wanting a brighter led torch

hi guys, im new to the torch scene

i've owned a luxeon ministar extreme-powered maglite mini for awhile, lost it and replaced it with a generic waterproof rubberized torch with another ministar extreme shoehorned into it... by now im kind of used to how bright the bulb is, or more specifically how dim it feels...

i would like to find a newer , brighter torch which can take drops onto the pavement and into puddles without damage...i can spend on things which are somewhat more expensive than the cheapest stuff but not anything top end... im looking at the fenix T1 ce, its in my price range and seems to be the highest lumen light that the web shop ive found sells... anyone have any other ideas? im figuring that it could be cheaper to buy a newer bulb setup instead (this could go into the modding section) and dremel a fresh cheapo flashlight to fit it, is this a better way?

:welcome: Try the new T1 from Fenix..you won't believe how much brighter it will be compared to what you are used to!! As far as drops onto pavement are concerned you would be better off thinking of a way to prevent that from happening. A lanyard maybe?

$67 shipped for the T1 will be hard to beat for 225 lumens.

BSCOTT1504 said:

:welcome: Try the new T1 from Fenix..you won't believe how much brighter it will be compared to what you are used to!! As far as drops onto pavement are concerned you would be better off thinking of a way to prevent that from happening. A lanyard maybe?

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thanks for the reply! i have an idea which is much better than a lanyard ... would have preferred the torch to come with its own rubber coating but i guess you cant have everything eh

Marduke said:

$67 shipped for the T1 will be hard to beat for 225 lumens.

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im really jealous of you americans, im in the UK and everythings more expensive here , it goes for almost 50 pounds and thats already twice as expensive, without shipping... its a pre order and will be released on the 30th of november

Marduke said:

$67 shipped for the T1 will be hard to beat for 225 lumens.

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Where did you find it?

One thing you could consider, if you're gonna drop the light a lot, is to buy a non-metallic light. The brightest I can think of in your priceclass is the Surefire G2 LED(allthough I'm not 100% sure about nitrolon vs aluminium). It's the same price and runs the same batteries as the fenix, but is not as bright, but I think it would be bright enough for most uses though. Surefire rates the lumens that comes out from the light, while Fenix and pretty much every other manufacturer rates the bulb lumens, which is not as much as what exactly comes out from the front end of the light. So the difference in 200 lumens vs 80 lumens might not be as big as it seems.
I havent tried theese both lights, so some one else might chime in instead, but just wanted to point out a nonmetallic option.
All in all, I think the Fenix T1 is an excellent choice as well, but hard to tell the performance before any reviews.

Have you also considered what kind of batteries you're gonna use? Rechargables can save a lot of money in the long run.

Good luck and hope my post didnt confuse you too much now.

carmatic said:

heh, hence my rubberized torch attempt... :sick2:

i have an idea which is much better than a lanyard



im really jealous of you americans, im in the UK and everythings more expensive here , it goes for almost 50 pounds and thats already twice as expensive, without shipping... its a pre order and will be released on the 30th of november

the lumapower m3 is the same price, but looks like many torches in one....

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You can have it for the same price. Fenix-Store ships international for no charge. Don't forget your CPF discount!!

Fenix Store includes international shipping in their price.

The light is $73 but with the 8% off coupon, "CPF8", price drops to $67.16.

If you want cheap, Dealextreme has lots of good Cree/Seoul/Rebel 100 LED lights and they also include international shipping in their price. Just go for the ones that have been getting good reviews on. How about a 3W Seoul(Tonch, someone misspelled) or the WF-606 for your next light?

:welcome:

cool , you guys sure are one helpful bunch, im glad i signed up! the dealextreme site has a MASSIVE selection of lights and goodies to choose from, its gonna take a while to look thru thats for sure ...
hopefully the customs duty in my country isnt going to be too severe...i think that if i buy one of the cheaper torches from dealextreme i might actually dodge it, i would have never ever ever thought i'd get value for money like this ... but i think i want the peace of mind of owning something represented by a nice shiny webpage

Lobo said:

Have you also considered what kind of batteries you're gonna use? Rechargables can save a lot of money in the long run.

Good luck and hope my post didnt confuse you too much now.

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heheh its not confusing, the surefire g2 seems to be coated with nitrolon http://www.tactical-store.com/ts-fs-fl-g2led-g2-l-bk.html , im still not used to the idea of having a rechargeable battery... just for a torch! and yeah, i feel like trying to coat an aluminum torch in plasti dip , especially the modular types , to protect it from falls and stuff and to seal it up abit better at the seams

Some of the lights on DX are a good deal, but you should look for reviews (both on DX and here) of the lights before purchasing and know what you're getting into. Some have lumen ratings in the description or reviews, and a few even have runtime graphs. Most need their contacts clean right away with rubbing alcohol and a swap, most need threads and orings lubed, etc. Most are also only Type-II anodized, not HA-III.

On DX, the companies are too cheap to put up lumen ratings

Almost all of the lights with newer LEDs on DX have over 40 Lumen out the front(Including the single AA ones, this one should have around 60-70 out the front). The 18650 and CR123 powered ones are usually 90-130 lumen out the front on high. Either way, you would probably be happy with the output(just stick with Cree, Seoul or Rebel lights getting good reviews). Some complain about a glued light because they want to modify the light, But be wary that shipping can take a month(Or more if the item is back ordered).

Just keep a lanyard and you would probably drop a light less.

The problem with coating a high power LED light with plastic or rubber is the heat form the LED. You would lower the life of the LED or even burn the LED out if you let a high power LED run at a high current in a polymer or rubber coated light. Not much heat would get out. To keep the LED safe, most lights with a polymer body drive the LED at a lower current or have a sensor to keep the temperature in check.

carmatic said:

heheh its not confusing, the surefire g2 seems to be coated with nitrolon http://www.tactical-store.com/ts-fs-fl-g2led-g2-l-bk.html , im still not used to the idea of having a rechargeable battery... just for a torch! and yeah, i feel like trying to coat an aluminum torch in plasti dip , especially the modular types , to protect it from falls and stuff and to seal it up abit better at the seams

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Most of the brighter lights use lithium batteries, and primaries can be very expencive and hard to obtain, depending on where you live. Here in Sweden, they are roughly 10USD a pop in a regular store, if you can find them... You could order over the internet, but that is way to much hazzle for me, for a couple of batteries. If you want a bright AA light, you should check out the Fenix L2D Q5, amazingly bright for 2 AAs.

And about coating a light, as Gunner12 mentioned, watch out for overheating the LED.

And do check out DX and www.kaidomain.com(pretty much the same inventory as DX, allthough the site is harder to navigate), there are a lot of bargains to be made there. Allthoug as mentioned, be aware of the long shipping time, and be aware that the quality can be hit and miss for different lights.

thanks again for the replies, they have been really helpful

i guess i could go with putting on a strap like the controller for the nintendo wii , it should be pretty safe for a torch if it passes safety tests for that thing

the DX site is amazing! no shipping, no import duty, i could buy stuff on it with paypal just like i buy things with spare change from my local shop!

UNFORTUNATELY ive succumbed to my lust for posh shiny unreleased things and plonked down 33.66 gbp for the T1
will report on how well it fares -- with and without the rubber coating :nana: the weather here is cold and wet, i use those energizer lithium batteries with my ministar extreme and it seems that the batteries going numb in the cold is more of an issue than heat from the led... then again, its a ministar so i dont know if thats a good comparison or not, its barely warm when i open up my rubberized torch after like a few dozen minutes of use...

about those batteries... are the c123 the same as what they label as 'photo' batteries? like the local shop sells some batteries which are shorter and fatter than AA, its also available in lithium from energizer but its like 4x as expensive as the lithium AA cells...

May I ask which light you bought?

Also, most of the DX supplied lanyards aren't that good, I've already had one break(Maybe I should stop swinging my light around in circles).

Gunner12 said:

May I ask which light you bought?

Also, most of the DX supplied lanyards aren't that good, I've already had one break(Maybe I should stop swinging my light around in circles).

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the strap on my torches are a good source of exercise as well

ive bought the fenix T1 , waiting for it to ship on the 28th ... wondering how much that coupon is going to be compared to the customs tax that they'll slap on it i couldnt help but get pulled in by the lumen numbers...

I'll have my fingers crossed,

Have fun when your new light arrives!

carmatic said:

about those batteries... are the c123 the same as what they label as 'photo' batteries? like the local shop sells some batteries which are shorter and fatter than AA, its also available in lithium from energizer but its like 4x as expensive as the lithium AA cells...

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CR123s are often labeled as "Photo" batteries, but not all "Photo" batteries
are CR123s. You need to look more closely at the packaging.

Most lights that take CR123s can take some kind of rechargeable battery.
Lithium-ion R123s put out more voltage than CR123s, but many lights are
designed to work with them. There are also LiFePO4's, which have a nominal
voltage around 3 volts like CR123's and should be safe to use in any light
where they will fit. They are just a little fatter than CR123's.
Some lights that take 2 CR123's will work with 1 17670 lithium ion.

AndyTiedye said:

CR123s are often labeled as "Photo" batteries, but not all "Photo" batteries
are CR123s. You need to look more closely at the packaging.

Most lights that take CR123s can take some kind of rechargeable battery.
Lithium-ion R123s put out more voltage than CR123s, but many lights are
designed to work with them. There are also LiFePO4's, which have a nominal
voltage around 3 volts like CR123's and should be safe to use in any light
where they will fit. They are just a little fatter than CR123's.
Some lights that take 2 CR123's will work with 1 17670 lithium ion.

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there are lots of those r123 'photo' batteries in my local shop and they are expensive... so am i right to assume that any torch which takes 2 cr123's will be compatible with one of these ? and that the higher voltage of li-ion wouldnt matter that much... the ministar extreme which i am using now has circuitry in it which tries to keep the light at a constant output, but it dims away quickly when im using non lithium batteries and its a huge upkeep for the disposable AA lithiums, the price of the torch + the bulb all over again just in the first week... so this is one of the things im looking to avoid as well with my new light... to that end i've bought https://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1251 and https://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.2844 , cheaper than one round of the batts im using right now... once again i say DX is brilliant!!!!!!

and yeah, how many of you think that instead of coating it in an all-encompassing heat-blocking layer of rubber, it is better to do something like tie rubber bands around where the torch will face the most abuse , and glue the bands in place with some good bouncy silicone sealant or whatever, leaving gaps on the aluminum exposed to dissipate the heat

carmatic said:

hopefully the customs duty in my country isnt going to be too severe...

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Fenixstore, Dealextreme and Kaidomain all ship declaring value of items to be around the $10 mark no matter what's in them. I have had perhaps 50 deliveries in total from these places and never paid duty once. I'm in Berkshire.

The DX lights are quite good value for money but the Fenix ones are soo much better. I'd go for a Fenix if I were you. If you live anywhere near Bracknell or Windsor, pop round and you can have a go.

I'd cancel your battery order, DX batteries are fine for the price but avoid unprotected batteries. They can be overcharged and overdischarged and have a much higher chance of exploding.

Protected batteries have a circuit to prevent them from overcharging and overdischarging.

Cancel the order or at least ask DX to change the batteries to change the batteries to these protected ones.