WebHobbit
Enlightened
This is probably an old debate and I have searched for previous threads but none seem to get right to this question. Elzetta and and Surefire's position seems to be that for "serious" (Military, Law Enforcement) usage the ONLY option for modern powerful LED flashlights is the 2xCR123a format. They always say the rechargeable options are too unreliable and may fail at the worst possible time. But lets look hard at that. I guess there are really two different aspects here if we don't factor economics into the debate - RELIABILITY and SAFETY.
Reliability - I think I would have to give this to the CR123a primary as they can take temperature extremes better than the 18650s can. It's been discussed how the protection built into Protected 18650 cells could "go off" due to recoil and rough handling thus protecting against venting episode but rendering the light unusable....BUT don't Surefire primaries have a similar built in protection circuit?
Safety - Am I wrong in assuming that the fact that 2xCR123a have two cells in a series would make them inherently MORE likely to have a venting episode than a single 18650 setup? So wouldn't 1x18650 be safer than 2xcr123a?
Thoughts?
(and if this should go under the battery section then mods please move it -I wasn't sure where this should go)
Reliability - I think I would have to give this to the CR123a primary as they can take temperature extremes better than the 18650s can. It's been discussed how the protection built into Protected 18650 cells could "go off" due to recoil and rough handling thus protecting against venting episode but rendering the light unusable....BUT don't Surefire primaries have a similar built in protection circuit?
Safety - Am I wrong in assuming that the fact that 2xCR123a have two cells in a series would make them inherently MORE likely to have a venting episode than a single 18650 setup? So wouldn't 1x18650 be safer than 2xcr123a?
Thoughts?
(and if this should go under the battery section then mods please move it -I wasn't sure where this should go)