Best high technology quality lights

smooth2o · Jan 25, 2015

We're talking about what manufacturer has the best LEADING EDGE, QUALITY lights. In consideration, I think the minimum requirements are:
1. Aluminum bored casings for heat control; forget cheap lights.
2. Range of lumens to over 1000 so the latest emitters
3. Best we eliminate the multi-emitter group of lights, as that's beyond more budgets and overkill in many situations, but it does show the leading edge, so let's make that a requirement for the manufacturer.
4. 18350 compatibility, lets eliminate the lower capacity designs as the higher power drives technology.
5. Features are a major factor here as it shows who is pushing the leading edge and not making "me too" lights. Basically, who is pushing electronic circuit innovation? Who is pushing form factor? Who is pushing longevity?
6. We could also include some ideas on what future innovations could be included, e.g., wireless capability, remote readouts, digital displays, etc.

CodyCash · Jan 25, 2015

I would consider Armytek to be one of the most technologically advanced, Im learning the programming on the Predator Pro V2.5 and man is it advanced, allowing for complete mode and output customization. They use the latest emitters and have a proprietary anodizing process, 10m impact cert and the highest water and dust protection rating available.

twl · Jan 25, 2015

Oveready TorchLab Moddoolar.
Leading edge in all categories mentioned.

ForrestChump · Jan 25, 2015

twl said:
Oveready TorchLab Moddoolar.
Leading edge in all categories mentioned.

+ 1

They are awesome over @ oveready. When Im man enough, I'll grab a couple.

fnsooner · Jan 25, 2015

Don't forget about thermal regulation. That is almost a must when discussing leading edge technology.

CodyCash · Jan 25, 2015

twl said:
Oveready TorchLab Moddoolar.
Leading edge in all categories mentioned.

Very nice lights!

Cerealand · Jan 25, 2015

Oveready/Torchlab has great thermal and battery regulation.

fnsooner · Jan 25, 2015

So that makes Zebralight and Oveready/Torchlab that have great thermal and battery regulation.

Who else?

Echo63 · Jan 26, 2015

Doesnt meet most of the requirements, but the HDS lights are have great tech, great build quality and a brilliant UI, along sith thermal and battery monitoring built in

Fireclaw18 · Jan 26, 2015

smooth2o said:
We're talking about what manufacturer has the best LEADING EDGE, QUALITY lights. In consideration, I think the minimum requirements are:
1. Aluminum bored casings for heat control; forget cheap lights.
2. Range of lumens to over 1000 so the latest emitters
3. Best we eliminate the multi-emitter group of lights, as that's beyond more budgets and overkill in many situations, but it does show the leading edge, so let's make that a requirement for the manufacturer.
4. 18350 compatibility, lets eliminate the lower capacity designs as the higher power drives technology.
5. Features are a major factor here as it shows who is pushing the leading edge and not making "me too" lights. Basically, who is pushing electronic circuit innovation? Who is pushing form factor? Who is pushing longevity?
6. We could also include some ideas on what future innovations could be included, e.g., wireless capability, remote readouts, digital displays, etc.

You have some rather odd requirements there.
* Aluminum body? pretty much EVERY light these days has an aluminum body. Even $5 budget lights have aluminum bodies. The only exceptions are the few custom or blingy lights with titanium or copper bodies.
* You don't want multi-emitter as it's too expensive, but you do want the manufacturer to make multi-emitter lights? Seems a rather odd requirement. Also rules out some cutting edge manufacturers that don't currently sell any multi-emitter lights.
* 18350 compatibility? This is a relatively non-standard battery type. Very few manufacturers makes 18350 lights. You're basically crossing out 95% of manufacturers with this one requirement.

My suggestions for who is at the cutting edge:

Zebralight - The king of small EDC lights. They have an excellent UI, efficient circuit, great tint, and super-small size. Nobody else makes lights quite this small for the battery used with quite so many features. The SC62w, their 940 lumen 1x18650 light, is smaller than some 1xCR123 lgihts. They're a little slow to come out with new models, but when they do, nobody else can quite match them even a year later.

Imalent - I don't own one, but they've produced lights recently with some features nobody else has such as OLED touchscreen displays and dynamically variable tint (warm-white to cool-white). On top of this, they seem to be nicely priced. Reviews have been very positive and show them to be very well made. Main disadvantage for me is that the extra features take space and make for a bigger light than I'd like.

Nitecore - They seem to be moving forward quickly with new UI, body shape and extra color LEDs. I don't own one, but the EC21 looks quite nice. Nitecore also seems to come out with new models relatively quickly.

Of course if you want really cutting edge you may need to order a custom light. Mountain Electronics is the best place to go for those. You can choose your own UI and customize your driver and emitters. All done at a very reasonable price. They'll even include top quality features like solder-braided springs and direct copper stars.

I wouldn't vote for Oveready. They make some nice custom lights, but the workmanship seems to be mostly in the (low-tech) custom bodies. You can get the same emitters and optics, and a similar UI from a custom Mountain Electronics light at a fraction of the price.

smooth2o · Jan 31, 2015

You are right, It should have been 18650.

Cerealand · Jan 31, 2015

While this is not in the OP original post, Oveready triple ranks high on my list because they are one of the few triples that you can run with two 18650's (two rechargable batteries). A majority of other triples out there can only handle one rechargable battery.

Charles L. · Jan 31, 2015

ForrestChump said:
+ 1

They are awesome over @ oveready. When Im man enough, I'll grab a couple.

+2 on Oveready/Moddoolar. Those things are ridiculous. But Forrest, it isn't about being man enough -- it's about being quick enough

They go fast!

Fireclaw, just saw your mention of Oveready. Do you not care for the Torchlab optics/emitters, then? You can put your own light engine in the Moddoolar body and head, yes?

Different price category, but Zebralight is cutting edge in many ways as well.

more_vampires · Jan 31, 2015

Charles L. said:
Do you not care for the Torchlab optics/emitters, then?

Overready/Torchlab used Carclo optics on my triple. The price of the optics isn't what you're paying for. At the time I got it, it absolutely destroyed every light I had. Things changed a bit, but you can't go wrong with OR. Solid customer service. Stuff even looks cool.

I had a failure once and they got it fixed. Would buy again.

ForrestChump · Jan 31, 2015

Fireclaw18 said:
You have some rather odd requirements there.
* Aluminum body? pretty much EVERY light these days has an aluminum body. Even $5 budget lights have aluminum bodies. The only exceptions are the few custom or blingy lights with titanium or copper bodies.
* You don't want multi-emitter as it's too expensive, but you do want the manufacturer to make multi-emitter lights? Seems a rather odd requirement. Also rules out some cutting edge manufacturers that don't currently sell any multi-emitter lights.
* 18350 compatibility? This is a relatively non-standard battery type. Very few manufacturers makes 18350 lights. You're basically crossing out 95% of manufacturers with this one requirement.

Fireclaw18 said:
My suggestions for who is at the cutting edge:

Zebralight - The king of small EDC lights. They have an excellent UI, efficient circuit, great tint, and super-small size. Nobody else makes lights quite this small for the battery used with quite so many features. The SC62w, their 940 lumen 1x18650 light, is smaller than some 1xCR123 lgihts. They're a little slow to come out with new models, but when they do, nobody else can quite match them even a year later.

Imalent - I don't own one, but they've produced lights recently with some features nobody else has such as OLED touchscreen displays and dynamically variable tint (warm-white to cool-white). On top of this, they seem to be nicely priced. Reviews have been very positive and show them to be very well made. Main disadvantage for me is that the extra features take space and make for a bigger light than I'd like.

Nitecore - They seem to be moving forward quickly with new UI, body shape and extra color LEDs. I don't own one, but the EC21 looks quite nice. Nitecore also seems to come out with new models relatively quickly.

Of course if you want really cutting edge you may need to order a custom light. Mountain Electronics is the best place to go for those. You can choose your own UI and customize your driver and emitters. All done at a very reasonable price. They'll even include top quality features like solder-braided springs and direct copper stars.

I wouldn't vote for Oveready. They make some nice custom lights, but the workmanship seems to be mostly in the (low-tech) custom bodies. You can get the same emitters and optics, and a similar UI from a custom Mountain Electronics light at a fraction of the price.

I respectfully disagree. If you bought 1 oveready light & 1 each of the other lights mentioned IMO it would not equal the quality or longevity of the single oveready. It would likely hold better resale value as well.

Yes - Very odd

No - 2 of those I have found consistently unreliable, the third I never heard of.

No No - Quality, tank like, goodies.

Norm · Jan 31, 2015

Fireclaw18 said:
I wouldn't vote for Oveready. They make some nice custom lights, but the workmanship seems to be mostly in the (low-tech) custom bodies. You can get the same emitters and optics, and a similar UI from a custom Mountain Electronics light at a fraction of the price.

I'm not sure what criteria you're using to judge Oveready by, but every product I've ever purchased from them has been excellent in build quality. Their CS has also been excellent.

Norm

twl · Feb 1, 2015

Fireclaw18 said:
You have some rather odd requirements there.
* Aluminum body? pretty much EVERY light these days has an aluminum body. Even $5 budget lights have aluminum bodies. The only exceptions are the few custom or blingy lights with titanium or copper bodies.
* You don't want multi-emitter as it's too expensive, but you do want the manufacturer to make multi-emitter lights? Seems a rather odd requirement. Also rules out some cutting edge manufacturers that don't currently sell any multi-emitter lights.
* 18350 compatibility? This is a relatively non-standard battery type. Very few manufacturers makes 18350 lights. You're basically crossing out 95% of manufacturers with this one requirement.

My suggestions for who is at the cutting edge:

Zebralight - The king of small EDC lights. They have an excellent UI, efficient circuit, great tint, and super-small size. Nobody else makes lights quite this small for the battery used with quite so many features. The SC62w, their 940 lumen 1x18650 light, is smaller than some 1xCR123 lgihts. They're a little slow to come out with new models, but when they do, nobody else can quite match them even a year later.

Imalent - I don't own one, but they've produced lights recently with some features nobody else has such as OLED touchscreen displays and dynamically variable tint (warm-white to cool-white). On top of this, they seem to be nicely priced. Reviews have been very positive and show them to be very well made. Main disadvantage for me is that the extra features take space and make for a bigger light than I'd like.

Nitecore - They seem to be moving forward quickly with new UI, body shape and extra color LEDs. I don't own one, but the EC21 looks quite nice. Nitecore also seems to come out with new models relatively quickly.

Of course if you want really cutting edge you may need to order a custom light. Mountain Electronics is the best place to go for those. You can choose your own UI and customize your driver and emitters. All done at a very reasonable price. They'll even include top quality features like solder-braided springs and direct copper stars.

I wouldn't vote for Oveready. They make some nice custom lights, but the workmanship seems to be mostly in the (low-tech) custom bodies. You can get the same emitters and optics, and a similar UI from a custom Mountain Electronics light at a fraction of the price.

Perhaps some people don't want to manufacture their own lights from bits and pieces from an online parts supplier, or don't have the ability. Or perhaps they are skeptical of having a "custom light" assembled by a discount outlet supply house. No disrespect intended.

As for your selections of "cutting edge" from CHINA, I wouldn't vote for any of them, either. So we clearly have differing views on what a quality light consists of.

mhanlen · Feb 1, 2015

I don't know about the 1000 lumens requirement but I second Armytek. I've been swimming (in fairly shallow water) with my Wizard Pro, and even changed modes- the thing is built like a tank. I also happen to believe the Sunwayman V11r, is pretty capable too. You can use all sorts of battery configurations with it, and then there's the whole variable output.

Charles L. · Feb 1, 2015

twl said:
As for your selections of "cutting edge" from CHINA, I wouldn't vote for any of them, either. So we clearly have differing views on what a quality light consists of.

I think the main question was more about high tech, and less about what we perceive as "quality". In fact, the OP asks "who is pushing electronic circuit innovation?" And in that respect, some of the lights manufactured (though not necessarily designed) in China are definitely high tech.

thedoc007 · Feb 1, 2015

The OP's requirements are all over the map. There are high tech lights (Which Fireclaw was mostly focusing on) and there are super-high quality lights (which tend to be simpler, and lower tech). Others are just using different criteria, both lists are perfectly valid.

In my opinion, it really doesn't make sense to group such disparate requirements together. They aren't quite mutually exclusive, but if you combine both criteria, virtually every light/manufacturer in existence is eliminated. The only way to get ALL of those requirements is to go custom...and given the OP's remarks about price, that really doesn't make sense either.

I would also point out that Fireclaw did not criticize Oveready's build quality in any way, shape, or form. He merely said that (barring the expensive custom hosts) you could easily get the same tech for a lot less elsewhere. I think that is an accurate statement.

Calling Mountain Electronics a "discount supply house" is misleading, too. Richard does some very cool work, and his work is quality. He helped design a custom driver for Vinh that would allow the TK61vn to be pushed beyond seven amps...he is not some hack throwing together random parts and calling it custom, as twl implied.

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