need floody 18650 light

As I continue to debate how best to replace my house MagLED I figured the best bet might be a light that can use an 18650 cell rather than a dedicated rechargeable light.

So without further ado, I'm after recommendations for a fairly floody light that'll run off a single 18650 cell, have a simple UI (preferable with just two levels, and be crazy bright enough to light up the dark corners of my basement. Most of the 18650-compatible lights seem to be designed as throwers, P7 lights need more juice than a single 18650, and diffusers on a light just won't work for me.

Hopefully someone has an idea for a package that will come in under $100 for the light, two batteries and a charger (which I guess means the light has to be under $70).

Umm a Malkoff MD2 with a M30F would work really well. Although your budget would have to stretch a little.

Why not an MC-E or P7? There are lots of them that run off a single 18650.

pipspeak said:

As I continue to debate how best to replace my house MagLED I figured the best bet might be a light that can use an 18650 cell rather than a dedicated rechargeable light.

So without further ado, I'm after recommendations for a fairly floody light that'll run off a single 18650 cell, have a simple UI (preferable with just two levels, and be crazy bright enough to light up the dark corners of my basement. Most of the 18650-compatible lights seem to be designed as throwers, P7 lights need more juice than a single 18650, and diffusers on a light just won't work for me.

Hopefully someone has an idea for a package that will come in under $100 for the light, two batteries and a charger (which I guess means the light has to be under $70).

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Solarforce can set you up, get a host and drop in. PM jake25 to inquire about the MC-E drop in for floody output. Should be under your budget and leave some $$$ for cells and a charger (assuming you dont already have those).

hope this helps.

For the budget given, perhaps Solarforce L2/L2p with MC-E drop-in. Or MG PLI.

sol-leks said:

Why not an MC-E or P7? There are lots of them that run off a single 18650.

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Perhaps I'm not looking hard enough, but all the usual suspects (ACE, M30, M1X, etc.) run off two 18650s

I'll also check out the solarforce/malkoff options, but sounds like that would limit me to a single output mode.

mg pli at shiningbeam is exactly what you want $70.

pipspeak said:

Perhaps I'm not looking hard enough, but all the usual suspects (ACE, M30, M1X, etc.) run off two 18650s

I'll also check out the solarforce/malkoff options, but sounds like that would limit me to a single output mode.

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The MG PLI as above mentioned is supposed to be very good. MG also makes an RX-1. Then if you look on dealextreme there is a ton of single 18650 lights with mc-e's or p7's

Hmmm... not sure about the camo MG Pli, but the MG RX-1 MC-E looks like a nice light and has better heft (ie. harder to lose) for household use. I like that it also comes with a forward clicky and mode memory (otherwise starting on low would be a deal killer). Dealextreme scares me

I also started checking out the Wolf Eyes Sniper and Explorer -- waaay more expensive, I know, but they sound like they'll run off a single 18650.

I always though MC-E's were throwers... I know my M1X that uses an MCE is a thrower :wave: I recommend the MG PLI. Theyre supposed to be coming out with black ones, and now they come with a warm tint!

WHT_GE8 said:

I always though MC-E's were throwers... I know my M1X that uses an MCE is a thrower :wave: I recommend the MG PLI. Theyre supposed to be coming out with black ones, and now they come with a warm tint!

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They throw decently, from what ive been told due to their sheer power, but are not designed to maximize throw.

Yes, yes the camo is indeed fugly.

Nailbender SST-90 P60 drop-in 3-level in a Solarforce L2 1x18650 host. 650 lumens IS measured. Or maybe one of his SST-50 drop-ins. I have it and it is a very bright and floody light. I'm having my Surefire 6P bored out right now to prepare for another nailbender drop-in. I may try the SST-50 this time.

Nice looking nailbender light, but looks like it must get HOT.

From what I've read the MCE is a slightly better thrower than a P7 but the sheer amount of light coming out the front also makes it a decent flooder and certainly far more floody than something like a Q5. Sounds like a perfect combo to me. How do the SST-50 and SST-90 compared to the MCE and P7 in terms of beam profile and raw output?

I also discovered the Lumapower MRV MCE can run at reduced output (250lumens) on a single 18650.

consider LiteFlux LF2 mini

From what I've heard, the more off center any emitter is, the less efficiently the light can be focused for throw. All other things being equal, I'd assume that a light with four perfectly centered XR-E emitters in four deep reflectors would throw much better than one, four-die MC-E in a huge reflector simply because ease die of the MC-E LED is off center.

That's just my understanding, lest anyone think I'm speaking from experience. I actually only own one huge output light and it's throw, while pretty impressive, can't come close to other lights built for that purpose. That being said, I'm trying out Elektrolumens's EDC-MCE. It runs off of one 18650 battery and he claims 700-900 lumens OTF so I'm pretty excited about that. I think it's pretty competitively priced. It's not regulated, though, so keep your expectations in check as far as performance over the life of one charge.

I have the MG RX-1 MC-E. It is an aircraft landing light on high. I wanted a light to light up the whole back yard. This was just the thing. (3) modes, with a head as big as a M@g. Price is great, and Brian is a good guy.

Paul

pipspeak said:

Nice looking nailbender light, but looks like it must get HOT.

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Actually it only gets warm in hand on hour long night walks with my wife set on hi and when I ran it for about 1.5 hours at the corn maze at night 75% of the time on hi. I tested it with adding aluminum foil so the reflector made contact with the body for the corn maze but it made no appreciable difference in output, runtime or temp. So, no, it doesn't get hot at all. :thumbsup:

pmoore said:

I have the MG RX-1 MC-E. It is an aircraft landing light on high. I wanted a light to light up the whole back yard. This was just the thing. (3) modes, with a head as big as a M@g. Price is great, and Brian is a good guy.

Paul

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How durable is the finish? Looks like it'll get beat up pretty fast.

I like the idea of the RX-1, mainly because it'll be replacing a custom P4 MagLED (that eats through D-cells) and seems to be a similar size -- a size I like for around the house.

Having said that, I am always drawn to the idea of getting a P60 host and a flamethrower of a dropin. I'm just not sure such a small light will work out.

Elektrolumens EDC. Oh, never mind, pays to read an entire post first. Sorry.

My most floody light would be the ITP C6t....it puts out a wall of light with a small bright as hell spot.