Best 2xcr123 1x8650 led flashlight

Hi All,

I'm back after a looong break from CPF. I currently have a LX2 that is used for camping/boating. Its perfectly fine when I'm on land but its not bright enough for bigger lakes however and I'm looking for something would be. I've searched the forums for few days now and I cant seem to fine any lux readings or comparison pics. Anyone have any suggestions for a 2xcr123 or 1x8650 thrower that can top the LX2? Would an LED upgrade to the LX2 help? I prefer not to use a aspherical light. My max budget would be $300.

Thanks in advance.

Not sure what the LX2 does but the Malkoff Hound Dog 18650 does:

[FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]This flashlight will easily illuminate objects at 1200+ feet with a generous room lighting spill. Lux at one meter is approximately 29,000.[/FONT]

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WebHobbit said:

Not sure what the LX2 does but the Malkoff Hound Dog 18650 does:

This flashlight will easily illuminate objects at 1200+ feet with a generous room lighting spill. Lux at one meter is approximately 29,000.

Click to expand...

Not sure how much 1200 feet is but Olight M2X-UT Javelot throws 800+ metres.

If small size is important, then the E2D LED Ultra is worth serious consideration.

It significantly out performs the LX2, and comes closer to the lux of the 18650 Hound Dog than the size would suggest. There's a used one for sale in The Mall.

Here are some 1 meter lux measurements of the above that I just completed:

Surefire LX2 - 6960 lux
E2D LED Ultra - 16,380 lux
Neutral 18650 HD - 27,400 lux

ArmyTek lights tend to throw pretty well. The Predator and Viking are sized between the Surefires and 18650 Hound Dog, while out throwing them all.

seng said:

Hi All,

I'm back after a looong break from CPF. I currently have a LX2 that is used for camping/boating. Its perfectly fine when I'm on land but its not bright enough for bigger lakes however and I'm looking for something would be. I've searched the forums for few days now and I cant seem to fine any lux readings or comparison pics. Anyone have any suggestions for a 2xcr123 or 1x8650 thrower that can top the LX2? Would an LED upgrade to the LX2 help? I prefer not to use a aspherical light. My max budget would be $300.

Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

I went with a dedicated thrower to keep in my boat; a Thrunite TN31. But it's a bigger light that uses three 18650s... it's the size of an old-school two D-cell flashlight. My favorite "little" (single 18650) light with good throw is an ArmyTek Predator Pro. It's tough as nails and very waterproof.

Almost any 1x18650 light you buy today will be a whole lot stronger than the old LX2; 700-1000 lumens vs. 200. Have fun picking one out. There are a lot of great choices!

Take it easy,
Bob


PS- I forgot to mention, consider a warmer tint "Neutral White" LED option for better use on the water. They seem to better penetrate fog and mist without so much backscatter/reflection. My TN31 is a Neutral White LED version.

1200'-0" is approximately 366 meters.

29,000 lux @ 1m means only 0.21 lux @ 366 meters.

If one can EASILY discern objects lit at 0.21 lux, 366 meters away, then I suppose it can be claimed that the light EASILY illuminates objects 366 meters away.

I personally consider illumination less than 10 lux as ineffective.

That quote was a pull from Malkoff's site. I tend to believe what Gene claims about his stuff.

I would tend to think that would be more like 'tell the slight difference between on and off', not what I would call "easily illuminate" to me.

ANSI had to have a standard to use for comparisons, but .25 lux just doesn't do it for me.

JMHO,
-Chuck

Thanks for the responses guys. I like the idea of a dedicated boat light but I prefer to carry a single light when I go out. A smaller size similar to the LX2 would be ideal. The light would perform double duty, on boat and around the camp site. I don't know the distances I need to illuminate but it does vary greatly, I don't need to light up objects very bright, I just need to keep the boat from running into hazards... tree's, shore, floating logs and things of that sort.

I've looked at some E2D Ultra beam profiles and they appear to have more spill than the LX2. Is the throw going to be that much more noticeable? Anyone with E2B lux readings?

I'm still looking into malkoff HD. I'm glad to see he's still making lights/mods.

Thanks again everyone. Feels good to be home. =)

WebHobbit said:

That quote was a pull from Malkoff's site. I tend to believe what Gene claims about his stuff.

Click to expand...

You misunderstand. I'm not saying you're wrong, and I'm most definitely not calling Gene a liar.
I am saying that describing lighting something up with a measly 0.21 lux as "easily illuminating" it can be misleading.

Yes, the E2D LED Ultra's spill is a lot brighter than the LX2/E2D LED. The lux increase of the Ultra is quite noticeable over that of the LX2.

The EB2's performance is identical to the E2D Ultra.

The Ultra and EB2 output isn't tightly regulated at 500 lumens. The output is only 500 lumes for a couple minutes before it is reduced to around 375 lumens for the remainder of the run time.


Here's a link to 880Arm's review of the Ultra.

http://flashlightguide.com/2013/05/review-surefire-e2dl-ultra/#more-620

I decided to go with this.
[h=1]Armytek Predator v3 XB-H (Warm). Black.[/h]
[h=2]Light & Optics[/h]
Ordered it this morning. Thanks again for the help.