I'm still in protected battery mode and was wondering what would be the strongest flashlight for sale right now using protected batteries. Not interested in battery packs as I want to charge them in my charger always.
Olight x7, thrunite tn36lt, acebeam x80/x45…….
I’m not the acebeam team, in those discribed I would pick the tn36lt 
Didn't see a tn36 LT but would this one be the same? http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/253188103686?vectorid=229466&lgeo=1&item=253188103686&rmvSB=true
This site have a outstanding service! My TN40 went from there :+1:
The 2017 version are very close to lt and oy can get a code with M4dM4x to lower this price ou use the coupon HKE80 to down 8%
Thanks for the link Franz 
Would you happen to know if the NCR1860B protected batteries would fit or would they be too long? I also wish the Q8 could have run protected batteries, then I would have just purchased two of them and saved a lot of money!
The highest-power protected cell I’ve seen is the EagTac 3500mAh 18650, which I believe is based on the Panasonic 18650GA cell. It’s rated for 10A before the protection trips.
I’ve used it heavily in the BLF A6 and the Astrolux S41, both of which will put out 1200 - 1300 lumens in turbo mode, then step down automatically to about 800 lumens. You then have to step down manually to about 400 lumens, or the lights will get dangerously hot and burn your fingers!
Those are stock lights; I estimate that the A6 draws 6A to 7A peak and the S41 draws 8A to 9A peak. It’s not a good idea to do spring bypasses and the like if you’re going to use protected cells, because that’s liable to tip them over the cell’s 10A protection limit, especially on the S41.
I also have a custom Convoy X3 from 3Tronics with the BLF A6 driver and an XP-L HD LED in it, which has similar performance. The reason I have that light is that it has the heat dissipation capacity to sustain 800 lumens without getting dangerously hot.
Being larger, the X3 can also use a protected Keeppower 5200mAh 26650 cell, which has the same 10A trip threshold as the EagTac 18650, but almost 50% more capacity 
All protected batteries don’t trip at the same voltage. Not sure of the exact range but I believe it’s somewhere between 4 and 12 amps, depends on what protection circuit was used.
I guess it all depends on the battery protection circuit - some have higher amp cutoff.
A budget option would be the Q8 with protected 35E.
Those ncrB do not perform well nowadays, those high lumens lights need more amps which those ncrB can delivery……
Like Phlogiton told, ncrGA and those samsung 35E can perform very well or even samsung 30Q are better for high current….
How much you want to spend in a light?
That tn36 includes batteries and charger but still have a high price……
And about protected batteries, all those lights I listed do not require this 
My first choice was the Q8 but I wasn't sure it would run on turbo mode with a protected battery. Is it safe to say that the Q8 would run on turbo for a decent amount of time with a 35E? There seems to be a few sellers on ebay for the 35E. Would I be safe buying of them? Reason I ask is that I can't find one of the reliable sellers who has this battery and coudl ship to Canada.
As far as spending amount, I think the ThruNite is a little too high end for me. I'm hoping the Q8 will run good on turbo mode with the 35E than I would just go for that and be happy to be honest.
Yeah, that Q8 have a voltage monitor and you dont need to use protected too :+1:
I know Q8 can run on unprotected but I'm just uneasy having unprotected batteries around the house.
I purchased a Thrunite TN36 2017, and the beam had a doughnut hole.
I didn’t like it so I returned it.
These batteries have a 10 amp cutoff, pretty sure he ships to Canada. link
You are constrained with a lot of variables which make the prediction difficult. High lumens, protected batteries, shipping to Canada… there may be some trial and error involved at some point.
That said, i haven’t tried the Q8 with protected E35. From what i gathered in the Q8 main thread, it will work pretty well with button top 35E. I’m not sure anybody ever tried protected 35Es though but the 5A/cell stock draw should be fine i think. Regarding lumen output, the eye does not make much difference between 5k and 8k - both are plenty bright in most situations anyway, so you may want to relax a bit on your expectations and see how it goes?
Thanks, I tried that link but then when I go to checkout it asks me to go to its international store and of course, the battery is not available for Canada! I found these batteries and are hoping they are legit and will work. link
Good points thanks. I will have soon some more protected NCR182650B's coming so if they are not too long, will see how they run. Even if it puts out 4000 lumens, that is bright enough for me.
I used to feel, “What can it hurt?” by using and even recommending protected cells, but unless you’re using a lobotomised light/driver that doesn’t grok UVLO, I don’t even bother with protected cells anymore. Ever.
Unless you drop your cells into your spare-change jar or something, I wouldn’t bother.
Lights that use cells in series, though, that’s a different story. I’ll use my L2 with 1 cell only, and skip the extension tube. If I would ever want to use the extension and 2 cells, I’d go for protected 26650s, but…
Many have said they hardly every use protected cells anymore too. Maybe after one more year on this forum, I'll be one of those too!