I am pretty new in the high output flashlight world, and wanting some suggestions for a super long thrower, at a budget price. I have been buying blindly and it is getting a bit pricey to find out how well (or not so well) a light will shine. I have a really bright light in the Trustfire 3800LM 3 emitter light I just received, but it does not have near the throw I would like. Also have an excellent zoomie that will light up 250 yards fairly clearly but, I am talking seeing 400 or 500 yards fairly clear, if there is one. Fixed or focusing beam either one, 18650 or 26650 cells, and thanks in advance for any suggestions.
The longest throwers at budget price are custom made.
Your Trustfire likely does not put out 3800 lumen but more like 1200-1500 lumen, and a triple emitter light will always throw less far than a single emitter light of the same head diameter. To get a feel for what a good thrower looks like you can buy a Jacob A60. The beam might prove unusably narrow and it uses a somewhat outdated XR-E led but in throw this flashlight is still very capable, the spot brightness is ~55kcd. It is $12.59 at gearbest: http://www.gearbest.com/led-flashlights/pp_15296.html. There is not a budget light that throws much further than the Jacob, and certainly not one that is that cheap.
When you start modding a light, that is a different story. There is a group buy going on for a Uniquefire UF-1504 aspheric light (a bit massive and heavy flashlight) that can be tuned to 400kcd : https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/32259
Oh, and if you want something smaller, a uniquefire t20 can go past 600 meters with an XP-G2 and around 4A.
If you don’t have to tools or skills to modify something yourself, PM me I have various modified versions of both lights, as well as some fixed reflector lights that will throw the distance you’re wanting to hit.
Jacobs A60 and it's (arguably superior) nemesis, the Forest Tiger 550, the Olight SR52 and M2X Javelot, and the MaxToch lights (M12, M24, and 2X) to name just a few I recommend.
I’ve been messaging him back and forth. Want to see if everyone else is thinking about his problem the same way.
By my thinking he needs at least 300kcd. That would give him about 1.25 lux at 500 meters. I think we’re all too used to just looking at throw to .25 lux, and to really be useful it needs to be at least 1 lux.
Try to click for purchase, you will get a pop up “not enough product”
They need to remove the product from the page, but they don’t care as having it there drives traffic, clicks, BS, etc.
If you want budget thrower… I suggest look into smallsun T08 as it is easy to mod with several instructions on how to on BLF…
Or you could just get STL-V6…great thrower in stock form with budget price…it pretty much beat any budget thrower in stock form