Help deciding. Dereelight nightmaster or tiablo a9x with collimator.

As the title states I'm undecided on my next flashlight. I am looking for a single 18650 thrower. I have seen many reviews on the nightmaster but cannot find much information about the a9x with the collimator head, and nothing about how it would stack up to the nightmaster.

My original thought was the nightmaster, has been for a while. The a9x just seems like it might do better with the right head.

The a9x seems a little more available as the only place I can find to purchase a dereelight is straight from there site.

Anyone have experience with the a9x collimator? Or have a better suggestion for my money? Looking for absolute throw in a single 18650 at or around $100-150.

No suggestions? Here's what I have found.

The nightmaster is rated at 106kcd on dereelights website.

The only info I can find on the tiablo is a review done here.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...650-XP-L-1053lm)-Photos-Beamshots-Impressions

From that page he says "Peak Beam Intensity (ANSI FL-1): 29820cd"

Am I reading this wrong or are they using different standards of measurement?

If I read right then that says out of the box the dereelight is brighter. Would that still be the case if the a9x was using the collimator head?

Which all goes backto my original question of which would be the ultimate thrower? I am rifle mounting this light if it makes a difference.

The dereelight has xp-g2, and the tiablo uses a xp-l led.

Have you considered the Olight M2X-UT with 164kcd?

Rob

Just checked it out. I will consider as that is a very nice light. I am looking to rifle mount so that is about as big of a bezel as I would like. But it does have a lot more spill than I'd like. And while it does have a higher cd rating isn't much of that lost to spill?

User#1 said:

...... "Peak Beam Intensity (ANSI FL-1): 29820cd"

Am I reading this wrong or are they using different standards of measurement?

Click to expand...

The Tiablo A9X is manufactured with the Cree XP-L LED rated by Cree at 1200 lumen without aid of a reflector or lens. Our own test of the Tiablo A9X with Collimator Head is well above 100000cd using 1 x 4GREER 18650 with 3100 mAh capacity and protection circuit.

Kit-Tronics said:

The Tiablo A9X is manufactured with the Cree XP-L LED rated by Cree at 1200 lumen without aid of a reflector or lens. Our own test of the Tiablo A9X with Collimator Head is well above 100000cd using 1 x 4GREER 18650 with 3100 mAh capacity and protection circuit.

Click to expand...

Please advise testing method because over 100k Lux seems a little high.

BLUE LED said:

Please advise testing method because over 100k Lux seems a little high.

Click to expand...

If only using the Tiablo A9X with the factory installed reflector and lens, the Peak Beam Intensity is about 40000cd.

To obtain the Peak Beam Intensity over 100000cd, use the Tiablo AX Series Collimator Head installed on the Tiablo A9X at 1m with the center of the light on the sensor, then repeat from 3m distance and calculate the data to confirm the results.

The tests are done with fully charged battery when the flashlight is first turned on using the tail cap switch. Tiablo A9X circuit is designed to gradually drop the output to extend battery life. If turn off and on again, the peak results can be repeated.

Cree's website states the following for their XP-L LED:

Maximum Drive Current 3 AMaximum Power 10 W
Light Output 1226 lm White @ 10 W

Test on the Tiablo A9X without use of the tail cap resulted with a peak draw of 3.2A, however Tiablo only declared 1053 lm output.

When it comes to aspheric lenses, we tend to test at 10m and after 30 seconds.

I emailed tiablo and their response was this.

"An independent review done in Slovakia found the output of Tiablo A9X with
Collimator Head to be over 100 000 lux. Find attached two pictures which
compares Tiablo A9X with reflector and with the Collimator head."

. <a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=2nrqaza" target="_blank"><img src="http://i57.tinypic.com/2nrqaza.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>

[IMG]. <a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=2zdsv2d" target="_blank"><img src="http://i61.tinypic.com/2zdsv2d.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>

The photo's confirm what we already know, that an aspheric lens will always increase throw over the reflector. I have an older Tiablo A8 with the Cree XR-E Q5 EZ1000 die. This is perfectly regulated using a single 18650 cell. I also have collimator head for this unit which as expected increases the throw. I could increase the throw even more by simply swopping the emitter to the XR-E R2 EZ900 die. This would then increase the lux (throw).

It is much easier to increase throw by using a smaller die LED. An example of this is the DEFT X; this uses the XP-G2 LED and not the larger dies of the XM-L2 or XP-L. Given the size of the collimator head and the size of the die of the XP-L led. I would suggest that the 100k Lux numbers tested are due to the testing method and over reading lux meter.

The important thing is that you are happy with whatever light you decide to procure.

User#1 said:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...650-XP-L-1053lm)-Photos-Beamshots-Impressions

From that page he says "Peak Beam Intensity (ANSI FL-1): 29820cd"

Am I reading this wrong or are they using different standards of measurement?

Click to expand...

Peak Beam Intensity numbers as explained to us by Tiablo's Engineers:

The Tiablo A9X has a new User Interface designed primarily for military and law enforcement, while been a great EDC and long distance thrower. In real life conditions, the need for +40000cd rarely extends beyond a few seconds and the need for longer battery life is always desired.

Tiablo A9X will start with a +40000cd output when the tail cap is pressed, ideal for an emergency, blinding an attacker, and quickly finding the subject which needs to be illuminated. Within 30 seconds the intensity gradually drops to an average of 29820cd, more than enough for most applications requiring illumination beyond 30 seconds. The drop is so gradual it is difficult to notice a change in intensity.

When under attack, the user will take advantage of the Tiablo A9X silent lockout feature to light a target without giving a constant reference to the user's position. Each time the light is turned on using the tail cap, the intensity will start at the highest point of +40000cd.

Cree XP-L is without doubt much brighter and more efficient than Cree XP-G2 as can be found on the Tiablo A9 G2 model. Tiablo A9X makes use of the extra brightness while taking advantage of the extra efficiently to increase run time, a saving on the cost of batteries.

OK I didn't want to say which way I went until I actually got it in my hands. One of those karma things I guess. Start talking all about my new toy without having it in my hands can open up to dassapointment too easy.

But now the wait is over. Behold the Onestopthrowshop dereelight nightmaster. (Ok now picture the regular nightmaster cause its unchanged as far as appearance).

Really excited it is very bright but now I need to wait for the order with my extension tube so I can run multi cell and get full power.

Now I pose another question. Dereelights websight shows pill modules for $28 that includes the driver and the led. Now they offer the xp-g2 or the larger die xm-l2. I can do small solder work and have messed with flashlights a little but wouldn't want to permenantly change anything about this light so just the pill containing the led is nice.

Now could one easily see what size led circuit board is in there and get an xp-l or any other led for that matter on the same size chip and solder it in with decent results? I assume I'd have to match the voltage to the output of the driver.

This is a nice light so modding isn't necessary but if I only did what was necessary I would be bored like all the time. So while I await an Awnser here I'm going to go play with some kydex. I'll let you know what I come up with. This flashlight has a big head so securely holstering it in a fashion that protects the lens poses a challenge.

Thank you all for your replies and advice.

You seem intent on reducing the performance of your new light (Lux). I do not understand why?

Check out this Acebeam T20 ( XP-L HI ) ( 275500 cd )

http://www.acebeam.com/tactical-flashlight-acebeam-t20#.VYqx133XfCQ

BLUE LED said:

You seem intent on reducing the performance of your new light (Lux). I do not understand why?

Click to expand...

Perhaps better under reported and overperforming than the other way around? Someone who hasnt seen 40k lux on a max distance target will not realize that ANSI meaures lux to .25 in OPTIMAL conditions. No haze, fog, etc. Personally, I would extrapolate the max distance based on a lux rating of at least .5 or even 1, just to be sure of a definitive beam on target. If your unassisted eye can see .25 lux at a half miles through dust, mist, and whatever atmospherical anomalies, kudos to you.

I'm on the same opinion of Eric and think it should be a minimum of 1 lux.

He has an excellent thrower for the size. A Moded Dereelight nightmaster. Why would you undo all the good work Michael has done?

Hey. I never said I want to undo someone's work or make anything worse. I simply asked if it would be as easy as replacing the led with another on an entirely different drop in module. That way I can easily go back to osts drop in. As I said I do not want to do anything permanent to this light I just like screwing around with stuff as many here I'm sure do. So if you all say touching it will make it worse then I won't screw with it.

Thanks for the help.

I don't know how Michael moded this and if he glued it into place. The best thing would be to email him and ask. It might be a simple case of replacing the pill.

The pill or module as I keep calling it is removable. And that contains the driver and led on a heatsync. I can remove that with ease.