help choosing next light, and batteries.

Hi all, i just got my d10 and im already wanting another light . I am thinking something along the line of my l2d q5, but with more output. I want lumens.

The other thing is what batteries to go with, a cr123 light, which i have none of, or a single 18650 battery light. If i go with the 18650, what charger and how much should i expect to spend.

As far as lights go , here is what i am liking. The eagletacs, both the 295lumen model , using the cr123's , or the 18650 model claiming 255, which has very good runtime's. I am not really looking for a thrower, but i want a very bright light, with rechargable batteries. i would hope to be able to make out a deer or something at 125 yards with the lights i am talking about, while still having a usable flashlight with descent spill.

I was temped by the eagletac 2aa light that is claiming 220 lumens , but i think i want to go with about as brights as i can get out of a small light. I was very impressed with my l2dq5,"before i lost it" .


I know i have alot of questions, but i cant get enough of this stuff right now,, its a da%# sickness i tell you, A SICKNESS.

lol tell me about it. i have 5 tests coming up and all i do is read about flashlights. if you like the L2D, have you looked at the new LD20?

Don't pay much attention to the manufacturer claims about the EagleTac lumens. They're not brighter than anything else out there on the market.

If you're looking for a light using an 18650 I'd go for a Dereelight CL1H. Or if you want a monster and want to shell out some more $ get a Wolf Eyes P7 Sniper. There are other good options too. JetBeam makes some decent 18650 lights as does Lumapower.

For an 18650 charger a Wolf Eyes light can be purchased with an 18650 and charger included. For other lights you can't go wrong with an AW 18650 and a cheap WF-139 charger. You can buy them at Lighthound.com and 4Sevens.com I think.

The NiteCore D20 should be the brightest 2xAA light out there.

here is another direction i could go, if the lumen ratings are even close to accurate, this thing should light up alot, not sure if its a flood , or a thrower , or how far it might light up. anybody have a romisen t5?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Romisen-RC-T5-C...39:1|66:2|65:16|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Little overpriced
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.10452

its probably more because it comes with 2x18650's and a charger. i wonder if this thing will blow me away with 500lumens, or be a big dissapointment. I lit up a deers eyes tonight with my little d10, he was probably 225 yards away. When i got home i started looking at the bigger boys.

when its a single emitter, there is barely a difference to the naked eye.
Lights with more focus tend to seem brighter, but ...
again: barely a differenc between the lights


batteries: if You are not forced to have a light that can run on CR123 primaries, skip these also.
an 18650 light is the same size, but the cell packs almost 2 times to power than the 2 CR123a.
Also You have less small parts wobbling alround (think of a few sets of spares)

imho Li-ion is 18650, nothing else

unfortunately there is no 18650 light to recommend available right now
(and I mean no light)

If you really want a ton of output, and don't mind waiting a bit for the light to get to full output, save your money for a HID light.

If you want to stick with what you have now, I'd suggest first getting a Li-ion 14500 battery and a charger. That should improve the output of your D10.

If you have a maglite, it might also be a good idea to look for mods/drop-ins. Here is a good place to start.

+1 for LD20

Fenix claims 180 lumens, same as the P2D Q5. And the P2D is really bright, comparable with my T1 (225 lumen).

+2

Marduke said:

The NiteCore D20 should be the brightest 2xAA light out there.

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Marduke said:

The NiteCore D20 should be the brightest 2xAA light out there.

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You and glockboy know something we don't? The D20 thread doesn't mention a thing about specs, other than it uses the same emitter, a Cree Q5.

It does look pretty sweet though, I might have to order one. Actually, it looks like they kinda ripped off the L2D... Take one, move the knurling to the middle and add some fins on the head and a clip and there ya go. I guess it's good with me because it looks more like a pimped L2D.

The Olight M20 Warrior is a good choice as it accepts a 18650, CR123a's and RCR123's. IMHO the Olight T25 is an excellent choice for AA batteries. If you're looking for impressive, then i would buy a Wolf-Eyes Boxer 10W/123X. This has an impressive output for it's small size.

Gator762 said:

You and glockboy know something we don't? The D20 thread doesn't mention a thing about specs, other than it uses the same emitter, a Cree Q5.

It does look pretty sweet though, I might have to order one. Actually, it looks like they kinda ripped off the L2D... Take one, move the knurling to the middle and add some fins on the head and a clip and there ya go. I guess it's good with me because it looks more like a pimped L2D.

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The full specs are published already. It tops out at 180 OTF lumens.

Marduke said:

The full specs are published already. It tops out at 180 OTF lumens.

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Nitecore's page? I'm not bashing, but I haven't seen anywhere that Nitecore rates lumens as OTF lumens. I am considering picking one of these up as an extended runtime emergency light.

Gator762 said:

Nitecore's page? I'm not bashing, but I haven't seen anywhere that Nitecore rates lumens as OTF lumens. I am considering picking one of these up as an extended runtime emergency light.

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NiteCore has rated OTF lumens since the initial release of the NDI's. The EX10 and D10 is rated as OTF lumens also (that's why they compare to the 180 emitter lumens of lights such as the P2D)

Right on the front page
http://www.nitecore.com/pages/products/d20/

If you are trying to light things up at RANGE then you should avoid P7 lights all together, they have more lumens, but are major flood lights as a result of their large emitter surface area (quad-die). what you want is any Q5 or R2 binned single emitter throw oriented light. Don't worry about lumen ratings much, anything rated between 150 and 300 lumens is going to be fine (and you wouldn't be able to see a huge difference between 150 and 300 lumens in actual use unless you compared them side by side). Those numbers have a lot to do with how the manufacture rates lumens anyways, so there is even less meaning. One company might say 210 lumen, while another says 290, in reality, they are probably driving the LED about the same and just using different rating methods...

The useful range of a flashlight has a lot more to do with beam profile than lumens when comparing lights that are within the same "ballpark" of lumen ratings.

In other words, you can make a 2xAA light, with a small little reflector on the front, and it may be ~200 lumen, but will have a semi-floody beam pattern. The same LED can be put into a larger smoother surfaced reflector, driven to the same output, but reach out and light things up far better at a distance.

For a thrower, I would probably suggest going ahead and diving straight into the realm of 18650s.

Once you make the decision to go with 18650s, you have to make a few decisions:

compact? medium size? or larger throw oriented design?

backwards compatibility with CR123s, or flat regulation on an 18650 (can't have both)

The dedicated 18650 lights (not backwards compatible with 2xCR123s) will have regulation circuits that maintain constant output while using that 18650, and many of them feature a low-voltage cut-off to protect the battery from over-discharge.

The 18650 lights that are backwards compatible with CR123s, are actually technically optimized for use (electronically speaking) with CR123s and RCR123s, but just HAPPEN to be bored out to accept the larger 18650 cell. The result is a light that basically runs in direct drive output on the 18650 cell, which increases runtime dramatically, (about double or more), but at the same time, results in diminishing output through that run, rather than constant regulated light.

I would personally suggest a DereeLight CL1H, with a smooth reflector module for throw, and an LED module with the dedicated 18650 operation (2.7-4.2V operation).

Marduke said:

NiteCore has rated OTF lumens since the initial release of the NDI's. The EX10 and D10 is rated as OTF lumens also (that's why they compare to the 180 emitter lumens of lights such as the P2D)

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I keep hearing about how Fenix exagerates their lumen ratings and NiteCore doesn't, but I think that it is all hype. I have seen no evidence that NiteCore's lumen ratings are any more conservative than Fenix's. My EX10 Q5 (rated at 130 lumens) is just barely dimmer than the P2D CE or L2D CE (both rated at 135 lumens). If NiteCore uses OTF lumens, then so does Fenix. I have a feeling that neither uses OTF lumens, though.

I think the debate is really a moot point, though, since the max output of either one is sufficient for most people's uses. The difference in reflector size and shape is more likely to factor in than the lumen output - just look at SureFires.

jag-engr said:

I keep hearing about how Fenix exagerates their lumen ratings and NiteCore doesn't, but I think that it is all hype. I have seen no evidence that NiteCore's lumen ratings are any more conservative than Fenix's. My EX10 Q5 (rated at 130 lumens) is just barely dimmer than the P2D CE or L2D CE (both rated at 135 lumens). If NiteCore uses OTF lumens, then so does Fenix. I have a feeling that neither uses OTF lumens, though.

I think the debate is really a moot point, though, since the max output of either one is sufficient for most people's uses. The difference in reflector size and shape is more likely to factor in than the lumen output - just look at SureFires.

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Don't forget that small lumen differences are not perceptible by the human eye (logarithmic scale). It takes approximately a 4x increase to look 2x as bright, and 2x increase to appear "noticeably brighter".

The NDI for example started out advertised at 180 emitter lumens. Shortly prior to release, the specs were updated to 130 OTF lumens, and NiteCore has advertised IS tested OTF lumens ever since.

Marduke said:

... NiteCore has advertised IS tested OTF lumens ever since.

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I'm not saying that NiteCore's lumens are / aren't OTF - I don't have a good enough feel for lumen ratings or understand the measurement process.

All I'm saying is that NiteCore's advertised lumens seem to me to be comparable to Fenix's advertised lumens.

FWIW, I initially didn't like the EX10. After getting used to it, though, I feel naked without it, regardless of what other light I'm carrying. NiteCore has become my new favorite flashlight manufacturer and I think they have already surpassed Fenix in innovation and quality.