Farthest THROWER for the price of $50 $100 and $150

[roadie]

I will see how the MCE perform first. If it doesn't throw anywhere thenI will buy the head and use it with the MCE body.

glad to see u enjoying yr new light ...

well, as u know already, there;s an upgrade to yr light, thus happy playing

 

[NightIntoDay]

I just bought the Solarforce Masterpiece PRO-1 head from sbflashlights, hopefully I will get it in the mail on Thursday. I already have a Solarforce L2 host with 2x16340 batteries. I will try and post some beam shots in the next few days, with the 2x16340 and 1x18650 battery.

 

[Skylumen]

I just bought the Solarforce Masterpiece PRO-1 head from sbflashlights, hopefully I will get it in the mail on Thursday. I already have a Solarforce L2 host with 2x16340 batteries. I will try and post some screen shots in the next few days, with the 2x16340 and 1x18650 battery.

kool

 

[kengps]

I've owned (or own) almost all the throwers out there. A10G, MPP1, Lumapower Tele and Turbo-Force, A9 Aspheric, Deree Aspheric, DEFT-FTP, Catapult, And RRT-1. Did I miss anything? I decided on Aspherics when I want throw, so I sold most of my R2 throwers and went with SST-50 throwers for general purpose throwers. Both the A10G and MPP1 need 2 cells to make regulated output. There are references to the MPP1 needing 3 cells, but my light meter (a "really good" CA813) shows no less with 2 cells. I much prefer single 18650 lights for run-time advantage, so without mods I prefer the Lumapower Turbo-Force which also out-throws the rest. I modded my MPP1 for single-cell operation, and wish Solarforce would offer single cell operation with 18650 too. The A10 and MPP1 are nearly identical in throw. You won't see any difference. Only thing is the MPP1 has a very slightly darker center in the hot-spot. You need a white wall to notice though. I don't like the feel in the hand of the A10G. It also doesn't come focused very well from the factory and requires you screw the pill out for best hot-spot. So my favorite R2 reflector light right now is the Lumapower Turbo-force with the "Tactical" kit 18500 tube. It's the best combo of small size and run-time. (over 1 hour) However, it has a poor grip and so I put a groove and Tiablo A9 grip ring under the cap of mine. WHY can't somebody build the perfect light??? Everybody is close, but I needed a mini-lathe to satisfy me. Now if I could only buy stock off-the-shelf lights/parts....the MPP1, with a UCL lens, Surefire Z2 host, and McClicky switch is tops IMHO. Not to mention it feels like a weapon in your hand. It really is a little mini-club with the weight all out at the head. OH yes....forgot to answer...the RRT-1 is a 40,000 lux light. The A10, MPP1 are 50,000 lux lights. The RRT-1 has a horrible grip. All style and terrible function. It also comes with a 9mm hole under the 16mm LED board. Horrible heat sinking. One of my RRT-1's had a burned LED. I've had 4 Jet-beams now and I'll never buy another. (M2S, RRT-1 (two), RRT-0)

 

[Skylumen]

So much lights!!! WoW

 

[kengps]

I have more.....

 

[Skylumen]

I have more.....

How do we post an image???

 

[kengps]

You have to use one of the photo storage sites such as "Photobucket.com" and then copy/paste a link from there to your post here at CPF.

 

[Skylumen]

Here is my current Collection.

[/IMG]

 

[roadie]

" 15 pack led flashlight value pack ... " what the hell is that ....

Nice collection u have too , .....

More to come i presumme

 

[Stormfront]

Thanks Vin for both sharing your collection and running an interesting thread. I've only just gone through it and as a newbie, have found it quite helpful.

Any chance you could tag each of the lights in the photo when you have a spare hour or so?

Cheers,

Stormfront

 

[Skylumen]

" 15 pack led flashlight value pack ... " what the hell is that ....

Nice collection u have too , .....

More to come i presumme

Here is a list of what I got and my personal opinion.

 

[jcalvert]

Hi Ken,

Your collection is very nice, but what I really appreciate is the table designed for the layperson (non-flashoholic) in mind...very nicely laid out!

I appreciate that you have provided me some great info and insight when I was looking for my thrower, which ended up being the A10-G and which fits my hunting needs perfectly. Now, I need your opinion regarding a light to replace my Maelstrom G5, which I categorize as a higher throw vs. flood-general purpose light because selfbuilt tested the prototype at 17K lux.

I know, as you have posted, that your LP D-Mini R2 w/ Turbo Force head is a top-notch dedicated thrower and I assume it's also a good GP light w/ the stock head, however I really like the side switch on the LP Sig Tac VX & GX.

To replace the Maelstrom G5 and since I don't want to do any modifications or buy extra parts, would you recommend the LP Sig Tac 'GX' w/XPG-R5 & Turbo Force (ST-05G) head, which are sold as a kit together for approximately $90.00USD? [Comment: I like the balance of flood & throw w/ the right reflector of the XPG-R5].

Or how about the LP Sig Tac 'VX' w/ SST-50 & Turbo Force (ST-03) head which are sold together as a kit for approximately $110.00USD? [Comment: I've never seen a light w/ the SST-50 to know how balanced the flood & throw is or if one dominates the other in most applications].

My instinct suggests the GX using the XPG-R5, will be more appealing in general and also throw a bit more than the VX, and the VX w/ SST-50 will provide more flood, each using there corresponding Turbo Force heads. [Note: Ricky at LP states that although the SST-50 has more output, the GX throws more]. Please keep in mind that I'm looking for a general purpose replacement for the Maelstrom G5, with a balance of more throw than flood.

If you are familiar enough with these lights, do you have any idea of their lux stats with their Turbo Force heads in place? Nobody seems to have tested these lights for lux! Thanks, Ken.

John

 

[roadie]

nice layout .......

this is why, when we welcome every new user to the forum, we always tell the user " we hope u got big fat wallets too "

:devil:

 

[Buck]

The $50 under range you have the Rayovac 4-Watt and the Task force 2-C.

There are several good throwers at Shiningbeam right now for under $30: the Romisen aspherics labeled "Flood-to-Throw," which I think will beat a TaskForce. These also have flat wide illumination when defocused. My TaskForce crapped out (it still lights, but seems dimmer than I remember when new) so I can't post comparative beamshots, but even the RC-29 on an eneloop puts out a pretty good throw at full-focus, with runtime around an hour. I'd really love that light if it had 2 modes. I could do without the sharp little fins around the clicky as well, which are a bit uncomfortable for pocket carry.

I recently posted a beamshot of the RC-C6 here:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/295899
Last night I went out and could see it on fir tree top at about 100 yards, which seems pretty good for a small pocket light (no beamshot of that).
The RC-C8 has a bigger lens and tighter beam, so it should throw better, although mine never quite brings the image of the die to focus.

 

[kengps]

Jcalvert, Thanks for the reply. The table above is not mine though so I can't take credit for that. I have never laid my hands on a Signature from Lumapower. SST-50 lights are by nature floody, and so even a Turbo-head SST-50 has at least twice the intensity in side-spill as an XR-E R2. I have the Lumapower standard head Ultra VX and it only throws about 7000 lux from a 1.45 inch diameter head. The ST-03 Turbo head I'm guessing (1.75" dia?) is gonna make 12,000-14,000 lux. Even the Turbo-Force head with stock SST-50 pill is around 22,000 lux or so. So as you can see SST-50's are quite floody and need big reflectors to get some throw. Wish I could help you more.

 

[jcalvert]

Jcalvert, Thanks for the reply. The table above is not mine though so I can't take credit for that. I have never laid my hands on a Signature from Lumapower. SST-50 lights are by nature floody, and so even a Turbo-head SST-50 has at least twice the intensity in side-spill as an XR-E R2. I have the Lumapower standard head Ultra VX and it only throws about 7000 lux from a 1.45 inch diameter head. The ST-03 Turbo head I'm guessing (1.75" dia?) is gonna make 12,000-14,000 lux. Even the Turbo-Force head with stock SST-50 pill is around 22,000 lux or so. So as you can see SST-50's are quite floody and need big reflectors to get some throw. Wish I could help you more.

Ken,

As usual, you have been a tremendous resource.

What I believe I will be doing as I now have the specific information I needed from Ricky At LP is that I'll go with Sig Tac GX which uses an XPG-R5 and will then add their ST-03G head which is their largest diameter and deepest head for throw of greater than that of the SST-50. So I assume I will get over 22K lux which beats out the Maelstrom G5(17k lux) by a significant margin and which it will be replacing.

With the LP Sig Tac GX, I'll get two heads, one for general purpose and one for throw and all for only about $110.00USD. Not a bad deal and from what I understand is a top quality company.

So thanks for all your willingness to help, I'll keep you informed when I finally have the combo kit in hand and can trial it in the outdoors.

All the best,
John

 

[kengps]

JC, maybe you should consider my Tiablo A50? Looks Identical to the A10, but has an SST-50, and makes 24,000 lux. More throw than the G5 yet with 750-800 lumens, so a lot more side-spill and useable fatter hot-spot. I built it using a 2.8 Amp driver with High/Med/Low only. It will run 1 hour on an 18650 on High. It is really easy to use, just a quick half press gets you into the other modes. It's for sale on CPFMP for $100 shipped. Check it out.

On second thought.....I'm going to keep it. I just tested it outdoors against the Turbo-Force and I like it much better. Not sure why I never did a comparison between the two. Different purchase time frames I guess. Both are modded with the same SST-50 bin, and same driver boards too. Throw is close enough it takes careful study to tell them apart (24,000 vs 27,000) But the side-spill and especially the secondary corona around the hot-spot is superior on the A50. It is a much better general purpose thrower. It actually has brighter side-spill than a little VX Ultra makes! I have always been impressed with Tiablo reflectors. Especially this one with a dual texture, two-piece reflector. Never cared for the packaging though. Primarily the switch housing is too big, has 4 horns sticking out, and a mushy switch that's hard to get to. I've decided to combine a MPP1 housing I have laying around with the A50 reflector, a Surefire Z2 body, and an SST-50 P60 style solid core pill. Yeah, it's gonna be a real *******, but I'm excited by the combo. Plus I can swap out pills as new LED's come out. I think I may even be able to stuff a 5 amp driver into it.

 

[Skylumen]

Does anyone here have any experience with a Trustfire Tr-1200? Please let me know. Thanks!

 

[crossliner67]

nice layout .......

this is why, when we welcome every new user to the forum, we always tell the user " we hope u got big fat wallets too "

:devil:

Roadie is that avatar of yours your own husky?looks mean