You lot are a bad influence!!

Off-topic Chatter
1

There is no real point to this thread other than to say thanks. Anyway I joined this forum only 14 weeks ago as it kept coming up when I was doing google searches. Little did I know that it would be the start of a hobby which I have got stuck right into! When I joined I owned a Trustfire X8 and a Skyray 818 and I thought they were some pretty serious lights. I ran them off some “4000mAh Ultrafires” and charged them with some dodgy charger that came free with them. Little did I know how much better was actually out there.

I was thinking about how much I have bought in those short 14 weeks. My collection has grown substantially and I don’t see it stopping any time soon! It is still very small compared to a lot of people here but anyway, since joining I have bought the following.

Fire Fox IV
Thrunite TN31 - XM-L2
Thrunite TN30 - XM-L2
Thrunite Ti2
Olight M10 Maverick
Olight S10 Baton
XinTD C8 V4
Trustfire Mini-01

Then I decided to trying modding…

Uniquefire UF-T20 - XM-L2 U2 on copper from illumination supply and Qlite 105c driver from intl-outdoor.

Trustfire X8 - MT-G2 on Noctigon from intl-outdoor and 3.5A driver.

C8 Zooming Aspheric Host - De-domed XP-G2 Nanjg driver which I am adding 3 7135 chips to for 1.75A.

I sold or gifted some along the way…

Ultrafire C8
Ultrafire UF-T1
Ultrafire S3 zoomie
Skyray 818
Trustfire charger
Ultrafire WF-139 charger

I needed a better charger and discovered quickly that two slots wouldn’t be enough so now I have two chargers…

Nitecore i2
Nitecore i4 v2

Obviously I needed some batteries for all these. So I bought some…

8x 3100mAh Panasonic Protected
4x 2900mAh Panasonic 10A Drain
4x 3400mAh Panasonic Protected
8x 3000mAh Trustfire Flames
3x Nitecore 650mAh 16340
1x Yezl 880mAh 16340
4x Nitecore CR123a
8x Eneloop AA LSD NiMH

I have to say out of all the hobbies I have had I have never bought so much stuff soo quickly. But I have to say without joining this forum I wouldn’t have got any of the above. I have learnt a ton of info quickly and hope to be able to repay the favour to new members as I gain more knowledge and experience.

So whilst this hobby has seemed to be anything but budget I am still enjoying it. So thanks to everyone that has helped me so far.

Cheers,
Tim

2

Some advice - Don’t even look at the solarforce website.

3

:bigsmile:

They all start buying cheap lights… And they then start experimenting reading and learning more and more… And then they spend small fortune on budget light because 10-15 lights is not enough - tempting price forces you to buy them…

And then they become true flashaholic :slight_smile: and that is still better than alcoholic, smokingholic or drug addict

You can always sell your collection and start vaping/smoking, drinking if you really want that :wink:

4

That is one heck of a nice collection you have there! One thing I started doing a couple months after joining this mad house was keep a spreadsheet of all my purchases, tracking numbers and amount spent so I could keep track of the orders I was waiting for. The numbers shocked and shamed me when I saw how all the little purchases quickly add up into a HUGE amount! Needless to say, I simply stopped keeping track of it all and go with the flow. :D

5

Which are the better 18650’s in your collection LSX?

6

I’d say it’s either 4× 2900mAh Panasonic 10A Drain or 4× 3400mAh Panasonic Protected.
I’m guessing those are the NCR18650PD and NCR18650Bs. Depending on your applications either may be better than the other (High output on 1 battery or low output and longer runtime).

7

wow... all that in 14 weeks.. you seriously got the bug.

8

Awesome collection you have… I know this hobby is addicting but it’s nice to have so many great members that are so helpful.
I love solarforce lights!! I go there all the time. Have you gotten the new tail stand L2T it’s awesome!!!

9

LSX am wanting max brightness…

Runtime doesn’t interest me as me and the missus use our “fleshloights” (my try at the Aussie accent) in quick bursts!!

Cheers

Rob

PS: just agree with Rikr, he has a Glock 17!!! :~

10

“Fleshloights” are designed for quick bursts of output so you are using them right. : Getting the missus to use it for you - bonus! :wink:

11

If you’re looking for a battery recommendation neither of those beat the UR18650FM in terms of keeping up the brightness for as long as possible.

12

It’s a 19… :wink:

13

are you talking about these?
http://www.fasttech.com/product/1136603-authentic-sanyo-ur18650fm-18650-2600mah-37v-rechar

14

Wow, you have a nice collection. You went straight to quality. I spent a long time wasting money on cheap stuff, before purchasing anything like you have. Congrats :slight_smile:

15

Oh you’re just plain ‘wuude’ you….

16

Cheers for the comments guys. After getting the TN31 which was my first expensive light I decided from then on to save up and stick to the better quality lights as I could definitely see the value in them and it would technically cost me less in the long run. Hence why I sold off or gifted my Ultrafire stuff.

As for the batteries I suppose the 3400s would be better purely because of the run time and they are usually adequate for most current draws, the only problem is they are big and don’t fit in everything. I use them in the X8 because of the MT-G2. I only have the PD 10A drains because they are recommended for the FF4. The 3100s are flat tops from fasttech. I got those because they fit nicely in the TN30 and TN31 carriers.

17

I’m currently working on modifying Solarforce’s K3 head with the MT-G2 emitter. Planning on tweaking a 105c and driving it at 4.65A using some methods folks here have shared. This will be a first though, as it involves some changes to the driver I never attempted.

Nice collection, welcome to the addiction! :slight_smile:

And yeah, Solarforce will grab ya if you go onto their site, avoid the S2200, the M3, the K3 and any/all variants of L2P. :stuck_out_tongue: (this I know because I have all of the above and 5 L2P’s with various drop-in’s from Nichia 219 to triples)

18

Yep! Or these if you want protected.
http://www.fasttech.com/products/1420/10001901/1143802

Compare it to any battery, it totally blows everything away when it comes to high current: Battery test-review 18650 comparator
It’s called the Sanyo 18650 2600mAh red, and the Panasonic NCR18650PD are under EnerPower+ 18650 2900mAh 3C.

19

So is that good then?

20

Yes.