Looking for a 400 lumen monster with continuous runtime

Hi everyone

Looking for a 400 OTF lumen monster for my brother. The following are some guidelines:-

Complete Flashlight
Goal: 400 OTF Lumens
Willing to spend: $130 US, can be pushed to $150 US
Size of host: Max as big as a SolarForce L2P
Bulb: MC-E, SST-50, P7, any other LED that can produce 400 OTF
Battery Type: 2x AW RCR123A (preferred) or AW 18650
Flood or throw: Something like a R5 or with a bit more throw would be good
Tint: Cool White
Use: Indoors or outdoors, mountain walking, etc.
Special requirements: Ability to tailstand would be great but

** VERY IMPORTANT** Must be able to run continuously till the AWs hit protection mode. So I don't want to have to turn off the light after 15 mins due to overheating, etc.

Hope I've covered everything, I know there's a template here but I think I've covered most things. Thanks in advance & looking forward to some good suggestions!

Hmmm... anyone?

The size of an L2P...

Most P60 SST-50 regulated at 2.5A will get you there with ease.:thumbsup:


The P7 or MC-E's need to be pushed at 2.8A to get you over that 400lumen hump in a P60 or small size light, so exclude those.

The XP-G can be excluded too, unless you get a Linger special by Nailbender which is 2 XP-G's regulated at 2.5A.

I would go with a Dereelight DBS SST-50 because its regulated at 2.5A and you will get a ton off throw in an easy to carry package.

bigchelis said:

The size of an L2P...

Most P60 SST-50 regulated at 2.5A will get you there with ease.:thumbsup:


The P7 or MC-E's need to be pushed at 2.8A to get you over that 400lumen hump in a P60 or small size light, so exclude those.

The XP-G can be excluded too, unless you get a Linger special by Nailbender which is 2 XP-G's regulated at 2.5A.

I would go with a Dereelight DBS SST-50 because its regulated at 2.5A and you will get a ton off throw in an easy to carry package.

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But would those emitters running at over 2.5A be capable of running continuously considering the heat?

anonymoususer said:

But would those emitters running at over 2.5A be capable of running continuously considering the heat?

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At 2.5A if you hold it in your hand I thinks its good. At 2.8A I would turn it off at 10~15 minutes.


There is a 1C Mag SST-50 at 3A via IMR 26650 in the market place too Not mine and yeah its bigger than an L2, but 500 OTF with ease.

anonymoususer said:

But would those emitters running at over 2.5A be capable of running continuously considering the heat?

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Not likely. At 2.8A, I have to turn my light off after 5 minutes, though I'm sure I could push it further.

Though IIRC, BigC tested the Thrunite 1.5A XP-G drop-in for around 400 OTF lumens.

If you can get your hands on a finned bezel, you might be able to go further.

Personally, I think the 15 minutes of continuous runtime contradicts the demand for 400+ OTF lumens. The heat will drop the lumens below 400 in about 3 minutes. If the initial output is over 500 lumens, the heat will drop the lumens even faster.

What the OP is looking for would be a high powered LED that generates almost no heat, and that simply doesn't exist.

Perhaps the new XM LED would fill your demand, but that emitter isn't going to be out for a while, and I doubt anyone would put it in a light until all the kinks are worked out.

bigchelis said:

At 2.5A if you hold it in your hand I thinks its good. At 2.8A I would turn it off at 10~15 minutes.


There is a 1C Mag SST-50 at 3A via IMR 26650 in the market place too Not mine and yeah its bigger than an L2, but 500 OTF with ease.

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Interesting. I didn't think the SST-50 was capable of running past 5 minutes in a P60 host. My 6P would get almost unbearably hot at the 5 minute mark.

It seems to me the only answer is the XP-G R5 even if it doesn't quite hit the lumen mark it's the closest solution due to the continuous running requirement/heat.

The XP-G R5 is the most efficient emitter out there at the moment. As I recall the SST-50 is even less efficient than the MC-E/P7.

The more efficient an emitter is the less heat and more light generated. With decent heatsinking a XP-G R5 should be able to hang on to more of that output than the others which will start to degrade due to heat.

I would just suggest a nice Malkoff M61 module for that nice floody light.

There's a logic here I'm not quite following... If your brother is trying to impress someone, or you're trying to impress your brother with the light, why would runtime matter?

And if your brother is using the light because he needs light, why does he need 400 OTF lumens?

Might I suggest an SST-50/90 with 3 modes? You'll go over 400 lumens to impress, and you can shift down to a lower level for practical use.

gcbryan said:

It seems to be the only answer is the XP-G R5 even if it doesn't quite hit the lumen mark it's the closest solution due to the continuous running requirement/heat.

The XP-G R5 is the most efficient emitter out there at the moment. As I recall the SST-50 is even less efficient than the MC-E/P7.

The more efficient an emitter is the less heat and more light generated. With decent heatsinking a XP-G R5 should be able to hang on to more of that output than the others which will start to degrade due to heat.

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I have done some research and spoken to nailbender and had a feeling this might be the case. The SST-50 seems to be out of the question cause of the heat produced so would probably not be able to be run continously without turning it off after a few minutes.

I would think you would want to get one with several modes as well. If you are going to use it continuously instead of in spurts like many/most lights are used then this (IMO) becomes even more important.

You can regulate the heat and greatly extend battery life if you can switch to medium when you don't really need a high beam and yet it's there for when you do need/want it.

What about an Olight M21?

It's rated 500 Lumen and what really comes out should be in the 350 Lumen area. That's quite bright and I guess it can run on high continuously. You can feed it with 2 x CR123A, 2 x RCR123 or an 18650.

Perhaps it has a lack of throw, as it's SST50, it has a well floody and usable beam. I don't like its UI, twist the head back and forth to change modes, but if you stay on high, this won't bother you.

I could suggest an ElektroLumens EDC-MCE, that's 700 Lumen or more at the start, it can run continuously, but gets so hot you will perhaps want to turn it off after 15 to 20 minutes. The beam is a wall of light and it runs an hour on an 18650, one mode direct drive... :naughty:

Buy two of the exact same light, when one gets too hot just whip out the other one and switch back and forth. Nobody will ever know! :twothumbs

lumapower d-vx ultra?

Can you be more specific regarding the use case? Especially regarding the need to keep it running on super high for hours?

Hiking for hours? Biking for hours? Replacing a broken headlight? ;-)

For example, you could buy 2 moderately loaded XP-G lights for 50 bucks or less each and put em both on your bike. That would distribute the weight nicely, give you 2x18650 worth of runtime, give no problems with overheating, and also give you plenty of lumens.

I don't know how much heat would be generated at 2.5 or 2.8 amps but my thrunite p60 dropin which is being driven at 1.5 amp gets my solarfoce L2 pretty hot in about 5 mins. It does not get too hot that it is uncomfortable to hold but the whole light does get hot and that is my hottest running light. Even hotter than my Jetbeam M2S on high. I have see P60 dropins that were pushing around 5 amps, I sure these dropins could only do it for about 3 minutes or less.

Thanks for the input everyone. The reason why R5 is out of the question is because we have R5s already! I personally have a SureFire C2 with Malkoff M61 drop in... (great light!! Love it...)

OK we have a lot of around 200 lumen lights & he was wanting to go better & brighter! 200 lumens is more than enough for bush walking, etc. but why does he want 400? Well cause we're flashaholics who always want brighter lights!

I love my 600 lumens from the TK40 but get annoyed after turning it off from 15-20mins of usage. He feels the same way too...

OK now it seems I have come to 2 options. Recommended by Dave (Nailbender) I can go with a Raidfire Spear with Nailbender SST-50, apparently this thing can dissapate heat well and can run the SST-50 continuously no probs. Or we could go a Dual R5 XPG from nailbender again... maybe this might be the solution. Not sure, how many lumens this thing puts out though....

I think he should get at least a 600 otf lumen light. He would probably be disapointed in a 400 otf lumen light. Even though on paper it is doubled the 200 lumen lights, it doesn't appear that much brighter in person. The switch from 200 to 400 is not that big of a difference that you might expect.

Hmm i think it is extremely difficult to get 600 lumens from a host the size of a L2P continuously. Of course the brighter the better but it has to be within budget....

daguy80 said:

I think he should get at least a 600 otf lumen light. He would probably be disapointed in a 400 otf lumen light. Even though on paper it is doubled the 200 lumen lights, it doesn't appear that much brighter in person. The switch from 200 to 400 is not that big of a difference that you might expect.

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I agree with you ,usually ,there is no obvious difference between 200 lumen and 400 lumen ,why not buy output more than 400 lunem flashlight ,there is a thread about high lumen flashlight in dealer's corner(http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=226948),you can have a look !