Favourite Budget Zoomie

[Witterings]

What's your favourite budget zoomie ... I've a few now but interested to hear what other people like??

 

[bykfixer]

Maglites and the Coast HP1.

 

[TheShadowGuy]

I quite like the Cree XP-E Q5 zoomie that is like a less chunky Sipik SK68 and often sold for about $2.50. The clip is weak, the tint is mediocre, and the switch is quite basic, but it is a dead simple 1xAA that takes 14500 and gets fairly bright with a usable beam.
Sipik SK68 wins for modding though.
The Coast HP1 is often $10 and high quality for the price.
The 2XAA Maglite Pro 272 lumen version is nice and can be found with a Solitaire LED 1xAAA as a set for $20 in big box stores.

 

[Skeeterg]

Its not a low budget light,but I do like Vinhs skylumen zoom18.

 

[PB Wilson]

I've ben playing with a Brinyte B158 for the last couple nights and while it might not be in everyone's budget for a "budget" light (around $25), it is a fun and decently powerful floody.

 

[Witterings]

I'd be really interested to hear any reports on the Convoy BD 04 as they seem to generally produce good quality lights that gain quite a following.

 

[biggman15]

I've used this one for years.


i also keep this one in my car.

 

[KeepingItLight]

I've ben playing with a Brinyte B158 for the last couple nights and while it might not be in everyone's budget for a "budget" light (around $25), it is a fun and decently powerful floody.

After seeing the review by MHanlen, I bought a couple of Brinyte B158 flashlights. I got one with the standard Cree XM-L2 U2 6500K emitter and the other with a red Cree XP-E R5 emitter. The flood beam is nice and wide. At around 52,000 candela, throw in the stock B158 is okay, but not spectacular.

The interesting thing about the B158 is that you can purchase blank replacement "pills" that screw into the head. Add the driver and emitter of your choice, and you have a module that you can swap in and out in only a minute or so.

The UI and tint is poor enough on the stock B158 that you should probably plan on doing that. The B158 uses a forward-clicky switch mounted on the tail cap for all functions. Before clicking to turn on the B158, you have to tap the switch to cycle through modes, and select the one you want. In addition to three constant modes, there are Strobe and SOS modes. Unfortunately, the blinky modes are part of the main sequence.

I purchased a couple of the brass pills. So far, I have not done anything with them.

At present, my main use for the B158 is as an indoor light. I love the super-wide flood mode.