Recommend me a torch

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neb

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#1747027 24-Mar-2017 13:25

Get any generic Chinese LED one with an 18650 battery, because then you know it'll still have a charge when the power goes out and you really need it. No specific brand, they're all more or less the same, just with more or less fancy labels and corresponding price.

neb

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#1747029 24-Mar-2017 13:28

sxz:
I had a Led Lenser P9 for a number of years which I liked a lot. Was about $130.

When I lost it I thought I'd try a chinese cheapie and bought this: http://www.dx.com/p/e17-cree-xm-l-t6-900lm-5-mode-memory-white-led-zoomable-flashlight-w-zooming-bike-mount-black-305630#.WNMbFW996Uk

It's brighter, has a zoom and a floodlight feature, and seems very sturdy. Build quality isn't quite as good as the Led Lenser (which was awesome), and it isn't advertised as waterproof, but has been very satisfactory for $12US free shipping. Glad I didn't splash out for more.

That's more or less what I'd get if I was being more specific. T6 emitter and zoomable. The only thing I'd avoid is the *&£^$*&£ 20-mode ones, I want "light" or "no light", not "click five times to cycle through to the steady light you want".

timmmay

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#1747054 24-Mar-2017 14:00

Budget Light Forum is a forum of people looking for cheap, good quality torches.

jpoc:

I bought a couple of LED torches off alix,

For twenty bucks (NZ) I got a torch that looks just like those navy seal tactical flashlights in all the spam ads. Solid metal body.

You can focus the beam tight or spread it wide.

That torch will work with 3 AAA cells or one big 18650 Lithium cell.

Included in the deal were two 18650 Lithium cells as well as an adapter that would allow me to use three AAA cells instead.

Also included was a charger for the Lithiums. I can use the charger off the mains - it came with a Kiwi plug - or in the car - it also came with a car plug.

@jpoc do you have a link? The Athlonite posted looks pretty good, but looks it like only comes with car charger.

E3xtc

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#1747059 24-Mar-2017 14:04

timmmay:

@jpoc do you have a link? The Athlonite posted looks pretty good, but looks it like only comes with car charger.

That one posted before comes with a car charger (if you selected the appropriate package)...just like this one

neb

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#1747060 24-Mar-2017 14:08

One thing once you start getting into 18650-powered stuff is that you may want to consider tossing the cannibalised laptop cells or whatever that get thrown in with an $8 torch and get proper ones with protection circuitry, and a decent charger to go with them. Depends on how much of an investment in 18650 gear you have.

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#1747063 24-Mar-2017 14:16

On Ali they're all claiming 2000 - 4000 lumen from the CREE XM-L T6 L2 LED. This page says 1200lm, but the data sheet suggests even less than that, maybe only 600lm. That's still fairly bright, of course.

A car charger is good, but a house charger is better. You can get one of those for $8 (but you'd have to wonder about the quality), or really good ones like the Nitecore for $25.

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#1747066 24-Mar-2017 14:26

neb: One thing once you start getting into 18650-powered stuff is that you may want to consider tossing the cannibalised laptop cells or whatever that get thrown in with an $8 torch and get proper ones with protection circuitry, and a decent charger to go with them. Depends on how much of an investment in 18650 gear you have.

Good call. A decent quality Panasonic 18650 looks to be around $8 by itself. A $5 torch that comes with charger and battery may leak, explode, etc.

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Athlonite

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#1747188 24-Mar-2017 16:56

timmmay:

Budget Light Forum is a forum of people looking for cheap, good quality torches.

jpoc:

I bought a couple of LED torches off alix,

For twenty bucks (NZ) I got a torch that looks just like those navy seal tactical flashlights in all the spam ads. Solid metal body.

You can focus the beam tight or spread it wide.

That torch will work with 3 AAA cells or one big 18650 Lithium cell.

Included in the deal were two 18650 Lithium cells as well as an adapter that would allow me to use three AAA cells instead.

Also included was a charger for the Lithiums. I can use the charger off the mains - it came with a Kiwi plug - or in the car - it also came with a car plug.

@jpoc do you have a link? The Athlonite posted looks pretty good, but looks it like only comes with car charger.

There are several options you can choose from Option J comes with both the 230v wallwart and 12v car charger

jpoc

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#1747254 24-Mar-2017 18:49

timmmay:

Budget Light Forum is a forum of people looking for cheap, good quality torches.

jpoc:

I bought a couple of LED torches off alix,

For twenty bucks (NZ) I got a torch that looks just like those navy seal tactical flashlights in all the spam ads. Solid metal body.

You can focus the beam tight or spread it wide.

That torch will work with 3 AAA cells or one big 18650 Lithium cell.

Included in the deal were two 18650 Lithium cells as well as an adapter that would allow me to use three AAA cells instead.

Also included was a charger for the Lithiums. I can use the charger off the mains - it came with a Kiwi plug - or in the car - it also came with a car plug.

@jpoc do you have a link? The Athlonite posted looks pretty good, but looks it like only comes with car charger.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/mini-LED-Flashlight-2000-lm-light-reflector-led-Flashlight-2-x-18650-Battery-1-xPower/32335197826.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.0.QXzrbe

The pics show EU & US options for the wallwart but they shipped me an Aus/NZ charger.

neb

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#1747285 24-Mar-2017 20:10

timmmay:
On Ali they're all claiming 2000 - 4000 lumen from the CREE XM-L T6 L2 LED. This page says 1200lm, but the data sheet suggests even less than that, maybe only 600lm. That's still fairly bright, of course.

Yeah, you need to know how to translate from "tactical aircraft-grade aluminium 5000lm torch with 6000mAh batteries" to "it's black, has a reject-binned 400lm T6 and an 1100-1500mAh cell recycled from a laptop". They're perfectly OK though for the typical "I need to find X in the dark" applications, and at that price you can get a few and keep them in locations where you'll need to reach out and grab them in the dark.

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#1747335 24-Mar-2017 23:04

Whats that one advertised on TV now and available from Countdown/jbhihi can even be frozen or boiled and run over !!

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#1747337 24-Mar-2017 23:23

psychrn:

Whats that one advertised on TV now and available from Countdown/jbhihi can even be frozen or boiled and run over !!

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#1747345 24-Mar-2017 23:45

Dulouz:

I had an old Maglite which I recently upgraded with LED kit. Battery life is heaps better now.

I did the same thing with my minimag (I did the LED upgrade about 5 years ago). It still gets used nightly for checking the chickens are on the roost. Couple of sets of 2x rechargable AA and done.

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#1747484 25-Mar-2017 11:44

I recently purchased 4x of these. Smaller than I thought they might be and brighter than I expected given the price. I use them with Eneloop AA batteries that hold their charge.

Shimmer

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#1747485 25-Mar-2017 11:44

I'm a definite fan of the 18650 based torches and have numerous (not sure how/why I started collecting).

For round the house I have a bunch of these as they are cheap small and bright

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/LED-Flashlights-torch-3800-lumen-CREE-XM-L2-zoomable-led-torch-suitable-for-18650-26650-AAA/32398158339.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.0.J63GdG

ignore all the lumen specs but they are still way bright, certainly brighter than the old school maglites which were more a police baton than a torch, been a few years since I looked to see if their LED versions got better.

For outdoor stuff I like the weight and feel of the 2x18650 with either 3 or 5 XM-L2 LED config. Could care less about zoomable at that point as it's sufficiently bright both in spot and flood. 3 way switch is good, 5 way don't see the point. All seem to pretty much have a basic level of waterproofing these days with orings at every seal point.

On the brighter scale I've got ones like the Skyray but while bright just aren't comfortable both with the extra weight of carrying additional batteries but more the width of the grip.

Aliexpress is also my go to site for this stuff. Worst case you can easily buy replacement LED's and drivers to fix anything done on the cheap and again only costing a few cents/$.

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