Warning: This tread may be hazardous to your Xmas budget.
I think the light that gave me the most satisfaction (after the debacle that many of us recall) is the Haikelite SC26.
It’s got a good amount of power behind it (2000 lumens on turbo), a nice size in the hand and long runtimes with a Shockli 26650 cell.
:+1: I have found myself grabbing it the most lately.
Oh, no no no no no. She would kill me. She wants a new pistol. So considering what I have done with lights this year. She is definitely getting it.
My wife’s birthday present last year.
Baby blue? What, no pink. Very nice.
That is what she wants, except in two tone with the rosewood grip panels. I’d say she deserves it after putting up with me.
I have simple tastes and usually don’t buy when a product first comes along, and pocketability is a priority, so Emisar D4 XP-L Hi 3A, 18350. Versatile stubby.
There’s too many good ones but here are a few that comes to mind.
ROT66 with great output for the size, BLF driver and UI, and great emitter selection. First production light to use the gorgeous 219B 9080.
D4S with beautiful Aux emitters and solid high quality build
Reylight Ti Lan v3. Best AA flashlight IMO. User friendly UI, and gorgeous look
Tiara C1 Pro modded by Clemence/Virence.com with 4xE21A. Most beautiful tint I have seen yet. I especially love the 2x2000k+2x3000k color mix. Very good regulated output and very efficient for long run times.
Imalent R90C. King of throwers. Although the two I bought measures 13k-14k lumens instead of advertised 20k lumens, it is still the current king of high output throw lights.
MT09R XHP70.2 and MT03 modded by Texas_Ace. Both are solid host with good mass and heat fins for good thermal performance. MT09R produces a very practical beam that is both throwy and floody and output is a bit higher than the R90C. MT03 produces the same output, has the best host design (thermal performance wise) and has an incredibly smooth flood beam considering it’s using reflectors.
Skylumen Delta. Farthest thrower for its size. Very fun to play with
Convoy copper S2+ host soon to be modded with 3x 219B 9080.
Acebeam H15 very high output floody headlamp and true beautiful NW tint. Build quality is not as good as the Olight H2R Nova from last year, which has beautiful 4000k NW tint (newer H2R has green tint). But it is brighter and floodier than the H2R so I use the H15 mainly for indoor photo taking.
Fireflies E07. Not yet released but it should be the brightest single cell production flashlight with a very good variety of emitter choices and aux led colors. Should be the perfect EDC except it doesn’t have USB-C recharge.
Thrunite TC20 is a great bang for the buck but too many times turbo stopped working and I have to clean the contacts for turbo to work again. Not sure why this light is so sensitive to having clean contact. Maybe I should clean off all grease on the threads and only use the USB recharge instead of taking out the batteries.
OK, it’s not great nor OOOWow!
It just lets me see my keyboard when my lighted one isn’t operating, or my surface pro clone is in use.
I bought a few at less than $2 shipped.
Emisar D4S
The Uber Duber Commando 9000.
Really hard to find one FS anymore.
USB Space Dude is cute.
I have a couple USB “worm” lights around, and some USB fob lights, but I don’t really have a use for them except for a couple of decorative accents in room lighting.
(In order of which gets the most use):
- Coast FL 75 (Headlamp for repair work around the house, car. And for x-country night skiing)
- Emisar D4S XP-L HI V2 3A - 5000K (General outdoor use)
- Emisar D1S XP-L HI V2 3A - 5000K (Thrower)
- Fireflies ROT 66 XP-L-HI V3 3A - 5000K (Flood)
- Convoy S2+ Nichia NCSU276A 365nm (Ultraviolet)
I became an FA (FlashAholic) this March. Bought about 10 lights initially – didn’t know what I was doing. Then I found BLF. Bought about 10 more – much better performing lights. I have gravitated toward one-cell lights that fit in a jacket pocket. Favorite features: ramping UI, side switch.
WOULD LOVE YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS for my next purchase: a 26650 single cell distance-thrower with ramping UI and side switch.
Thanks Agro - Very helpful. You put a lot of work into your spreadsheet. Lots of lights that are new to me.
Caused me to place an order for the new AceBeam T27 Grand Thrower; 5000K; single 21700;. 2500 lumen; 1180 meters. Easy/fast UI. Specs and video reviews are impressive.
Considering the only torch I bought this year (2018 wasn’t a good year for me) was a Lumintop Tool AA v2.0, I’m gonna have to go with it. Not that I mind, it’s a cool little light, performs almost like an older 18650. Good thing Lumintop un-f*ed themselves and kept the old Tool AAA-style UI, or I wouldn’t have purchased anything this year.
Zanflare F1
Emisar D4.
Sofirn C8F 21700 is close to perfect for me
–2 SW can turn off with either SW
-forward click tail SW for momentary on
-can turn on with moon light, memory level and turbo
-good output 3000L with some throw
-NW XPL2
-look and feel better than 18650 C8
-reasonable price
-good 21700 cell include
-batt indicator light SW
Some con I wish it have locator light function in side SW
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