Which 26650?

I recently purchased 3 Cyclone C88’s as I was impressed by their performance on AA Eneloops purchased from Costco. However, it seems that the AA eneloops are no longer able to hold the required voltage on high for more than 20 minutes(they start blinking), as I use them pretty heavily every night, for about an hour(Neighborhood bears keep raiding my avocado tree every night so I have to scare them off or my dogs won’t be able to sleep). So now, I’m thinking about switching to Li-Ion batteries, but am a little intimidated by the horror stories about their batteries blowing up. It would be great if I could get a few recommendations for reliable, idiot-proof charger and (protected)? battery. Since the C88 cyclone is a 1 cell flashlight, would protected give better safety than unprotected?

I would recommend a Intellicharge I4 and a protected 26650. (5000 mah trustfire)

I agree with scaru. Or look up kumabear's thread for alternative protected 26650's.