solarforce m8 vs thrunite scorpion (v2) vs UniqueFire XM-L 3 vs TrustFire X6 SST-90 5

[scheven_architect]

Hello!

http://ant-supplies.co.uk/Solarforcem8torch.aspx

thrunite scorpion: don't find a seller for v2 ... and the official thrunite site only displays the catapult :s

http://www.szwholesale.com/uniquefire-3mode-1x18650-1060lumens-flashlightfxupxml-p-3929.html

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/trustf...d-flashlight-with-batteries-set-3-18650-47754

which one is worth most the money? The problem i have is that i'm 'blinded' by the lumen values...

greetings!

 

[GeoBruin]

You've listed several lights that (in my mind) aren't necessarily direct competitors. Could you maybe tell us what specifically you're looking for in a light? That might help us figure out which of your choices is best or recommend some that you haven't looked at yet.

 

[scheven_architect]

Well today i saw this flashlight and if reviews prove it to be half what i promisses i might go for this one

http://www.manafont.com/product_inf...en-3led-5mode-memory-flashlight-218650-p-7016

raw power

greetings!

 

[mwb01]

Thrunite and Solarforce are both quality manufacturers whereas the "...fire" companies mostly sell cheaper and lower quality lights. That's not to say they're useless though; these cheap lights can be pretty bright and much cheaper than others.

As for the Skyray, I believe this is another cheap china light and doubt the 3800 lumen claim. It's probably very bright though, so if you like the price and don't care about the lower quality buy it. As GeoBruin said, the lights you listed aren't really competitors

 

[raynstacy]

you can also try the X8

or the skyray stl if you want a big reflector

 

[tre]

As a rule, you can take any ultrafire, uniquefire, trustfire, spiderfire, etc and divide the luems claims by three to get an accurate ANSI lumen measurement for the light. For example, this uniquefire XML 3 can in no way put out 1060 lumens on one 18650 cell. The claim that this was measured in a sphere is a total lie and tells you something about a manufacturer and seller that would claim something like that:shakehead. The best you are going to get is 750 lumens OTF at turn on. Since they use a super cheapo heat sink, the light will quickly fall to 450 lumens after about 3-5 minutes. At that point the light may be hot enough fry the emitter (or at least severly shorten the life of it) and it may be hot enough that the battery may become dangerous. That is why ALL good quality XML lights that put out 750 or so lumens from a single 18650 step down the output to 500 lumens (or so) after 3 to 5 minutes. A light that small can not shed the heat produced by high lumens. Since that light does not step down, bad things happen . It would be a decent light if you only plan to use it 2 minutes at a time 🙄.

 

[raynstacy]

I can safely say that the heatsinking on the trustfire X8 is more than adequate and does'nt drop off tremendously after turn on. it is actually well constructed id say better than most fire lights.

 

[2100]

Hi guys,

I think we are all more than technically inclined and mature enough not to diss it claiming 3800 lumens for 3xT6, the technical data/measurements/beamshots are all posted in Budget Forum here @ CPF, BudgetLightForums and thaicpf. I would recommend the Sky Ray 3 x XM-L, am surprised by the performance of this light.

I have been running a 30 mins High mode full bore run on the light, with active cooling via running water on the front part of the flashlight. I am in the tropics, so no 10-20 deg C nights in Summer. 🙂
In winter there shouldn't be any issue.

Stopped testing and the host is cool to touch, like 30 deg C max. Unscrewed the bezel and touched the drop-in and front part of the reflector. It is definitely not more than 35 deg C, pretty cool to touch. Heatsinking from internal drop-in to host seems to be excellent. The host is sized like a Catapult series with similar aluminum mass. Actually to really take advantage of passive heatsinking, the fins need to be as big as the Trustfire X6 or SR90, in fact bigger. Passive Metal to air interface is not optimal for heat transfer, at least not with such a small surface area and so much heat.

I think for LEDs, XM-L variants, I have never seen any light capable of sustaining full bore runs continuously. Cheaper lights require you to step down to medium as they do not implement this in the electronics.
But hey, at least this Sky Ray 3 x XM-L has a light cutoff protection at the low voltage level of 3.2V, no issue when using unprotected cells.


The Thrunite scorpion v2 is very nice though, get it if you have the cash! I'll throw in one more option for you if you want to get something of mid-quality, the Jetbeam BC40, at $69 and 820 ANSI lumens, it is pretty worth it.