been years - anything competing with the Arc6 now?

I am sure SF has an offering.
I am looking for something a bit brighter than my beloved Arclight.
So, is an Li 123 battery and a Luxeonstar LED still the way to go, or has there been another leap in tech?
The SF and Arc offerings look fantastic:
But, is there something better? Or, less expensive ($250 seems like a lot)?

Well now we have multi-die LEDs! Four emitters on one chip thingy. (I think thats the technical term)
The Cree MC-E and SSC P7 are two popular ones.

More like is the Arc6 able to compete with anything?

There are many lights out now each more capable and better made than the Arc6 and have been since the introduction.

For instance the Ra Twisty/ Clicky, Novatac(well the ones made in America).
Surefire has a few lights however they aren't leading in the area of single CR123 LED.

Li-ion are going to give you the best power to size. Luxeons aren't the brightest and haven't been for a while. Lights using Cree LEDs are the way to go for the brightest but there are still reason to grab lights using Luxeons.

No doubt that you have heard of the current gen LEDs, the two big companies are Cree and Seoul. The current gen LEDs are twice or more efficient then the last gen LEDs, which means for the same power, a current gen LED will have twice or more output then a previous gen LED. The Cree XR-E R2, current highest bin for Cree, hits over 200 lumen and can reach 300 with a bit over over driving. The quad die LEDs like the MC-E and P7 are similar to the Luxeon V in the sense that they pack 4 of the normal LED's dies into a single package. In the Seoul P7, the dies are wired in parallel. In the MC-E, each die can be individually addressable.

What do you want for a new light?

We have over 60 lumen from a single AA powered light (best I've seen is 140 lumen), over 120 lumen for a single CR123 light (or over 250 if an IMR RCR123 is used to direct drive a quad die LED), over 400 lumen for a single 18650 battery powered light.

For example, the Fenix P2D hits 110 lumen out the front, with the Q5 bin, that is over 140 lumen (similar number to the current replacement for the P2D, the PD20).

There have also been improvements in throw. The Dereelight DBS hits over 20,000 lux at 1 meter. The Tiablo A10 has a calculated 40,000 + lux at 1 m (calculated from 5m). The aspherical lens mods get over 50,000 lux at 1m. All of these are with single die LEDs.

Luxeon has their Rebel and TFFC K2s, both are current gen LEDs.

Wow cool - I love new technology!
Are these multi die LEDs small enought to fit in the same size flashlights, such as an Arc6, for example?
what EDC is popular here now? I'm looking for something smaller than my SF L4 and bigger than my ArcAAA.

I'd suggest searching for pictures. The Cree MC-E is the smaller of the quad die LEDs. They haven't been used in smaller lights besides in mods because smaller batteries can't provide as much power and the larger emitting area means a more floody beam.

There have been many new lights. Popular companies are (long list in order of my memory):
Fenix
Nitecore
Jetbeam
Olight
iTP
Zebralight
Surefire
RA lights
Novatac
Liteflux
Kingpower
Lumapower
Dereelight
Eagletac
Spartanian
McGizmo
and a few more
There are also many with budget lights as EDCs, some are pretty good.

I'd suggest posting:
The beam pattern you prefer.
The modes you would like.
The batteries you prefer.
The price you'd like.
Any other thing you would like, like a clip or other.

The NiteCore EX10 and D10 have been getting a lot of attention as of late. High quality, unique UI.

The Cree MC-E has the same foot print as a XR-E so yes, you can put them in a small light. The problem is they get a lot hotter and you need more power to get the full potential out of them. Some people have put them in small lights and drive them hard, but it's more for show than being practical. Also the quad die emitters will be floodier and won't throw well when used with a small reflector.

I think I have been sexually aroused by that NiteCore EX10!
Looks like we can now get the same performance as a SF L4, in half the size and half the price!?!?
I would love a long throw, but I don't think it is possible with LEDs in a small light.

The EX10 is not very throwy, but other LED lights certainly can be.

A big deciding factor is your budget. If you have $300-400 to spend, grab a McGizmo or a Jhanko Ti D10, and you're set for years.

If you don't want to go much over $100, I'd say stick with Nitecore, Jetbeam, or Dereelight for smaller lights, and Wolf-Eyes for larger lights.

If you really want a bargain, you can find some pretty good deals on the new EagleTac lights.

Whatever you're looking for, I recommend giving neutral-tinted led's a look-see. You loose a barely noticeable amount of brightness, but you can see colors a bit better. They're a nice balance between a cool LED and a high-output Xenon bulb.

Ok, I sort of know what you are talking about with neutral -tinted LEDs, but how do I get one? Are just supposed to ask the dealer nicely, "Please don't sell me a crappy binned LED that has a green hue." Do dealers offer premium more better tinted LEDs?

Look at the Nitecore Extreme,

GTSECC said:

Ok, I sort of know what you are talking about with neutral -tinted LEDs, but how do I get one? Are just supposed to ask the dealer nicely, "Please don't sell me a crappy binned LED that has a green hue." Do dealers offer premium more better tinted LEDs?

Click to expand...

Some of the current models are being made in special runs with warm/neutral tints. Usually they are listed separately. Sometimes you do have to request one from the dealer during checkout. Basically you have to know the light is made in a warm tint first.

Alternatively, you could swap out the LED yourself with a warm tint one.

Before buying anything else, I'd check out the LiteFlux LF3XT for a CR123 battery light. We all (most everyone anyway) love them. Tons of info in this and the Reviews sections.

Geoff

Flying Turtle said:

Before buying anything else, I'd check out the LiteFlux LF3XT for a CR123 battery light. We all (most everyone anyway) love them. Tons of info in this and the Reviews sections.

Geoff

Click to expand...

+1. Love this light.

GTSECC said:

Ok, I sort of know what you are talking about with neutral -tinted LEDs, but how do I get one? Are just supposed to ask the dealer nicely, "Please don't sell me a crappy binned LED that has a green hue." Do dealers offer premium more better tinted LEDs?

Click to expand...

GT, there is no such thing as "puke green" tints anymore!:twothumbs
(if claim there is, they haven't seen what those early Luxeons were capable of ...:green

Check out the Liteflux LF3XT - best deal going IMO. At about $60 you have a light with 2 user interfaces - one simple and one highly programmable. You've got one of the few lights with a Cree LED that does not have the Cree 'ring' problem. It's very compact, has a silent tail switch of a unique design and has often been rated as one of the best deals going. Liteflux has consistently listened to CPF and is producing some of the highest quality lights with the most desired features. Runs on CR123 or RCR123 and has a built in voltage meter.

I think the NiteCore EX10 is the best looking.
But, the Cree vs. GoldenDragon has me confused.
Confused because it seems like there is not much difference - same basic light output, just a slightly different spread/spill. right?


How can SureFire sell the TitanT1 for $250?
Looks like Lights from NiteCore (EX10), Fenix (PD20), and LiteFlux(LF3XT) are as good or better for less than $60. Right?

Do some of these attach to cars better than the others? looks like the holes on the NiteCore might not hold a keyring very elegantly.

Cars?