Need help picking a flashlight and headlight. Need lots of help please (im a Newb)

LED Flashlights – General Info
41

Light bringer hasn't done you any service by talking about batteries that LEAK .

cr123's are pretty much considered old tech and very low capacity . any light that used 2cr123's in them were just burning off excessive voltage beyond the 4 volts or so that the flashlight wants .So you giving it like 6.4 volts means it's just cooking away your battery life because you listened to lightbinger . a primary battery that would be used for long term storage of a light in a very hot /cold environment might make use of a lithium primary and decent eveready AA's are readily available as a replacement for a AA alkaline but you already knew that ...alkalines leak/avoid them is all he meant to say . 18650's don't leak he's only talking about alkaline batteries .

I'd ignore cr123's as a noob and only focus on two batteries . 18650's and AA nimh rechargeable eneloops .

Any light that offers 2 cr123's as an option is usually a very old light .18650's replaced all these old dinosaurs .

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Thorfire VG10 and VG15 ////advice given above is accurate Sofirn owns it and they are good lights .

Anker bolder LC30 and LC90////// wouldn't buy it ,,it's an Amazon created light just too expensive for what it is ..

Nitecore (more expensive??)..//// too expensive for a noob . If you opt for nitecore you do so out of fear ..it's just a name brand light .Buy one if it's deeply discounted / last years model sold cheap or if you know it's a light you want .. same advice goes for any higher end name brand light .

Dorcy- I cant find many reviews, but price seems decent///junk ... with an every once in a while light that makes people here say .. huh .. just junk ..avoid anything you see in the stores .

Something else??

Headlight:

Petzl (have not looked up price yet, but have seen it recommended) Petzl IMHO is crap and HUGELY overpriced .Sold to suckers and people who think they want to become suckers .. wow what a mess . buy one and lose my respect .

Ozark trail 250 (I know, Walmart sucks) HUGE crap

Ozark trail 300 more crap

nitecore?/// yeah if the price is half off ... Illum.com has a half off nitecore headlamp

Dorcy Pro series 200 (with or without a tripod seem like a cool feature)-cant find many reviews, but price seems decent//// sorry it has no specs .. probably a single mode ? a xpg2 and i'm only guessing since Dorcy doesn't want either of us to know .. //it's junk

Dorcy- other series seem like a good price too////junk ..if it had modes the spacing would suck or it would have low freq. PWM.. just don't do it ..buy what people here tell you to buy and avoid all lights that have ever hit a big box store .

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for a headlamp I'd buy a Boruit D10 and a Skillhunt H03...$12 and $30.

If you need to buy in the states you can buy from illum.com or mountain electronics

for a flashlight I'd suggest a Convoy C8 the new one in matte black or sand . and a S2 convoy.

If you buy from mountain you can rest assured he came from BLF and carries nothing but nice lights . i'd say you could confidently buy almost anything he sells and be happy

http://www.mtnelectronics.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=80

42

Hah? For long-term storage, they’re pretty good (>10yrs out). Eg,

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07L6DGCWN/

which a bunch of us got for a steal through vipon.

And good lights won’t just burn off excess voltage, but use boost-buck converters. I’m almost positive the ’32 uses a b-b converter, and I’m almost sure the ’20s do, too.

I’d rather have long-term storage cells be limited in capacity and still have some oomf left in them if I forget the light for a decade or more, vs having even higher-capacity cells that are half-dead (low charge for storage, or stored forever topped-off).

Like I said before, use 18650s when you’re actually using the light, but ’123s when storing it for B’harni knows how long.

43

I can agree with this! Although CR123A’s batteries are seen as good for long term storage, AA rechargeables can be a better option, due to cost over time and the ability to recharge! (you just need to get a charger for it)

Around here we don’t use much those batteries as they are expensive, so it was never a trend.
However, recently a top brand - Olight - released the M1T plus that takes 2 x CR123As: https://www.olightstore.com/m1t-plus.html .
Not denying what you mentioned, but adding that there are still some “top” brands doing this :wink:

44

I think the question becomes:

“how long will the light sit unused between uses?” and “how bad would it be if the you came back 5 years later and the battery was dead (or needed to recharge using a power source)?”

liion 18650s are awesome, but he is asking for flashlights for a “bug out bag”. I take that to mean a bag for emergencies with the essentials packed away until needed in an emergency. If he was looking for an EDC light, I’d recommend an 18650 (or 14500 if he needed a tiny light) all day long.

EDIT:

a parallel to make my point clearer could be food storage for the bug out bag -

An MRE isn’t super tasty, but it’ll last a good long time. In an emergency you’ll appreciate the food even if it isn’t the best tasting.

Day to day I’d prefer a solid home cooked meal, but one of these wouldn’t last more than a couple of hours in a bug out bag.

45

Boaz, thank you for your comments, advice and suggestions.
Couple questions:
regarding headlamps. Thanks for the suggestions. please correct me if i am mistaken, but neither of the two you mentioned take re chargeable AA…?
the Boruit D10 that you recommend, I see that it takes an 18650…but i dont see any other batter options listed. Does it take another battery for back up? AA?
The Skillhunt H03 that you recommend looks like it takes Battery: 1x18650 , 2x CR123A , 2x RCR123A

it sounds like you recommend headlamps that take 18650 and AA. Please correct me if i am wrong, but im not seeing any (sub $30) that take both…?

the wowtek that others had recommended earlier takes the 18650 but i think that is all
The sofirn headlamp that i had found earlier takes the 18650 and the CR123 (it sounds like you do not recommend the CR123), which means that it takes the same as the Skillhunt H03 that you recommended…please correct me if i am wrong as i am new to this.
My thought from reading reviews and others peoples recommendations is that 18650 is a great battery and should be the first line. But that CR123 would be good to stick in a bug out bag, even if they are not efficient and are a little expensive as you said, as they would be a reliable back up battery since they store well…? the CR123 would not be the primary battery.

I appreciate you giving me the 2 specific recommendations on the Boruit and the Skillhunt, but can you please tell me how they would be better or different then the wowtek and the sofirn that i am looking at? as far as i can tell they take the same batteries as i mentioned above

Am i missing something? is there a light that does take the 18650 and also takes re chargeable enloop AA (which im assuming you are saying are better then CR123)?
If not a lamp that takes both, is there a AA one you recommend as it seems like you are saying rechargeable AA would be a good way to go

again, thank and look forward to your thoughts

46

MascaratumB,
thanks for you thoughts.
is there any light that takes the 18650 and the AA rechargeable?
if not, are you saying to get a headlight that takes just the AA rechargeable? if so, do you have a recommendation? most recommendations ive seen so far are for something that takes 18650

47

F0xx,
i think we are on the same page. yes, i think that the 18650’s would be great for the monthly use, but the CR123 would be great to keep in BOB as they store well as you and others have said. having CR123 which may not be as good as a charged 18650 is better then a dead 18650…I think that is what you are saying and yes, that is what im thinking.

Some of the people that have helped are recommending the re chargable AA. are their headlamps that do take the 18650 and the AA, or are they recommending a light that just takes the AA?

48

So far for the hand light im thinking of getting the Sofrin 32a V2 since its highly regarded, takes 18650 and Cr123 and less then $30

for the headlight im thinking of the Sofrin SP40 for the same reasons as that it takes 18650 and the Cr123….

*again, i realize that for daily, weekly, or monthly use the 18650 is much better and less expensive then the CR123. but the option of the CR 123 would be good as it can sit in my bug out bag unused for 10 years without going bad. Does this sound like a good plan?

To those recommending re chargeable AA headlights, are you recommending one that can take 18650 and AA or is it just an AA headlamp? which one specifically

thanks everyone! i feel like ive learned a ton from all of you and still have a long ways to go!

49

Rechargeable AAs are size 14500 and typically NiMH chemistry with a nominal voltage of 1.2V. Eneloop is a good brand. Amazon Basics brand is decent too by most accounts. I think IKEA has some good ones in their brand as well, but I forgot the brand name.

They are most directly comparable to a standard Alkaline AA battery (nominal Voltage of 1.5V, but they drop closer to 1V under load) without the leaky issue, and are rechargeable. I don’t know what kind of standby time you get with NiMH vs Liion, but for a light that takes these your long term storage option could be a lithium AA (you can get these from Walmart even). Remember that 18650 cells are 18mm diameter and 65mm length, and the 14500 sized AA batteries are smaller in both dimensions (14mm diameter and 50mm length). Most lights won’t be able to accommodate both sizes. There are some nicer headlamps out there with good drivers (zebralight, armytek, etc) that can get a good amount of light out of a little AA NiMH/ AA Lithium. They are typically smaller and lighter as well. The great thing about one in this style is that you could run it on regular Alkalines in an emergency if you had access to them. To add more confusion, there are also rechargeable 14500 Liion chemistry cells available (some lights may not support these as they have a nominal voltage of 3.6V) which are basically small 18650s. These would typically increase the brightness of a flashlight that supports them (or runtimes).

The TL;DR for the above is that a light taking 14500 sized batteries (AA sized) you would use rechargeable NiMHs (like the eneloops) for regular usage and a standard Lithium AA (not alkaline!) for the bug out bag.

I don’t have a headlight in this size, so I can’t make a solid recommendation. Note however that a larger (18650) cell will give you longer runtimes at higher levels.

50

The Ikea batteries are called “LADDA” and you’d want the ones with the white label and “2450” designation: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70303876/

I use the ones from Amazon (Amazon basics brand) personally and like them, but I haven’t really tested them for capacity. Where I use them, they keep me from having to buy tons of Alkalines, so I’m happy.

You can find a charger that supports Liion and NiMH, so if you go this route, you won’t necessarily have to buy multiple chargers.

I picked up an XTAR VC4 from Amazon and so far it works well for me with all my cells (NiMH or Liion). Others may have better recommendations here.

51

F0xx, how does this plan sound? im just going to copy and one of my previous posts:

So far for the hand light im thinking of getting the Sofrin 32a V2 since its highly regarded, takes 18650 and Cr123 and less then $30

for the headlight im thinking of the Sofrin SP40 for the same reasons as that it takes 18650 and the Cr123 also costs less then $30.
Between my headlamp and my handheld flashlight i would have only 2 different types of batteries and not 3, 4, or 5…
18650 for normal use and Cr123 for long term storage.

*again, i realize that for daily, weekly, or monthly use the 18650 is much better and less expensive then the CR123. but the option of the CR 123 would be good as it can sit in my bug out bag unused for 10 years without going bad. Does this sound like a good plan?

52

I think it is a solid plan. I don’t know if you can choose emitters on those, but “Neutral White” is typically preferred to “Cool white” if you have the choice.

I don’t know the story with the battery/charger bundle for the 32a V2.0. I think Sofirn cells are usually a good value. For the extra $5 or so it is probably worth it to get that “combo” so you don’t have to wait for cells to ship from elsewhere.

The SP40 uses the short tube for the CR123 batteries, so make sure you have a way of reliably storing that with the storage batteries so you can actually use it when needed

Maybe this goes without saying, but I’d recommend storing the cells outside of the flashlight for long term storage (or with the tailcap loosened enough to break the electrical connection) as this will prevent the flashlight from increasing the standby drain and prevent it from turning on in the bag unexpectedly.

53

I need two handheld flashlights and 2 headlamps.
I am going to make one handheld the sofrin 32a and one headlamp the sofrin sp40.

Now, if I want to go to the AA (enloop or Energizer lithium) platform for the second flashlight and headlamp, as some of you have recommended, can someone give me recommendations for handheld and headlamp? I’m sure there are some here in this thread. I’ll go back and read it all again, but there have been so many options given on so many battery platforms, I’m not sure which are which anymore

54

Kboater,

Found this thread with reviews for AA/14500 lights:

This has tons of info to sort through, but may prove useful for your search.

55

Any torch stored with AA/AAA. Store with battery outside of it if over a couplaweeks.

Li-Ions I usually keep ém complete for a coupla months or so.
Any More. Again Outside of tube.

It’s not worth the mess and inconvenience of doing otherwise
when it’s sooo easy to carry a button light, or Astrolux AO1 etc on pocket keychain…
Doesn’t take more than a coupla 5 seconds to twist off. add battery and twist on again.
Buton/AO1 held in mouth.
Biggest problem is amazing choice nowadays.

Charging. I’ve had both XTar VC4 and 2, for coupla yrs or more.
Keeps all my batt’s up. No problems.

with a little LiitoKala Lii 202 for my 6 x Li-Po cells.
10440 for my Astrolux AO1. BLF/Singfire 348’s,.
and Olight i3T copper.
They all work well on the 3.2v over the 3.5v Li-Ions.

56

I also got the astrolux ao1. It’s on the way. So it can take 10440 or aaa? To be honest, I’m not even sure what 10440 is…?

57

Not sure on 10440 compatibility… if it does, the 10440 would be brighter and rechargeable.

10440 refers to the size of the battery, and when used around here usually means rechargeable lithium-ion chemistry in that size. Just like the 18650’s we were talking about before, the first two digits are the diameter in mm and the second two are the length in mm. If you measured a AAA battery, it would be approximately that size, but the chemistry (and voltage) would be different (AAA NiMH rechargeable @ 1.2V nominal or Alkaline primary @ 1.5V nominal). For that size, you might be better off using NiMH rechargeables since they can be used in other devices where you’d use a standard AAA battery (TV remote, kitchen scale, etc).

Eneloops, Ikea Ladas, and Amazon basics rechargeable NiMHs are decent choices in this style.

If the A01 is compatible and you want maximum brightness, a 10440 is the way to go. I have one of these 10440’s and it has been good to me: Efest 10440 V1 IMR 350mAh

58

10440 is a rechargeable cell the same size as a AAA battery but has 4.20volts when charged up fully . in lights that can take the higher voltage the light is brighter .some lights will accept the 10440's and some lights drivers just can't handle them .Either way a small light like this will get hot really fast on a 10440/ another reason why the light might fail .

Another problem is the light will also run on a AAA so it doesn't know when the 10440 's voltage drops below 2.8volts (almost dead ) .So even if you can run a 10440 you would need to baby-sit it (checking voltage with a meter )and make sure the voltage doesn't drop too low or you'll be prematurely killing the battery. .The light will run any cell down to about 1.2V.... under 2.5volts is really bad for a 10440/ undercharged or overcharged isn't ideal on lithium ion cells that are stored and come shipped at 3.7v.

Lots of AA lights have this kind of problem too but there are many more protected 14500 cells out there ... where there aren't really any protection circuits being put on 10440 cells .

A 14500 is the same size battery as a AA and a 10440 is the same size battery as a AAA. just the voltage is 3 times as high like a 18650.. they charge to 4.2V. and are empty at 2.5-2.8v.

Part of what makes giving you advice is #1 knowing where you are in the world ? #2 If you will buy from overseas and will wait... or want it now and want to buy only locally .? #3 ...People here / at least me can't grasp buying a light and burying it for ten years in a time capsule . So telling someone to buy a nice light and not use it is more than a bit odd for most of us . Probably what would make more sense at least to me is to be boyscout prepared with a halfway decent light and some primary cells .

in AAA,AAA and cr123's. Both eneloop AA or AAA will hold 85% of their original charge for about a year.. and an 18650 may even hold about the same ?? for a year but 10 years is about 300 lifetimes for led lights. hard to even consider why you wouldn't just update or want to play with your bug out toys every couple years or so .

"honey... I'll be in the bunker playing with electronics for the next couple hours....tap the wrench on the hatch if you need me .

59

Hi.
I have a few AO1’s and others. several WON’T run the lithium

Just put in Google, the torch model and reviews……

They’ll tell you.

I have one AO1 on AAA. on table beside my chair.
For anybody not converse with different lights.
ALL my Lithiums except the 10440. Are Li-ION…

My AAA Battery’s, I run Li-PO4. Different chemicals that run at 3.2v
Not the 3.5v. IE Safer. Just check your charger.
Some do. Some don’t.
(I use LiitoKala Lii 202 for mine).

And stick my little battery’s on charger every week while here on comp beside me.
All Currently using battery’s, I charge most weeks to keep them up near peak output.

Batt’s In cupboard.
probably go through them around every 3 months or so and longer.
They don’t normally drop much. Even the LG and Sanyo Lappie cells.

I find I can get away with the Li-Po4 cells at 3.2v more often than the 3.5v Li-Ions.
Seems to make a difference regarding the cooking of.
I wouldn’t recomment Lumintop AAA Tool on them though
Both I tried died in around 1 5th of the first second. Did not like my battery at all.
Latest one sits with a blue and gold one in there.

60

yeah lithium ion and lithium primaries are a bit confusing

the primaries are 1.6v ..maybe a bit higher ..usually a direct swap for a Alkaline or a Nimh rechargeable like an eneloop .

lithium ion cells are 4.2v -2.5 v and come in 10440(aaa) 14500(aa) 16340(cr123) 18350,18500,16650,18650,26650, 21700 and others

Size of an 18 650 is

18 mm across

65 mm high

and 0 might mean cylindrical or round not flat

protected / with a protection circuit added ... like a circuit breaker in case of a short .. adds to the length and may not fit in every light .

The most basic light to suggest to almost anyone is a AA light but leds are so bright these days and power hungry ..to get there an 18650 is really the next most logical answer. The AAA is pretty much distained by most people here since it has only a third of the capacity of a AA....and a AA has about a quarter capacity of an 18650 ..and the two cr123's have less than 40% capacity of an 18650.