I love the size and pocketability of the Convoy S series, but I’ve found that a throwy light is much more useful to me than a floody light.
Obviously for true long throw I would want a larger head, like a C8 or bigger. But what would get me the best throw in a narrow-bodied light? I’m assuming it’ll end up with a dedomed XP-G2.
Rules:
I think this is outside your size parameter but I had a uniquefire f3 with xpg2 on copper direct drive, threw nice for it’s size.
LOL, so you want a throwing flashlight whith all the physics parameters that are required for throw ruled out! What you are going to get is a throwy non-thrower right on the edge of your set limits: a 30mm head dedomed XP-G2 smooth reflector flashlight at 3.6A current.
Yeah exactly!
Basically the question boils down to this:
Which tube light has the deepest smooth reflector?
Tip: the Supfire A6 head is 28mm. Quality is good and mods are easy
Hi PD,
I have the silver version of this: Black CREE Q5 1200LM 18650 LED Flashlight
I changed the driver to Mountain Electronics Qlite 8*7135 with the modes I like as well as their Noctigon copper star with an XML2 U3 1A. I’ve been quite satisfied with it. I can stand on the sidewalk and clearly see all the way back to my backyard fence (100ft) and beyond to the next house. I’m not recommending this particular seller but it is a good representation of the light itself. It does get hot on high and personally the next one I’ll maybe back down on the 7135 chips but for short usage the high is quite impressive. And it is certainly cheap enough:
Host $3
Driver $4.20
Star $6.89
Nitecore P12 throws 232m stock
I must agree, I have the p12 and it has a very tight hotspot, narrower than my Supfire A6 while having a smaller diameter reflector. It makes me wonder if the reflector is so much better or that the led in the A6 can be focussed better than it is now...
I doubt that the p12 can be easily modded though, if at all you would want that with such a nice light.
The nitecore sounds very nice, but that’s out of my price range. I’ve never spent over $30 on a light (before modding), and I hope to keep this one around $20. Besides, buying an expensive light and using it as-is takes all the fun out of it. I want the joy of modding and being able to say “I made that”
If Nitecore can do it with such a small head (and an XM-L2!), others should be able to as well.
P12 is a very nice and solid light indeed. I like it better than EC25, way better than EC21. It can be had for ~$40 I heard……
The stock lights will give you about 10k-15k at this size (XML2, ~ 1000lumens). I ordered nitecore EC21 (XPG2 ~400lumen) hoping it will seem more throwy than P12. Even I knew before hand that it has less kcd than P12, I was still quite disappointed to see the beam of EC21 was weak and not perfectly clean beam due to the red LED.
On the other hand, TomE built me a P60 dropin with dedomed XPG2 1A long time ago. It can do ~40kcd. Maybe that is where you want to look at.
The other option would be the new Olight M20SX javelot with a dedomed XML2 and 800Lumens. It is rated at ~32kcd.
I got a nitecore EC20vn with dedomed XML2 recently. It was quite impressive. I don’t have exact number for it but it seems to do 30-40kcd. Of course it is a little pricey.
Have you tried a narrow-angle TIR optic in your Convoy light?
10 degree here: https://www.fasttech.com/products/1606/10007055/1574902-21-2-12-6mm-pmma-optical-lens-for-cree-xm-l-t5-t6
It's cheap enough to try just to see if you like it...
I’ve got a bunch of Convoy S lights, and also the aforementioned Nitecore P12. Everything about the P12 is pretty awesome, except the tint. And it’s bad enough that I never use it except as a benchmark to compare modded lights to.
If you’re really after as much throw as possible in a small package, I’d go with a P60 and pick a host with a smooth simple shape.
I’ve got 4 different P60 hosts, and they’re all too chunky for what I want.
Does anybody know if the EE A6 has a deeper reflector than a Convoy S?
I have built several S6 lights with a XP-G2 dedomed smooth reflector— 3.6amps UCL lens—pretty nice throw—better than a Vihn modded P12 dedomed bumped to 4.2 amps—- I also just did a XTAR B20 pilot about the size of a P60 much better heat management nice internal shelf— XM-L2 dedomed fet driver—throws in line with a domed C8 running 4amps
That Xtar B20 looks like it might be a winner if you could find it cheap enough. Looks like they’re around $40 or so.
As far as P60’s… I was thinking something like this that doesn’t have a bunch of stuff sticking out that would make it uncomfortable in a pants pocket.
I appreciate threads like this and I’m pretty interested to see what the OP ends up with. I’m of the opinion that EDC’ing AA or AAA lights seems somewhat pointless to me if you’re already carrying a cell phone with a camera flash. If I’m going to carry a flashlight, I want it to be MUCH brighter than my cell phone flash - so pretty much minimum of 500 lumens at the absolute least. I don’t need something with a ton of throw everyday though, so I could see where a 300 lumen light with a lot of throw would be useful for some folks. If I need something that’ll reach out further, I just toss a EE X6 or C8 or P60 light in my briefcase or jacket pocket. Any of those three with a dedomed XM-L2 or XP-L can manage fairly decent throw. I have yet to be satisfied with any of my XP-G2 builds so far, but given that LED’s popularity I figure I’m doing it wrong somehow or another.
That’s all to say that I think lights like Convoy’s S series are the perfect size for EDC lights. Anything smaller just isn’t bright enough to justify carrying it in my opinion.
I found 3 Xtar B20 on Amazon for $30 each with a nice holster free shipping—you could most likely mod the stock driver but I just go ahead and use a fet driver—I like picking my own modes no memory and so forth
Thanks for the options guys, but the B20 is quite a bit bigger than what I want. Xtar has it listed as 34.5mm diameter head.
No. The EE A6 uses an XPL for throw and power. Beam profile is good and very much like P12 and PD35 for lots less. You are right that not even the Supfire A6 is like the EE A6 or Convoys.
My suggestion:
Can be done for about $20. Hell...you could even ask Simon to give that configuration sans the dedoming.
How about a Uniquefire M9? Smaller than a C8 and the reflector is pretty deep.
This one has a very deep reflector and excellent build quality. Sadly they screwed up the reflector design so it doesn’t actually focus or throw very well in stock form. Might have modding potential though.