Looking for good all around single 18650 light. Ideas?

I'm not into the Li-Ion type of batteries, but I have a friend who is just starting to get into flashlights and is looking for a good all around light that uses a single 18650 battery.
Since I'm not much of an expert in this area I thought I would throw it out and see what all you experts say would be the light to get! :wave:
Guess we can start out by saying a multi mode light that has a good combination of throw and flood. I imagine it will be used for your average things like walking the dog, camping, etc.
I'm not sure what price he is looking for, but for now let's keep it to $75 and under since he will need to buy batteries and charger on top of the light.
Feel free to recommend batteries and charger as well!

Please tell your recommendation as well as why you like a certain light. All lights have pros and cons, and a con to one person could actually to a pro to another.
Let me know your thoughts!

Re: Looking for good all around 18650. Ideas?

My favorite 18650 torch, batteries, and charger are: Zebralight SC-60, AW 2900, and Pila charger.

Re: Looking for good all around 18650. Ideas?

Buckley said:

My favorite 18650 torch, batteries, and charger are: Zebralight SC-60, AW 2900, and Pila charger.

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Alright! We start out with the ZL SC60! Great light. Love my SC51!

Anyone else have a suggestion?

Re: Looking for good all around 18650. Ideas?

I love my Olight M20-X. It's a great all around light that's not too floody and has decent throw. Build quality is excellent and the tailswitch with the side switch is awesome. If he wants something with more throw, the M20 or M20S is a great choice.

Re: Looking for good all around 18650. Ideas?

Shiningbeam's S-mini is hard to beat for the price. Especially if you're interested in using salvaged cells. Its only real weakness is the lack of a moon-mode.

You could get an S-mini and the Pila charger for only slightly more than the cost of the SC60 alone.

--flatline

Re: Looking for good all around 18650. Ideas?

Deal4 said:

I'm not into the Li-Ion type of batteries, but I have a friend who is just starting to get into flashlights and is looking for a good all around light that uses a single 18650 battery.
Since I'm not much of an expert in this area I thought I would throw it out and see what all you experts say would be the light to get! :wave:
Guess we can start out by saying a multi mode light that has a good combination of throw and flood. I imagine it will be used for your average things like walking the dog, camping, etc.
I'm not sure what price he is looking for, but for now let's keep it to $75 and under since he will need to buy batteries and charger on top of the light.
Feel free to recommend batteries and charger as well!
Let me know your thoughts!

Click to expand...

Here are my top 18650's in my own wishlist: (in exact order)

1. Sunwayman V20C
2. Klarus XT10
3. Fenix TK21U2
4. Jetbeam 3M XML
5. Olight i6
6. Lumintop ED20

I'm a bit undecided on the 1 & 2, but i hope to collect all six of these someday. The dilemma i have on item 1 and 2 is if i will go with beauty (V20C) or function (XT10). I know there are prettier lights out there, but im not willing to dish out more than what these lights cost, okay?

I wanted to add SC600 to my list as the ZL's interface are the best unfortunately their QC is not. So i'd rather not risk it.

Batteries, get the best, Panasonic 2900 mAh Japanese-made cells. Runtimes are better than the coveted AW's and cost a fraction of the price! For the charger, the Soshine will do, but if you want a cheap good one, the Trustfire dual 18650 charger is good.

I own a set of Trustfires and a set of Panasonics which i alternately use on my TK35, i am happy to report, the batteries of the Panasonic have longer runtime, but charge takes about 12 hours on my 500mAh Trustfire charger. Not bad as i use the light daily for a few minutes and it takes about two and a half weeks to run out (turbo mode).

Re: Looking for good all around 18650. Ideas?

$79- the jetbeam pc25 multi modes, xml led, single 18650, 408lms of throw and flood.

Re: Looking for good all around 18650. Ideas?

If you're using it for non-tactical purposes, get a light with a bezel button UI. It will be much more comfortable to you when you're walking/jogging/hiking to switch modes with just your thumb. All my lights are tactical lights but I often wish I had a button up on the bezel when walking to switch modes instead of having to change grips and/or twist heads and junk.
The 18650 Zebralight sounds like exactly what you're looking for in a light. Go for neutral tints if you can, as it really does help with outdoors colour rendering. Grass and dirt won't look monochromatic anymore!

Re: Looking for good all around 18650. Ideas?

Get him the Zebralight SC600 it should blow his mind, it's the best 18650 light I own so that is the one I have to suggest.

Re: Looking for good all around 18650. Ideas?

Man, I go to bed, and when I get up I have a ton of suggestions! :huh: Thanks guys!
This may take me some time as I'm not a pro on 18650 lights, but I will wade through it as I have time.
(My wife says I can't play on CPF all day. What's wrong with that? )

Ok, a question about batteries: is there a simple way to tell if a light can take a single 18650 as well as CR123?

Well, my friend just emailed me about a light that I have never seen before. Anyone know anything about it? For the price I can think of a few lights that I would recommend before this one, but I could be wrong. Here it is:
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/cb.aspx?a=827600

I really like the ZL SC 600, but I haven't reviewed the rest so will have to wait and see.

I'm going to give him a link to this site so he can be amazed like I was when I first found CPf! :devil:
If you would post why you like a certain light that would be very helpful too! Thanks everyone!

Re: Looking for good all around 18650. Ideas?

flatline said:

Shiningbeam's S-mini is hard to beat for the price. Especially if you're interested in using salvaged cells. Its only real weakness is the lack of a moon-mode.

You could get an S-mini and the Pila charger for only slightly more than the cost of the SC60 alone.

--flatline

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I fully support the above position—it is what I would have typed!

Stands on its tail, compact, nice balance between flood and throw...a great light in isolation and certainly a worthy addition to any collection.

Re: Looking for good all around 18650. Ideas?

flatline said:

Shiningbeam's S-mini is hard to beat for the price. Especially if you're interested in using salvaged cells. Its only real weakness is the lack of a moon-mode.

You could get an S-mini and the Pila charger for only slightly more than the cost of the SC60 alone.

--flatline

Click to expand...

I'll have to second(oops, looks like third now) this. I abuse mine in ways that eclipse most of the torture tests seen here and it is still looking rather spiffy. For example I had the light resting on a injection mold that was at 280-ish degrees for a good ten mins while we worked at getting long-glass unstuck from the injection nozzle. Was a bit on the warm side of things, but didn't flicker or dim (LED might have a brown spot on it now, can't really tell). It gets soaked in hydraulic fluid daily, kicked, dropped and generally USED and like I said, looks and works great. AT ~43 bucks it's hard to fault the light. Mine is a neutral XP-G, lovely tint and great beam profile. When I kill this one, and I will, I'm going to order an XP-G again and the XM-L.

Re: Looking for good all around 18650. Ideas?

"that has a good combination of throw and flood."

While I think the SC600 is a fantastic all around light, I don't know if I'd say it has a good combination of throw and flood. Seems like it leans way over to the flood side to me. Depends on how much throw you need/want I guess.

Re: Looking for good all around 18650. Ideas?

Colonel Sanders said:

"that has a good combination of throw and flood."

While I think the SC600 is a fantastic all around light, I don't know if I'd say it has a good combination of throw and flood. Seems like it leans way over to the flood side to me. Depends on how much throw you need/want I guess.

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Yeah, I still need to find out if he is leaning one way or the other.
Once I know I will update my original post.

Re: Looking for good all around 18650. Ideas?

Colonel Sanders said:

"that has a good combination of throw and flood."

While I think the SC600 is a fantastic all around light, I don't know if I'd say it has a good combination of throw and flood. Seems like it leans way over to the flood side to me. Depends on how much throw you need/want I guess.

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Agree 100%. It is a fantastic light (one of my favorite) but not if you want some throw. It is very floody.

Deal4 said:

I'm not into the Li-Ion type of batteries, but I have a friend who is just starting to get into flashlights and is looking for a good all around light that uses a single 18650 battery.

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I know you said he's just starting to get into flashlights, not necessarily just starting to get into batteries. But just in case, I would not let any friend of mine go Li Ion unless I knew he had a basic grasp of the technology, and I'd start there before talking flashlights with him. Hopefully your friend is solid on the battery tech so you can ignore this If he's a beginner, once I was sure he understood the care&handling, I'd give him exactly two choice of batteries (AW or Redilast) and exactly one charger (Pila). The more he knows, the more the choices expand

A little over the $75 mark but...EagleTac T20C2 MKII XM-L. Decent mix of throw and flood complements of the XM-L. Comes with a diffuser bezel, which turns it into a full-on flood.

I just got an EagleTac P20C2 (size/brightness ratio= insane) but if I were going to buy another light today it would for sure be the Klarus XT10 hands down (which has the battery option you're looking for.) The dual switch on the back is PERFECT for self defense/night stand duties, if you're going to have strobe on a light, having one click access is awesome. The light seems to have a good balance between throw and spill and it's pretty bright.

dosei-45 said:

A little over the $75 mark but...EagleTac T20C2 MKII XM-L. Decent mix of throw and flood complements of the XM-L. Comes with a diffuser bezel, which turns it into a full-on flood.

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I agree with this light. My friend is at work, but I went ahead and sent him an email abouth this light. I too really like the diffuser bezel.
Still have to wait to find out what exactly he is looking for once he gets off work.

Dreamaster said:

I just got an EagleTac P20C2 (size/brightness ratio= insane) but if I were going to buy another light today it would for sure be the Klarus XT10 hands down (which has the battery option you're looking for.) The dual switch on the back is PERFECT for self defense/night stand duties, if you're going to have strobe on a light, having one click access is awesome. The light seems to have a good balance between throw and spill and it's pretty bright.

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Hi Dreamaster,
I think the Klarus XT10 is a good light too. What I was wondering is what you like better about the XT10 than the ET other than its tacticle qualities? My friend isn't in law inforcement, and really isn't all that concered with self defence. Is there any other qualities you like better about the XT10?
Thanks for your thoughts!