Hi, this may be a less specific question. Been looking at getting first 18650 light, single battery to start with. No specific nor ‘mission critical’ requirement, just wish to get something “nice and trendy”. 
Looking at some commonly discussed flashlights, SRT7 looks nice.
Also, SRT5 and PD35 looks to be close contenders (between them, but not with SRT7) on paper, I guess.
Now, if given the choice of only ONE flashlight:
[Q1] What would be the consideration, if someone were to choose SRT5 over SRT7?
[Q2] Between SRT5 and PD35, which one would seem more appealing?
I hope the questions make sense. Thank you very much!
SRT7 all the way.
My reasoning? I’m never going to use something that big as an edc, so I may as well get the biggest (and best) one. It has the highest output and the most throw. 23kcd is about the same as a Skyray King which is quite reasonable.
And if you take price out of your considerations, the SRT7 just sh*ts all over the SRT5 & PD35 in every way possible.
Between the SRT5 and PD35 I’d probably get the SRT5, just because of the infinitely variable brightness function. They’re both very similar apart from the magnetic ring on the SRT lights which I like a lot.
Thank you for the thoughtful advice, Slewflash. And I guess, for flashlights only the sky is the limit. But for actually choosing and getting the flashlights, well, wallet size is the limit!!
And If I may add another question: given the similar price range, would there be other options (apart from SRT7) worth considering?
What are your preferences?
Honestly, I don’t know. I go by the nice product pics, specs, and reviews found on popular forum threads. I try to aim at single 18650, first lock in SRT7, then keep looking around for what I feel like comparative units. For example, the various ArmyTek’s are selling at the price range. Then, my SC52 would sorta point me towards SC600 MKII. Then, the head size of SRT7 reminds me of reading some discussions about the head size of Klarus XT11. Perhaps, I am just clueless??
Well if you don’t really know what you want, I suggest not getting the SRT7.
Get something cheap like an ultrafire or something. It’ll come close to the output and have quite nice build quality. If that satisfies your needs then you’ve just saved yourself like $100.
I know this because my cousin has no clue about torches, and when I showed him my TrustFire 3T6 he was totally blown away. He could not fathom how such a powerful light existed. Then I brought out the SRKing and blew his mindhole again. I repeatedly blew his mind by bringing out my P60s, Shocker and TN31.
Unless you actually need everything the SRT7 offers, you can afford to settle for a much cheaper alternative and in most cases not compromise on quality. For example take a Solarforce L2M + 18650 cell + AR lens + XML2 drop in. That’s about $47 right there and you get 2 batteries. You’ll get over 1000 lumens in a similar light.
Unfortunately I’m not very knowledgeable in smaller lights so I can’t recommend much since you’re only looking at single 18650 lights.
But you will get more useful replies when you make your preferences more specific, since there’s basically a torch for every use.
Thank you for the explanation and suggestions. If I were to put some sort of logical reason (or excuse) for why I need the flashlight, it would be for walking around the suburban residential streets at night… as some exercise, and chance to put those lights to use ;).
Wow, this whole Solarforce world is completely new to me! Thank you. Now trying to learn more about them, starting from this thread, and will walk through more of them, before start posting newbie questions