Recommend a small long throw EDC to the newb...

Looking for a long throw (600ft +) small EDC light... maybe an Olight S1 mini with an aftermarket smooth reflector and dedomed LED?


1) How would you prefer to purchase the light?


I have no preference regarding where I purchase the light (brick and mortar store, or mail-order). I assume my preferences would require a modded or built to spec light.


2) Budget: An easy question, but you may change your mind after answering the rest!


Up to $200 (preferably less 😂)


3) Format:


I want a flashlight (hand held/self contained).


4) Size:


TINY - Every day carry (2-4 inches).


5) Emitter/Light source:


LED (known for efficiency, longevity)
*possibly dedomed?


6) Manufacturer:


No preference


7) What power source do you want to use?


CR123 or RCR123 I would imagine based on the size of the light


7a) If you have selected a rechargeable option


If RCR123 I'd imagine a separate/stand-alone charger (this involves removing the batteries to charge)


8) How much genuine out the front (OTF) light do you want/need?


Minimally - I want to illuminate an entire field, the neighbor's front yard several houses down, impress my friends and neighbors, etc. (300-700 lumens).


Ideally - I want search and rescue type illumination (800+ lumens).


✅SPECIAL NOTE: Burst/Turbo mode Category - There are several lights that will run at a super bright maximum for a very limited period (usually 5-10 minutes) and then will "step-down" to a lower level for thermal control. Check here if this is acceptable.


9) Flood vs Throw: Flood covers an area, Throw reaches out to a distance.


Narrow Throw: I want a beam with a very tight "hot center" and minimal "side-spill". Good for distance viewing, fog, and looking through dense undergrowth.


9a) Distance: How far away will you typically need to see with this light
____Less than 1 yard/meter (reading, other close work)
____Less than 5 yards/meters (looking for something inside a dark shed/garage/basement)
____5-20 yards/meters (check out a noise in the backyard)
____50-150 yards/meters (I live in a very rural area/farm with wide open spaces)
____150+ yards (I am searching from a helicopter)


10) Runtime: Not over-inflated manufacturer runtime claims, but usable brightness measured from first activation to 50% with new batteries (Measured on maximum continuous output).


Up to 30 minutes (I want the brightest [and potentially smallest] light for brief periods)


While size is important I would like for the batteries to last longer than 30 min if possible.


11) Durability/Usage: Generally the old phrase "you get what you pay for" is very accurate for flashlights.


____Very Important (Camping, Backpacking, Car Glove-box).


12) Switch Size, Type, and location (choose all that apply):


Prefer: I want a body mounted switch (near the head, like on a Maglite).
Ok with: I want a tail mounted switch (found on the majority of today's high end lights).


13) User Interface (UI) and mode selection. Select all that apply.


____I want multiple light levels. (Some lights have 5-16 light levels.)


I'd prefer (5lumen / 60lumen / 300lumen / 600lumen+) or something along those lines.... I think?


14)Material/Finish/Coating


Aluminum/ SS / Ti / prefer the look of copper though 😄


15) Water resistance


Minimally: IPX4 (Splash resistant)
Ideally: IPX7 (Waterproof to 1 meter/30min)/ or more


16) Storage conditions


EDC / In house (temperature/climate controlled environment)


17) Special Needs/extras: Is there anything else you want or need that hasn't been mentioned? Select any/all below.

Thank you guys so much for any help / suggestions pointing me in the right direction!

I just got an S Mini Ti. in and it's smaller than the S1 Baton, I don't believe you're getting any 600' throw with even the S1 Baton. Mine is good for a usable 50-60 feet, to see anything of import.

600' is two US football fields and possibly seeing some light reflecting off of a reflective surface, that's not going to be easy with the smaller lights, if at all.

I recently got a Convoy C8 with XP-L HI LED and I shine if from my GF's 19th floor condo towards downtown Miami (Midtown) and I've get perhaps 150 yards (450') with plenty of existing light pollution, but that has a much larger reflector.

Then there's the 'whole' what do you want to be able to see at 600'--that there is a human figure, or a dog, off in the distance, or whether it's a man, or a woman and you'll see that 600' isn't all that realistic for smaller, lipstick, or even 1"x5.5" lights.

I wouldn't EDC my Convoy C8, but I can live with 60' of practical light, in a small package, from my S Mini, D25C Ti. clicky, or my V11r, which are all using the same power source and are all similar in size.

Chris

Hey Chris, thanks for the feedback and quick response! I was basing my desired beam distance on the numbers reported on Olights website... they claim the S mini has a beam distance of 361ft, I assumed this figure didn't represent "useable light", but did hope it would be at least half (180 useable ft.)?

Either way, Olight had produced an S30r and S30r javelot which from my understanding the only difference was the reflector and the LED being dedomed... the reported beam distance for these lights are: S30r 616ft / S30r Javelot 866ft.

Based on this info, I was hoping I could replace the reflector, lens and LED (dedomed) and increase the reported beam distance to 500-600ft, and possibly get a useable 300ft.... looks like that may have been wishful thinking though?

Ideally I'd be able to make out specific details on a person / object at that 300ft mark; anything beyond that would be a bonus 😀

The problem with light standards as I see them, is that when they rate these lights, they're trying to achieve only .25 LUX at any given distance--perhaps 100 yards?

.25 LUX, as the LUX experts tell us, isn't all that much, but its just the way things are rated. Once things get past that 100 yard mark, the LUX requirements double, quadruple, quintuple, from .25 LUX to 1-2 LUX and that's more than these little lights can hope to provide. We might be able to see a reflective STOP sign sparkle at 100 yards, but not much more.

The best way to know for sure, is to go out and actually use the light in hopefully a fully darkened area, to get on idea of what one can actually make out.

Take any manufacturer's numbers with a grain of salt, be they batteries, cells, or flashlights, is my way of going about it.

I love my little S Mini, as I love my other lipstick lights and they're just perfect for my 'city slicker' needs. For finding Bessie the cow, out in the vast fields, I'd opt for a different light.

Chris

You will want an optic-based flashlight, not reflector, for what you describe ....

LensLight makes several very high quality options in your price range.

To get to your listed output, you would need the 3-cell version, which is a bit larger than you might otherwise prefer.

However, the smaller versions still have very good beam throw even at their lower output, so you may consider that to be a reasonable tradeoff.

Thanks Chris, that makes a lot of sense. I guess my dilemma is trying to figure out how to pack the most punch and longest throw into a <4" light I can use for EDC.

Hopefully someone else in the forums has tried to achieve a similar goal and will have some tips/ ideas regarding a specific emitter / reflector / lens / mod / etc. that will get me closer to my goal.

I may go ahead and buy the S1mini anyway just because of the performance for cost in a nice copper package.

Hey Archimedes, thanks for the input. I've just finished looking at the lens light website, but was only able to find one <4" model, called the "mini". This light claims 300 lumens and a 600ft beam distance.... but I'm learning these claims aren't necessarily accurate.


Regarding optic based lights vs reflectors are you saying 2 lights with the same specs the optic light would throw farther with a tighter beam?

Nitecore's mh20gt has about the most throw for a stock pocketable light I can think of... even still it is 18650 not 123.

Thx Bdm82, that looks like a nice light, just a little larger than I'm looking for (in length and diameter). I prefer a diameter under 1" to leave minimal imprint in the pocket.

Do_the_fandango said:

Hey Archimedes, thanks for the input. I've just finished looking at the lens light website, but was only able to find one <4" model, called the "mini". This light claims 300 lumens and a 600ft beam distance.... but I'm learning these claims aren't necessarily accurate.


Regarding optic based lights vs reflectors are you saying 2 lights with the same specs the optic light would throw farther with a tighter beam?

Click to expand...

Yes, the three main versions of the LensLight are the Mini (1x CR123A) , the KO (2x CR123A) , and the cleverly named "3X123" (3x CR123A) .

More cells = bigger flashlight = greater max output (and greater throw)

There are two basic ways to create optimal beam throw, for a given output .... smooth reflector or TIR / aspheric optic.

Oversimplified ... but to increase throw, reflectors have to get much larger, but optics do not.

So, for a EDC-sized flashlight, you will be able to get much more throw out of a small optic than a small reflector.

The situation may be quite different in a much larger light, however.

The two best flashlights I have found for the general category you describe are the SureFire E1B and the LensLight Mini ...



The LL uses a focusing aspheric ( "zoomie" ) , while the SF uses a TIR.

Here is a comparison of beamshots ...

Thanks Archimedes, based on the pictures of the beam shots and the info you provided I prefer the TIR over the aspheric. A few of the budget lights I've had in the past would zoom in with what I assume would be an aspheric optic and it always looked cheap to me; then again I don't know much on the subject 😜

There was a light way back from Lumintop, the P1C, if you can still find it, it was a good thrower using XPG R5 emitter. It will not win any bright lumens challenge, but it can do a decent throw. Another old school one is the Dereelight Javelin using a C2H body mod so you can use a CR123 cell, this one uses the old XPE emitter which i believe has been phased out a lot time ago.

I would recommend that if you want a smallish EDC light it has to have the following requirements:

1. Deep reflector. Smooth or OP is fine, but some prefer the smooth reflector for more solid hotspot.
2. Uses smaller (maybe de-domed) XPG2 (or XPG3) LED as this would work well with small reflectors. Because newer XPL's and XML2's require massive reflectors to throw far (ex. Nitecore P30, Olight M2X)
3. Specs. Some manufacturers post accurate light intensities (lux / cd) so the higher you see that number, the better it's throw. (eg. 200,000CD+ = 1 Km throw)

That's about it. If those lights fit the above criteria, you have a decent thrower for a small light.

I too am in search for small throwers, but my battery requirement is 18650 as I prefer the longer runtimes.

Good luck!

Will throw in an eagtac TX25C2vn spec 4

http://skylumen.com/collections/v54-lights/products/tx25c2vn-need-spec


Little more budget friendly ,SDminiVN spec 2
http://skylumen.com/collections/v54-lights/products/sdminivn-pocket-thrower

Thanks Roadkill1109, the specs you mentioned seem to line up with what I'm finding so far... it's just finding them in the platform I want - lol. If you like 18650 you should check out the S30r javelot; it looks like a good option to me.

Thank you Ven, I had actually just stumbled across Vin's work and the Sky Lumen website. Of your recommendations the Lumintop is 4.3" long and 1.3" in diameter and the Eagletac is good on length at 3.4, but diameter is 1.3".

I noticed Vin sells a S1vn and S1Avn which show the option to request a different LED...

Would you guys happen to know if anyone previously requested either of these models in some type of long throw mod (dedomed LED, different reflector?) and what the result was?

From what I've read Vin seems to do excellent work... Would he be my best bet for this type of alteration or is there another maker who focuses specifically in this?

For a smaller light and fed on 16340 fuel, the eagtac D25Cvn with a de-domed xp-g2 would give you the small size and decent throw. Far end in this pic


Mine has the old xp-e iirc that is, still it kicks a55 for its little size, the xp-g2 de-dome PDT will be brighter still.

Only issue with rcr123/16340 is high output and run time............for edc uses i find it a good size(happy medium) but for anything over 400/500lm and for any duration(longer than a few mins) its not the best choice imo. Cell will soon be running on empty as most are around 550/600mah from what i have seen.

With the s1vn, the xml2 PDT would be the better option for some more throw, still its "only" around 10kcd due to design. Still its an impressive little light!

Hey fandango,
A light that is not greater than what you have asked for, But meets most of your requirements, would be the nitecore ec11.
-Runs on cr123 and rcr123
-623 foot beam distance
-Under 3 inches long
-900 lumens
-Definitely within your budget at around $70
It also has a nice dual switch UI and great pocket clip.

Lots of reviews on cpf
Hope this helps!

Ven, thank you! That D25Cvn dedomed looks like it may fit the bill. I am willing to sacrifice run time for the smaller diameter and length as long throw operation would typically be 30-60 seconds at a time, with extended use on lower lumen levels.

I am assuming this would provide longer throw than the s1vn or s1Avn dedomed?

Do you happen to know any info regarding availability/ price?

Welcome, best option is to email vinh with a simple list of what you want. xp-g2 PDT should fit the bill well, ideally you want IMR16340 fuel for the max output as cr123 are not much good past 1.5a. You can always run the lower modes still............
Yes it will throw further than the s1vn
[email protected]

Thanks C7N3M T&T, I did a little research and it looks as though the EC 11 has the option of using CR123 or 18650... the listed specs seem to show the best of both worlds (length of light using CR123, lumens using the 18650). I may have misunderstood but it looks like it would lower the lumens to 450, and significantly decrease throw by using the CR123 and having the light in a <4" package.