Brightest budget (1 cr123) for edc is ?

Dear fellow flashlightaholics,

I want to upgrade my edc pocket light from Nuwai Q3 to . . . ?

I want the brightest LED light that runs on one cr/rcr/123. I will be buying from dealextreme or kaidomain.

P l e a s e save me hours of research and recommend the three brightest 1 cr123 light under, say, $40.

Thank You Thank You Thank You

TR-803 Q5

Thanks for your recommendation CathastrophiX.

I tried to look it up on dealextreme.com but that appears to be down right now. Will try again later.

Anybody else like to make a recommendation?

Arc 6...whoops just saw your budget, nevermind..

Romisen RC-C3 from DX, sleeper light, this is BRIGHT even on a CR123 primary, brighter on RCR123 3.6v. PM me if u want the links to the stuff i got off DX (light, cells, charger)

I own the RC-C3, uses P4 and it is not very bright compared to my other 123 lights. But tint is white and throws quite good.

TR-803 has 3 star reviews and seems to be DD, it looks kinda cheap for me. The 18650 version is good.

I would recommend this one, Uses Q5, has a clip, seems to be like nice HA finish, got nice reviews and it only costs 16 bucks. But should use RCR to achieve max brightness.

BUT

If I had $40 I would spend 10 more bucks and get a Fenix P1D/P2D or the newer models =). Super bright with great build quality. I don't think you can get any better light at that price range. I've got bad experience with DX/KD lights.

Hope this help

RC-N3-Q5... as bright as my DX6090, running half the cells and half the size.

RCR123 performance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia4sUpvnBSk

2AA/Primary performance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpI2fsAy3QE

richardcpf said:

I own the RC-C3, uses P4 and it is not very bright compared to my other 123 lights. But tint is white and throws quite good.

TR-803 has 3 star reviews and seems to be DD, it looks kinda cheap for me. The 18650 version is good.

I would recommend this one, Uses Q5, has a clip, seems to be like nice HA finish, got nice reviews and it only costs 16 bucks. But should use RCR to achieve max brightness.

BUT

If I had $40 I would spend 10 more bucks and get a Fenix P1D/P2D or the newer models =). Super bright with great build quality. I don't think you can get any better light at that price range. I've got bad experience with DX/KD lights.

Hope this help

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That light you recommended looks mighty interesting, did a search on CPF but cannot find any reviews on it, could you comment on the brightness of the individual modes and the runtimes that you have experienced? I'm so wanting one of these cos i think that multi modes would be a good thing to have. And i like clickies vs twistys, have loaned lights for others to use and they end up twisting the head off and dropping the head or cell etc etc etc (those darn non flashaholics)

+1 on RC-N3 Q5 version, but as you are in Singapore, not sure if you can order from shiningbeam.com?

its a very nice, small light, and my EDC.

csshih said:

+1 on RC-N3 Q5 version, but as you are in Singapore, not sure if you can order from shiningbeam.com?

its a very nice, small light, and my EDC.

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OP is in Florida, I'm in Singapore, so no issue with that for OP. I usually do not order once they charge shipping as it can get very cos prohibitive.

Thanks for your ideas. .

I have decided order the recommended SKU 16844. This item seems to be the brightest one that fits my criteria, based on your experiences. BTW I will be using only rechargeables.

islw2863 said:

Thanks for your ideas. .

I have decided order the recommended SKU 16844. This item seems to be the brightest one that fits my criteria, based on your experiences. BTW I will be using only rechargeables.

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Nice choice... Ive been eyeing that one as well. Since I killed my RC-C3:mecry:.

Just ordered a SKU 16844! It's close enough to Christmaxs afterall.

hyperloop said:

Romisen RC-C3 from DX, sleeper light, this is BRIGHT even on a CR123 primary, brighter on RCR123 3.6v.

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An even brighter version would be the Romisen RC-C3 Q5 from Shiningbeam.

kramer5150 said:

Nice choice... Ive been eyeing that one as well. Since I killed my RC-C3:mecry:.

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What did you do to it?

Black Rose said:

An even brighter version would be the Romisen RC-C3 Q5 from Shiningbeam.


What did you do to it?

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Took it apart to try and mod it. Got a little over-zealous with the dremel:sigh: At least I'm only out $13

kramer5150 said:

Took it apart to try and mod it. Got a little over-zealous with the dremel:sigh: At least I'm only out $13

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I can happily say I haven't killed a light with my dremel yet (but I also haven't tried ).

I did take out two lights with a soldering iron though

I really like my RC-N3-Q5, and I'm looking for some RCR123 batteries and a charger for it, any recommendations?

Dave_5280 said:

I really like my RC-N3-Q5, and I'm looking for some RCR123 batteries and a charger for it, any recommendations?

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I use these Trustfire cells and also have a pair of these Soshine cells

The Soshines are 3.7 volts compared with the Trustfire's 3.6 volts but the Trustfire has higher capacity (or so its advertised). No issue with these cells yet.

I charge them in an Ultrafire WF139 charger which i also use to charge my 14500 and 18650 cells. You just need to get some spacers so that RCR123s can fit (the side terminals dont work without modding, a few searches here will show you how to do it)

Cuso said:

Arc 6...whoops just saw your budget, nevermind..

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Sorry islw2863, i can't recommend anything in that price range. Awhile back before i was into high powered illumination tools i bought a few of those cheap imitation Chinese made lights (won't get into makes,one of them didn't even have a Co. name on the pkg.much less instructions), one of them rolled of the table and would flicker off every once in awhile.
Long story short,none of these lights lasted.One of them cost me $50 not exactly cheap when you consider it lasted only about a year.
You get what you pay for.There's a reason why a real flashlight manufacture charges more for their product.They want to make sure their product doesn't end up in a landfill.