its not very noticeable outside, especially by itself, check indoor against a wall, or get a a4v2 or v6 to compare, you will notice it immediately
thanks again to everyone. i did learn that the FT03 (XHP50.2) had a bit of a wider (floodier?) beam than the SST40, but would probably light up an area 200/300 yards away. i’m probably going to get something for pure throw with a tighter beam later on as well.
it would not. the beam might reach that far, but its not usable light at all.
Good luck with making up your mind, and don’t forget to post a picture on this thread of your new flashlight when it arrives.
how far of a usable beam do you believe it has?
well to be fair, a lot of it is limited by your own vision, but personally i use it for 80-100 meters tops for spotting skunks and raccoons while walking my dog off leash. i would use v6 for up to 150m ish, if i want significant improvement and be able to see 200-250m, id have to use k1. anything after that, even if it does get lit up, i cant see that far with my eyes, so its not usable regardless.
Yes it is downright diminutive for a 26650. Really very nice especially if you like cool white beam, Much smaller than FT03.
a4v2 even smaller! and honestly, even though they are rated at different kcd, when i used both side by side, it didnt feel too much of a difference at all.
Keep in mind (and be wary) when anyone mentions “usable spill”. Up close, that’s fine. A football field away, that’s a Bad Thing.
Especially flinging 2000 lemons out the front, sure, a lot of light gets to the target, but a whole bunch of those lemons lights up the ground immediately in front of you, washing out everything else. Now you’re squinting past the daylight on the ground in front of you trying to spot the barely-lit target waaaaaaaaaay out.
Lookit any beamshot of a thrower lighting up a tree 1000yds out, but lighting up even brighter the trees just off to the sides and the ground in front.
200yrds works fine. Used mine many times over this distance. Verified using a distance calculator.
The tree is exactly 200 yards from the camera and looked better in person.
300 yards would be pushing it, but as you can see plenty of light at 200 yards, so it has more range in it.
Ok, now I’m fully convinced that I’ll need more than one light! In addition to the FT03 (XHP50.2), I’m probably going to purchase a tighter beamed distance thrower. Any recommendations on the choices below or anything else for that purpose?
Convoy L21A with Osram KW.CULPM1.TG
Convoy M21C with KW CULPM1.TG
Convoy C8+ with KW CSLNM1.TG
Or any of these with the SST40
Astrolux® FT03 - SST40
The L21a is going to give you the most throw, I have one and it is amazing! However the c8+ does beat it in terms of throw to size ratio.
If you don’t mind another FT03 sized thrower than you should definitely go for the L21a.
well, either thats not 200 yards, or google map is wrong, cuz the street i live on is supposedly 500 meters, i live pretty much in the middle ish, so distance to either end should be 200-250 give or take, and 180 meters roughly = 200 yards. and if i were to shine ft03 xhp towards the end of the street, i can barely see the house lit up, i can see the reflectors reflecting back, but i will not be able to distinguish between a dog and a raccoon…
also, that beam in your picture doesnt even look like ft03 xhp, thats pretty thin, theres no way xhp will stay that thin that far out.
I’ve got an L21a on the way too.
You are definitely going to enjoy it!
here’s picture comparison between FT03 XHP50.2 vs catapult V6 for rings:
you probably cant see all the full rings in the picture, but lemme describe it to you, if hotspot brightness is 10, and where the light do not shine at all is 0, this is what they look like
FT03:
hotspot = 10 > thick gradual spill ring = 9 to 6 > thin ring = 7.5 > thick spill ring = 5.5 > very thick spill ring = 4 > thick dark ring = 0.5 > thick light ring = 1.5 > dark ring = 0 > very thin light ring = 1.5 > darkness = 0
V6:
hotspot = 10 > alllllllllllllllllllll smooth spill = 5 > darkness = 0
although its worth noting that these things are a lot less noticeable outside when you use it in the dark, so, its not a deal breaker by any means
Amutorch TC500 with SST40. This is the best way too keep a tight spot that is useful, unlike with most of the pencil-beam Convoys (although the C8+ is one of the best throwers anywhere)…
Thank me later!
And welcome! 
Well if I’m honest I think the distance calculator said 197.6 yards. But I reckon that is close enough to 200 
I also know the distances as I shoot here a lot and have used a range finder on them.
I also wouldn’t say the beam is a pencil beam. It is lighting up a large tree and the ground.
Here is my Noctigon KR1 with the Osram W2 LED:
FT03 XHP50.2:
The KR1 is certainly a ‘thrower’ in beam profile. And performs very well, but it is small. The FT03 with the XHP50.2 will out throw it in real life and records quite a bit higher Lux readings when I’ve tested them. The published cd figures also support this.
I will concede that there are a few rings in the XHP50’s beam, but you can only notice them if you look for them on a white wall. Using it outside and especially in a rural setting you will not notice them at all.