Best 500+ lumen flashlight for the price? and i am a bit confuse

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pk5

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jun 19, 2006
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7
Hi everone

I am in the market for a new flash light:

So far on ebay i found some cree that are abotu 67 dollars+ shipping? Or some ultra fire ( maybe sure fire clones) that are 39.99 + shipping.

My question is that what is the best one for the price, they all seem the same when it come to lumens claim, but is there a good one that have decent battery life?

What about the 900+ lumens one, is that one any good?

Thanks
 
What's the highest power Incan / LED you have? Most muilty cree lights are only good for flood light "like a 60 watt interior bulb" The P7 LEDs will give you more throw "which is what most people starting out in this hobby want" Though the 900 lumen claims are normally closer to 600 lumens from dealextreme. Most of these lights will give around an hour of run time "when running on a single 18650 battery or so. Remember most lights need special batteries such as the 18650 + chargers which normally jack up the price by $15-20.
:welcome::thumbsup:
 
If your want a good quality light without any risk, use some of the good dealers, not ebay.

To get above 500 lumens your need a flashlight with multiple leds or a P7 light (A single Cree is between 200 and 250 lumens).

I just bought a MVP at Battery Junction, it has 3 Cree emitters and is supposed to be 700 lumens. It is very bright, but it is heavy and I am not impressed with the UI.
 
Juggernaut said:
What's the highest power Incan / LED you have? Most muilty cree lights are only good for flood light "like a 60 watt interior bulb" The P7 LEDs will give you more throw "which is what most people starting out in this hobby want" Though the 900 lumen claims are normally closer to 600 lumens from dealextreme. Most of these lights will give around an hour of run time "when running on a single 18650 battery or so. Remember most lights need special batteries such as the 18650 + chargers which normally jack up the price by $15-20.
:welcome::thumbsup:
Click to expand...

With the die size of the P7, multi-cree lights throw about the same as P7 lights.
 
The highest power that i have is not even a high power light.

It's a mag light - 4d with an led bulb
 
The 4D mag with LED bulb is not that bad. Just a bit big and heavy. (i got a 2C mag LED).

I think you need to give us a bit more information before we can help you.
1) Size - pocketable; belt carry; backpack; big, I do not care.
2) Battery type - common AAA, AA, C, D; 'funny' CR123A, 18650 etc.
Alkaline batteries do not work well with high powered lights so rechargeable batteries and charger is a must. Make sure any AAA,AA charger can charge 1,2,3,4 cells, not just 2 or 4. (include the cost of the charger & batteries in your budget)

Ultrafire C3 Cree Q5 can be used as a 2AA for brighter & longer runtime house/car light or as a 1AA pocketable EDC.

Next up in quality.
Fenix L1T V2.0 is a 1AA torch with a simple interface. Tighten the head for high, loosen the head for low; click switch for on/off. Also available as a 2AA. L1D/L2D give you more levels plus strobe & SOS.
CPF members can get 8% off with the coupon code CPF8

As to the MAX 900 lumens, they are 400-500 actual out the front. Still about 3X the brightness of a single Cree LED torch.
On high they run very hot. So stay away from the 1 and 2 modes. Look at the multimodes. That way you can run in medium most of the time and only use high when you need to.
The smaller head ones are easier to carry.
big head ones will throw farther. Also here.
You will need batteries & charger.
 
If you want big lumens for a reasonable price, go for a hotwire. There's always some for sale around here, try a ROP, or my favorite, a Mag11.
 
Consider also a cheapy Vector brand or similar rechargeable spotlight from Target, etc. Makes a huge stinkin' ton of light, and is $15 on sale when you can find it. It won't fit in your pocket nor on your belt, but there is no better lumen to dollar ratio in the world of flashlights (that I am aware of). I keep one in the car, one in the sleeping chamber, one by the kitchen door, etc.
 
HKJ said:
If your want a good quality light without any risk, use some of the good dealers, not ebay.

To get above 500 lumens your need a flashlight with multiple leds or a P7 light (A single Cree is between 200 and 250 lumens).

I just bought a MVP at Battery Junction, it has 3 Cree emitters and is supposed to be 700 lumens. It is very bright, but it is heavy and I am not impressed with the UI.
Click to expand...
ur opinion of the ui mate, what do u feel isnt right?
cheers:)
 
I would recommend the Wolf-Eyes brand of lights particularly the M90 Rattlesnake. This light kicks butt!!! plus it is upgradeable. If you can spend the extra cash go for Wolf-Eyes. Remember you get what you pay for....
 
If you want and off the shelf light get a P7 light the one I got doesnt seem to be quite 900 lumen, probly 6 or 700 though. They are small enought to fit in your pocket and they run on one small 18650 li-ion battery.

If you want to go a little bigger and SUPER BRIGHT a M*g mod never fails to please, seriousy you wont be sorry if you build it right. You could have a 2 or 3 D m*g with 10 times the power of the 4 D you have now.

Good Luck
 
Can you explain the M*g mod? This is the first time that i heard of it, if it is not legal to post it, please pm me.


edit: nevermind i found out what it is.

IS it better if i do the mag mod my self? (no experience in flash light modding what so ever, even though i have experience in soldering). Or should i get the drop in mod?


thanks
 
Last edited:
pk5 said:
Can you explain the M*g mod? This is the first time that i heard of it, if it is not legal to post it, please pm me.


edit: nevermind i found out what it is.

IS it better if i do the mag mod my self? (no experience in flash light modding what so ever, even though i have experience in soldering). Or should i get the drop in mod?


thanks
Click to expand...

Hey Pk5, If you want to do a M*g mod no experience is realy nesicery. All of the people at cpf myself included will gladly help you every step of the way. I would definetly suggest that you do one yourself. As far as flashlights go there is little more satisfying than a good hotwire setup.

If you want to build a blinding 500 700 or 1000+ lumen m*glite I would suggest going with an incadesent light as apposed to an led, however both are attainable. As for a "dropin" mod for m*g the only one I am aware of is the Q5 and I think probably you will only get around 300 or so?

Either way if you want to build a "good" m*g you need to be aware that the cost will be a bit more than the 39.99$ you mentioned before. If you are interested in doing this I could give you an approximate breakdown of the cost for parts. And any help you may need for assembly is always readily available here at cpf... Good Luck
 
For $73, you can turn any 4-6 D cell Mag into a 600 lumen monster, with no technical skills or experience necessary. The TerraLUX TLE-300 is a simple drop-in; just remove the stock Mag bulb and reflector, drop in the TLE-300, done. No soldering or wiring, no strange batteries or extra parts to buy. See it here: http://www.batteryjunction.com/tle-300.html

I mainly use my TLE-300 Mag on night walks down our suburb street to the area mailbox. Any time a car drives by going the same direction, it's a perfect side-by-side comparison of light output, and you can't miss it - the Mag is putting out just as much light as the car (the cars don't miss it either, as they usually slow down). It's still impressive every time I see it.

The TLE-300 is my fave Mag drop-in based on its ease of install, use of standard batteries, and good old "damn that's bright"-ness. I've always liked the idea of an LED hotwire/ROP that doesn't require any modding, and this certainly fills the bill.
 
StarHalo said:
For $73, you can turn any 4-6 D cell Mag into a 600 lumen monster, with no technical skills or experience necessary. The TerraLUX TLE-300 is a simple drop-in; just remove the stock Mag bulb and reflector, drop in the TLE-300, done. No soldering or wiring, no strange batteries or extra parts to buy. See it here: http://www.batteryjunction.com/tle-300.html

I mainly use my TLE-300 Mag on night walks down our suburb street to the area mailbox. Any time a car drives by going the same direction, it's a perfect side-by-side comparison of light output, and you can't miss it - the Mag is putting out just as much light as the car (the cars don't miss it either, as they usually slow down). It's still impressive every time I see it.

The TLE-300 is my fave Mag drop-in based on its ease of install, use of standard batteries, and good old "damn that's bright"-ness. I've always liked the idea of an LED hotwire/ROP that doesn't require any modding, and this certainly fills the bill.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the mention of this drop in Starhalo, I may need to add one of those to my own collection (in a smaller host). This would be a simpler mod, probably a good time.

One thing to consider is m*g11 or m*g74 can be in a smaller light 2d or even 2c size host.
 
I have one more suggestion. If you want a high power to price ratio this light is very similar to one I have 44.95$

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12271

This light is so bright you dont want to hit anything shiney that is to close to your eyes, even off of a white wall that is too close it is blinding.

Here is a place to get some very low priced batteris, and charger for it. The light runs on one li-ion 18650 but you will want to get a couple because with this mutch output the run time is only 45min to an hour.

http://e-lectronics.net/lithium-18650-18670-rechargeable-protected-battery-p-190.html

Theese are protected cells so you dont have to know any special tricks to use them, however its still a good idea to read up if you are not familiar with useing li-ion batteris.

Here is the charger I use for the cells I have its cheap and effective 1.99$

http://e-lectronics.net/liion-universal-350ma-charger-p-246.html

Happy hunting.
 
Last edited:
Now i am really interested:

What would it take for me to build something above 700 lumens? What would i need? And how much will it cost?

I saw a few different configurations when i search for the M*g mod, but i am not sure if any one of them is better than the other.

Thanks
 
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