget ones.
For example the HD2010 is liked a lot on BLF. But nearly everyone has moaned about it being very prone to dents and scuffs, even while in transit to them. For me this doesn’t make it a rugged reliable work light. Also it direct drives the LED in high, so while being superbright I think one or two people have had burnt out ones. For casual use and for fun I think it’s a fantastic light, but I think it’s budget origins do show up if you truly want to depend on it.
The Sky Ray King is another BLF favourite light, super bright. But it’s chunky, uses 4 x 18650’s and you can’t run it on high for long periods without it getting very hot.
Also my experience of most budget lights is the PWM on med and low modes can often be detectable and certainly annoying if you are looking at moving objects with it. To this extent I’d personally want something constant current or with a high frequency PWM.
In terms of charging, there might be some other options that might, or might not appeal.
For example the Klarus RS11:
http://www.klaruslight.com/plist_show.php?id=31&lge=en
Several companies are making lights like this with an integrated charger. The biggest down side is you can’t charge a spare battery while using the light. But it does offer up a nice integrated package for a single price.
The RS11 is itself a general purpose light, not the most throwy (although ok), but bright, compact and capable.
Other lights I think are capable and maybe worth considering:
Niteye EYE25
http://www.niteyelight.com/product/?type=detail&id=60
Foursevens MMU or MMU-X
http://www.foursevens.com/product_info.php?products_id=2877
http://www.foursevens.com/product_info.php?products_id=2874
I also like many of the lights sold by Int’l Outdoors as you can often choose the emitter, modes, reflector, etc, etc:
http://www.intl-outdoor.com/shadow-tc750x-double-xml-u2-1200lumnes-218650-flashlight-p-507.html
http://www.intl-outdoor.com/cyclone-c88-xml-u2-910lm-flashlight-p-349.html
And a budget offering, this is a good thrower:
