I had no idea finding “the right” flash light would be this hard. :~ So many options to choose from, so many things to learn. I wanted to try and get it right on the first purchase, so I spent hours reading over reviews and commentary on the forum and tons of searching to learn about the different Cree specs, Battery specs…etc. All I really want is a good super bright light. I have many of the el-cheapo 9 LED quick lights and one that has 21 LED’s. I felt it was time for a super light.
Here’s what I ordered, I hope it is a good first torch.
Total cost for my new toy was just under my $50 arbitrary budget. I was prepared to spend more, looking at some $32-$50 flash lights, but decided this one was the best for me based on research and reviews.
Thanks to all who posted such great reviews of all the wonderful flash lights I considered.
Special thanks to the following members for their reviews on the products I chose.
Flash Light: millerman, JL
Batteries: HKJ
Charger: HKJ
When everything arrives in a few weeks, I’ll post my comments.
Thanks for the great comments. I already have one hobby (my Miata PRHT and the miata.net forum) but yes, I doubt this will be my last flash light purchase. I’m sure I have a lot to learn from you all. I bought that particular charger mainly because it will do the larger batteries, you know, for when I buy a flash light that uses the 26650 batteries
I found this site [ http://flashlightwiki.com/Cree ] very valuable and helped me get one of the brightest LED’s for the money. I was all set to buy one of the XM-L T6 flashlights and found the XM-L2 U3 LED offered a little more efficiency (brightness) at the various mA levels. Once I read the reviews of prior owners, I decided that would be a good flash light for me.
Fasttech:
Received notice of shipment on Monday afternoon. :bigsmile: Shipment origin is Malaysia, so I can expect the batteries to take some time to arrive. Malaysia Post shipment details are sparse at best. Really no different than anything else I’ve ordered from overseas.
Tmart:
Received notice of shipment today (Wednesday), but the notice indicated actual shipment started yesterday (Tuesday) Also, the notice indicated the shipment originated from :quest: New Jersey :quest: :bigsmile: Somehow I got the idea this would come from somewhere in Asia.
Time Location Activity
2014-03-25 05:32:00 North Brunswick, NJ, US Picked up by Shipping Partner
2014-03-25 05:32:00 Secaucus, NJ, US Arrival DHL Global Mail Facility
2014-03-25 19:17:00 Secaucus, NJ, US Processed
(my order was placed late Saturday night)
I have patience and can wait until everything arrives, but I’m kinda kicking myself now as the flash light and charger will probably arrive a week before the batteries do. :_(
The flash light and charger arrived today. :bigsmile: It looks real nice, about the size I imagined it to be.
Now I have a dilemma. Do I go out and buy a battery locally ($$:money_mouth_face: just to try it out? My two Panasonic batteries are on a slow boat from China.
3 AA’s jerry rigged to it (eneloops)? Driver should be able to carry the extra .3v… Might want to wait for a driver expert to approve/disapprove first though.
You might have an ecig shop around that carries good 18650 batteries. I saw a new one in my remote town just recently.
With the 3 AA’s, if I were daring I would do it the hard way and lay the C8 on its side, place each AA in series so the first’s positive is touching the positive contact of the c8’s driver, hold a wire on the negative of the last battery and touch the threads on the c8’s battery tube. This is just to see it throw out some light, not to really be capable of pointing it at something.
Or you could make a temporary battery pack and pretty much do the same thing
Or you could use a c8 battery tube extender (I know several people use a C8 w/ a 105c driver, tube extender and 3 AA’s).
Thanks to unknown00101’s suggestion , I found there was a DFW Vapor store a few miles away. That place was busier than I thought it might be. I don’t smoke, so I had no idea about all this E-Cig stuff.
Anyway, now I am a proud owner of something called an EFest JV-00500 looks like one of these that set me back 6.99 + tax. It had some juice in it, but I put it in the charger to get it to capacity. Can’t wait to try it out in the back yard in the dark. :bigsmile:
Congrats on your first light! Can't wait to hear your impressions! I was going to warn you that Tmart shipping from their NJ Warehouse can be painfully slow (slower than you'd expect for US shipping). Sounds like they shipped to you rather quickly! That Nitecore charger is a good solid reliable choice, just note that it will charge a little slow (esp. larger 26650 cells). Keep Mountain Electronics (BLF's own RMM) in mind, esp. for batteries due to the overseas lithium shipping issues.
to unknown00101’s suggestion , I found there was a DFW Vapor store a few miles away. That place was busier than I thought it might be. I don’t smoke, so I had no idea about all this E-Cig stuff.