18650 EDC recommendations?

fields_mj

Newly Enlightened
Joined
May 20, 2011
Messages
69
Been a LONG time since I've been on here, but I'm back in the market for another EDC light. I carried a 4Sevens Quark for a long time and fed it with AW 14500 cells. I had 2 cells that I would rotate out and a hobby charger to keep them topped off. I really liked everything about my Quark, but by today's standards, the output is on the low side. Still have the light and cells, but I'm making the move to the bigger 18650 cells.

I have a few cheap lights from Amazon that we use for letting the dogs out at night. After using them, and getting a couple of weapon lights from Olight, I decided to give their S2R Baton II a try. The output levels are pretty much ideal for my needs (I use them all), run times are excellent, and I absolutely LOVE the beam pattern. No real hot spots, lots of spill to see what's at my feet (I do some tracking at night from time to time), and plenty of throw to identify objects 100 yds away. I also love the charging system. However, I really miss the tail switch. When they announced their Warrior Mini, I ordered one immediately. I thought the addition of the tail switch would make it my dream light, and it did... almost... The issue I had with it right off is the fact that the tail switch is magnetized. It sticks to everything in my pocket making it very easy to inadvertently turn the light on in Turbo mode. In Turbo mode, the bezel gets hot enough to melt through denim in only a few seconds. I burned 4 holes in my pants pocket on the first day. Washed those jeans that night, and burned two more on the next day.... That's a deal breaker. Additionally, retrieving anything other than the flash light from my pocket was often enough to drag the light out by the magnet and drop it on the ground. This happens more frequently when I use the pocket clip. I know I can lock it out, or carry it in a different pocket by itself, but that is counter productive. The tail cap makes it easy to put the light into service quickly with one hand, specifically with my off hand. I carry everything in my left pocket so that it leaves my dominant hand available to deal with things that might be more important. Simply switching pockets, while easy to do, disrupts my entire "operating system", so that's not an option either.

So, can anyone recommend a light that uses an 18650 cell, has similar output levels to the Mini-Warrior/Baton 2 (1000+, 500, 60, 12, 1), has a similar beam pattern to Olight's Warrior/Baton, and has a NON MAGNETIC tail switch? I also prefer to have the capability to tail stand the light. While I do like the magnetic charging feature, I'm more than happy to give it up in order to get a light that doesn't set me on fire, give me 2nd degree burns, or ruin a pair of pants every day.

Thanks,
Mark
 
Last edited:

carrot

Flashaholic
Joined
Dec 6, 2005
Messages
9,236
Location
New York City
Give Acebeam TK18 a shot. The button is nice and stiff, but easy to click intentionally. It's a nice, slim light. Great build quality.

A little shorter, with more advanced an interface, the FW3A.
 

chillinn

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 19, 2014
Messages
2,527
Location
Mobjack Bay
I recommend Lumintop FW1A & FW3A, a lot of light for a very decent price. Another one to look at is the Noctigon KR4 (note that only when KR4 is configured with Nichia E21A emitters, the FET driver will be fully constant current with no PWM).
 

adnj

Enlightened
Joined
Aug 13, 2006
Messages
699
You can see where this is going.

I have a Ti Quark that sits on my desk so if you are okay with the diameter increase, the FW3A should make you happy - and even happier with a high-drain cell.

Sent from my LG-V520 using Tapatalk
 

Burgess

Flashaholic
Joined
Apr 10, 2006
Messages
6,545
Location
USA
I was just gonna' say EXACTLY
what Carrot suggested in Post # 2 (above).


Acebeam TK 18 is indeed a FINE choice !

I have two of 'em --

- Black anodized aluminum
and
- Copper


lovecpf
_
 

Olumin

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Sep 20, 2020
Messages
1,337
Location
"...that famous Texas part of Hamburg"
A light with infinite brightness adjust would also be an option (Nitecore EC22 or MT22C). Both go to 1000Lm and take 18650/2xcr123. Im not sure about how the beam looks on those lights however. They both use smooth reflectors, so probably less floody then the olight.
 

WalkIntoTheLight

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 18, 2014
Messages
3,967
Location
Canada
For EDC, my favorite is the Zebralight SC64w HI. There's also the LE version, if you want high CRI. They're about the size of a AA light, but with the advantages of an 18650. Very small, and great range of outputs from very low (less than 0.1 lumens) to pretty bright (over 1000 lumens). Best efficiency in the business, too.

For cheaper, the FW3A is okay. I have one, and like it as a room light (I have the 7A 3000K warm tint). But the quality isn't great, and it has a fair number of quirks. I wouldn't want to rely on it as my only light, and it's awful for EDC since the switch is too easily triggered in a pocket.
 

WalkIntoTheLight

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 18, 2014
Messages
3,967
Location
Canada
^ How's the XHP50 4500k tint?

On my H600Fc, the 4000K high CRI XHP50.2 is great!

On my SC600w IV Plus, the 4500K 80CRI XHP50.2 is just okay. It's much better than the XHP50.2 I've seen in other lights, but it's still not great. A bit of green in the corona, and the tint isn't even across the beam. You only notice it white-wall hunting, so it's still nice in real-world use, and a bit brighter than the high CRI option.

Here's a beam picture of it. (Auto white-balance and auto-exposure.)

lQSKxH0.jpg
 

Katherine Alicia

Enlightened
Joined
May 15, 2020
Messages
836
Location
Central UK.
I personally wouldn`t EDC anything with an 18650, it`s just too big and would have to live in my purse all the while, But, if I Had To pick anything it would probably be my regular Lumintop FW21 (not my Pro because the head`s too big).
 

chillinn

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 19, 2014
Messages
2,527
Location
Mobjack Bay
If size is a concern, beyond what I recommended above, which are certainly pocketable, I will also recommend the D.Q.G Tiny 18650 and the Zebralight SC64c LE 18650 4000K High CRI. All of these are only about the size of many single AA lights.

But you can never be certain what you'll like most, fields_mj, so I think you should probably get every 18650 light listed in this thread, and then pick a few from among them to carry. Always good to have a backup and a secondary backup.
 

5S8Zh5

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 20, 2014
Messages
1,745
Location
U.S.A.

The FW3A has a beautiful beam patter for walking fme. I have to do the 4 click lock or do the unscrew because my carry method will activate the switch if I crouch down, like when I'm wiping the pup's feet before reentering the car after the morning walk.
 

chillinn

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 19, 2014
Messages
2,527
Location
Mobjack Bay
The FW3A has a beautiful beam patter for walking fme.

I had never seen a triple first hand and always assumed they had to be floody, but the TIR optic FW3A comes with produces a hotspot and spill as though it were a single emitter with reflector, which I found surprising and impressive.
 

carrot

Flashaholic
Joined
Dec 6, 2005
Messages
9,236
Location
New York City
Agreed. I think the FW3A is wonderful and everyone who worked on it and contributed to the design should be very proud.

It is very floody but only in the sense that it has one massive hotspot, still with decent reach.

The entire body design is nice too, quite addictive in hand.
 

WalkIntoTheLight

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 18, 2014
Messages
3,967
Location
Canada
Agreed. I think the FW3A is wonderful and everyone who worked on it and contributed to the design should be very proud.

It is very floody but only in the sense that it has one massive hotspot, still with decent reach.

The entire body design is nice too, quite addictive in hand.

It is a very pretty light, with a great minimalist design. However, the design team didn't focus on designing a light that is cheap and easy to manufacture. So, it has too many quirks for me to recommend it as an EDC. The firmware is buggy, too. Though, I think the recent models have some of those bugs fixed.

If the light was twice the price, and thus manufactured with much better quality control, I think it would be a nice light. Some people have glued rings around the switch, to help with the accidental activation when pocket-carried. If you EDC it, I highly recommend doing something like that.

I tried to EDC it once. Just once, because after about 45 minutes I was far too frustrated with it turning on all the time in my pocket. I took out the battery, I went back to my zebra SC64.

I do use it as a movie light, since it will give wonderful dim room lighting when ceiling-bounced. 3000K tint is best for that.
 

chillinn

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 19, 2014
Messages
2,527
Location
Mobjack Bay
I tried to EDC it once. Just once, because after about 45 minutes I was far too frustrated with it turning on all the time in my pocket. I took out the battery, I went back to my zebra SC64.

The Andúril UI provides 4 clicks from off for it's lockout mode, which doubles as a two mode forward momentary, moonlight and low. But an eighth turn twist of either the head or tail also completely locks out the light to prevent any activation.

I like the candle mode, click click hold from off, then double click through the blinkies, bike flasher, party strobe, tactical strobe, lightning storm, until activating the variant candle mode, which can be made brighter or dimmer, and the memory will retain that blinky choice when click click hold is activated next time. I think that is nicely done. I was initially intimidated by Andúril, but the cheat sheet is easy to navigate, and familiarity somehow comes with frequent use.
 

knucklegary

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 11, 2017
Messages
4,161
Location
NorCal, Central Coast
[QUOTE=I tried to EDC it once. Just once, because after about 45 minutes I was far too frustrated with it turning on all the time in my pocket. I took out the battery, I went back to my zebra SC64.


I checked out on SC64w HI NW. Specs looks pretty good. The clip appears like an Oveready clone, does it function as good ?
 
Last edited:

WalkIntoTheLight

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 18, 2014
Messages
3,967
Location
Canada
The Andúril UI provides 4 clicks from off for it's lockout mode, which doubles as a two mode forward momentary, moonlight and low. But an eighth turn twist of either the head or tail also completely locks out the light to prevent any activation.

Yes, but locking out a light makes it almost useless, the way I use a light. I want to take it out, briefly light up an area, then put it away. Unlocking (mechanical or electronic) would be more frustrating than just never putting the light in my pocket when I'm not using it. Lanyard around my neck would be a better solution. The best solution is to just use another light that doesn't trigger so easily.

I like the candle mode, click click hold from off, then double click through the blinkies, bike flasher, party strobe, tactical strobe, lightning storm, until activating the variant candle mode, which can be made brighter or dimmer, and the memory will retain that blinky choice when click click hold is activated next time. I think that is nicely done. I was initially intimidated by Andúril, but the cheat sheet is easy to navigate, and familiarity somehow comes with frequent use.

I'm really not a fan of blinkies. They're fun to try once, then I never use them again. IMO, Anduril seems to be designed more as a toy than a tool.
 
Top