18650 lights dying during use?

[Tiresius]

Throughout my use with 18650's, I never had one cell go out on me--not even camping where I ran it for hours at high (the joys of XPG lights). I've only had a light flash low battery indicator on the second day of use. However, I have not used any cells under 2600mah 😀

Has anyone had any instances where you actually ran out of juice on an unprotected 18650 cell? I mean literally dead, dead cells. Not that "flashing and you'd have to change them cells."

 

[bemymonkey]

AFAIK, on unregulated lights you'll see more of a gradual dropout that may not even be noticeable until it's too late... at least it seams like that's the reason why many people recommend using unprotected 18650 cells only with lights that reliably shut off at 2.7V or so...

 

[FlashKat]

I have been using unprotected 18650 cells for years, and never had any issues. The light will dim gradually, but the light is still usable for a short time. I prefer it over the light just going out.