They don’t seem to carry many of the suggested itemd either, would like to possible get the small sun c10…
I did find something that seems to be along the same line as reccomended at shiningbeam http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-215/Romisen-RC-dsh-C8-II-R2/Detail
and this one at tmart http://www.tmart.com/CREE-Q5-230LM-5W-3-Modes-Focus-Flashlight-Torch-with-Charger-Black_p164574.html
Any feedback on these or suggestions for brands one of the US based sellers carry?
Hey Eddie,
That light you listed at shining beam is a WC tint which is cool white. For your application I’d go with something a bit warmer, maybe 3c tint. The cool whites look brighter, but you see better in the woods with the warmer tints. The tmart light listed has a Q5 emitter. Nothing wrong with it, but it’s about five years old now and you can do better. What’s your budget? I’ll try to look around for something else for you in the morning. You may not have noticed, but you got several replies stating they didn’t like zoomies. They are fun to play with initially but the novelty wears off quickly. As noted elsewhere, you really cant go wrong with a C8 style light, like the first one I recommended at shiningbeam. 
Some of these ship from the US warehouse. The Q5 version is real throwy looking and the Xml version has good throw with a lot brighter spill
Here is a link to the small sun mod i did a while back has a few pics of the insides and a few beam shots in the first post.
Not great pics all i have is an iphone camera
Ok, I unsure in your budget so excuse me a little license.
For batteries, contact kumabear on here, he’s your best bet for good batteries cheap in the US.
Chargers I’m unsure on US suppliers but shining beam, battery junction and light hound all spring to mind.
Fasttech may be worth a look for lights as many have reported quick shipping.
I would seriously consider the xintd c8 in a nw tint with priority shipping as i’m sure that will blow you away when you get it in hand.
Once again, I’m blown away with the help the forum members here are providing to a newb. I’m a member of others (not lighting related) and I think this one is tops in this regard.
I know I am being a bit stubborn regarding the zoomie asppect, maybe I can provide some background info I have coon hunted for more than a decade, and until the recent introduction of leds to the category, the vast majority of the lights designed for this sport had focusing lenses / zoomable. Its hard to explain the need if you haven’t been in the situations, but there are times when I need to thread a beam through a small opening to prevent casting shadows onto my focal area, and to just focus attention on a little area, and there are times when I need to flood an area. I may regret the purchase later, but for now I need to stick to my comfort zone with this factor. My concern is that and “thrower” (new term for me) is either not going to have a tight enough beam to do what I need at times, or will be too tight at others, and I don’t want to carry multiples. At the price of some, I may add a C8 later though.
Tint is another new factor for me to consider. The led light I have now has a tint I don’t really like, but I don’t know what it is. I don’t like it because is much “whiter” than the lights I have used for years, which had a yellower tint. When I hunt with others and we are searching the same area, even though my light maybe be much brighter and emitting more light, at times I can see the tree better with their more yellow tinted, more focused light.
As far as budget, given that I am now going to add a new battery type, I will need to increase. I would like to stay around <$40 for the light, lower if possible until I figure out what I am actually doing, then add batteries and charger for another ~ $40 if possible?
That’s certainly a workable budget, what you want is a neutral white led, what you probably have is a cool white. I’m just taking my Mrs to the hospital for an x-ray, but I’ll come back later with some suggestions. And no worries with the help, its why we’re all here. :bigsmile:
I am using this charger and it seems to be doing fine. I have checked my voltages after charging and everything seems OK. This is the same charger repackaged by the seller of the Wicked W400 light which is US-based seller of chinese components lights.
I have some Tenergy 18650 batteries (US based all-battery seller on eBay) as well as a couple Keeppower cells from this seller. Both of these are good, with the Keeppower ones having longer capacity.
OK, dct73 and others have my little brain pondering the c8’s.
The http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-64/L-dsh-mini-flashlight-nylon-holster/Detail dct73 reccomended is in budget, I like the high lumens, and is apparently in a tint I would like, and is US based, sounds perfect, but I am still struggling with the beam I would get.
For arguments sake, lets say its between this light and the small sun c-10, how does the small sun c10’s beam , when zoomed in compare to the romisen c8? Would I get a good tight throw without much shadowing from objects in the forground with the romisen c8? Which would be brighter?
As I have thought about this further, I have used a hand held spot in the past, I am now thinking of this light in that regard, so I can forego the zoomie function if I can get a good tight throw. Reality is this light may never be used for a walking light, because if my primary fails I also keep a small AAA led headlamp in my vest as a back up. I have used a Stanley 520 Lumen led spot and found it to be medicore, there is a company marketing a cordless spot to coon hunters for $150, I found it adequate, but not impressive.
I will relinquish to a c8 thrower for performance if the beam would be as good or better than what I have seen from the LED spots out there (but my ideal would be a zoomie that could do it all LOL).
Did you look at the pics in the c10 thread?
That will help a little maybe. Also with a zoomie you will have basically no spill around the beam/hotspot you will basically just get a square and depending on you distance it will be quite small.
Hopefully this will help some im not very good at xplainin sum times :bigsmile:
Edited- you can put links on here to what you have used and your opinions so that maybe we can tell you with even more detail what you might like
There is this light called sniper hog lights they sale for $150-200. You get get an equivalent from a china seller for around $30 shipped plus batteries. Some of us found this budget light forum from seeking a cheaper alternative to the overpriced BS!
I have no personal experience with XM-L Zoomie but you could have it delivered in time and it has everything you need. It’s not likely to have a neutral emitter and the batteries might be less than you hope for. I probably wouldn’t want to leave it charging in the house when I was gone either. Then again I don’t like doing that with any lithium batteries. But like I said, this would get you started in time for your next hunt. If you can hold off and spend a little more time I think you can find something a little more fitting. I’m referring to three things. Neutral tint emitter. Quality protected batteries. And a decent charger. Most of the stuff we buy around here isn’t available for next day shipping.
PS: A well driven single XM-L T6 will give you about 800 lumens. Don’t buy into all the inflated lumen claims you see on ebay.
apt323 - unfortunately I am “working” now, and I can’t see photobucket pics through our company firewall : ) , I’ll have to wait until I am on my home pc tonight LOL .
I am having a similar experience now with the cost of lights marketed for coon hunters.
I have this spot, http://www.amazon.com/Stanley-SL5W09-Watt-LED-Spotlight/dp/B001U04MCG/ref=pd_sim_auto_1 , I would describe it as marginal in performance, I’m looking for something noticably better. And its now not functioning properly.
Here is a link to a spot light I have seen in use before (scroll down on page) http://www.crystalc2.com/SHOP.html , there is no info on specs really, light is sold by word of mouth and demo’s mostly. Its pretty bright with a pretty tight spot, but I’m not overly impressed with it, cost is also too high.
Here is a link to the head lamp I am using http://www.sunspothuntinglights.com/index.html . Its very bright, and also covers a larger area. Look around in the site, there are pics and videos. The problems is, no focus adjustment, and at times its just not as funtional, hence the need for a hand help light source with a tight beam (also need hand held for shooting the pistol). He now has a new model with a tighter beam, I would probably have liked better, but would still need a hand held light source.
Post a picture of the front of your headamp and I or someone here can tell what led is being used. Looks like it is a bike light that is mounted to helment and is nicely done. Makes me want to make myself one now… :bigsmile: .
I think that you will be very happy that you found this site (looking at the prices of the links you posted) as we all have. The only problem with getting lights from china is that sometimes it takes a month for them to get here. It takes some reading on here to understand the terms of the flashaholics. There are lots of very good reviews on here and it will probably take buying different kinds/styles of lights to figure out exactly what you like. As gords mentioned modding is very fun and will make most lights outperform even the manufactures specs. I have been reading (for over a year)and posting here (since March 2012) for a while now and still spend a huge amount of time reading and posting. These people here are great and will not recomend something they dont believe will fit your needs. I am very much a cheap A$$ i try to do it as budget minded as possible almost to a fault…… BLF will help you get what you want!
OK - I ALMOST make up mind to pull the trigger on a C8 then find this comment on a review on here of the xintd …
_“Looking for more throw probably. I have a cheap zoomie xre q5 light and it throws better and more intense light (although square in shape) when focused. The C8 overwhelms it with loads of light and spill but the the q5 is brighter compared to the c8’s hotspot. ”
_
… and saw this one rated as having better throw http://www.amazon.com/FandyFire-HD2010-5-Mode-Flashlight-Flashlamp/dp/B0095R78JK
???
heres some beamshot links maybe this will help some
viffer750 beamshots - nice pics
rdrfronty lux measurements - very good info
theres even more this is just a starting point
Hd2010 is an absolute monster compared to a c8, the led is severely over driven due to it going direct drive on high, it is a bigger light though, with a bigger reflector.
Listening to what you are saying, I do think you want an aspheric lense. This has just been linked in another thread,
And here’s the thread, to give you some context,
That light comes with a charger and some acceptable cells to, and that company may get it to you in time for your hunt, maybe see if they offer priority shipping.
If it suits, you could then get someone to swap out the driver and led for some more oomph, and if you don’t get on with it, it will have served to give you some direction, and you can use the cells/charger elsewhere.
I’m just playing with a c8 xm-l I put together, and it may be too floody reading your comments, same for the hd2010, they put out plenty of light, but maybe not in the way you need.
In the short term though, that z6 would be a good start, and at $25 with cells/charger, no great loss if its not quite right.
Or leaves plenty if you feel its almost there with a few tweaks.
Hey Gords1001, that’s the same light I linked in my last post. What a co-incidence. Trustfire Z6. Only difference is my link had a higher price 
It’s possible its your link I pinched from another thread, hence posting the thread link, I know little about zoomys other than that I’m not keen, but I thought the suggestion could be usefull and fasttech seems to ship pretty fast in general. Not guaranteed, but mostly pretty fast.
I take no credit or kudos, just sharing what may have been missed.
I did see the pics of the c10 beam shots, thanks. I think ideally I may need something a little larger, but hard to say without out putting to use.
There have been multiple votes now for the same zoomie… could the trust fire z6 be the one FYI, Sears sells this exact same light for $74!!! Couldn’t believe that mark up!!!
I am about ready to accept the fact that I am going to have to buy something, to have a base to start with and make future decisions on my experience, likes and dislikes with it. I am OK with this if I don’t have to spend too much, and that looks doable.
…still got to dig out the camera and get a pic of my current head for those curious about it.
I meant my link in post #30. I don’t care. I don’t read everybody else’s links all the time either. Just thought it was funny we picked the same one. Cheers!