Chinese gimmick

Depends what you want, flood, throw, zoom, compact, lots of different specs.

As much as I dislike MecArmy they've released a 500 lumen keychain light that has a 110db siren and usb output to charge your phone 10% in emergencies.

About 50 delivered. there are

:Suspiciou
Have a few surefires , make a nice host with modern day p60 drop in options. Programmable drivers, triples or quads, optics/mules make them a very flexible platform.
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Yes i may have this disorder too Matt;)
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Mules are super useful(no reflectors for a wall of light......like holding a light bulb), these have the nichia 219C in, nice 5000k neutral so nice rendition(accurate colours) be it under the bonnet or at work.
[URL=http://s1126.photobucket.com/user/venn105/media/Flashlights%205/6C5858F5-73C5-488F-A316-2FE583099D3D_zpshwyxjr02.jpg.html]Attachment 28463[/URL

Custom options with the surefires from cryos and oveready. Here is a z32 cryos bezel, precision works bored surefire c2(for 18650) with tritium vials installed(5 of these in the world). Triad tail cap with zeroRez twisty for unlimited amps. p60 is a quad p60vn xpl HI 5000k and programmable driver.

Attachment 28464

Many options, the McGizmo haiku from Hawaii , titanium custom with a tana triple conversion 219B. HDS rotary which is semi custom, M2 with a vestureofblood xhp70 shaved dome p60 in and a c2 with a nichia 219B triple.
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For one of the toughest flashlights in the world, the HDS
http://www.hdssystems.com/
Attachment 28466

Just dont get started on watches, luckily expensive ones are out of my reach, knives, flashlights, watches and cars can be never ending..........:)
Last 2 weeks of watches
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Yep, i may have issues and i dont care:thumb:

This thread has made me realise I need a torch, lol.

I want a fairly bright one, perhaps 200 lumens, that will do a job if I went for a walk in darkness. Budget of about £20-25. Rechargeable batteries and a battery life of about an hour would be good. I don't know about flood, throw, zoom, etc. - just a torch that is going to give plenty of light. Lightweight and reliable brand, too. What would you recommend, torch specialists?

Cheers.

Convoy are a decent budget brand, the s2+ to name one pretty compact 18650 light.Can be bought for around £10-£15. You would need a separate charger like an xtar or nitecore(under £10 would be sufficient). Also a couple of 18650's .

If new to li ion fuel, best to have a little read up on the safety side, charging/discharging . But 1x 18650 cell which is 4.2v fully charged(similar to power drills and laptops) has the equivalent power of 4x AA's but more compact. Simply just top off(re-charge) after use to be ready to go next time. Stay away from anything ending in fire, like ultrafire and stuff as its cheap chinese crap and dangerous. Their chargers and batteries are crap, dont terminate charge and silly exaggerated mah ratings. Inside they can have a 14500 cell(same as an AA size) and lucky to get 1000mah. So reputable seller like ecolux shop on ebay, couple of keeppower cells, single or dual bay charger from xtar would be a recommend.

Its pretty much endless tbh, but with the convoy you get a LED options, ideally around 5000k for a more pleasant tint(better or more accurate colours instead of washed out ).

Simon who owns convoy is on aliexpress, you will get a genuine convoy(yes even cheap lights have copies).

If you want AA fed, look at fenix and thrunite options if you want to buy here in uk and dont want the extra thinking of lithium batteries and chargers. Fenix,Thrunite to name just 2 brands are decent quality.

How come no ones mentioned the legend that is the D cell Maglire yet? :lol1:

There are torches that throw a wall of light like a garden floodlight and torches with a focused beam that project a spot. 200 Lumens for a floody light isn't going to be that bright but in a torch that's designed for sending a beam of light quite far (Thrower) 200 Lumens can be quite potent.

A lot of lights can't hold their max lumens for long either, as much as I love the Olight S1R it can only hold 900 Lumens for 90 seconds before stepping down to 300 lumens, but it is a stupidly small light and has poor heat sinking.

For casual walks I'd look at a Thrunite TN12, Olight M18 or even better the Olight S2R Baton, Olight S2R is well over 1000 Lumens (More like 1250, quality torch makers underrate their torches like Alpine used to their amps.) on Turbo but on high mode it will hold 500 Lumens for 200 mins, (60 days on it's lowest mode!!!!) it's beam is quite broad and the tint is a lovely neutral white, torch has timer modes, strobe, lockout, magnetic base, clip to fasten to baseball cap, soft turn off/on and USB charging too. These epic Torches can be had for under £50.

Convoy S2 seems good value £15ish.

Ven, what's the brightest flooder you own?

Wicked Lasers Flashtorch.

10-40 mins run time lol

tk75vnQ70 which is the fenix tk75 2015 version, drivervnx2 and 4x xhp70's for near 16,000lm OTF
One on the right
Attachment 28416

Left is the rc40vnT which is a good all rounder, 8000lm and 500kcd of which can be used without the usual heat issues due to mass.

Ven and Matt, I won't pretend I understood everything you wrote, but thanks for the info. I want a floody torch - one that's going to light up a decent area of a wood - rather than a thrower that is going to shine very bright, but just on a smaller area.

Is a Nitecore Tip a floody torch? I checked it out and they look like a decent piece of kit!

Cheers.

Problem with the tip is run time having a small fuel tank, also to hold a few 100 lumens for any decent time you need a little more mass. They can make a good key chain light, but for walks they are not ideal.

can you guys point me in the direction of a torch that will throw a beam for 200m and last at least 30mins for around £30, I have 18650 batteries and a charger so would be good if it took those but an inbuilt battery is also fine.

Ok, cheers.

Where would be the best place from which to buy a Convoy S2, somewhere that isn't going to sell a cheap copy?

Is the website below trustworthy? It's a great price!

http://www.gearbest.com/led-flashlig...Fei77Qod1gQFTg

Gearbest is OK, can be a little hit/miss and they do sell some clone/fake stuff too. My advice if your going to get a convoy, get here
https://www.aliexpress.com/store/pro...614309086.html

3B option for around 5000k

Might as well get it from mr convoy for a couple of £ more and know its genuine. Cheaper copies are just that, cheap driver, poor materials.

Convoy c8 with xpl HI would be about the best/cheapest thrower available that uses an 18650

https://www.aliexpress.com/store/pro...651190452.html

If you want UK, there is the thrunite tn4a, its AA fed x4 and for best performance sanyo eneloop cells would be the one. They will pay for themselves within a couple of charges. Would recommend the neutral white version, better on the eyes than the cool white.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/ThruNite%C2...017VUVEXS?th=1

Another option if you dont want to order from China or cant be botheres with a wait time of 2weeks ish, James here has some convoys in stock. Great guy to deal with, can also mod them a little to tweak to your taste(triples to name one option and 6a for 2500lm)
http://www.3tronics.co.uk/

Ok, cheers!

Is the 3B option a mode on the torch or a model of the torch?

3B is the colour temp of the LED , for example the 1A is a cool white and 6500k-7000k. Warm would be 3000k to 4000k.

It's subjective but most prefer around neutral as a happy medium, not many manufacturers give people the option although it's slowly changing.

please select Emitting Color,Body Color
Emitting Color
T4 7AT5 5BT6 3BT6 4CU2 1A
Body Color
7135x37135x47135x67135x8
Ships to
United Kingdom
Quantity

The options above , 3BT6 for colour temp of around 5000k, the 7135x3 etc, I would recommend the x4 for a happy medium and bright enough for your needs. The x8 is the brightest to give you a clue. Flip side is heat, at 100% it will get toasty pretty quick. There is always the low mode and medium. But as its a higher output, the low is quite high if makes sense .

So the 3b in the options and x4 in box bellow. If you want the brightest version then select the x8.

The driver has 2 mode groups, when on low mode,at 5 seconds it blinks and at this time if you click off then on. It changes to next mode group. One is a low medium and high(3 mode) with memory. The other is a 5 mode with strobe and SOS. As I don't like or use disco modes (strobe/sos), the 3 mode works well .

They are only good for hitting people with :D

Unless you can get a decent LED retro fit so you can blind them before you hit them. Last time I looked they LED drop-ins were pretty lame.

Checked mine and at 1.2M candlepower it's 9500 Lumens.

T'old Vinh demonstrating the Tip, 150 lumens is borderline usable in high mode, 360 lumen Turbo mode is stupid bright for a torch smaller than your thumb and it gets hot fast then steps down after a few mins.


The Nitecore Tip is very floody with no discernible hotspot, it will hold 150 lumens for 90 mins without getting hot, with 360 when you need it. We've taken it for walks and it was fine and very practical being a keychain light. Everyone I've shown this light to has wanted or bought one.
It can turn on in your pocket occasionally and the earliest released ones still used battery when turned off, flat in under 2 days.
There's a gorgeous part copper light called the Manker E14 that can be had for under £40, 1600 lumens (tested about 1200) and you can buy and extension tube to make it take an 18650 battery. Long run times! Warm white version aswell.


http://www.diy.com/departments/diall...1370098_BQ.prd

Yours has 200 lumens and 380m throw. My 9000 lumen TN40vn has 8700 Lumens and throws 1450m. Good brands are expensive but work out cheaper pounds for lumens!

Little lads 5th birthday today, he's got a PS4, RC BB8, Minecraft toys and Nitecore Tip. His favourite prezzie is the Tip!

Lol, converting him into a flashaholic already. WRX for his 17th? :)

Thanks for the info. Reckon I'm going to get a Nitecore Tip in black. Is that eBay link legit - they're not going to send me a dodgy copy? They're only £28.99 from the official Nitecore website.

I've bought 4 Nitecore Tips from hkeequipment on ebay, he accepts offers of around 20 quid. Nitecore will deffo sell the updated version though with the lockout mode that doesn't drain battery. I don't use lockout but it did bother people on the torch forums.

Thanks for the reply ven.:thumb:

Having had a bit of a look on youtube I think I maybe want something that can flood but with a 50/80m throw, I'd like to be able to light up the field opposite me to see any deer or wild bore, think it might be a bit tricky to find them with a spot, so be nice if you guys could point me in the direction of something that will do the job, again don't really want to spend a fortune £30/50 max but I'd like it to be something that will last and again would be good if it used 18650's as I don't want to be spending extra on other batteries and a charger. :)

Welcome
For flood ideally you need a shallow reflector, there are some pretty decent 26650 lights out with cell supplied and built in USB charging like the olight r50 with the xhp50
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That one is a v54, shaved dome(increases throw to 40kcd but still very floody). Standard form will just not throw as far which you dont need anyway.
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Pretty compact size
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Cell supplied
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All built in, can use other 26650 , just need the supplied olight to charge in it(special + and - poles for charging).

18650, the good old fenix pd35 is still a contender, the bench mark for most single 18650 lights. This is a floody light, large/soft hot spot which reaches out a decent way but in no way a thrower type. Pretty good size for edc, nicely made and a good brand. There are a few versions, the 850lm is actually close to 1000lm so the 2014 version is around the same brightness(so dont pay more for an extra 150lm as it is already that).
Look around, but this is the actual light to give you an idea
https://www.amazon.co.uk/FENIX-PD35-.../dp/B00DMM0IE6

Again for a pretty cheap floody light, the convoy s2+ is hard to beat, bang for buck. Not as good quality as the fenix, but above its price range.

If you want to go a little crazy, solarforce host(empty flashlight) and a sportac nichia 219B triple 2 mode drop in. Light £10-£20 and drop in £30 ish.

Well just splashed out on the Convoy S2+ and the C8 $43 with a pouch, universal clip and the fancy glass (ar coated lense :wonder: ) for the S2 at about a quid each thought I may as well push the boat out :lol1: Just figured I may as well have the best of both worlds while I was about it and they can be my xmas present to me. :D

Thanks for the help and advice, as usual you're the font of all knowledge. :notworthy

Just need to resist the watches, going onto Hennie haynes to look at knives now.:lol1:

Nice one, no probs, they are decent value lights and offer regulated output (lenser t7/p7.2 do not) and also more modes, brighter too , yet a fraction of the cost.

Chris Reeve sebenza is a popular one, buy once cry once........

Back to real world, the kershaw brand are 1/2 decent and offer some good value knives, my last
http://www.knivesandtools.co.uk/en/p...k-hinderer.htm