new here / incans vs. LED

Hello everybody,

I just signed up for this forum of flash-a-holics. Because that's what I am too, and have been for about .... ehmmm..... 30 years or so.

At the moment, I own many MagLite flashlights, but have seen "the light" when I saw the Olight M20 Warrior. From that moment, I searched the web like wild, to see what is available. A few I found:
Wolf-eyes M300
Streamlight TL3
Tiablo A9 Q5
Fenix LD 10 premium Q5
Fenix TK11
Lummi Wee and Raw

and the smaller ones, cheap:
Fenix E01
Streamlight Key-mate

Now I want to see if I can get a good Xenon flashlight of the category "2X CR123A" but with a 7,4V high pressure Xenon bulb. I Know these should exist (I saw them on a Hong Kong based site) and I want this one because it perfectly fits the 2X 3,7V from a Li-ion CR123-alike.

I came across this one, but it's so cheap, I simply don't trust it:

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280299443258&fromMakeTrack=true

Is this a reasonable good light??

Only problem could be: will these protected batteries be able to deliver the 10 Watts power (that's more than 1 Amp @ 7,4V) ??
At least, the Hong Kong site told me, the power is 10 Watts. Is this true??

I saw somebody, stating under all his posts: "LEDs impress, Incans satisfy".
Well, that was my first impression too. Compared to my MagCharger, the light of the Olight M20 Warrior is extremely cool in color. It makes for sharp shades, and turns all colors into non-natural ones.

I think, after all these MagLites I currently own (must be over 20) I'm going to try either the Olight M20 or the Tiablo A9 Q5 or.... did I forget an important candidate???

Lots of questions for the people here, who seem very, very familiar with all these (for me) new flashlights. I hope you guys can help me a little....

Kind regards,

325addict

:welcome:

Do you have a friendly gears shop or sports retail place that stocks lot of flashlights? Try them out first hand and make the decision then.

With Aloha,

Clarence

Well, here in the Netherlands, people don't come any further than MagLite, and that's a WHOOW already :mecry:

Yes, surely there are exceptions like headworn LED-lights by Petzl (Tikka) that all climbers seem to have, but these things are utterly worthless compared to the ultra-hightech lamps like the ones made by Olight, Fenix or Tiablo. And I know of NO SHOP who sells them all...

So I have to do with the one experience I have now (Olight M20 Warrior) and with the beamshots that can be found on the internet.

In the meantime, I continue to use the many MagLites I have.... there's nothing wrong with them, for sure not when you put a 6V / 1 Amp Halogen bulb in a 3D and put in a MagCharger battery-stick :twothumbs

That will turn your 3D from a meager 23 Lumen one into a 100 Lumen MONSTER! GRRRRRRR!
I can easily do this, because I own 2X the 3D, 2X the MagCharger and... I have 5 good battery-sticks.


and now it's time to go to bed,

325addict.

Welcome to CPF.

If your main questions are about the particular lights you listed, then it would be more useful to have those questions reflected in the thread title.

The general debate of incandescents vs. LEDs has been repeatedly flogged into horseburger on CPF. You can search for those threads.

First off that light is way overpriced. The same light(different name but the same light) is available here for a much lower price. Here's the holster. Add these RCR123 and this charger and it is $27 USD(shipping included but it does take a few weeks, not sure about import taxes though), less then $47 USD the eBayer is asking for. I wouldn't trust the batteries that come with it unless you know it is a good brand. If you want to use RCR123 batteries with it you would have to use a higher voltage bulb, like this one. Not sure about 10watt though($30.40 total with the bulb).

The light is not bad especially considering the price. You will be able to get better lights around $45 USD, just the lights though.

You can buy just the light(with 7.4v bulb if you already have RCR123s) and see if you like it.

For the Maglites, check here, but many of the sites there are in the US.

As for incan vs LED, you can try a budget high power LED light and see how you like it.

What are you looking for in the light?
What output?
How much throw?
What price?
What batteries(there are quite a few bright AA powered lights)?

:welcome:

@ Gunner 12:

don't forget I live in the Netherlands, and shipping costs from the US to the Netherlands could easily reach extreme levels
Some sellers don't want to sell outside of the US too.

You asked me:

What output? -> at least 250 Lumen for LED, more than 120 for incandescent

How much throw? As far as possible!
What price? Not the first concern, as long as it is GOOD! That's the reason, why I didn't trust this el-cheapo....

What batteries(there are quite a few bright AA powered lights)?
Well, this is no problem. Nowadays, ANY style of battery is available as a rechargeable, even the CR123's. YES, I know: when an incandescent lamp has a 6V bulb in it, this one won't live long, I'd better mount a 7,4V or 9V type.

My question is then to you: what's the very best, brightest incandescent (Xenon) flashlight you know, running on 2X CR123? No matter what's the price. I'm the type of guy who wants to buy the best thing RIGHT AWAY, not after having spent (uhhh spoiled) much money on cheaper, not satisfying products....
The best I found until now is the Streamlight Scorpion or TL2, both have an intensity of 114 Lumen. Do you know a better one?? Some manufacturers or sellers speak of a "high performance bulb" that can be fitted. Did you ever try this? If yes, how long will the battery-runtime be then? (With most flashlights using a Xenon bulb running on 2X CR123A, I read about 1 hour)

Thank you very much,

325addict

Check out fenixstore.com look at the tk series lights from the reviews and beamshots I have seen here they seem very impressive. The other great thing is they offer free shipping anywhere :thumbsup: As for the led vs incan I prefer the incan's while outdoors but leds have superior runtime and with the new warm tinted cree's should be pretty close to a incan light outdoors with the benifits of more runtime and brighter light.

325addict said:

@ Gunner 12:

don't forget I live in the Netherlands, and shipping costs from the US to the Netherlands could easily reach extreme levels
Some sellers don't want to sell outside of the US too.
325addict

Click to expand...

The store gunner linked to ships from honk kong and has free world wide shipping. You may also find THIS thread interesting.

I think the P60-host thread has some information on that light. Someone bought various superfire/trustfire lights from DX/Kai and ebay that all looked identical, but had some significant differences internally and from a quality standpoint.

IIRC the uber-cheap Superfire 501B that I review here is the lowest one of the bunch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD34YvaGMoo

Hi, and Welcome...

I would propose a SureFire host (6P/9P/C2/C3 ect.) with a Lumensfactory (they ship Worldwide, at a reasonable cost)

you can get your Surefire from Knivesandtools in Holland, they have alsmost everything ranging from Fenix E01 to Polarion.
They are located in Apeldoorn, I've just visited their store a couple of months ago, during a business trip to The Netherlands.
(actually I think I will go there again next week , as I will be in the area anyway..

325addict said:

Compared to my MagCharger, the light of the Olight M20 Warrior is extremely cool in color. It makes for sharp shades, and turns all colors into non-natural ones.

Click to expand...

Not all leds are that cool in color, check for leds that has a 5A tint, they are warm in color.
Fenix TK20 uses that kind of led
Dereelight can be ordered with this led.

If your want maximum throw, look for a thrower type flashlight, the best one is the Dereelight DBS. They can always be recognized on a big reflector and a small led (mostly the Cree XR-E Q5).


Many places sells flashlights including word wide shipping, only problem is the local customs.

check out this site for fenix and olight: http://qualityflashlights.at/indexEn.php
good prices, free shipping to Europe (the Netherlands, that is), nice people to deal with, but the shipping takes its time from the UK

for 2xRCR123 with good runtimes and high brightness get an LED light (fenix TK10/TK11; olight M20 for a bit more throw or one of these eagletac brand ones (they have the most lumens from what I've heard)), for maximum throw get a dereelight DBS or similar, those have a very focused spot

I also recommend you to consider a light like the fenix P3D (or the PD30, its successor), it won't give you the most lumens nor much throw but it's nevertheless a very nice light as it's very compact and has got multi-mode-ability with more levels than just very bright and extremely bright to choose from.

for maximum lumens in this format but with very limited runtimes you can go incandescent with the new IMR123 batteries, have a look at this thread for further info: https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/211090

thank you very much, Gunner 12, for letting me know of this terrific site! Hundreds of flashlights, I could look for hours, ending up with 10 flashlights I could instantly buy
And only now I read the new replies.... the Austrian shop seems very, very interesting indeed! I included this shops in my favourites immediately!

325addict

Helmut.G said:

check out this site for fenix and olight: http://qualityflashlights.at/indexEn.php
good prices, free shipping to Europe (the Netherlands, that is), nice people to deal with, but the shipping takes its time from the UK

Click to expand...

Susanna does not ship from UK, but from Austria, and shipping is not free anymore.
Some other shops in EU:
Neolumen
The photon shop
Flashlightshop
Flashaholics

HKJ said:

Susanna does not ship from UK, but from Austria, and shipping is not free anymore.

Click to expand...

I see that you are right, I wasn't aware of that change, but 2,5€ shipping to europe is still a very good price

asdalton said:

The general debate of incandescents vs. LEDs has been repeatedly flogged into horseburger on CPF. You can search for those threads.

Click to expand...

I am fundamentally opposed to the idea of flogging or eating horses. Good thing they never made shows like "My Friend Flicka," or "Mister Ed" using cows.

I just ordered an E01 and a P1D with Q5 from www.fenix-store.com.

So let's see what the customs charge me


Kind regards,

Timmo.

You might find the difference between the kind of light led's and incans produce may influence your decision to buy..

Leds like a Fenix P3D produce a white looking light that is useful.. but does not reflect brown and yellow well. (Try pointing at a spruce tree and notice that the spruce cones do not highlight but seem washed out.) Then try a good incan with a xenon bulb and see how it looks. The spruce cones are clearly highlighted and easily visable. If spotting brown or black bears, deer, etc are important in your uses then an incan may serve you better.

Did you use the "CPF8" coupon? It gets you 8% off.

My3KidsDad! said:

You might find the difference between the kind of light led's and incans produce may influence your decision to buy..

Leds like a Fenix P3D produce a white looking light that is useful.. but does not reflect brown and yellow well. (Try pointing at a spruce tree and notice that the spruce cones do not highlight but seem washed out.) Then try a good incan with a xenon bulb and see how it looks. The spruce cones are clearly highlighted and easily visable. If spotting brown or black bears, deer, etc are important in your uses then an incan may serve you better.

Click to expand...

Or try a warm white LED.