Just wanted to share a couple of observations and see if anyone has more to add. My addiction is currently into remission;-) Not following this as much these days. Just wanted to thank everyone for all the wonderful information that fed my addiction and allowed me to settle on some really nice useful tools / toys without breaking the bank.
Wanted to write this after reading the thread on brightest AAA. Didn’t want to hijack that thread.
I used to think my 3D maglite was bright. What a wonderful tool. Then I found this site;-) So many wonderful people with so much knowledge! Glad you are pushing the limits and discovering what is possible. For me, I don’t feel the need to go to the limits. Here is where I am at today:
1. I always have a Tank 007 EO9 in my pocket. At roughly 100 lumen on high it is even brighter than the 3D mag yet it is always with me. Low allows me to move around in the dark well. (Could have a lower low for perfection.) Wonderful tool that only cost 1/2 as much as the mag. Sure run time is not great but I have a good charger and swap nimh batteries frequently. Always has been there to meet my needs. Keep a lithium primary in the one my wife keeps on her key chain and that lasts a long time for her.
2. I always have a single AA nimh XP-G R5 in the console of my car. Not sure about Lion when we can have weeks of sub zero weather.
3. 18650 lights. Thanks to this list I have a good charger and DMM. A bit of care and single cell lights and I really do think these are safe — though perhaps not for everyone. My coat pocket always has a C8 or P60.
4. I fell in love initially with a TrustFire R5-A3 with a 14500. That is still an amazing light but lately I haven’t been carrying my geek pouch so it has lost some of its utility. However, at roughly 300 lumen this is a great amount of light.
5. The C8 is my current favorite and I think is probably the best all around light that is easily pocket-able. Some day I would like to have one of Eric’s modded drivers as with a really low low this would be the ultimate for me. I like my 3A one but frankly the 2A one is truly good enough. Anything over 300 lumen is typically plenty bright for me. It is fun to push close to 1000 but not something I typically need or use. The fact that a single 18650 can put out like a 2D mag light for more than 24 hrs is amazing to me. Using it at that “low” setting is very comfortable and where it gets most of its usage. Having the ability to have much more light when needed is what brought me to the light in the first place. I really really enjoy that but it is not were it is used the most.
6. Some day I may pop for something like the UF H3? (18650 headlamp with rampable driver). That would be another incredible tool.
Are there any breakthroughs in the past year that should make me reconsider this? Currently I am very happy with my setup other than having better drivers than the ones that come with our budget lights.
I am admiring your fiscal restraint! But glad that you found some tools that really fill and fit your needs and requirements.
I would highly recommend one of Eric’s modded drivers in a C8 - the transformation (but as you say, you are not a big lumens guy) is very noticeable. On the lower end, the matchlight level is equally useful where it is called for. You sound more like a dark woods guy. I also have a set of his P60 drop ins with a very warm tint, which is stunning and some people think I am running a HO incandescent. (Not sure he is doing those right now as apparently there are some health issues he is hopefully recovering from.)
What I found is that I keep returning to the same 2-3 lights (my EDC) despite having some neat (though nothing really high end) lights I carefully read up on in BLF. Those others would be my trailer queens…some are still in ‘hiding’ from my better half. She doesn’t understand at all.
I can’t think of any breakthroughs unless you are looking for massive walls of light or extreme throwers…the everyday lights just get nicer and nicer and more clever and well thought out UI and higher end machining, etc. Others will no doubt fill you in.
I use my c8 daily, nw emitter, 2.8a 3 mode driver, its a brilliant work light that can be beaten about. I’m really getting into my edc’s, one of my favorites is my trustfire t2 with xp-g 4c and 1.7a nanjg driver (again 3 mode no blinkies).
Unfortunately, I build most of my lights now, there are precious few that just get bought and used (a mark of real budget light’s, their just really operational hosts, and only finished when I’ve worked them over) a favorite is a uf-v3 with xp-g2, very useful tiny thrower, feels smaller than a c8 (same head size) but an awesome reflector coupled to the xp-g2 makes for a very usefull light that at 2a on high, uses very little power to do the job. If you can solder, I emplore you to build yourself one, you won’t regret it.
I’m not great with a soldering iron but I reckon I am going to have to try it out one of these days. Need to find some time to read up and find the driver I want. The longer I think about it the easier my needs are. 3A high, 50, 25, 5, and 1. 5 modes like I have no only no blinky. Could be nice to have something like holding for a second engages blinky. The strobe would make a great self defense weapon but thankfully I live in a safe place.
Just downloaded/programmed my first driver tonight!! The investment is little - literally, you can get the USB programmer for like $4-5 at FastTech (didn't use this one yet though), the 8 pin clip for $6-8 on ebay. I downloaded the std luxdrv 0.30 version, tested it on the bench - working. I've programmed in C for like more years than the age of my college grad kids, so, not a big deal for me there. Easy to change modes the way the driver is written - it does have a low low standard, but looks easy to change to however many modes you want and eliminate the strobe and beacon modes if you like too! This will be great!! Only problem is tearing apart my lights, pulling drivers to reprogram them, or replacing KD V2's with Nanjg's. I'm definitely doing my mod'ed C8 (close to 1,000 lumens) and mod'ed XinTD (1,100 lumens) - both just have the std lo/med/hi now, but always wanted the moonlight low in them, and maybe a strobe. If you make the strobe the last mode, you never have to see it because mode changes always start with the first mode - interesting idea - Dr Jones explained it pretty well in one of his driver threads. It's mode memory, but when changing modes, you don't start with your current mode, you start with the first.
<$23 for amazing light in a roughly 3 cell maglite-sized package
With me shining from 200 yards away, my son said he could easily look for something dropped in the grass. From my end, I could easily see him walking around at that distance. And I could see individual trees in a park at over 300 yards (against grassy background).