The smallest / the most powerful

[Przemo(c)]

Hello,

I'm new here. I'm from Poland although I live in the UK now. Sorry for my english, and welcome guys!
I have always been fascinated with flashlight, I had plenty of them. My first flishlight was russian piece of poop 4D size. Now I have car key light better than that. My dream, well... Maxabeam, but I think, I will have to wait for some time to get it. The question I wanna ask, can you point the most powerful and smallest flashlight you can get. I care about the throw, the spill is less important to me. I was thinking about something like Inova T1 or Fenix P3D. It CANNOT in any case be larger than these flashlights. To be honest, Inova T1 seems to be perfect for me, but can I find flashlight in similar dimensions but more powerful? The source of light (LED, halogen, Cree, xenon) does not matter to me, as well as manufacturer, although it'll be nice if it would be made at good quality.
I have Maglite 5D, but it is too big to carry it everyday with me. I also have Maglite 2AA, but it is too weak. I am looking for a compromise. Very small dimensions so that I could hardly feel it in my pocket, and at the same time power when I will need it. Briefly - the smallest, the most powerfull. Thank you in advance for your help.
Greetings
Przemo(c)

 

[Monocrom]

Welcome to CPF!

Just today, I picked up the River Rock 1AA model. It is very bright (42 lumens), just as long as an Inova X1, and only a bit thicker. It also comes with a very good pocket-carry clip. The light has 2 hours of continuous run-time. The tailcap clickie is recessed into the light so that it can stand on end. I bought it at Target for $23.

(That's obviously in American dollars. Also, I don't know if there are "Target" stores where you live. But I definitely recommend it).

 

[Gunner12]

The Fenix P3D-CE seems to be one of the brightest LED 2 CR123 lights in it's size range(It should be brighter then the Inova T1), excluding modified lights. The Inova is tougher. For the smallest bright light with a reasonable price tag, get yourself the Fenix L0D-CE and a 10440 3.7V Lithium ion rechargeable battery and charger. 100+ lumen out the front but runtime is very short. And there is a CPF8 Coupon for 8% off at Fenix Store for candlepowerforum users.

Welcome to CPF!

 

[cy]

welcome to cpf... answer depends upon your price range.

current title holder for smallest brightest probably belongs to a tiny light made by modamag. driven by a tiny li-ion cell, mated to a cree.

my favorite little light is ARC AAA modded to a two stage Cree by Miller Mods. uses std AAA alk cell. very bright and long run time on low and uses std alk or NMH rechargeable.

best of all uses what's probably the best single AAA form factor of all time. which is ARC AAA.

 

[jumpstat]

Hello Przemo(c),

Firstly welcome to CPF and secondly please mind your language!.
I always recommend something that can have the rechargeable option. This way you have guilt free lumens and more money to invest in more cool lights in the long run. Having said that, the P3D (and I have 1) is quite a performer as in size, quality, price etc and it can be made to use rechargeable batteries. There are other which are smaller and exotic but price wise are far more expensive. Surefires on the otherhand is made to be abused. E1L, E2L comes to mind as you are more interested with throw.

 

[Przemo(c)]

Thank you for your answers and sorry for swearing, but that flashlight was not worth nothing more but swearing, I tell you.:green:
Several questions came to my mind. First, take a look at this site:
http://www.qualityflashlights.co.uk/termekekmain.php?csoportid=39
Is it possible that there's 160 lumens in turbo mode?:thinking: Considering Surefires you mentioned above they are not looking too good (up to 65 lumens only)
And another question about this flashlight - is it true, that it does not have "true" momentary switch (flashlight reviews opinion). What about this switch, isn't it too sophisticated? All I care about is turn on my flashlight at a maximum power for short time period, for example 3-5 seconds, from time to time without playing with swith, without thinking how to turn or twist it to lit the light. So I do not care about battery life, but I care about throw and brightness and 2 x 123CR size is perfect for me. Inova T1 uses only one, which is even better, but only one battery gives twice less power, and therefore the light is less intensive. Could I use rechargable batteries for P3D?
P3D uses Cree led. Why is it so much better from regular leds? What turbo mode looks like? Is it really so good and how about turning it on? Is it easy?
And I think the last question about P3D - is it modificable in some way? Will I be able to upgrade it somehow?.
Thanks once again, best wishes.

 

[Gunner12]

The New Inova T1 uses 2 CR123 batteries and uses a reflector.

A Cree LED has twice the efficiency of previous Luxeon LEDs so you could get twice the brightness with the same runtime.

The Fenix P2D-CE(Review) runs in 1 CR123 battery and has about 113 Lumen output on turbo. The previous 1 CR123 Inova T1(Review) has about 19 Lumen output but is much tougher then the Fenix, but the Fenix as tough enough to handle some abuse. P3D-CE review.(Flashlightreviews shows the P3D-CE on turbo makes about 125 lumen of light)

If you want maximum throw for a LED, then the Lumapower MRV will be great. Runs on 2 CR123 battery or a 18650 3.7V Rechargeable Lithium Ion battery.

All Fenixes use a reverse clickie. The light only turns on when you let go after the "click". A reverse clickie makes it easier to make a multi-mode flashlight. A soft click(depressing the switch and letting go before the "Click") will change modes while a full click will turn the light off. It is possible to change the reverse Clickie to a normal clickie but I've only seen it done once.

Surefire usually rates minimal Lumen while Fenix rates emitter lumens which is usually above the actual output. But the Fenix P3D-CE is still brighter but and has more run-time and IMO the Fenix is also more useful due to the multiple modes. But a Surefire is a lot tougher then a Fenix.

You can use rechargeable batteries in a P3D-CE and every other Fenix CE light.

Fenix lights are upgradeable but they are so hard to open that most just buy a new light.

If you buy from Fenix-Store, it will be a few pounds cheaper(P3D-CE £28.70 with CPF8 coupon at Fenix Store vs £34.95 at Qualityflashlights) but shipping will take longer.

The most lumen for it's size is probably the Modamag Draco with a Cree LED. I think a Cree Draco has about 160 Lumen on burst.

 

[jbosman1013]

what about a sscP4 drop-in for the mini-mag 80-100 lumens http://batteryjunction.com you can find it here. its labled TLE-5EX

 

[Gordov2]

Well, on the incandescent side, my Surefire C-2 with the Lumens Factory HO-9 Bulb (at 320 bulb lumens) and two AW 3.7 volt, 123 rechargeable batteries is incredibly bright. Especially considering it's just over 5 inches long. True, it only lasts for a total of 20 minutes, but just put in a set of freshly charged batteries and you're good to go.

For its size, it's a throw monster and very, very bright. To my eyes, it's very close to the Surefire M3 with MN-11 bulb, but much smaller.

 

[Przemo(c)]

Wow! What the answers! And nobody tells me to use "search" option in the forum... Many thanks, gentlemen!
I think, I've made my choice. It probably will be The Fenix P3D. I like the shape of this torch, good materials of which it is made, turbo mode (up to 160 lumens) and descent throw. I'd realized it'll alwyas be some choice between the throw, size, power unit, etc. You can get really powerful flashlight, but you'll have to drag power supply behind you on the trolley, or carry it in the bag on your back, make 100000 lumens and achieve a 5 kilometers throw, and spend a fortune for the batteries or break your neck under the weigh of spare batteries, because they last only for 10 minutes. But I think, that's not the point. For example, I saw this new HID light (forgot the name - niteize? izenite?) which uses 4 123CR batteries and costs 400 $. That's too much for me, but it is a brilliant light, no doubts about it, great flashlight, and very nice design. I just wanted some kind of "everyday light" which I could always have beside me in my pocket, and which is always bright, powerfull, and not too big to carrying in the pocket, because you never know when you will need your flashlight most, and finally not too expensive in everyday use. As I said before, the battery cost is not so significant to me, but comon, let's be serious. A HID light using 4 123CR batteries? I probably would buy one set of battereies everyday. And flashlights like Maglite 5D are really great, I have one, too, but they are not so usefull as these small ones, you know what I mean. So, I've made my choice. Thank you once again for your help, and many thanks for this forum, finally I found some maniacs just like me

 

[bfg9000]

HID lights have been sold on this forum for years that use 8x AA (2 hrs runtime on NiMH) or more recently, 3x RCR123A. Still a fine choice when maximum output and throw are needed for a long time.

Rechargeables are a must for any light you intend to use very frequently, and the latest fads seem to be inexpensive lights that take an 18650 or tiny AAA lights that can accept a 10440.