What is the brightest, farthest throwing single mode LED flashlight out there?.

Im still really new to flashlights, especially ones that use CR123s.


I dont like the flashlights with low, medium, or high settings.
All I want is a LED flashlight with either a momentary clicky, or twist turn on off light and one mode. On very bright, and off.



I have a fenix P1 flashlight on my keychain. The one with just on and off. It uses the CR123 batteries.


I would like to find a flashlight that either uses 2 RCR123 or one 18650 rechargeable.



Price is not an option, but I would prefer one with 500 plus lumens and atleast 2 hours runtime.



My last good big flashlight was a elektrolumens FT3C light with a seoul led rated at 72 lumens. I liked everything about it except for the throw.





So if anyone can give me a list of quality single mode lights with those specifications I would greatly appreciate it.


I tried searching but havent had much luck.

Welcome to the hobby (Or poison, depending on how long you've been in it!)

If you want more throw, try a Dereelight DBS V2 with a Cree XR-E Q5
http://www.dereelight.com/dbsv2.htm

If you want a lot more output (About 400-500 lumens) and a bit floodier of a beam Try it with the Cree MC-E

If you go MC-E then order the extended tube and get some rechargeable AW protected 18650s from Lighthound along with a recharger of your choice. If you go with the throwwier variant snatch some AW protected rechargeable 123s also from lighthound (And a charger.)

bigmikey said:

I would like to find a flashlight that either uses 2 RCR123 or one 18650 rechargeable.

I would prefer one with 500 plus lumens and atleast 2 hours runtime.

Click to expand...

Pick two of those, you can't have all three.

Now, a LED light with 500 plus lumens isn't going to throw as far as a light with 250 lumens.

You CAN get a throwy 250 lumen light that runs off an 18650 for an hour and a half.

divine said:

Pick two of those, you can't have all three.

Now, a LED light with 500 plus lumens isn't going to throw as far as a light with 250 lumens.

You CAN get a throwy 250 lumen light that runs off an 18650 for an hour and a half.

Click to expand...

How is it that a 500 lumen light wouldnt throw as far as a 250 lumen light?.
Im very confused now.

You might like one of the single mode P7 lights from dealextreme.
See the provided link. http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12271

The geometry of the flashlight reflector has a great influence on a flashlights throw, that's why a 250 lumen flashlight with a reflector designed for flow, *may* out-throw a 500+ lumen light.

The link I provided shows a light with quite a large reflector, I would expect this light to out-throw the DBS, but I can't say for certain.

With a Q5 or R2 Cree XR-E emitter the Dereelight DBS is the current throw king. With the new Cree MC-E pill it's put out more then twice the overall output (500+ lumen) but due to the nature of the emitter the beam isn't as tightly focused. For a visual check out the second thread in my signature.

If you go for the R2/Q5 pill to get max throw I recommend you get the 1SD pill and run it off a single 18650. This will yield ~1.5 hour run time. Note this pill is 2.0-4.2v so single cell only.

If you go the MC-E route you are currently "stuck" with the 3SM pill (I actually like the multimode pill with this emitter). This pill can handle up to 12v so you get run it off 2xRCR123 4xCR123 or 2x18650 (the last two options require the $12 extension tube). The 2xRCR will yield ~30 min run time and the 2x18650 should do 1.5+hr.

You can typically get about 250 lumens out of a single LED. To go up to 500 lumens you would use a P7 or MC-E which are four LED's in one package. Reflectors are designed around a point source or infinitesimally small light source. The single LED is much closer to a point source than 4 LEDS in a package. The beam from the 4 LED packages will spread out much more than a beam from a single LED.

Alright,did you get all that?

As you can see the MC-E is putting out a lot more lumens than the opposing pill but over a larger area. It has a less hot spot than its opposition.

By the way, that picture does neither of these lights justice. They're brighter than that to human eyes.

the dereelight looks nice, but on there page is so many appreviations its hard to understand it all. LOL

bigmikey said:

How is it that a 500 lumen light wouldnt throw as far as a 250 lumen light?.
Im very confused now.

Click to expand...

It takes more area to produce 500 lumens of light... Which turns out to be a pain in the butt to focus.

Flashcrazy is the US Dealer of Dereelight. If you have questions, he should be able to answer them.

Alan_P said:

Reflectors are designed around a point source or infinitesimally small light source. The single LED is much closer to a point source than 4 LEDS in a package. The beam from the 4 LED packages will spread out much more than a beam from a single LED.

Click to expand...

Alan, in all my time here at CPF, that is one of the best explanations I've read thus far. Thanks for making the concept easy to understand. :thumbsup:

maxa beam said:

As you can see the MC-E is putting out a lot more lumens than the opposing pill but over a larger area. It has a less hot spot than its opposition.

By the way, that picture does neither of these lights justice. They're brighter than that to human eyes.

Click to expand...

Holy cr@p!

Those aren't lights they're weapons.

It doesn't fit your criteria for running on CR 123s or 18650s but it does fit the title of your thread. It runs in full regulation for 2 hrs on energizer e2/ultimate lithium and can run on rechargeable NiMH. It is the farthest throwing single LED flashlight available anywhere.

If you don't mind not using CR123s or 18650s, saabluster's light would be the best for your choice. I haven't not seen the light but for Luxluthor to call it a mini Maxabeam means that it can really throw.

More lumen does not mean more throw. If the light with more lumen has a much larger emitter surface, it could have much less throw(but a wider hotspot and brighter overall).