Dollar per lumen it’s hard to beat.
Dollar per lumen it’s hard to beat.
Got my Q8 yesterday and it is a heck of a light. Still waiting on the buttontops I ordered so I put in 4 LG flattops to try it out. They worked. Pulled them out and metered them a couple times after run sessions and all are draining exactly equally. I’ll wait for the buttontops before really putting the light to the test. The Q8 seems to be everything it was described to be and more. We’re gonna be spending a lot of timed together. 
Hi Bushmaster.
Bear in mind that the insulation on the top of those flat-top batteries is probably rubbing against the metal ring as you tighten. A few battery exchanges and you may have to re-wrap the cells, unless you solder-boob them before they get damaged.
Great tip. Thanks for the heads-up.
I finally received mine today after some problems with the mail system.
Wow! This thing is a real piece of engineering, and is a real testament to Thorfire and the thousands of man/woman-hours poured into it by the BLF team. I love the interface, and I can’t wait to test it in the dark. Machining quality is top-notch, clean reflector, well centered LEDs, and butter smooth threads.
:+1: :+1: :+1: :+1:
So that’s four thumbs up from me. (I’m all thumbs when it comes to manual work, which is why I can do that and still have enough thumbs left over to type this. )
Have fun with it, sb! 
I wonder how many they have sold so far. It’s a fantastic light.
I’m ready to jump on board. My last pop can-ish light was a thrunite TN30. Cost way more with less lumens, worked for maybe 2hrs before dying, and thrunite refused to service it because I’d bought it via BLF (the guy sold like hundreds of them, yet still wasn’t factory authorized I guess; anyone have a good host idea for a TN30?). The Q8 looks like a marvel.
Any/all USA Amazon deals seem dead. Just tried m4dm4x’s code on BG but it doesn’t work because it’s on sale! Hopefully it’ll work in few days when Q8 is off sale…
M4DM4X’s code brings it down to US $46.50, vs current US$49.99.
I have more flashlights than I need.
My card is about to change to “cut up” with a*declined* animation.
Just remember at the start of the month to buy plenty of Ramen, then you can buy any flashlight you like….
If you want to live crazy fancy go to costco and get a few bundles of canned chicken and frozen vegies to add.
Also, you can never have to many lights. Just lights that are on standby.
When I tested it for the first time, I used new Samsung 30Q cells that I had never charged. I later tested them to be somewhere around 3.0V. I thought the light was pretty bright then, but now that I charged the cells up to 4.2V the light looks about 50% brighter! 
:sunglasses: I love it.
My only complaint is that strobe mode doesn’t feel very bright. It might just be because the frequency is so high that the full brightness is never reached, or maybe it’s actually a lower power setting. I’m one of those rare few that actually uses the strobe fairly frequently to scare off nighttime prowlers and miscreants, so I’m probably the first to notice.
Q8 arrived yesterday and stay with me for longer. It is great as the need for power and not necessarily a huge range. Interface …. I fell in love. Well, machining is not really the number one, but there is no tragedy. I’ve even taken measurements:
I just jumped on this as well, seems like a very good deal for what you get.
Did a one-stop shop at Banggood for the light, batteries, and charger. Figured the wait for shipping was ok since I caught everything on sale.
This will be my first “big” light other than an old school Maglight, and my first one running 18650’s.
Any important tips for the Q8, or an 18650 newb in general? I read a post that suggested this light doesn’t have reverse polarity protection, is that true? Not worried about myself so much as one of my kids or friends getting their hands on it and doing something stoopid if that’s the case.
The light itself seems like a bargain at sub-$50, but since I had to buy batts and a charger too, it’s effective a $100 light for me and I want to make sure it lasts. :+1:
The gateway thing will probably get me as well. Already thinking about the BLF A6 or another 1x18650 light to compliment the Q8.
^the Q8 has polarity protection to protect the driver, but no ‘official’ protection against inserting 1 or more batteries in reverse in which case they can short against each other. There are still two structural reasons why this is prevented in most cases:
1) battery wrappers at the minus side usually wraps around the corner a bit so that a reversed battery will not make electrical contact with the brass driver ring.
2) in case electrical connection does occur and two or more batteries start emptying themselves through each other, the current will be so high that the springs at the bottom of the battery tube will destroy themselves, at that moment electrical contact will break (and you need new springs).
If you really want to be sure, use protected batteries with over-current protection (a protection kicking in at over 5A should be sufficient because the Q8 draws a bit under 5A per cell, if unmodded).
I would not give this child a flashlight because:
- too heavy and can slip out of the hand
- too strong and maybe the child is blind or someone
- In the max mode he gets very hot and the child may get burned by touching the headlamp or even cause other danger as he leaves the flashlight switched on unattended.
- How to start combining with the insertion of batteries is how it will mix it will make a short circuit on them
For a child, I would choose a weaker and safer flashlight, because Q8 is not a toy.
-Djozz,
Thanks for the thorough explanation! I thought the driver would be protected, but wasn’t sure.
-Komeko,
I would not intentionally give this light to a child. I wanted to better understand the risks if the wrong person got their hands on it unintentionally. Your points are still well-taken in that regard, I’ll keep them in mind (and do my best to keep the Q8 away from anyone who shouldn’t have it).
Because it is a relatively “high draw” light if you run it full out, you should probably commit the 4x 18650 cells to be used specifically with this light and not swapped out with others, especially with any single cell lights.
The reason, as it was explained to me, was that you want the cells to balance out as a set so that they will work optimally together. If you take one of those cells and run it with another light it can throw off the discharge characteristics and alter the number of charge/discharge cycles relative to the other batteries.
Because it’s a powerful light I personally went the protected cell route. I’d rather have the protection then push every last possible lumen out of the light.
I’m not sure I want to actually recommend them quite yet, but at the suggestion of the “vaping” community (I don’t vape but I live right next to a shop) I’ve been messing around with the EBL 18650 (3000mAh 3.7V Protected) cells. I’ve pushed them pretty hard repeatedly and then tested voltage, temperatures, actual runtimes, and so far I’ve been pretty pleased with their characteristics and behavior. There are, of course, several other well known and respected brands out there.
I agree that I would not give this to a child unsupervised, nor would I give it to an adult without at least a minimal safety conversation. I’m not kidding when I say that these lights are getting into actual “power-tool” levels where you have to know safety and respect the tool or someone could actually take some serious and permanent injury. These lights are capable of causing actual retinal injury to the eye, and the combined energy storage of FOUR 18650 cells packed into an aluminum tube would make a pretty respectable bomb under the wrong circumstances.
Thanks Zespectre.
I did read about using the batteries as a set and will buy additional for use in other lights if I get more that use 18650.
I bought 4 unprotected button-top 30q’s with my initial order b/c they seemed to be the top suggestion, but I’ll probably get another set to have back-ups and may go the protected route on those to have options. I also have a vape shop nearby and may check that option out after I’ve educated myself more.
I certainly want/intend to use the Q8 safely myself and around others, so I appreciate the words of caution.
One additional question I have though is that aren’t 18650s the same as what’s typically used in li-ion laptop batteries, powerbanks, cordless power tools, etc? Are the risks in flashlights using them just inherently greater due to the high discharge rates and temeratures?