I’ll add my 2¢… Hugsby XP-1 (AliExpress, GearBest). A nice, moderately throwy AAA clicky with XP-E that can be had for under $4. Smooth threads, glass lens, nice clip. Cheap enough that I put them around the house, gifted to relatives, etc.
They’ve been through the laundry multiple times, left outside overnight, throw around by the kids… still work great.
If possible people should try to post links to the lights they post, it makes it a lot easier to take a quick glance at the specs.
Great to hear. I have one of these on the way from Aliexpress. I now wish I had ordered more.
Only $2.70 on Aliexpress! I’m buying one right now. I have a BLF-348 I was going to mod but destroyed the mcpcb. This looks like it might be easier to work with, and a better clip too.
that is a bargain price.
Tempting to buy more but what the hell im going to do with them all 
Hugsby XP-1 got good neutral white tint too
About the XP-1 from the aliexpress - is it genuine? Price could suggest it’s a fake…you can also recognize it by rubber on switch. In mine (original one) also head could not be unscrewed, while on these pictures - they disassembled only that part.
Once I got fake XP-2 from aliexpress - tint was very blue, but overall that was quite strong flashlight.
Dont know
I got mine from Gearbest
I got about 7 from AliExpress a year or so ago, but from a different seller. All of mine were genuine. But agreed, the price on the one I linked to is almost a “too good to be true” price. I have not purchased from this seller before.
It’s also almost a “can’t go wrong” price if you know what I mean. As long as the reflector and glass are good and the finish is ano and not paint, I’ll be swapping out the rest.
Good point. I’m not too well versed in anodizing, but if I had to guess, it’s HA-II (not paint). Don’t have one next to me though. I carried one in my pants pocket for around a year and most of the finish was still there. The only wear marks were around the rim of the head and tail.
Curious to see what size driver and emitter board fit in there; I haven’t opened one up yet but am interested in tinkering with one.
I have a 10mm (i think?) driver that I can use. It only has room for an MCU and a single 7135 (for 10440 cells), but that should be enough in this small of a host.
There are a lot of hugsby xp1 and xp2 fakes in circulation. The earlier fakes were easy to spot with a different inferior clip. They also came with a cheap shiny tail cap cover. Some of the new fakes have a better clip and different tail caps. But the new fakes have a cheap steel tail spring. Original hugsbys’s have a nice gold plated spring, coated glass lense and real cree emitter with a neutral tint. It’s sad but I don’t even think tomtop sells the real ones anymore.
That is the same seller I purchased mine from. It is on the way so I can’t say if it is genuine or not.
I don’t mean to sound contrary to your contrariness but I have to disagree with your disagreement. 
Well at least partially anyway. I’m not arguing at all about heat-wicking but I too bought a 501B from FT. The first one I saw listed on FT with the new XM-L2 back in 2013. It’s not a heavy hitter but puts out every bit of the 500 lumens they rate it at. I put it in the “gem” category because the machining is just beautiful and it’s held up to 3 years of use and still looks great. It’s also the best example I own of well machined aggressive knurling. My only grip was they list it as a forward clicky and it’s a reverse. I complained about that and they gave me a couple bucks back so I paid a total of $8.08 shipped for it. The tint is CW of course but the beam from the smooth reflector is excellent. No artifacts. No Rings.
You show me a 502B that’s this pretty! Click the pic if you want the full size image.
This light is what inspired the new Convoy clear anodizing BTW. When the factory tried saying they couldn’t do it I kept throwing this picture at them. :innocent:
It’s still available for under $11. Here is the Fasttech link
I bought the same host in August. It was the cheapest brass host I had seen. My supplier no longer stock this model now, what a pity.
I like this light for $10 shipped on Amazon Prime. Cheaper than BG or GB and get it in 2 days in USA.
ThorFire TS07 XP-G2 Stainless Steel AAA Battery
3 mode, L-M-H, Metal clicky switch. Do not think the switch is sealed, beware if you hold it in your mouth. Came with 2 O-rings, lens and a small metal ring with a clip, not a pocket clip.
Its only a couple MM longer than an Olight i3S twisty.
Ooh, that is nice! Love the detail… And the color!
I got a few of their purple ’501 hosts for UV lights, and they are quite nice. My only complaint is that the ring on the inside of the head that holds the front glass in place needs to be sanded down or something to open it up some, because it interferes with the reflector going in. I had to use the twisting-on of the head to press-fit the reflector into place, but now I can’t get it out anymore. The whole drop-in is wedged in there, at least the reflector.
Everything else, though, is top-notch, no complaints whatsoever.
I was just saying, that beautifully-machined or not, it’s kind of limited to what kind of power you’re pushing through the LED. 500lm would be, what?, maybe 2A? Close to 6W into the LED, with not the best amount of heat-wicking. For sure I’d keep it as intermittent-use only. I typically want to make sure that my lights can be kept on indefinitely without frying the LED. That’s really the only reason I’d be the slightest bit “down” on ’501s.
Well, all that said, I like the 501b hosts as well…
My first serious LED light was the XR-E R2 (EZ900) 501b from DX. It had a great matte black anodizing and terrific performance for the time. This is the first light that made me laugh out loud at the brightness when comparing it to my old incan Maglite. The driver burned out, but I replaced it and still love the beam and performance of that old light.
I don’t seen any serious advantage of the 502 over the 501 body, and find the aesthetics and feel of the 501 to be superior. Granted, the thermal path, like with all of these P60 hosts, is pretty poor, but as long as you know the limitations of the light, it makes a great host for lower power special-purpose lights.
The 504b was my favorite host though, as it had the recessed tail switch, anti-roll head, and the non-crenelated bezel. The 504b with the Manafont 3-mode DD-high, 4+A XM-L dropin, wrapped with foil, and press-fit into the body got seriously warm, but never had any thermally-related issues…
Ok 