625 lumen Defiant 5C Tactical LED light

[Rob Babcock]

Has anyone here tried the newest Defiant light from Home Depot? I was there today to pick up some staples and saw them for the first time. Supposedly 625 lumens. Runs on 5 C-cells. They're only $25, so I almost picked one up but I decided to ask around at CPF first. Hey, it's cheap but who needs a cheap light if it ain't good?

Here's a pic (not mine but this is the exact light I saw):

 

[DenBarrettSAR]

I just bought the Defiant 3C Super Thrower XM-L from HD for $ 19.99, and its impressive for the price ! i havent' seen that one you show above though yet.

 

[Rob Babcock]

I read some reviews at a site dedicated to budget lights and the buzz was positive. Maybe I'll pick one up before work.

 

[recDNA]

If its really 625 lumens otf I want one but I'm guessing more like 350. How many lumens is the 3C model?

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[Rob Babcock]

I don't know much about either model. But eve if it's short of the 625 mark rated (and let's be honest, it probably is short) the run time should be pretty good with 5 C-cells.

 

[Mark Mc]

I don't know about the 5C model yet , but the 3D 590 lumen Defiant won't miss it's advertised mark by much if at all. Very bright light for $30.00. It will actually out throw my Fenix TK35 820 lumen model. It is heavy though.

 

[Rob Babcock]

Thanks, Mark Mc! I was too lazy to go out to HD today but maybe before work. I'm not into big lights but it would be good for leaving behind the seat of my truck. And it would be good for my mom. Anything smaller than a 2 liter soda bottle will get lost in her house.

 

[Solid Lifters]

Too bad it uses c batteries.

 

[Tiresius]

The Defiant line of lights are not that bad. They're quite tanky and HEAVY. I did a review about their Armormax on the forum somewhere. I didn't want the super thrower because it was a side-switch and that leaves very little room for modifications. Still pending on funds to get the XP-G2, UCL and aluminum SMO reflector. I've already de-domed the XM-L and it cleaned up the dirty rings the light has.

C cells aren't that bad considering the driver these lights uses and the ability to run NiMH on them with no problem.

 

[DaveG]

Is the Defiant line of lights made by Brinkmann?

 

[Rob Babcock]

I don't know a thing about them nor just who makes them. Still haven't had a chance to pick one up but I'm off on Monday.

As for the C-cells...I dunno why that's an issue. They're widely available and not all that expensive. Sure it makes the light kind of large but there are a zillion lights out there that are small. For a light I would keep behind the seat in my truck, compactness isn't really a virtue.

 

[Canuke]

I wonder if the 3C tube from the thrower fits the 5C head... if so you could Lego together something that could take 2 26650's with a bit of help.

 

[StorminMatt]

I actually had to go through FOUR of these lights before I got one that didn't crap out. But I FINALLY have a good one. As far as the light output, Defiant lights actually seem to make good on the numbers. And this one is no exception. Also, with 5 cells instead of three, runtime is GREAT. I'm getting about 3:00 with Tenergy Centuras and 3:45 with Tenergy Premiums.

As for the C-cells...I dunno why that's an issue. They're widely available and not all that expensive. Sure it makes the light kind of large but there are a zillion lights out there that are small. For a light I would keep behind the seat in my truck, compactness isn't really a virtue.

Good point about size. LOTS of people complain that lights like this take C batteries instead of, say, 1x18650. But if you want a 1x18650 light, why not choose from one of the hundreds of gazillions of them out there?

 

[Vortus]

Thing about little lights is they can never go up in the battery size dept. Big lights with spacers can always downsize. Wonder what kind of circuit is in the 5C, as lambda powers some of his monster off 4C nimhs, figure 5 would fry even a copper sinked xml in direct drive.

 

[LEDninja]

If its really 625 lumens otf I want one but I'm guessing more like 350. How many lumens is the 3C model?

It is using the FL1 standard so the numbers should be pretty good. (Except for the throw in which the FL1's 0.25 lux is ridiculous. Simply divide the FL1 distance by 4 and you get a useful throw.)

My defiant is only slightly dimmer than my 3C DD SSC-P7. Another copy of the C DD SSC-P7 measured as follows:
3C Mag_________ P7 DD______3 NiMH AA Tenergy___676.2______1 sec
Assembled by bigchelis __________________________587.7______30 sec
_______________________________________________555.4______1 min
_______________________________________________522.3______2 min
_______________________________________________521.5______3 min

I would say it is better than 350.

 

[StorminMatt]

If its really 625 lumens otf I want one but I'm guessing more like 350. How many lumens is the 3C model?

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Defiant may be a budget brand. But from my experience, they make pretty good on their numbers.

 

[LEDninja]

One thing to keep in mind. Alkaline cells have trouble keeping up with the demand of an XML after the first few minutes.

The XML needs 3.4V and 3A. That is ~10W.

5*1.5V*1.35A will give you 10W. 5C defiant with alkaline.

3*1.5V*2.3A will give you 10W. 3C Defiant with alkaline. But alkaline will not be able to maintain 2.3A for long. But NiMH can. So if you have a 3C you can run it on NiMH and have almost the same performance as the 5C. Especially after half an hour or so when the alkaline performance will sag. Bad.
BTW look for 4500 mAH or 6000 mAH NiMH instead of the more common 2900 mAH at your local store.

 

[Poppy]

Has anyone compared this light to the 3C Super Thrower? I have the 3C super thrower, put a spacer in it and a single 18650 battery. It throws a nice fat XML beam better than my 820 lm TK35. Of course its head is MUCH larger. So how does the 5C compare?

 

[Poppy]

Just for giggles, I tested the 3C Super Thrower for time with AA NiMH batteries.

I put in 3 AA NiMH batteries wrapped in cardboard, (not eneloops) and it ran well for 30 minutes, but was at perhaps 70% at 45 minutes, and about 50% at an hour. At an hour and 45 minutes, maybe two hours, it was still putting out usable light perhaps 12 lumens, but it was for all intents and purposes, done. So, with better quality NiMH batteries, like eneloops, you could probably run the light for an hour, to an hour and 15 minutes, before you would want to change the batteries.

 

[recDNA]

To be honest I would prefer D cells. I don't like long skinny flashlights. Might as well double as a club full o' D's.

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