What Light? 18650 powered zoomable to replace a lenser P14

LED Flashlights – General Info 18650 Flashlights
1

Hi all,

I work nights as an aircraft mechanic and have relied on my P14 for the last few years. It is now MIA, and I’m looking for a good replacement. The main appeal of the P14 was the nice smooth zoom and the low mode. I have a SRK on the way from CNQG, but fear this will be overkill, and unusable in a lot of my work situations, up close and with a lot of reflective metal.

I have 2 basic ways I use the torch, first of all, for walkarounds, where the SRK will be awesome. What Im looking at is usually 10-20 metres away and I want a wall of light. Secondly, when Im working up close, I want as wide a beam as possible, and probably not the full sting of 2000 or so LM… My 140LM H7 is more than enough most of the time, but wider the better.

I’m looking for an 18650 powered zoomable with a nice low mode, unnoticeable PWM (I seem to be fairly sensitive to this) and… It needs to be robust! I have dropped my P14 so many times the lens was a mess of cracks…

My budget is fairly open (50-100ish) and I have already considered the nitecore EA4, as well as another lenser of some description. Any suggestions are appreciated! Also, I’m not afraid to order parts plus a host and get building if this is going to get me exactly what Im after. Thanks!

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I think the Srk is not a good option for that scenario, the ea4 is a better choice in my opinion.
A zoomie may be a good choice in this case too, so you’ll be able to narrow the beam enough to prevent reflections in all that shiny metal.
But for a general use, I’d go for that ea4. read about it in the forum, there are some units with problems in the button, no problems in mine yet.
And for the better price, you’ll probably have to ask for a discount, as the company is a bit idiotic with the MAP policies

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Hi herostratus,

The led lensers are sweet lights, although a few on here seem not too impressed with them…They are a bit pricey though, there are much cheaper options out there. Unfortunately, most of those options do not have nice ‘round’ hotspots when zoomed in.( They throw the emitter die image…)

I bought a smiling shark a100, which is quite a nice zoomie, it will probably do what you want it to.

I have also bought this torch, which is really cheap, but quality was not so great, although it is still working…For the money, it’s a pretty good deal…
http://www.ebay.com/itm/High-Power-XM-L-T6-X8-CREE-LED-1800-Lumens-Zoomable-18650-Torch-Lamp-Flashlight-/350778706066?pt=US_LED_Light_Key_Chains&hash=item51ac0a4892#ht_4906wt_901

The coast brand throws the round circle, but is also expensive.

Pop lite i believe are lenser clones which may be a cheaper option, although i have not tried one yet.

I don’t recall how bad the PWM is( On the smiling shark or torch linked above), so I can’t comment on that…

The Led lenser l7 may also be an option,(Cheaper option than p7) but it uses aaa, and you seem to be wanting to move to li-ion…

Sorry, I am not really very knowledgeable with this stuff, but I know how it feels when you ask for advice and almost no one gets back to you, so i have offered my opinion.

The SRK is awesome, but it will definitely be big time overkill for you…

Hope you find something i have said helpful.

Cheers