Big Power / Small Package

I am looking for the brightest light in the smallest package!

Mac's SST-50 EDC and Surefire M6 are the first that come to mind.
I also own both and haven't seen a brighter light in person.

Malkoff VME head
ucl lens
nailbender sst90
valiant enterprises 2X123 twisty body

sunscreen and sunglasses optional

Something that might come close in a very affordable package, a Quark Mini 123 or the Quark Mini CR2.

Geoff

That's pretty vague. The brightest light will be big, the smallest package will be little. You'll need to decide where on the spectrum you want your brightness. Just say how big of a light you want, and go from there. Then you'll have to decide the meaning of "brightness" You want flood, throw, what?

how small?

keychain size?
edc size?
handheld size?

I think a SF 6P based host running a P60 drop-in with a SST-50 or SST-90 might fit the concept of a lot of power in a small package.

M6 can push 1000-2000 lumens, but not exactly a small package.

You're right, a 6P with the right dropin is going to be a good lumens per size ratio if you want small, but the same ratio of light to size just happens to be the same for slightly larger lights.

Personally, my favourites are 6P and smaller, packing an SST-50, although my NB SST-90 dropin was fantastic while I had it

Edit: currently playing with a Lumapower D-mini VX Ultra with the 18650 body tube... nice and bright, quite small. Can run a single IMR16340 if you want a tiny 500+ Lumens light

Running a 18650 AW 2600 is key to a long running bright light - look for native support of a SF bored to handle the bigger cells. That'll give you near 1 hour runtime on high (although not straight runtime due to heat build-up) and extended runtimes on lower brightness settings.

I really do like the IMR16340 SST-50 lights, but the bang for the buck is much less since the iM16340 cell holds only 1/5 the power of an AW 18650 cell.

Tripwik said:

I am looking for the brightest light in the smallest package!

Click to expand...

would 5 to 10 minute runtimes be ok?

Pretty sure this is one of those "I'm too bloody lazy to actually do something for myself - tell me what's the best" threads and with all these answers they're gong to confuse the hell out of the OP.

Think about it, if they're too lazy to actually do some reading and searching then I can guarantee they'll be too lazy/stupid to even understand stuff like this;

Malkoff VME head
ucl lens
nailbender sst90
valiant enterprises 2X123 twisty body

Maybe so but at this point, I'm winning.

LOL The op just has to take each suggestion and run a search on it and read read read. Then narrow the options by what he likes.
One can hope anyway!

Posted this on another thread but I thinik it applies here :


After doing some research I found out the best light for my needs was a custom surefire. Here are the benefits I found :

-Body will accept new leds as technology progresses.
-You can choose flood or throw leds.
-Surefire makes super strong bodies.
-Custom allows to use recharageable 68500 batteries.
-Surefire lights tend to be pretty small.
-Sufires are water resistant
-Body can be modded with mcclicky so you can select your light mode by just clicking
-Light are used by military personel... these bodies wont fait in any conditions!

note : Expect to pay around 200 for the body and 40-80 for a good led.


Bodies : www.oveready.com
Leds : Do a seach for nailbender or Malkoff droppins on these boards. I personally have a Surefire bored C2 centurion, modded with mcclicky with a SST-50 550 lumens OTF. Couldn't be happier!

In all my research, I couldn't find a more versatile option for a flash light body that would last a lifetime. Only thing I have to worry about is when a new drioppin with more power and performance is going to come up .

Anyway, that was my humble opinion, production lights still pack a hefty punch, but in the long run I found out when you buy quality you dont tend to spend as much money as paying multiple times for medium quality.

edit : Yep its true us Flashoholics need help, but we are happy addicts . Oh if you want also the best EDC money can buy go for a Ra clicky. Hard to go wrong with Ra !

SST-90 seem like another option but its a big flood, seems sst-50 is most appropriate in most conditions.

AussieRanga said:

Pretty sure this is one of those "I'm too bloody lazy to actually do something for myself - tell me what's the best" threads and with all these answers they're gong to confuse the hell out of the OP.

Think about it, if they're too lazy to actually do some reading and searching then I can guarantee they'll be too lazy/stupid to even understand stuff like this;

Malkoff VME head
ucl lens
nailbender sst90
valiant enterprises 2X123 twisty body

Click to expand...

With only 8 posts that's a bit of an arrogant statement to make IMHO. We were all newbies at one time or another. I lurked for 3 months before making more than one or two posts - and I'm sure I started a thread with about as much of a narrowed direction as the OP at one time or another.

Until you've both spent a lot of time searching, and a lot of money purchasing, you sometimes don't know the proper questions to ask.

From my experience, the OP said small = something I can hold in my hand and put in my pocket comfortably and bright = 300-400+ lumens OTF. I can only make an assumption that the OP would prefer a more practical 45-60 minutes runtime to a showoff pocket rocket with 5-10 minutes runtime.

The SST-50 or SST-90 paired with an 18650 fits that requirement in a pocketable package. I could have also said an E2 with an IMR-E3 LF bulb and 2xIMR16340 cells - very small and bright but not very practical. I could also say a Haiku XP-G - serious throw for a single CR123 light with great runtime but costs $450.

There are many options for someone who appears to just be getting hooked in to the addiction (ooops... I mean hobby ) I opted to stick a more practical response.

Personally - I actually like some of these vague threads, even if they can get repetitive, because things change so fast and every 3-4 months you can really get any idea of the new stuff out there.

And Nailbenders XP-G drop-ins (choose you color tint - I prefer the warm 3000k myself) are super bright with great runtime. They have a nice spot with good throw and decent flood to light up the surrounding area. I would recommend that LED with a LOP (low Orange Peel) reflector so that the spot doesn't get too dispersed but the beam artifact get cleaned up just a bit.

I got my SST-90 with a SMO (smooth) reflector for the highest amount of throw possible. Even with the SMO reflector the beam is very smooth with no artifacts even when whitewall hunting.

I also do agree that the SST-50 has a bit more throw and the SST-90 a bit more flood. The decision should be based on your intended usage.

Before we all proceed any further, i think we need input from the OP, we could do with a little more detail than 'brightest light in the smallest package!'

1xAAA size, 1xCR123 size or 1xAA size?

Personally,

1xAAA : my Fenix LD01 on 10440
1xCR123: my Jet II Pro IBS on 16340
1xAA: my Jet I Pro v2.0

Define smallest? I think the Quark 123 is very bright for the size but I'm not sure that is what you had in mind. The EagleTac M2XC4 is very bright for its size but it is at least 5 times the size of the Quark 123.

Also, what do you mean by bright? Some lights that a very bright don't appear to be bright when I take it outside and shine it at something 200 yards away. In that situation my 240 Lumen Jetbeam RRT-1 will appear WAY brighter than a 800 Lumen MG P-Rocket. So you need to also decide on brightness vs. throw (Lumens vs Lux)

Kinda funny how nobody mentioned Moddoo's new production modules, the Triple XP-G and M2-50.

In a P60 host using either 2xIMR16340's or 1x18650 2600mAh, those modules will easily push out 1000 OTF lumens.

In theory, you could push out 1500+ OTF lumens with a custom made P60 module using a solid copper heatsink with an SST-90, a zero resistance twisty mod, and an IMR 18650.

Try the MG Pocket Rocket with SST-50 emitter. Pretty floody, but enough brute power to give decent throw for distance. Takes 1 18650 or 2 CR123 batteries, so the body is only 6 inches. Puts out a tremendous volume of light over a wide area. This is the perfect backyard/trail/campground/walking in the woods light. Get the warm version; a little loss in total lumens compared to cool version but you won't notice the difference in brightness. With warm you WILL notice the difference in color "pop" as compared to the cool version. Low mode is perfect for confined areas outdoors, and high mode in open areas is awesome.

tre said:

In that situation my 240 Lumen Jetbeam RRT-1 will appear WAY brighter than a 800 Lumen MG P-Rocket. So you need to also decide on brightness vs. throw (Lumens vs Lux)

Click to expand...

+1 on this point, i was comparing my Fenix TA30 (2x17500s) and my MG P-Rocket (neutral white on 1x18650) and the TA30 (Q5) at 200+ lumens easily outhrows the MG (SST-50) but for usability, the MG is great for cycling, hiking or situations where i need more flood.