Quest for a "Wall of Light"

[Southpawtact]

I'm in the market for a super floody light. I'll be using it for navigation on hikes and possibly in caves. I'm interested in the Elektrolumens EDC MC-E, but I've read that it gets really hot after 5 minutes of use.

My requirements for the light:
-18650 compatible
-Single mode
-400+ lumens
-It won't burn my hands off

What are your suggestions?

 

[sol-leks]

Maybe a linger special drop-in in a p60 host.

 

[notsofast]

I had Electrolumens EDC. It was the P-7 not the MC-E.

While working under my house I ran it until the the brightness was 60% on more than one occasion. It was never too hot to handle. The MC-E shouldn't be any different.

 

[LED_Thrift]

My Electrolumens EDC-mce does not get hot after five minutes. It does warm up, but Wayne has mounted the led directly to a copper heatsink and the light itself is heavy enough to provide somewhere for the heat to go. As such he drives the mce as hard as possible, so it does provide the wall of light you're looking for. The best part about the EDC-mce is the gorgeous beam itself - it's difficult to see the border of the hotspot, it just blends into the spillbeam. I certainly LOVE mine.

 

[jacktheclipper]

deleted

 

[jgraham15]

I would highly recommend a bored for 18650 Surefire 6P/C2 or 9P/C3 (2x18500) and one of Moddoo's triple XP-G's!

Talk about a wall of light! I don't know what your budget is because this is a kind of pricey setup but well worth the investment IMHO!

Check out oveready.com if you're interested.


ETA: I don't think I'm allowed to hot link you to the add but there happens to be a Oveready White-cerakote C2 with Oveready (Moddoo) triple for sale in the "Custom and Modified B/S/T" section. You had better act fast if you like it though! It is a beautiful flashlight and I can't believe it's still for sale. I would have bought it already but I already have a very similar setup.

Here's a link to the section but you will have to find the add on your own

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=40

 

[jellydonut]

I have/have had three lights that satisfy these requirements..

-Malkoff Wildcat V2. With the MD2 body it'll take one 18650 and still deliver way more than 400 lumens, and with the MD4 it'll take two 18650s and deliver 750 eyeball-melting lumens for a verrry long time. Gene has sent out an email to his subscribers - new Wildcats (including 'Malkoff warm' Wildcats) are on their way. If you want one I suggest signing up to the notification:devil: they're not going to last long. toby_pra also has one up for sale which comes with the MD2 body for running one 18650 - incidentally the one I owned.

-Surefire 6P with Nailbender's SST-90 1-mode DD D26 module. I have the warm version at a very yellow 3000k, which delivers about 400 lumens. If you don't care for yellow beams you can get a less warm emitter and get a whole lot more light from this setup. The only downside is that the output is not stable - excessive heat throttles down the output visibly within minutes of use. It's still a wall of light, though. This is a 'hotrod' setup, the SST-90 isn't really suited for the 6P. Like putting a V8 in a Mini Cooper, it's really cool if you can deal with the limitations. To satisfy the 18650 requirement you'd have to get a bored 6P like I have.. Or just a different D26 host. Nailbender makes his modules to fit pretty much all D26 hosts.

-Surefire 6P with Oveready's Triple XP-G single mode D26 module. An awesome amount of light from such a small package. To get the full 1100 lumens you'd have to use two li-ions, but even with only one 18650 you get something on the order of 800 lumens - I can hardly tell the difference between running one black label AW 18650 and two red label IMR 16340s.

I know you said single mode, but out of these lights the Wildcat wins for usability thanks to the option of twisting the bezel for a low flood.

 

[bigchelis]

The Moddoo Tripple is Regulated and you get 800ish OTF lumens with 2 18650's.

The one that did 1100 and 1260 OTF was a direct drive unit that is no longer made.

The most Wall of Light you will get currently is the moddo Tripples and at an 800 stable OTF its a real winner that is hard to beat.

I wish the Direct Drive ones would still be made

 

[KentS]

The good thing aboute the Overready modules (lux-rc triple led) is that even if you get the three mode version it has no memory and always starts on high. That way you do not have to worry about the modes if you don't want them.

 

[jgraham15]

-Surefire 6P with Nailbender's SST-90 1-mode DD D26 module. I have the warm version at a very yellow 3000k, which delivers about 400 lumens. If you don't care for yellow beams you can get a less warm emitter and get a whole lot more light from this setup. The only downside is that the output is not stable - excessive heat throttles down the output visibly within minutes of use. It's still a wall of light, though. This is a 'hotrod' setup, the SST-90 isn't really suited for the 6P. Like putting a V8 in a Mini Cooper, it's really cool if you can deal with the limitations. To satisfy the 18650 requirement you'd have to get a bored 6P like I have.. Or just a different D26 host. Nailbender makes his modules to fit pretty much all D26 hosts.

I have this same setup but with a cool white SST-90 (I think it is 6500k) and while it is an awesome flashlight it gets so hot after 8-10 minutes you can barely hold on to it.

One night I was using it to find black widows in my front yard and it got burning hot! I was trying to be funny and handed it to my girlfriend after turning it off for a minute and it was so hot she dropped it! Thankfully I was able to catch it before it hit the ground or I would be doing right now instead of :laughing:

 

[jgraham15]

Oh also for hiking or cave use you may want to consider going with a neutral or warm tint LED. The neutral and warm tint LED's will help make everything come to life versus a normal cool white LED that tend to wash out all of the colors.

 

[jellydonut]

I have this same setup but with a cool white SST-90 (I think it is 6500k) and while it is an awesome flashlight it gets so hot after 8-10 minutes you can barely hold on to it.

One night I was using it to find black widows in my front yard and it got burning hot! I was trying to be funny and handed it to my girlfriend after turning it off for a minute and it was so hot she dropped it! Thankfully I was able to catch it before it hit the ground or I would be doing right now instead of :laughing:

Mine just gets nice and warm, not too hot.. But maybe I just consciously don't run it for that long at a time.:shrug:

 

[Jash]

You have an odd request here. You ask for 400+ lumens from a single 18650 and want it for navigating while hiking and caving.

From my limited experience (just spent two weeks trekking in the QLD outback, caves included) you want a light that has a good combination of flood and throw and definately something with good runtime (unless you plan on carrying lots of spare batteries).

In completely dark situations 50-100 lumens with the right beam profile will light up a lot of real estate and give you super long runtimes from virtually any battery type.

If it were me (and it's not), I'd go for something with a beam profile similar to that of a Quark Tactical XP-E version. That's what I used and had it set to the 82 lumen mode which lit up a lot of track for not only myself but the other two people trekking with me. For those rare moments when you need to see further, simply twist the bezel to the pre-programmed max mode and double your reach.

You can't get the XP-E version anymore, but the XP-G Turbo has similar beam and reaches a little further with generous spill.

The XP-G Tactical Quark has an almost identical beam profile to the M61, if not a little floodier. On max mode there not much difference between the Malkoff and the Quark, except more heat coming out of the Quark due to it's smaller mass. It only gets warm though, not hot.

 

[bedazzLED]

Hi Southpawtact.

The three floodiest torches I have in my collection are the Elektrolumens EDC MC-E, the Olight M21 and the Peak Rainier P7.

All three do a fantastic job, but the EDC MC-E is by far the best 'wall of light' torch I have ever used. It's a real credit to Wayne at Elektrolumens. I've run it for 30 minutes at a time and it gets warm but never hot.

The Olight M21 with the OP reflector is great also. It's bright, reliable and runtimes are pretty good. Can't go wrong with it. It's probably the most versatile of the three as it has multiple modes whereas the other two are single mode only.

The Rainier I mentioned (even though it doesn't run on 18650's) because it's also a fantastic floody torch and punches out a freaky amount of light for such a small torch. If you run it on primaries you get around 110 lumens. Stick in a rechargeable and you get the initial blast of 450 lumens (claimed) until it settles in around 350 lumens (claimed). I don't doubt it reaches around 350 lumens. People freak when they see this little torch putting out so much light. Only thing is it does get a little warm after a while, but never too hot to handle.

If I had to recommend one, it would definitely be the EDC MC-E. Tough as nails, bright as hell and simply a thing of beauty.

I'm going to get myself into strife here, but if you were to consider other battery types, I'd also suggest looking at the LED Lenser M14 (yes I know, LED Lenser is not the rockstar brand like some others) but it is pretty damn good. It's regulated, has multiple modes, runs on 4 AA's, is reasonably sized, and of course it can be a mean thrower or a great flood torch. LED Lensers still have one of the better focusing mechanisms around. Not quite 400 lumens but at just a click over 200 lumens, it's a pretty good, bright, focusable, versatile torch.

 

[PCC]

How about a throwy light like a bored SureFire 6P running a Malkoff or Dereelight drop-in then using a diffuser for flood? You get the best of both worlds with one light and an accessory. I like my lights floody because I use them close in 95% of the time but a floody light is terrible for throw when you need the reach.

 

[Roland]

To my knowledge a single 18650 can run a MCE or P7 at full power for about one hour. Seems a short runtime for entering caves.

 

[Paul6ppca]

The floodiest torches I have in my collection are the Elektrolumens EDC P7, I use it to walk the dog,it never get too hot.It is well heatsinked.

The EDC is by far the best 'wall of light' torch I have ever used. It's a real credit to Wayne at Elektrolumens. I've run it for 30-45 minutes at a time and it gets warm but never hot.Ive had mine since the original run,still very few lights can match its size/ performance.I think that is amazing seeinf Ive had the light for over a year.


If I had to recommend one, it would definitely be the EDC . Tough as nails, bright as hell.