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 #90410  by bmel17
 
I agree on the mah capacity being a downside, but usually these lights are purpose driven and rely on different bulbs and drivers to produce either lumen and/or longevity. To me it is amazing I can crank out XX amount of lumens on high and XX amount of time on med while still bright because of the high efficiency of the driver. You're exactly right on mah claims on cheaper batteries, usually a boast or in ideal conditions which would never be attainable in the real world.

Although the 18650 is slightly fatter and longer than the 14500, the end result is usually a much bigger flash light cranking out more lumens and more runtime. Remember the thread is EDC pocket lights! You can really see the size comparisons in this photo I took:

Image

Left to right: US quarter, eneloop AA, 18650, olight i3s EOS, eagletac d25a, olight s15, ultrafire zs-2, ultrafire 502b, olight m20x and m21x

Big differences on AA to 18650! For EDC I would much rather the smaller AA or AAA than the 18650. Also most lights that can take 14500 also use primary cells too which greatly extends runtime. I just like using 14500s for the added lumens.

Very cool link! Bookmarked. I was hoping he'd have a review on rechargeable ni-MH cells like c and d as that is what I am currently in the market for. I have a thread on CPF asking better brands/chargers and such.
 #90411  by stephpd
 
bmel17 wrote:I agree on the mah capacity being a downside, but usually these lights are purpose driven and rely on different bulbs and drivers to produce either lumen and/or longevity. To me it is amazing I can crank out XX amount of lumens on high and XX amount of time on med while still bright because of the high efficiency of the driver. You're exactly right on mah claims on cheaper batteries, usually a boast or in ideal conditions which would never be attainable in the real world.

Although the 18650 is slightly fatter and longer than the 14500, the end result is usually a much bigger flash light cranking out more lumens and more runtime. Remember the thread is EDC pocket lights! You can really see the size comparisons in this photo I took:



Left to right: US quarter, eneloop AA, 18650, olight i3s EOS, eagletac d25a, olight s15, ultrafire zs-2, ultrafire 502b, olight m20x and m21x

Big differences on AA to 18650! For EDC I would much rather the smaller AA or AAA than the 18650. Also most lights that can take 14500 also use primary cells too which greatly extends runtime. I just like using 14500s for the added lumens.

Very cool link! Bookmarked. I was hoping he'd have a review on rechargeable ni-MH cells like c and d as that is what I am currently in the market for. I have a thread on CPF asking better brands/chargers and such.
I've got a real cheap led on my key chain. One of those that take a watch type battery. I've also gotten everything from the mini maglite that take a AAA battery, but I don't carry it. Same for the 104440's and 14500's. For the 'savings' in size I loose way too much in lumens and abilities to customize.

For EDC it's usually the Ultrafire 502b. That with a cheap Ultrafire battery of unknown mAh's though a claimed of 2400. Fits fine in my pockets an not all that bulky for what it delivers. I use to carry the Surefire with it's 2 cr123's but battery life was horrible. That and Surefire lights are expensive, even for the G2 that I own. It also came with a low power bulb. Comparing it to the 502b they are both about the same size but the 502, with a cree XM-l puts out lots of light. With the rechargeable Li-ion battery it makes for better buy in my opinion.

That link will show that guy likes 18650's. He's done far more testing with them then any other battery. Mostly because of the form factor and mAh. I don't know of any other battery, of any type that comes close to those run times and power.

And with many 18650 taking the p60 sized heads it's easy to customize the light to what you want. From single mode to 5 modes, and using different leds different intensities.
Last edited by stephpd on Sat Aug 31, 2013 12:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
 #90412  by Taurus247
 
Ok gonna jump in here since I know next to nothing about this stuff please help. I have read all of the post and been trying to figure out what would be best for me.

I have one of the 3D Mag lights for around the house stuff but I think that in the middle of the night it maybe a bit big to carry around along with my pistol. So I am looking for something smallish that I can carry in a pocket. (I wear a lot of carpenter jeans with the tech pocket so I`ll prob put it in there so doesn't need to be super small.) That I can use in a bump in the night light as well as EDC for walking up to my car at night (yes I am one of those that looks in my car before I get into it.)

The Brighter the better and I live on the beach so needs to be able to with stand being dropped in the sand stuff plus I can be a bit clumsy sometimes so durability is a HUGE thing. Also I like push buttons on the back I hate twist. Any ideas? Thanks everyone.
 #90415  by bmel17
 
stephpd wrote:
I've got a real cheap led on my key chain. One of those that take a watch type battery. I've also gotten everything from the mini maglite that take a AAA battery, but I don't carry it. Same for the 104440's and 14500's. For the 'savings' in size I loose way too much in lumens and abilities to customize.

For EDC it's usually the Ultrafire 502b. That with a cheap Ultrafire battery of unknown mAh's though a claimed of 2400. Fits fine in my pockets an not all that bulky for what it delivers. I use to carry the Surefire with it's 2 cr123's but battery life was horrible. That and Surefire lights are expensive, even for the G2 that I own. It also came with a low power bulb. Comparing it to the 502b they are both about the same size but the 502, with a cree UM-l puts out lots of light. With the rechargeable Li-ion battery it makes for better buy in my opinion.

That link will show that guy likes 18650's. He's done far more testing with them then any other battery. Mostly because of the form factor and mAh. I don't know of any other battery, of any type that comes close to those run times and power.

And with many 18650 taking the p60 sized heads it's easy to customize the light to what you want. From single mode to 5 modes, and using different leds different intensities.

I keep one of those button lights from inova on both of my key chains, one for the jeep and the other for the harley. Plus I have the flashlight app on the iphone which is actually surprisingly decent. Maglight 2d in the Jeep, all these are hardly used. I also keep with me either an olight m21x in my backpack or the s15 in my man bag. i think I'm covered for lights! haha I mostly use the 18650's camping or while doing projects around the house. Recently went to a cavern in the Shenandoah Valley and when the lights were out damn that m20x and s15 were bright!

That d25a from eagletac puts out 780 lumens on turbo which actually surpasses most of my 18650 lights. Plus, with my dress for work, the i3s and d25a are much easier to carry in my pockets. When I do carry my m20x it is usually on my belt or outside of my pocket. I have found the i3s for it's output and size is usually up to my lumen needs for random tasks, e.g. finding something I dropped in a movie theater, walking around at night, etc.
 #90417  by bmel17
 
Taurus247 wrote:Ok gonna jump in here since I know next to nothing about this stuff please help. I have read all of the post and been trying to figure out what would be best for me.

I have one of the 3D Mag lights for around the house stuff but I think that in the middle of the night it maybe a bit big to carry around along with my pistol. So I am looking for something smallish that I can carry in a pocket. (I wear a lot of carpenter jeans with the tech pocket so I`ll prob put it in there so doesn't need to be super small.) That I can use in a bump in the night light as well as EDC for walking up to my car at night (yes I am one of those that looks in my car before I get into it.)

The Brighter the better and I live on the beach so needs to be able to with stand being dropped in the sand stuff plus I can be a bit clumsy sometimes so durability is a HUGE thing. Also I like push buttons on the back I hate twist. Any ideas? Thanks everyone.

based on your criteria I would suggest the s15, you can see it's size in the pic a few posts back. It's small, but not tiny. No twisty functions all button operated. If you dropped it in the sand it is durable and has o-rings to keep out moisture and the magnetic tail cap you could pass metal over it to find it. Very bright at 280lms and no need for a special battery/charger as it takes AA.

A review:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/sho ... king-light

Product specs:
http://www.olightworld.com/en/products_ ... eId_2=EEN1
 #90425  by stephpd
 
Taurus247 wrote:Ok gonna jump in here since I know next to nothing about this stuff please help. I have read all of the post and been trying to figure out what would be best for me.

I have one of the 3D Mag lights for around the house stuff but I think that in the middle of the night it maybe a bit big to carry around along with my pistol. So I am looking for something smallish that I can carry in a pocket. (I wear a lot of carpenter jeans with the tech pocket so I`ll prob put it in there so doesn't need to be super small.) That I can use in a bump in the night light as well as EDC for walking up to my car at night (yes I am one of those that looks in my car before I get into it.)

The Brighter the better and I live on the beach so needs to be able to with stand being dropped in the sand stuff plus I can be a bit clumsy sometimes so durability is a HUGE thing. Also I like push buttons on the back I hate twist. Any ideas? Thanks everyone.
I'd recommend one of the Ultrafire 502b's. They're one of the largest of the ones in the picture above but still something that fits very well in one hand. Granted you'll have to get one of the 18650's batteries but they can be had fairly cheaply. Being rechargeable get one that also comes with a charger.

For when things go bump in the night I want as much light as possible, yet still fit in one hand comfortably. And most of these sized lights will fit in your hand perfectly, thumb able to push the button on the tail and only the head of the light not in your palm. Most are also 1" in diameter so they mount with Weaver rings real well. For that something like a Cree xm-l (the actual led) will put out far more light then any Maglite. Even the leds used in a Maglite are first generation and not very bright at all. They're great for use as a hickey stick but lousy for lighting up an area.

But it's up to you to decide what features you want in the actual bulb and it's control circuit. They come with 1, 3 or 5 mode lights (Max, High, low, strobe and SOS). Usually I prefer just the single (max) light so I'm not messing around with different settings when I'm looking around. Here's a few links at Amazon so you can see a few of the combos, including batteries and a charger. All of which can be had for less then $20. This one comes with the 502b, 2 batteries and a charger for $17.
http://www.amazon.com/Ultrafire-WF-502B ... afire+502b

Here's their full listings of all the 502b's they carry;
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_ ... vascript=1

I've seen folks pay far more for Surefire, Olight, Fenix, Nitecore and Solarforce. Some over $200. Many over $100. But what are you paying for? Most all of them using the same Cree leds (including the really cheap Ultrafire) So, is a switch and slightly different aluminum housing all that different that it's worth over a hundred bucks? Because I abuse the heck out of my Ultrafire's and yet to have a problem with any of them.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_pg_2?rh= ... 1377920689

Biggest thing is batteries. And just comparing the quantities of the Li-ion batteries I have the 18650's rule the roost. They pack far more mAh's then all the smaller ones I own and the ability to light up the brightest led's. I probably have 4-6 time the amount of these compared to any other size.

Heck, I paid less for my Sky Ray Kung knockoff then I did for the batteries in it. It's a little large for any pocket but with 4 xm-l emmitters it's by far more light then I'll ever need from any flashlight. And much smaller then a 3 or 4 battery Maglight, yet WAYYYYY brighter. For home use I'd use this any day over a Maglite. It's one of my favorite flashlights even if it doesn't fit in many pants pockets. It does fit well in one of my vest pockets.Slightly less then 2 1/2" diameter by 5 1/2" long.
http://budgetlightforum.com/node/21788
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid= ... &_from=R40
http://www.lights-box.com/high-brightne ... 4500-lumen

Another thing I recommend is a good grease or anti seize compound for all threads. I treat all of mine with Noalox.
 #90532  by LouisChavez
 
bmel17 wrote:I've been looking at two EDC pocket flashlights. Olight i3s and the streamlight micro stream. Links to products:



Both are great, the olight is brighter, but the streamlight lasts longer. I was just wondering if any of our other resident flashlight experts had input as to which they would choose and why. Main thing for me is I'm looking for something that isn't too bulky that will fit in my pocket and will be bright enough for normal use. I have a keychain (nova) light that is actually decent, but it dies on me as it gets turned on in my pocket a lot. Both of these
led lighting would fix that issue and the keychain light would be a backup in addition to the flashlight app on my iPhone.

*Cough jslacker cough* :lol:
Hello friend which lights have you got? Both lights looks fine so which will you recommend.. Waiting for reply thanks in advance:)
 #90852  by Taurus247
 
OK So I joined the Pocket Light Club. I ordered a Ultrafire 1000 LM WF-502B CREE XM-L T6 5-Mode LED Flashlight Torch about 2 weeks ago and it came it pretty quickly. The only complaint that I have about the light is the clip is real flimsy and lose. I could be really nit picky and say that all I want is the bright setting and the strobe however, for under $20 with free shipping and it included 2 batteries and a charger cant complain much. The light is extremely bright. I turned off all the lights in a room and I think the flashlight was brighter then all the lights in my room on at once. I carry it everyday in my weak side pocket and I dont even notice it is there. All in all great light. Thank you to everyone for your advice and help.
 #90854  by bmel17
 
Taurus247 wrote:OK So I joined the Pocket Light Club. I ordered a Ultrafire 1000 LM WF-502B CREE XM-L T6 5-Mode LED Flashlight Torch about 2 weeks ago and it came it pretty quickly. The only complaint that I have about the light is the clip is real flimsy and lose. I could be really nit picky and say that all I want is the bright setting and the strobe however, for under $20 with free shipping and it included 2 batteries and a charger cant complain much. The light is extremely bright. I turned off all the lights in a room and I think the flashlight was brighter then all the lights in my room on at once. I carry it everyday in my weak side pocket and I dont even notice it is there. All in all great light. Thank you to everyone for your advice and help.
:applause:

glad you like it! my 502's complaints are the clip being flimsy and it not being a deep pocket clip, but for the price and value- it's awesome.

Next thing you know you'll have a little collection :lol:
 #90855  by jslacker
 
bmel17 wrote: :applause:

glad you like it! my 502's complaints are the clip being flimsy and it not being a deep pocket clip, but for the price and value- it's awesome.

Next thing you know you'll have a little collection :lol:
Or a very large one if you're anything like the rest of us flashophiles!