Xtar doesn't make 26650's. They rewrap and add circuitry just like Trustfire does. Trustfire flame 26650's test well, although protection kicks in rather low for a 26650. Oh wait, does the Xtar 26650 even add protection? Looking at HKJ's review, it looks like all they do is rewrap and nearly double the price. You might as well get a King Kong 26650 button top.
I realize that!!They manufacture them. Orbtronic, Cytac, Eagletac AW ect,donāt make the ACTUAL cell either!!! Panasonic does,The point is buying proven quality and products,not the JUNK and inconsistency of TRUSTFIRE!!!
Show me a review that shows inconsistent results for a real Trustfire flame.
You bought a wrapper. Nothing else. Xtar does not make the cell inside. They didn't even make protection for that cell. You could have bought a Trustfire flame 26650 and removed the protection like some members here do. Paying for a premium rebrand is worth it if they add good protection circuitry, otherwise you're wasting money being a brand snob.
The Xtar 26650 4000mAh does not have protection. I do not need it for the particular Light I am using it for,the light will get dimmer. If I ignore that[which I never had,it just shuts off at 3V.
I am not wasting time and energy proving anything to you!!! Buy what you want LEFTEYE!!
I don't have to prove anything. The reviews you ignored already proved that. So that's one advantage of big brands. You get a solid choice even if you don't want to bother with reviews. If you want to pay about half the price, then you check out the reviews. Yes, I will buy what I want PUSSYKAT1226, while paying less for the same performance.
its gettig so bad now with these bad counterfeit made-in-china batteries we will soon see fake fake cells, and fakes that have a used disposable alcaline inside them.
Dude, Chill Out.
You Think, and better yet, āHopeā they are Real,Genuine Panasonic.
But really, how do you REALLY KNOW?
You donāt.
Any brand Can and Is cloned/rebranded/faked, call it what you want.
All we can do is buy from reputable vendors and hope for the best.
I have plenty of Trustfire flames that work just as well as my Panasonics, Samsungs, and Sanyoās.
To make a blanket statement that ANY brand is junk, just by the name, is either foolish or ignorant, you choose.
Just my honest veteran opinion, your mileage may vary 
Thanks,
Keith
Iām on your side leaftye, there is nothing wrong with the TrustFire flames, especially the ā3000ā cells, provided you donāt buy them from ebay or some other lesser known source. THE SAME can be said for big name brand cells. When you order from ebay, good luck, you may be getting old laptop pulls, or fakes.
Ultrafire or any other random āfireā is a whole different ball of wax.
http://lygte-info.dk/review/batteries2012/Common18650comparator.php
https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/5969
I am curious how the new TrustFire 3200 cells do, I havenāt ordered any yet, and donāt really intend toā¦ because I can get Panasonic cells for almost the same price.
Thanks. I totally recommend buying from good vendors too. The better vendors will make sure a fake batch of cells never get shipped to their customers, and slightly lesser vendors will at least make things right after the sale.
Agreed about Ultrafire. They're extremely inconsistent, and that's what makes them bad. Poor capacity and exaggerated capacity isn't a big deal if you do the research and know what you're getting, and this is again where buying through a good vendor makes a big difference.
How do āIā know the batteries are āgenuineā and ārealā? Easy.
First I only buy from reputable vendors here in the States that I have used for many years. I NEVER bargain hunt for batteries (no eBay or Amazon) or order from overseas vendors. Never. Thatās where most of the problems come from. Plus, should a warranty issue ever raise itās ugly head, dealing with overseas vendors or eBay/Amazon usually becomes a nightmare pretty quick and immediately negates the ādealā you got on the $5 battery you bought. Look on the forums. The horror stories are all over the place. Again, I donāt look for bargains. Not worth the potential headaches.
Second, I test every battery I get on my ICharger 3010B before it ever get used. If it doesnāt meet āspecā it gets sent back. Fortunately that has yet to happen. The good news is that out of the 120 or so AW batteries Iāve bought (ALL my ātubeā type lithium batteries are AW), only one 18350 has failed and that was because I abused it. It was My fault and the vendor still replaced it. Pays to buy from known good vendors.
I can hardly believe folks here are once again (really - AGAIN??) arguing about simple stuff like batteries. Next you will be arguing about what kind of gas to put in your car. Sheesh!!
Someone correct me if Iām wrong but 4 years ago when I was getting into lights the only good 18650 batteries widely available were AW, Redilast, and Trusfire Flames. Lots of people bought TF Flames because the were half the price of AW and Redilast. Had a bunch of 2400mah 18650 flames and they were great batteries, never had one fail, tomorrow I am selling my last TF flame to someone buying a light.
Edit: Want to talk about cheap batteries, you know those unprotected baby blue Ultrafire 18650 batteries, I had probably 35 to 40 of those that I got free when purchasing WF139 chargers, about $10 to $12 for the charger and two batteries. Well I have some cheap friends who only want the cheapest and thatās what they got, of all those batteries only 3 have failed in the last 4 years. I also used a bunch of them even though I had the flames. Sure the capacity was low but they work. Two of the three failures were by the same friend who uses the light every day and always runs the batteries until they are dead despite my warnings.
thanks for warning us about these bad fakesā¦
TF flames from fasttech are ok if you are on
a severe budget but spend a little extra for
japanese or korean and you will be glad you didā¦
the price difference is too small to ever buy chinese batteries
Just a heads up, I canāt guarantee if those are authentic TrustFire batteries. I have a digital copy of the TrustFire catalog provided by a rep, and I canāt find the 3200 mAh 18650ās in thereāthough it may be out of date.
Iāll do a little digging.
Edit: while of course I canāt promise that the DX batteries are authentic TrustFire products, I can say that TrustFire does offer a 3200mAh cell.
this seller is yallstore.
someone said that they were the same
as T-mart.
i seem to remember this from some other thread, also.
so āt-mart is selling counterfeit batteries on ebay.
My Notebook says TMART = EBAY hi-etech yallstore, camping survivals.
its china remember?
anything popular on the market gets copied.
sometimes i wonder if all these knockoffs of the original(surefire) were created for the chinese battery recycling industry.
quality is whatever the feedstock of the factory is the day yours cells got relabeled.some days its slightly off spec new cells and some days 10+ year old totally used up laptop packs.
i am firmly in the avoid whateverfire batteries period! camp.
ever notice the explosion reports are almost all whateverfires?
being in the service industry its true i mostly see the defective examples of what i service but several vape customers have come in complaining of short runtime on whateverfires from new.as in 3 cycles new.
never tested one that showed even 1/3 marked capacity.properly tested laptop salvage cells solve the issue every time.
just checked some 3000mah flames purchased from buyincoins last year. i knew they were fake, but never checked the protectionā¦ and it seems they are the same batch 
thanks for the notice!
the diameter was larger than real flames also
I have had good experiences with Trustfire 3000mah āflamesā (I prefer ālightningā as there are not really any flames on the wrapper). I found the same performance for the six I own as HKJ demonstrated in his excellent review (Test / review: TrustFire TF18650 3000mAh (Flame)) and they were cheap. However, my previous supplier was out of stock when I wanted another pair. I thought I would try some of the ā3200mAhā type from another seller. They were marketed as protected.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/2-PACK-TrustFire-TF18650-3-7V-3200mAh-Rechargeable-Li-Ion-Batteries-/221615083465
After a ridiculously long delay in posting, they arrived and I discovered there is no protection circuit or nipple top on these cells.
I have not opened or tested the cells yet, however the metal ends do not match those from Panasonic, Sanyo or Sony that I have pulled from laptop packs. They do weigh about the right amount for good cells. I may open them and test them if the seller will ever communicate with me and resolve this matter.
So Aussies, stay away from Vapekid ebay seller, allegedly of Dandenong. They are selling fraudulent trustfire cells.