I experienced a power outage with no flashlights, and it sucked. So after the storm passed I hopped online and started looking around, found a flashlight on Amazon and bought one! Now… I’ve never really looked all that closely at owning a quality flashlight until now, and oh my was I in for a ride. It’s absolutely amazing, I never knew it could be this interesting and fun…
Anyway, so this is what I got my paws on…
TrustFire XML C8-T6 5-Mode CREE LED 1000 Lumen Flashlight
I’m not all that sure what some of those words even mean (XML, C8-T6, CREE.) So I was hoping for some pointers…
TrustFire: Chinese brand name, seems to be used by just about anyone and everyone.
XML: the type of led emitter (made by Cree)
C8: the style of the light — biggish reflector, so it “throws” light pretty well. (Contrast with a light that’s “floody”.)
T6: the “bin” of the emitter… LEDs get tested for color and output and put into various quality levels. T6 is decent but not the current best.
Cree: emitter-maker-company
1000 lumen: Chinese flashlight lies at their finest. Probably only 600-700 lumens, but it’s still pretty darn good, right?
Dunno what kind of batteries you’ve got with the light, but there’s plenty of reading here on that as well.
Avoid Ultrafire batteries. They're cheaper, but some of them aren't even worth the money. Some people will say to avoid all *fire batteries, but Trustfire batteries with the holographic flame wrapper aren't bad.
I'd advise getting a quality battery straight off the bat. Avoid the safety, capacity and longevity concerns. Look for a protected Panasonic between 2500-3400 mAh at Fasttech. Fasttech is one of the best chinese vendors, and packages usually arrive within 1-2 weeks.
Welcome JeepMan! Nice first purachase! Was your light shipped from the US or from China? I see the light is on sale now and seems like a nice price so just wondering. Thanks.
Welcome to BLF! There's a lot of information around here! (After reading around, please proceed straight to your nearest Home Depot and see if you can get your hands on a "Defiant Super Thrower", you won't be sorry!)
eebowler - It’s being shipped from China, and it seems it might take a month to get here. I guess that’s my mistake, lol and I made another mistake of buying red wrapper ultrafire’s.
I’ll stick with these batteries for a little while and upgrade to Panasonic NCR18650B on fasttech.
Wait until you discover modding. I think most chinese lights have a low mode that's way too bright. With relatively simple work you can get more light out of your flashlight AND get a much lower low.
If you tell us what you want in a light, we can suggest ways to empty your wallet. :D Did you get a charger yet? That's another easy mistake to make too.
Here are a few things that took me a while to learn.
A wider reflector for each LED generally means more throw.
If there's a perfect mode adjustment method (tail cap clickie, side clickie, mode control ring, multiple buttons) I haven't discovered it yet. They all have drawbacks.
Anodized threads mean you can prevent the light from accidentally turning on by slightly unscrewing the tail cap.
3.7V & 4.2V are used synonymously in regards to lithium ion batteries. 3.7V is the nominal voltage, and 4.2V is the full charge voltage.
The 18 in 18650 is the diameter of the battery. The 65 in 18650 is the length. At least that's the way it's supposed to be. Some 18650's are bigger in both dimensions.
Don't touch the inside of the reflector with anything. Leave it alone. It's damn near guaranteed anything you do to try to make it better will make it MUCH worse. Unless you have a vacuum deposition chamber, leave it alone. You don't know what that is? Yep, leave it alone.
Paypal disputes must be filed within 45 days of purchase. Keep on eye on this with unproven vendors.
LED's mount on a pill that can be hollow or solid. Solid pills have metal under the LED mounting board, which is much better at managing heat.
Hey welcome to the forum Mr Jeepman. One pointer I would give is to keep in mind that Chinese lumen claims are highly overstated and you can expect usually about 50-75% of what they claim, sometimes even much less.
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As mentioned above by comfychair http://flashlightwiki.com/Main_Page is a good place to start, make sure you bookmark it.
Welcome to BLF! The C8 is the first real LED flashlight I owned, and it is what got me hooked. Seven months and 60+ flashlights later…
The best part of flashlights is this forum and the helpful people on it. Enjoy.
you learn fast man!!
-Rick