hey,
Im new here so be nice. Anyway, I'm looking for a good budget 14500 powered torch with the following:
- Price under $25
- Should fit protected AW 14500 cells
- Preferably 1 mode
- Good build quality
- Tail standing
- Pocket rocket - battery life of around 1 hour with as much constant brightness as possible
- Forgot to say, I would prefer a torch with more flood than throw, as i often reflect my torches off the ceiling to light up rooms
- Would be a plus if it works with AA as well
Ive been spending the last few days looking, and i really cant make up my mind as there's too much torches available on DX :(
Any help would be appreciated, thanks !
raven2000
- 2010.02.04
- 13:14:01
Thanks!
I think ill avoid Akoray K-106 and Ultrafire C3 due to their respective negatives. Trustfire F22 looks pretty fat and heavy and expensive. Uniquefire S10 is more throwy (which i dont want), and im scared of its teeth.
So im down to Uniquefire AA-S1, which looks pretty good to me :) Btw, i saw your review, and i have a few more questions before i take the jump:
- Would it be bad if I use it on 14500 for over half an hour? (i.e. heating etc)
- How long would the battery life be on NIMH?
Sorry for all the questions, im a noob with a small wallet, hence i can't just buy every light out there :(
Don
- 2010.02.04
- 17:37:54
The Trustfire is only huge by AA standards, it is smaller than any of my 18650 lights.
The S1 doesn't get particularly hot on a 14500, aluminium conducts heat better than stainless steel, and as torches go it has a fair amount of body for heatsinking. After 12 minutes tailstanding as I type this it is still comfortable to hold, if it were in your hand it'd be cooler as your hand acts as a heatsink.
I'd expect runtime on a 14500 to be less than that, as it is pulling more than an amp out of a 900mAh rated cell. There will be quite a bit more light with a 14500 - more than twice as much according to my lightbox. Once I get a new battery for the meter, I'll stick it on the lightbox and check runtimes with 14500.
I'd not worry about the S10's teeth - it took me ten minutes to file them off. But I am not that fond of it myself, for some reason it just doesn't do it for me.
old4570
- 2010.02.04
- 15:25:04
It would be somewhat remiss of me , not to say , that batt light combo is not the best @ bellow $20 ...
What is your budget ? and do you really want 14500 ? There is so much to chose from in the CR123A/16340 range ..
Unfortunately all Cree XR-E are throw'y by the nature of the emitter .
+ The smaller the light , the less body mass , the warmer it will get . My fav little EDC is the Ultrafire A20 , I ordered another ..
My first was moded to SSC P7 [ and was promptly stolen ] , my second is now a XP-G R3 , and a bit of a battery vampire , 1.4A on High and 0.4A on low .
So I have to buy another one in Q5 [ Might do a R2 upgrade ]
With a small wallet , your better of spending just a little more , to get more .
If it has to be a 14500 , check out the Akoray AK-16 ... If you can live with CR123A [ rechargeables ] check out the Ultrafire A20 .
The one I just ordered is from DX , the two before from KD , and both make different claims as to voltage input range , so I look forward to seeing if the DX one will run on Primaries or not . Anyhow , I would recommend for the long haul , single 18650 Cree XR-E R2 P60 host . But thats just me , and I make the recommendation as they have been making them for so long , they are relatively trouble free .
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.20756 Own it , good ! Super thrower that fits in your pocket [ 4.2v ]
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.26791 People that own it like it - Dont own one ...
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.16240 Own it , Good ! Good all round light .
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.16179 Own it , Good ! Mine is now SSC P7 , and handles it just fine .
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.16178 As above , no memory .
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.31730 ?? Can vouch for it . Runs AA - 14500
If I were spending $25 , and it had to be 14500 , Akoray AK-16 ...
raven2000
- 2010.02.04
- 16:29:22
My budget is <25 like i said. At this moment I just want to get a 14500/AA light. I would prefer 14500 over CR123A as i can chuck in eneloops if 14500's run out.. So ill be investing in a cr123A/14500/18650 charger, as well as AW's 14500 protected cells (expensive). The next time i get spare cash for torches, ill go for the cr123a form factor, or 18650.
Anyway, thanks for the info about the AK-16, it seems pretty good, a better choice than SS-A1, but i feel like getting SS-A1 too lol, probably get both. This flashaholic addiction is killing my poor deprived wallet.
Btw, about what do you mean by p60 host? Ive seen it around alot, but im not sure what it means. Some info + DX links would be nice >.<
Don
- 2010.02.04
- 17:48:03
A P60 host is a light that can use any of the very wide range of P60 dropins. For example, http://www.jayki.com/flashlight_review_board/5659, and http://www.jayki.com/flashlight_review_board/6165, or
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.16240,
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.16179,
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.14601,
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.32721
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.32720 these last two are the best made bodies I've come across on DX. Don't like the styling myself, but they are very well put together.
All of these lights can use the same dropins - if you look at the pics of any of these it is the thing with the reflector and (usually) two springs.
A host is just a body with no light emitting bit in it.
old4570
- 2010.02.04
- 17:43:46
Actually I did provide some links to P60 hosts ...
p60 is the light pill designation by Surefire : Much copied now = Thank goodness ...
Links 3/4/5 are P60 hosts , as are Ultrafire C1/L2/503/ Possibly the bast value for money = Solarforce L2 for 2009 ...
New late 09 was the L2M , allowed for CR123A or 18650 use simply by adding or removing the included extension .
And if you got one more CR123A extension it becomes = CR123A - 18650 - 2xAA capable with the new low voltage pills .
I have one of the new L2M's , and I do like it ..
old4570
- 2010.02.05
- 09:13:19
Yes rattles , especially if you shake it . And yes a spacer would fix the rattle ..
I don't shake the light , so rattle is not a problem , 2xAA if your not rough is not such a problem .
I havent made a spacer as yet , but if you use dry/alkaline AA's you could wrap some tape around them and no rattle .
Plan is to buy a lathe this year , and once I get that .....
For 2xAA = 18650 body + CR123A extension / or / L2mini + 18650 Extension /
The L2M is a convertible body for 1xCR123A or 18650 , so if you add one more CR123A extension , its long enough for 2xAA ..
I'm in the process of collating all the information I can put together on single AA lights in a spreadsheet. All the numbers i have just now are on the attached spreadsheet. Or would be if i could figure out how to attach it!
AA/14500 lights that I have that I'd recommend.
The Ultrafire C3 single mode is small and ferociously bright on a 14500. However, they are not the best made lights in the world. Will run quite happily on every sort of AA I've thrown at them. Mine are quite a bit brighter with 2 AAs. The extension tube is about $7.
The Akoray K-106 (Review: http://www.jayki.com/flashlight_review_board/1032) but recent reports say they aren't nearly as good as the now apparently unavailable programmable ones. I actually prefer the very bright Uniquefire AA-S1 (Review: http://www.jayki.com/flashlight_review_board/6073) which comes in an identical body to the Akoray.
The single mode Uniquefire S10 (Review: http://www.jayki.com/flashlight_review_board/6843)is not a light I like much but it is bright (avoid the 6 mode) and is better than my first impressions of it gave it credit for. It is better once you file off the silly teeth at the front of it.
The Trustfire F22 (Beginnings of a review: http://www.jayki.com/6928#1) is nice but a lot bigger than the others I'd recommend. It is stainless steel which i like a lot, and comes with a silly assault crown but fortunately also a more normal bezel. Never understood these jagged lights, if I'm going to hit someone with a light, it's going to be a Maglite 6D, not a silly little AA. On the whole if I have to hit anyone, a torch would not be the implement of choice.
I like the Ultrafire C3 Stainless Steel Q5 but it gets too hot to hold after five minutes with a 14500. On low with an alkaline AA, it has now been running on the lightbox for 12 hours continually and is still producing usable light. I'm guessing it won't go out for another day or so.
This is a completely different animal from the aluminium C3 which isn't even slightly well made but is screaming bright. Or at least all 5 of mine are. But everyone needs to find out about how to make a torch work in the dark when it won't play ;-)