"Best" Sun-in-the-Pocket?

Noctis

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Mar 26, 2010
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526
Okay, so in my never-ending quest to try and get as many lumens as I can jammed into my little 6P host bored for 1x18650, I stumble upon this:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/238745

2250 lumens in a tiny flashlight that's roughly the size of my own if not exactly the same. In just ONE SST-90 emitter?...okay, so what's the catch here?

It sounded relatively simple and cheap. An SST-90 Direct Drive on a star pcb, an IMR 18650, and this power mosfet t70n03 thingy. Off-hand, it sounds cheaper than one of Moddoo's Triple XP-G drop-ins, or at least roughly the same. Considering the availability of the damn things, this sounds like a very appealing alternative at 2250 lumens as opposed to just 1400 lumens from a Moddoo drop-in.

Still, I feel like there's a very big catch that nobody in the thread mentioned. Like a total runtime of 5 minutes, or the risk of parts failure every time the light is turned on. It SOUNDS like a quick and easy method to have the ultimate powerhorse in your pocket, but if that was the case, I find it a bit strange that there isn't someone selling a bunch of these on the marketplace.

Ditto with this one:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/267366

4x XP-Gs sounds tempting to me. Though Milky tells me that 3x would be a better choice for a 1x18650 battery. I assume it's because 4x XP-Gs can't be expected to run longer than 15 minutes otherwise.

While having 2000+ lumens in your pocket is definitely appealing, I wouldn't consider that the "best" if the runtime is so laughably short that it would simply be impractical.

So which one of these would be the best pocket "sun"? I realize that there are some mag-mods that can crank out more with incandescent lamps, but again I prefer a slim pocket-size light with an LED that won't blow out on you at any given moment.
 

Chevy-SS

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Feb 21, 2010
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Rhode Island
:popcorn:

LOL, I was just about to post a thread asking the same questions. :rolleyes: My current EDC lights are things like Quark Tactical 123*2 and EagleTac P20C2 MkII and Fenix PD30. Like you, I am looking for something with roughly the same size, but a LOT more lumens.

I am mostly interested in short strobe bursts of 1,000+ lumens. Run time and heat do not concern me.

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Noctis

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Mar 26, 2010
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526
Hmm, never heard many good things about strobe. Most people seem to hate it.

Aside from trying to disorient someone with it, there seems to be little practical use for it. I've also heard someone mention that the strobe must be properly timed in order to achieve that disorientation effect, and that most aren't timed properly.

I opted for a high-low mode. Since I hardly ever use my current light(6P with Thrunite XP-G 1.5A drop-in) for longer than 30 seconds, heat isn't much of an issue, though I would still like a reasonably high runtime. Low would make an excellent utility, as it would give me several hours of usable light, especially in a blackout at night.

I've heard about some pesky rats in the warehouse at my workplace that don't seem to care too much about the presence of people. I was wondering if I could get an amusing reaction with a 1000+ lumens blast of light at 5 feet away.
 

Noctis

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Joined
Mar 26, 2010
Messages
526
Is there an "easy" high power setup?
Like say, DD SST-90 & IMR 18650? Or would something more be necessary?
 

Brasso

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Jan 17, 2005
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Alabama
I think you would need something that takes a 26500. A fivemega host or something to get anything out of the SST90.
 

Noctis

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Mar 26, 2010
Messages
526
Those 26500 hosts don't exactly look "pocket" sized, at least by eye. If I'm going with fatter hosts, I might as well go all the way and get one of those Megalennium hosts. But then I really wouldn't be able to carry that outside of my house since it won't fit in my pocket and the only people wearing coats in this tropical weather are bank robbers.

But then, I AM a little tempted to shine a little sunlight into my neighbor's house at 4 in the morning. Mostly because I wake up to the sound of their seven dogs barking at 6 in the morning <_<
 

StarHalo

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California Republic
It's novelty vs utility - you can get low-wattage HID levels of output from a full hand sized light like that, but without modes, if you get into a situation where you actually need a flashlight, you're screwed. I don't consider that size of light to be "pocketable", which then essentially makes the light a just-for-fun toy - if you're going for max brightness in a novelty light, why restrict yourself to this size; you could spend the money on a large HID light and light things up half a mile away..

I don't like anything larger than 1xAA in my pocket, but there are still a few 250+ lumen options in this format when powered by a li-ion (keep in mind that this is brighter than a 6 D cell Mag!), the $39 Quark Mini being a good example.
 

Chevy-SS

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Feb 21, 2010
Messages
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Rhode Island
Get a camera flash and press the 'test' button.


:crackup::crackup::crackup::crackup:
Hahahhahahhahaha, yeah, you're real funny.

You act like it's strange that I'm actually making comments about a bright light in a thread titled ""Best" Sun-in-the-Pocket?"

Dude, what the He11 do you think this whole CPF forum is all about anyway????????

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