High power, somewhat compact LED flashlight

FlaMtnBkr

FlaMtnBkr

Joined
Oct 20, 2004
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I am looking for a LED flashlight that is fairly high power but in a more compact package. Something around the size of a 2x CR123 size light but with 500-600 lumens. Can be brighter and can be smaller. I would also like it to run on rechargeables so I'm not going broke buying batteries because at that size I'm sure it will consume power quickly. I am also looking for more of a spot pattern than wide flood. I want to be able to use this thing to locate objects at a distance and be small enough that I will actually carry it around with me. Any suggestions? Thanks!
 
Klarus XT11. It's my EDC light and should fit most of your requirements.
 
Maybe the FourSevens Maelstrom MM-X? The flood is floody and the hotspot is a touch larger and brighter, but the XPG2 gives up about 60 lumens for a tighter hotspot and less flood. Can I assume that your numbers are at the emitter and not out-the-front values? If so, the XPG2 version might fit the bill. The Quark Turbo would throw a bit further, though I don't like how the head diameter is disproportionate to the body. It's still no wider than the Maelstrom at the head but still...

If you're looking for 500-600 lumens out the front, I'm afraid that will be difficult to pull off with your criteria. A lower power XPE emitter is usually required for good throw in a small package. If not, a larger or deeper reflector is required to focus the beam. The closest I've seen was an Oveready custom-made modification of a Surefire C2 using an SST-50 emitter housed in a modified M2 head to give it a deeper reflector to focus the beam. The setup was run on a single 18650 cell with extreme low resistance mods finely tuned so it would pump enough power to get about 1000 lumens OTF.

Still, I guess it depends on how far you need it to go and the amount of ambient lighting. You could try to brute force the throw with a very powerful emitter. I used a P60 drop-in with an SST-90 emitter direct drive with a single 18650 IMR cell and was able to light up dark areas away from street lighting within 1 block while standing 23 floors above ground level.

But IMO, your best bet is the Maelstrom using the XPG2 emitter. The Quark Turbo doesn't look like it would slide into your pocket gracefully given the difference in diameter between the body and head. And the Maelstrom still has a pocket clip, so we know it's pocket sized at least. I would recommend the wider 18650 cell VS RCR123s for longer runtime.
 
Also, important point of consideration:
About how far do you need to see?

A P60 Malkoff drop-in module puts out about 260 OTF lumens and is easily enough to light up objects 150 feet away even with some ambient lighting. The specs claim visibility at 350+ feet, which I would assume is in pitch black darkness.

Also, it would help to know what light you were using before. If we're talking Maglites, I believe even a modern penlight is capable of shining brighter and farther than the common 4D models.
 
To be honest I'm just looking for something that is significantly brighter than what I have and those numbers are something I have seen in the upper range for a somewhat compact light. I don't know if they were out the front or emitter numbers. One of the lights I had seen was the Maelstrom but was unsure of which model to look at. Another light I had seen was the Surefire Fury but I have never been a huge Surefire fan and I figured there were other companies that I wouldn't know about that could push the envelop quite a bit more than Surefire.

Some of the lights I have are a Surefire E1B Backup/G2X Pro, Maglight XL50/XL200, Inova X1/X03, Fenix P2D, and various other Energizer and Gander Mtn GSX models, and I'm sure some others that aren't very notable. I think the max claimed lumens is around 200 out of all of them.

I live in the country and I'm in the outdoors as much as possible. I also ride airboats and take them out at night fairly often to gator hunt and gig frogs. I would like to have something that will have a long throw and is small enough I will probably carry it and have it as a backup to find my way home if my main lights were to fail. Light just doesn't seem to travel far on water.

Thanks!
 
Hmm, Surefire is usually conservative on their lumen estimates so OTF numbers should be close to 200. Again, "long throw" and "small" don't usually go together. It can be done for sure, but that's mostly in the custom range or requires you to screw around with the LED.

If you're on a boat, couldn't you carry something relatively small without it being on your person? Or you could carry something on a waist-pack. The Lumapower Signature VX might fit the bill. It's somewhat of a "standard" 1x18650 size flashlight(roughly the same size as your Surefire G2X) using a single SST-50 emitter. It pushes around 450-ish OTF lumens on max. The Turbo-SMO reflector will give you the throw you need, which is swappable with the standard reflector, so you can have both flood and throw depending on your needs. It's just that you actually need to carry the Turbo reflector around with you, but you can swap it with the standard reflector so you can carry the light in your pocket and only swap it when you need to see the extra distance.
 
O/T , well a little. I formerly waterfowl hunted leaving the dock at o'dark thirty to set decoys...while had a 2 million CP Q-Beam, my most useful light was an incandescent headlamp which ran on 2 AA batteries and could be focused. The ability to have light where you were looking always came in handy. I subsequently went with a LED headlamp which worked good at the dock or in the boat but doesn't have the throw or focus capacity kind of a must when you must see the river bank while underway.

If I were to resume waterfowl hunting would investigate a LED headlamp with good throw and focus..like the bulb and battery life. Have several performance LED flash and weapon lights that still amaze..bright, white powerful light.

PS: Headlamps don't look silly to other outdoorsmen..well, if you don't wear them at high noon
 
An interesting possibility I haven't explored much. I believe Led Lenser makes a variety of focusable LED lights including headlamps. The reviews seems to jump up and down on that one. The throw is great, but I hear the battery drops to about 10% output after half an hour, which might leave you dead in the water. I'd strongly suggest having a compass or even a compass app for your iPhone/Android:D.
 
It's really a want more than a need. Yeah there will be occasions that it is useful. But really I just want a light that is silly bright, small enough I will actually carry it, and will run on rechargeables so when the batteries are dead in half an hour, I don't go broke using the thing. I guess because I had seen a few lights that basically fit the description, and one is a Surefire which are normally fairly conservative and slow on advancing technology, that there would be quite a few lights available that fit the bill. Guess maybe there aren't. I would probably get the Surefire fury with 450/15 lumens in a 2x CR123 light for $155 MSRP but I'm not sure about rechargeable batteries and don't want to fry the thing.
 
Honestly, I'd not look for an EDC light of that power. I'd look for simply any light thats bright enough for your standards, and grab a smaller keychain/pen light for EDC. You can get lights that run on 1 or 2 AAA batteries that still put out a ton of light, and they fit in the pocket of your jeans.

And that way, you get to buy two toys instead of one :D
 
I have plenty of EDC lights. More than I know what to do with. What I want is something really bright I can carry in addition to my EDC. I usually carry 2 lights so one might as well be capable of being really bright.

My main EDC has been the Surefire Backup lately but many times is a $15 single AA Energizer light from Target with a pocket clip that works great, fairly small, bright, and has a clip. I put a rechargeable battery in it and it lasts for a long time and then I drop another rechargeable in it. It is bright enough for most daily tasks and is cheap enough I don't need to worry about losing it. The E1B Backup is similar but more expensive, has a bright setting, and I don't put a rechargeable CR123 in it because of the higher voltage.

I have explained what I want but I guess it doesn't really exist or the only 2 that do have been discussed.

Maybe now I should ask if rechargeable CR123 batteries can be used in a Surefire Fury?
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
I have plenty of EDC lights. More than I know what to do with. What I want is something really bright I can carry in addition to my EDC. I usually carry 2 lights so one might as well be capable of being really bright.
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Ah, I see.

You might look into Fenix lights. They have some pretty bright mid-sized lights that can run on CR123s or half as many 18650s. (or AAs, too!)

The TK-35 could be a lot of fun. Two 18650s or 4 CR123s, max output of 860 lumens, with a 350 meter throw.
 
I really like my Sunwayman T20 CS. Throws is descent, runs about 650+ Lumens.
Also Olight M21 X, 600 Lumens and a very nice throw.
Another light that is good is a Fenix TK15, not as many Lumens but still pretty good at 330 lumens.
 
The only production light I can think of that might work with your requirements is a Zebralight SC600. It's a little bulky at about 1in diameter and 4in long, but it puts out 750lm with a single rechargeable 18650. I've got a couple of their headlamps (an H501 and an H502) and they're pretty good lights.

Might be worth checking out.
 
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