I see here there is a lot of “but I don’t want another battery type and I don’t have 16340’s, so I do not want this light” sort of reasoning, and I suspect this is why this light has not sold out yet…
Here is my $.02 on 16340’s
I am not a fan of CR123’s, but they work, and they hold their charge when you are not using them. Ditto for the 16340’s, just smaller than my other LiIon batteries. I am not a fan, because I have previously spent a couple of hundred bucks on CR123’s over time. This is what changed my mind recently:
I bought a Thorfire KL02 , it is a single purpose light that takes CR123/16340 batteries. I had not had a light that took this battery size in about a decade. I changed my mind because, like everything else, lights have gotten better in the last decade.
I have not liked CR123 batteries since the old incandescent Streamlight Scorpions and bulb eating Surefires of a decade ago… Those things ate batteries (and bulbs), the CR123 was pretty expensive at around $2+ each, they only lasted about an hour or two for run time, for two of them… About $4 an hour, plus a bulb every 4th to 5th set of batteries.
The Thorfire KL02 drew about 45ma when running in one mode on a CR123. For the light it makes, that is over 32 hours on a 1500mah new CR123. IF that CR123 still cost $2 (usually less now), that means it is less than $.07 an hour for light… I would still be an incandescent flashlight fan if they would run for $.07 an hour…. On medium the Xtar H2 puts out 60lm for 3.5 hours on a CR123, not much less than my old Streamlight Scorpion, but three times the run time of that old light…… Less than $.60 an hour to run on just primary CR123’s if they are still $2, often you can find them for less… Big savings already…
The Xtar H2, in this “unpopular” battery size, will run you $24, plus a couple of good 16340 batteries for about $8 will last you for a couple of years at least. For two 16340’s, you should get over 600 recharges in total, bringing the cost (minus what electricity it takes to charge them) to around a penny an hour for run time. This is $8 divided by 900 hours of run time on high (600 charges times 1.5 hours of run time on high = 900 hours). It only costs you less than $.04 an hour if you factor in the light itself ($32 light and batteries/ 900 hours run time) Nice math in my book, cost of this light and two batteries for the first 900 hours of run time on high is less than four cents per hour…
I have a good charger (Nitecore D4) that takes all sizes of batteries. I can pull apart an old laptop battery pack for 18650’s if I need, essentially free batteries, and so I got over my disdain for buying the 16340 size of battery. I even bought some new CR123’s for my KL02’s since the CR123 stores better than the 16340’s. The “free” 18650’s have helped a lot, I learned that here by the way…
Lights have come a long way in the last decade, really look at this H2 and see if it will fit your needs. I may never need the red LED, but it is not a detriment to sit there unused, for instance. The size and weight are minimal, that is important on your head all night in my book….