Best LED and Battery Option for 600+ Lumen Flashlight 2hr+ runtime? 18650 26500 26650

Kinda stuck with this. Does anyone have suggestions on what to do to get a 700+ Lumen light with 2hr+ runtime? I have been out of the loop with the LEDs and other things. I have heard about Malkoff recently releasing an M91. Is that suitable?

Essentially, I am look for three things:

1) Host: FiveMega, Bored Surefire 9P, 6P? etc.? Hopefully, no longer than a 9P.
2) What battery configuration...
18650 2900mAh Li-Ion...one cell, non-IMR
26650 4000mAh IMR...one cell
2x26500 2300mAh IMR...two cells
3) Light Engine/LED Head and LED SST-90, SST-50, MCE, XM-L T6?

Ideally, giving out 700 or more lumens...holding out for around 90 minutes with 600-700 lumens, before tapering down gradually. Is this more characteristic of a single cell? Is this actually more a pipe dream? Price...maybe $250 for the whole thing.

Cryos head
2X18650 FM body
2X AW 18650
1 Oveready zero resistance modded tailcap
1 Malkoff M91

Thanks for the reply. Your suggestion seems a bit of a longish light. Is there another option that is more "fatter" than is wide (though not too fat), or is really the double 18650 the only option at this point?

How would one heat manage a 1-2 cell "small" flashlight doing 2hrs and 700+ lumens and not having a longish body?

Just take it that for 18650s, you'd need to be in the 3-cell category with 90 mins 600-700 OTF lumens ballpark, tapering down after that.

Compromises would be a TK-35 which is still within your budget. RRT-3 fits your requirements ok but its too costly. Downgrade to RL-2088? Without a cooling bezel + front part of the tube body holding the driver/1-cell, you need a bigger light for more surface area. Else you may not even be able to touch the light for > 10 seconds let alone hold it. Read 50-65W Ebay HID after 1hr.

A 2X26500 body would be shorter and fatter, more MaH.
FM makes one of those too? Probably

2 * 26500:
--> shorter --> agree
--> fatter --> agree
--> more mAh --> disagree

as long as there are no useful 26500 and 26650 (with MORE energy stored), the pros of the 18650 are the cutting edge

2*18650 is not to beat in the moment

I like the words "useful 26500 and 26650".

One more option. Save the 200 bucks, Trustfire X8 51 bucks incld shipping to the USA. No AR lens, but it is still a long somewhat strong 6061-T6 tube with type III hard anodization and decent reflector. 2 x 18650. You won't get there with your unique requirements, but you don't spend much and without going into customs. You don't need to be rich to enjoy cutting edge LEDs, some just cannot afford high dollar lights with high-end hosts.

For those whose 1st criteria of a good flashlight is good throw capability but in a small package, you will like this one. Smaller hotspot than many others, even in a ~40mm reflector.

Thanks all for the comments and recommendations. Do you have an idea of what the lumens/runtime characteristics of 2*26500 compare to 1*26650? i.e. will it be like 700lumen for 1h15min, then quick shut down versus 700lumens for 45min, that tapers off to 200lumens in the next hour, etc.?

it will be the same behaviour for all the "same" configurations:
2*18650,
2*26500,
2*26650,
as all three are 2 Li-Ions in series.

Depending on the driver, it will else suck them "dry" and then stop, or slow tapering depending on system voltage.

Time: depends on current, of course
18650, best models will be able to really offer 2600-3000 mAh
26500 - if You find some - will be under that value, so less time.
26650 - are said to house up to 4000, at least the offers I was able to find lately, so 1/4 longer.
(unfortunately these 4000 mAh are not protected, and not granted in the same way as 3000 mAh 18650s are)

So the added size, thickness, weight of the 26mm body (also costy and possibly difficult to get) has more negatives than pros.


PS: I would be grateful, if someone could link "better" 26 mm protected cells (4000+ for 26500 and at least 5000 for 26650) and am willing to immediately change my point of view.

2100 said:

I like the words "useful 26500 and 26650".

One more option. Save the 200 bucks, Trustfire X8 51 bucks incld shipping to the USA. No AR lens, but it is still a long somewhat strong 6061-T6 tube with type III hard anodization and decent reflector. 2 x 18650. You won't get there with your unique requirements, but you don't spend much and without going into customs. You don't need to be rich to enjoy cutting edge LEDs, some just cannot afford high dollar lights with high-end hosts.

For those whose 1st criteria of a good flashlight is good throw capability but in a small package, you will like this one. Smaller hotspot than many others, even in a ~40mm reflector.

Click to expand...

I don't like TrustFire, it is very poor quality. You get what you pay for. It is a lot less, simply because it is a lot less.

yellow said:

2 * 26500:
--> shorter --> agree
--> fatter --> agree
--> more mAh --> disagree

as long as there are no useful 26500 and 26650 (with MORE energy stored), the pros of the 18650 are the cutting edge

2*18650 is not to beat in the moment

Click to expand...

DX has useful 25500s (with protection = 55mm or so, about like AW's old black C cells) making >2500mAh. Not better than good 18650s, but not worse than most, either -- a worthy option for those who prefer shorter, fatter lights.

And about reliability, I've been using a couple pairs of unprotected cells regularly for incans (Mag61 and a LF D36 build) for almost two years, and a couple protected cells in a 4xAAA-cum-25500 D26 host for >6 months, no problems yet.


Still would love to see some high capacity brand name Li-ion C cells, but I can't see any sense in writing off the whole format when we have AW IMRs for hotwires and DX ICRs for everything else.