Best Rechargeable flashlight?

Hi, I'm looking for the best rechargeable flashlight I can get. Looking around on google, I see a lot of really nice flashlights that are ni cad. as far as i know, that's 20 year old technology, and subject to some recharge limitations such as ghosting etc.

I have a whole slew of NiMH batteries, including some D cells, that I have been using in my 4D mag, but i think i could get better battery life out of an LED. Strange thing is, I don't see any LED lights with Lithium Ion or NiMH batteries.. Am I missing something?

I don't mind spending top dollar for the best. But it must be rechargeable and the other priorities are (1) long battery life and (2) good beam (in that order)

Any advice very much appreciated.

Thanks!

there are loads of and many different ways to do it.
you could provide more specs.
do you need D cell or that approx size?
do you need brighter than a mag 2D (for referance)?
do you want to be able to remove the cells for charging cycling?
or
do you want charging within the flashlight?
Do you need more than 500-1000 hours of total life out of the bulb itself (5w luxeons)?
just HOW long do you need it to run?
Do you need it to retian its capacity to be a weapon?
do you need it to be able to just sit around (self-discharge)
do you need it to charge (from empty to full) in less than 16 hours?

a search like this reveals all kinds quickly
http://search.ebay.com/rechargeable-led
there are MANY more than this, but it give you an idea, and there is li-ion ones.
then look in the B/S/T forum.

then you do have the body you could convert what you have with a LOT of reading, on the different ways, and a little work on applying what you learned.

the BEST is the one you design yourself /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif other than that "best" depends on the person.
run time vs output vs heat vs versatility vs extreeme output vs extreme throw vs ease of use vs COST.

Hi, thanks for the response. In answer to some of your questions:
I don't need D-cell size, I do want good power and good lifetime and if D-cell size is the cost of that, then it's acceptable. IF d-cell size is overkill, that's fine too.
I havent' used a mag 2d, the one i have is a 4d. I would like to keep close to that level of lighting.
I would prefer if i could remove the cells for charging, because that means i could have some extra on the charger at all times, and i could replace lost / damaged cells with commodity replacements rather than specialty parts.
I think 500-1000 hours on a bulb is probably still pretty good
I would need it to run for as long as possible, as I would be using it on some caving trips. I have a wind up flashlight as my emergency back up.
I don't need it to be a skull crusher, but it would need to be able to withstand being dropped on rock and some moderate impacts.

I guess alot of my uncertainty is around, what kind of rechargeable batteries are best for flashlights? Are NiMH the best, or Lithium ion, or NiCad? Does a flashlight need special circuitry to accommodate the unique discharge properties of different rechargeable batteries? These are the things I really need to know about, perhaps I should have phrased my initial question differently.

Thanks again!

You can toss primadonna ni-mhys (9000-11000ma) into what you got, and actually increase the run time over alkalines, depending on the bulb your running. that makes a good start, if you ask me. and you could possibly apply them in other modifications, or lights.

alkalines have a tendancy to be weak when drawn on them hard, even though Ds are totally ok.
But a set of ni-mhys would run very strong through the entire discharge cycle.
but
they would have to be recharged every 2mo (ABOUT) so they were ready to go (self discharge).

li-ions to the consumer dont yet have massive capacity compared to ni-mhy D cells, there is a D that would kick butt, but it was VERY hard to squeeze one out of them. but they are lightweight, have a VERY low self discharge. li-ions need proper charging and dischaarging , usually by putting a cuircuit in the application. I dont see any applications that USE li-ion D cells, and they SHOULD.
Popular high-capacity li-ions are the 186500, others exist as small as a coin cell.

LITHIUM regular throw away lithiums will kick alkalines all over the place, they are not rechargable. but the capacity of a D cell is totally cool. cost is high.

NI-CAd will charge and discharge FAST, is relative in weight vrses capacity, and has increased in capacity just like ni-mhy, BUT i am not really impressed, and prefer massive run times, to rapid charge, and other abuses that ni-cd can handle, like temps. i cant even find a ni-cad D cell with over 6000ma total capacity


VOLTAGE COMPARISONS TO ALKIES:
1X
ni-mhys & Ni-cds are rated at 1.2V they start off the charger at (about) 1.5V but discharge at (about) 1.2V.

Alkalines do similar, so although they are rated at 1.5V on a hard discharge a Alkaline is at (about) 1.2V during discharge anyways, and drops to 1V even, long before its capacity is gone.

LITHIUM comes in 1.5V type cells, comes hot new at (as high as)1.7V depending on the load can discharge at as high as 1.5V but basically it discharges hard at 1.2V also.

SO them 3 are almost 100% direct replacements, for the weaker alkalines. they all run at a 1.2V in hard discharge per cell.

2X
Lithium 3V cells have 2x the voltage of the normal (consumer) lithiums, and the same basic (2x) discharge style as 1.5V lithiums.

3X
Lithium-Ion rechargables though are comparable in VOLTAGE to 3 of the 1.5V type cells discharging at (about) 3.6V.
so when figuring the total POWER of a li-ion , you take that into account.
that does not suggest that they have 3X the power, just 3X the voltage.

rechargable LIFE of cycles.

the ammount of times you can recharge a rechargable cell, is SOOO many, that ANY rechargable cell is an advantage.
how you TREAT the cell when charging and discharging can effect its number of cycles.
but the basics are

Ni-cads can live forever charged/discharged perfectally, like 1000+ cycles.
Ni-MHY can too, but some bad cells are sold, and they made it less than 300. buy hey at the 10th they paid for themselves. ni-mhy properly treated should make it 1000 also.
you can drag both of those out of storage after 8 YEARS, cycle them a few times, and they go again.

Li-Ion are rated Less cycles, but they require better charging curcuits to do so, so they should run longer cycles, but they dont. about 300-500.
i think often the li-ion being the lightweight power master, and newer technology, they get the harder use. like in cell phones, and digital cameras. because of thier slow self discharge, they also dont have to get messed with, and IMO rechargeble batteries love to get USED.
Li-Ions are not supposed to last in AGE, years of non-use or use or anything, and they just basically die. some say 2-3 years, i say mabey as long as 5 years before tossing.
but
to SUM it up.
the Ni-XXX will last 2X as many cycles, and 2X as many years still working great, when TREATED right.

alkalines come in rechargables too, alkalines ARE rechargable, but the normal ones leak (guarenteed) when recharged.
if they dont leak in a few days, they WILL leak in a few months, bad idea to try and recharge any Normal alkie.

To make a alkaline rechargable they made a MUCH better SEALED alkaline, and provided a proper charging method for it.
BUT
if you drop an alkaline to Low , it could then not be recharged, if one continually topped them off , then they were great, a good cell for the infrequently used item, that would want to have fresh ready to use alkalines in it, like the car flashlight.
discharged to 100% they are finished, discharged to say 85-90% they might get 25 cycles, and relative for low discharges. if they were just tooped off they might last for years, and many cycles.
they are a poor choice, when deep discharging them, but like ANY rechargable, they pay for themselves in just a few uses. unlike other rechargables, you lose money when they are abused.
also this rechargable alkaline reduces the normal possibility of leakage, so its still a great cell for protection of investements.

LITHIUM disposables, last forever /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif they are perfect for the never used flashlight that is ready for emergency. they should last at least 10 years, and still be fully usable.

The only rechargeable LEDs I know of are the Inova T4 (probably the best of them), the Vortex 5 watt, and the Surefire L7. Of those, the Inova is the only one that uses lithium-ion batteries.

I'd say for caving, since cost is no object, get one of the Lupine li ion rechargeable headlamps ( www.lupine.de ).

I'd throw out that wind-up thing and just carry one or more small battery-powered lights (or the ultimate, a tritium light) as backups. The extra space and weight needed by the wind-up light is better used for carrying more food or water.

I don't have one myself, but I'd second the Inova T4. It has a 2 hour battery life at 100 lumens, but uses li-ion cells (AA sized?) so extras could be carried. It is hard anodized and water resistant, so it should stand up well to a caving environment.

I've had an itch for a new rechargeable small light with monster throw. This time it has hit me real bad and I've been surfing CPF with my trigger finger on the PP button. You know the kind of itch...it starts deep within the folds of your wallet...it builds and wells...only to be relieved by the next USPS delivery.

Wanting to make an informed decision on the T4, I fired up similar lights both rechargeable and not.

The results:

Ionova T3/4 - I will ASSUME that this will have the same beam as the new T4 given the same optics. Nice bright wide spot with little spill, the body is made to slip out of your hands with the cruddy knuriling. The light is quite heavy given its size.

Aleph 3, Pila fed with Lux III - It's bright and tight...too tight...ever try to search with a laser pointer?

X200 head on a E body, Pila fed - light, sure grip, small, beam a tad wider than the Ionova T3/4, good throw.

SF L4 on Pilas - small, light, sure grip, perfect all round light but lacks throw.

SF L6 on Pilas - light, too large, bright, nice throw, good spill.

Pila Gl4 - beefy, same size as the L6, incan, this light 'throws' a flood.

SF L5 on Pilas - small, light, sure grip, bright, it does not throw quite as much as the X200 and the T3/4 but the sheer volume of light output more than makes up for the slight loss of throw.

I'm satisfied for now knowing that a production LED can't do better than a Surefire L5 on Pilas for all round use.

Now I'm open for suggestions on a small throwing incan.