Recommend me a budget, small, bright, floody light

[revisor]

I´m looking for a small, bright floody light. Budget is $ 40.

So far i´ve seen the Ultrafire-lights WF-501B and WF-502B P7 and MC-E on Dealextreme. Comments on Dealextreme says they are bright but suffer from weak drivers. Experiences?

Any other recommendations?

I´m attaching them to a headstrap I use when skiing so it needs to be small. Aurora AK-P7 perhaps brighter but perhaps it´s to big/heavy?

 

[LEDninja]

:welcome:
The WF-501B and WF-502B are P60 style lights. You can change the light modules. Incan, Luxeon, SSC-P4, Cree XR-E etc. The problem is heat transfer from the LED to the outside of the flashlight body is not the best. Not a problem with the older lower powered LEDs. The P7/MCE are 10 watts at full power. To keep the temperature under control the pills tend to be underpowered. The MCE drop in by itself only claim 410 lumens vs 900 lumens for a P7 and 700 lumens for an MCE flashlight. So the 501/502 versions are running at half power. (With the '900 lumen' measuring in the 400 OTF range, the half power P60 drop ins could be in the 200-300 lumen range. Still very bright when compared to a 2D-4D Mag in the 30-50 lumen range.)

At the lower power levels the XP-G works better but THERE ARE MANY REPORTS OF PROBLEMS. The LED separates from the heat sink and fries. So stay away from the XP-G versions of the 501/502.

May I suggest a 4sevens Quark MiNi AA² with a Nite-ize Minimag headband. One of the more floody XP-G lights. Big hotspot about the same as my MTE P7. Only problem I see is it is a twisty. Turning it on and off when strapped to your head could be interesting.
For $43 you get:
A name brand light, not a DX/ebay light of unknown reliability.
The latest XP-G LED.
Ships from the US.
Serviced in the US.
180 OTF lumens claimed 187 lumens measured by ti-force.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=292571
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=296756
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=296160

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Nite-ize have a couple of flashlight holsters that can be rotated so the light points forward. You may be able to use a bigger light if it is attached to your waist instead of your head.
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What about a headlamp?

 

[Robinda]

I use a Fenix LD20 R4 as a helmet light on my mountainbike this is a similar application and it works very well for me.

Sorry i missed your budget

 

[joe1512]

A flood to throw light might work well for you too.

I bought a few from DX as bike lights for 12.50 each and they work really well!

You can also get one from ShiningBeam and have a better warranty and better emitter.

http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-215/Romisen-RC-dsh-C8-II-Q5/Detail

This one here can use 3xAAA or an 18650 battery if you happen to have one now or get one later. You can also use 2 CR123s for even more output.
THis is nice because you can set it to pure flood mode and light up a big area evenly.
I recommend looking up a youtube video and see if this style appeals to you. They are also smaller than a 2xAA light and thus lighter.

 

[jh333233]

I´m looking for a small, bright floody light. Budget is $ 40.

So far i´ve seen the Ultrafire-lights WF-501B and WF-502B P7 and MC-E on Dealextreme. Comments on Dealextreme says they are bright but suffer from weak drivers. Experiences?

Any other recommendations?

I´m attaching them to a headstrap I use when skiing so it needs to be small. Aurora AK-P7 perhaps brighter but perhaps it´s to big/heavy?

Please, never trust the spec. from the auction/online shop
No one will catch these people for over rating the lights
502B P7 and MCE will never reach peak flux due to p60's bad heat sink
Also, for their profit, they will just write the led's peak lumen flux
rather than the true output of the light.

 

[coyote]

the soon-to-be-released 1xAAA Fenix E05 ($20-25, depending on LED)

 

[B0wz3r]

How about a Quark mini AA?

 

[Pacecar]

The Duracell Daylite 160 available thru Ace Hardware online.

 

[sol-leks]

I would go with a romisen rc-c6 or rc-29. If you want something really bright, you could check out the mg p-rocket sst-50. Honestly I think anything bigger than a 1xaa light will be a bit big for a headstrap though. It will be very bright though. I don't think you need anything that bright honestly, but its an option definitely.

Zebralights are a good option, but not very budget.

 

[jacktheclipper]

RC-G2 R5
Just got mine and it's going on my bicycle helmet .

 

[bullterrier]

not the smallest but what about inova X5

 

[revisor]

Thank you for all your replies. I was thinking of buying a really small p60 light so I could mod with different drop-ins. But do they have problems with heat? Mostly going to use during winter so mabye not a problem? Which is the smallest p60 flashlight for 18650 batteries?

This must be overrated, 1000 lumens?
http://www.dinodirect.com/ultrafire...000lumens-led-flashlight-1-18650-2-16340.html

Have been looking at Zeabralight, but mabye to expensive. How about Trustfire Z1 at Dealextreme? http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.39671

Where can i find Quark Mini AA (beamshots, specs, comment, and where to buy)

MG P-rocket - will consider.

 

[LEDninja]

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showpost.php?p=3300592&postcount=5

This must be overrated, 1000 lumens?
http://www.dinodirect.com/ultrafire...000lumens-led-flashlight-1-18650-2-16340.html

The links to the 2AA version is on post#2. I assume you are now looking at the 1AA version now.
The 1AA comes in cool white, neutral white and warm white tints.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=277090
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=282406
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The full model name is
4sevens Quark Mini AA
Just type in the 1st word and add a <dot>com.
If you are registered at CPFMP, log in and you will find the CPF discount code in the sticky at the top of the Good Deals sub-forum.

Where can i find Quark Mini AA (beamshots, specs, comment, and where to buy)