The “super thrower” has brought impressive about of light at a reasonable price. I got hooked in 2004 with a Dorcy AAA single 5mm….
Adam said Dorcy which made me think about this one .
Another store bought brand light that impressed lots of non-flashaholics .
It’s a decent light for folks with lots of AA eneloops or people who don’t have lithiun -ion batteries.
A poor mans thrower.
$17.00 is the going rate
That Defiant “super thrower” will probably be hard to beat on a budget. When I looked it up, its specs say about 45k lux and ~$22. It’s easy to find more lumens for that price, but not so easy to find more lux. You might enjoy a Thrunite TN31 though, which gets over 110k lux and can be found sometimes for as little as $110.
I’m probably out of the loop though, since I’m not very into throwers. They’re great, but they also tend to be quite a bit bigger than I want so I don’t pay close attention. I’m still tempted to get a ZY-C10-S though, just so I can have something which looks like a light saber when turned on in smoky or humid air. I’ll call it my Eye of Sauron.
Actually… that gives me an idea. I should totally print the Eye of Sauron on a transparency sheet sized to fit into my brightest zoomie, so I can project the image with a magnifying glass.
Ha! If you ever do that you must post pics!
Regarding eneloops can someone direct me to a decent one on Amazon. I pull it up and see many offerings, dont want to screw up my first time with them and I am using Amazon since I have a 15.00 credit with them to use. I want/need a charger too so… Id like maybe 20-12 batteries since I want to use them in the kids wii remotes if I can too plus my 3 rayovacs 100 lumens (lol) two are in cars….
I looked at these. Please advise if these are bad or ?
Batts and charger: 18 bucks, the 2500mah are 33.00 (I am not sure its worth it for a new guy like me?)
Then I was going to then add 4 more batteries to the cart seperately. Lastly, these things are safe right? I thought i read somewhere that some type of rechargables are dangerous? Pretty sure it was some other type but wanted to check. Thank you so much and please feel free to direct me to anything better, charger, etc…. I am new and want this done right.
Welcome to BLF, Rob. Share your thoughts here in the forums. Congrats to your new FLs.
It looks like you found the right batteries… the 2000mAh 1500-cycle Eneloops are the best all-around NiMH batteries available. The 2500mAh ones are mostly for rapid-discharge devices like RC cars which will go through multiple sets of cells per day.
As far as a charger, I’m very happy with my La Crosse BC-700 which I got for $25 or maybe $30. It seems to have the best balance of features, good charging tech, price, and interface. There’s a more advanced one called a MH-C9000, but it costs a lot more and can take literally hundreds of keypresses for simple operations which would take like 5 clicks on the BC-700.
+1. I have a bunch of those Eneloops and that charger as well.
Thanks, ordered the charger and the eneloops. Also picked up some white top duracells in town that were on sale for fun and learning. I know nothing about any of this so… Thanks again, hope this works out.
PS: Energizer ultimates are on sale at Walgreens for 4.99 4/pk. Just a heads up if you use those batteries and think that may be a good price. I thought the price was great compared to what I am used to seeing.
Welcome Rob. As you have learned, these lights can get out of hand quickly! :bigsmile:
To echo others here, I never hesitate to recommend:
- XinTD C8 from Intl Outdoor: Fantastic all-around’er with very useable combo of flood & throw. My go to light for outside around the house. I prefer neutral white T6 3C, with 5/30/100% 3-mode arrangement.
- SkyRay King: Stunning output! Amazing bang for buck. Makes a great lantern/lamp during power outages. My wife now appreciates the SRK for this, thanks to recent outages. 
- Jacob A60: Cheap super-pencil thrower… not the most useable beam, but fun to play with and spot things at long distances. Not very fancy, but effective.
- Trustfire Mini-01: Love this little dude. Have gifted a couple to buddies. I keep a few around the house/car/bags. Too small to not have a light on me whereever I need it. Dremel the keyring tab off to tailstand.
- L3 Illumination L10, white body, NW high CRI Nichia 219, from sbflashlights: My FAVORITE light at the moment. High color rendering nichia 219 emitters are totally wicked friggin awesome. Light temp and beam quality are exceptional. Will spoil you compared to CREEs. At $25 this is a must buy. They have other body colors available and XPG2 if you want a little more throw, but I HIGHLY recommend the n219.
Hope that helps. Have fun mate!
It’s getting to the point where you can cover most flashlight bases you will encounter in real life by buying lights that use AA batteries. The Eneloops you are ordering will keep you going for years without a likely problem. I just picked up some more at Costco yesterday. Came in a pack with 8xAA, 2xAAA, 2xD cell and 2C cell adaptor shells and a 4 bay Sanyo charger for about $24. Charger is a little slow and you have to charge either 2 or 4 batteries at a time but seems to be ok. You might want to look at getting a Nitecore Intelicharger 4 for about $25. Had one for a few weeks now and I’m liking it. It will charge your AA NiMh Eneloops and will also charge LIon batteries when you take that plunge (which you will. Only matter of time).
If you are wanting to stay with AA rechargeables, there are plenty of lights that will cover most bases. Nitecore EA4 is a lot of light in a small package. If you want more throw, Fenix TK41 is hard to beat although the new EA8 Nitecore looks to be very close. Less expensive and slightly smaller.
My favorite 2xAA light is my Shinigbeam Caveman. Great little light. My favorite 1xAA light is my ZebraLight H51. Very well made and extreamly useful headlight.
With just these 4 AA lights, I can cover just about any and every flashlight need I’m likely to ever encounter except to satisfy my lust for more new lights.
Fenix TK41
EA4
Shiningbeam Caveman
ZebraLight H51
That is true about AAs. Those lights you listed could fill your needs for real life…… But real life is boring, and we don’t come here to serve our ‘needs’ so much as our ‘wants’.
Actually, you could make that list even shorter by replacing/merging the EA4 & TK41 with simply the Nitecore EA8 taking the place of both.
Except the EA4 will fit in a pocket so much easier.
You could probably make that list even shorter, for real life purposes, by narrowing it to just the ZL H51. It’s a very versatile light, and even by itself is a big upgrade from a collection of legacy incandescent lights. Just carry it and a spare Eneloop or two and you’ll pretty much have the dark conquered. (it helps to mod its headband though, for easier EDC and more versatility, by using a shoelace and a piece of double-sided velcro and a cable lock, and perhaps add a magnet for more clip options)
I looked at some of them lights. Too rich for me right now since I have not figured out what I want to fit my needs etc. Still getting there.
The costco pack you spoke of sounds like a good deal to me. I am not a member but I have someone who is, might have to snag one. I did order eneloops and a lacrosse charger. I was unsure of the charger but if I dont like it, or something else is better its easily returnable.
Thanks again for the info
Hi, Rob.
Welcome.
Please don’t be too overwhelmed with this info—already happened, hasn’t it? lol
Well, just remember a couple of things.
1) You are coming into the world of flashlights where the LED is reaching its pinnacle. Those of us who have been around and using duty lights like 19 lumen incan Mags know how few our options were. That said…
2) Being that we are in the golden age of lights, NEVER go cheap on li-ion batteries. I learned this rather recently. Stick with the following brands: (going from budget to most expensive) Hi-Max, Tenergy, XTAR, Sanyo, Panasonic. You’ll get bright lights and longer runtime. Use PROTECTED batteries only for now.
3) NEVER believe lumen quotes on Asian websites: “1900 lumens” this and “2200 lumens” that…forget it. In time, you’ll learn how to figure the efficiency of an LED vs how hard it is driven. Trust member reviews over extravagant money-hungry sites. And beware of scams and “too good to be true” deals.
Your Defiant is your virgin light now. It introduced you to a whole new level of products. You’ll never forget it, and at 45 k lux, not much in the budget realm can outclass it in terms of throw.
Yeah don’t get overwhelmed yet Rob! 
Maybe prices will help my previous recommendations:
The mentioned high output AA-powered lights like the TK41 are great, but tend to be a bit pricier [per lumen] because that technology is still developing/improving… whereas Li-ions are pretty much figured out by now.
Yes - overwhelmed is a understatement. I did not have this much trouble with my degrees lol
Love this defiant light. I take it all over with me to mess with it. Impressive for what I paid. I have much to learn. I have some stuff on order but its mainly to mess around with and learn. TY again, Rob
Thank you. Will take a look. I have added them to my “research” favorites — I have a ton of stuff to read up on. Its doing my head in
Give yourself a little “light of the month” (week?) reward
