hand torches that rock

Courage Monsieur

Hi
A variation of the 'what lights' thread...
Bought a new front light recently (about £20, not cateye) and was surprised how bright it is.
Seems lights have come a long way in the past few years.
What torches are good? Sub £20, tough, hand held. For use round the house, travel etc.
I've got a Maglite AA but it ain't that bright compared to the newer LEDs.
Is LEDLenser where it's at?
Cheers
Paul

sungod

old skool maglite triple d-cell

used one to beat off a pack of dogs in india once, it'd work just as well on a burglar

sometimes there's no substitute for heavy metal

heavymental

Ah good thread. Have asked my brother for a torch for christmas now! After a few minutes googling based on your suggestion I reckon the Lenser P7 is really where it's at. Ah actually its over £20 but guess they do a good one for less as well. Maglite are surely only trading on reputation now or have they introduced some kick-ass LED torches? Those big ones weigh a ton and are fairly crap at actually lighting anything up as I remember. I'd get a Lenser and a large stick in case i had to beat off a pack of dogs in India.

Ouija

The lenser P7 is pretty 'meh'. All packaging no content. By which i mean after you've stopped drooling over the glossy presentation you end up with a light that isn't very bright, uses heavy Ni-Mh batteries that don't provide much in the way of voltage or run times. Look for torches with a Cree XML T6 (or U2) emitter in it. Two to three times brighter, runs off Li-Ion batteries (4.2v and with between two to three times the storage capacity of a Ni-Mh battery of the same size) and lighter. Can be picked up for a tenner.

Lycra-Byka

I use 2 Cree XML's on bike and off.
They are actually small hand torches but you can buy mounts off eBay.
They use one 18650 rechargeable battery each. Not a massive run time on constant full power (40 mins max) but as they are about as bright as a cars full beam it's rare that you'd need it.
The brightest handheld light I've seen!



Each torch is - £10
Charger £10
Batteries £5
All off eBay in the uk

You can get cheaper batteries and chargers but try to get the best you can afford because this is where the actuall performance comes from.

Courage Monsieur

Thanks all

I wondered about Cree as it's so popular for use on the bike.

Lycrabika - is this the one?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UltraFire-CRE ... 43b044bb2b

and is this one three of the above in one? The hardcore option.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Trustfire-380 ... 1c2c187f63

Heavymental - I think you're right about Maglite. It's just branding now. They are still a very solid product though. I've noticed prices have come down a bit too as they're being outshone by the LEDs.

Phil_D

http://www.amazon.com/Ultrafire-502b-Flashlight-Lumens-Integrated/dp/B005E48K6I

zx6man

I have 2 of the ultrafire ones too (the zoomable ones). They are great.

with these mounts

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cycling-Bicyc ... 484679354c

Ouija

Lycra-Byka wrote:

Not a massive run time on constant full power (40 mins max)

Buy better batteries. You only get 40/50min run times with the cheaper batteries. With some of the better ones you get closer to 1hr 30m. I use Senybor 2800mAh 5.6a drain batteries for that. My Trustfire's and unbranded batteries struggle to get an hour. And the torch will still run at medium power for another hour or so before powering down to low mode for another hour or two, so it's not as if the light just cuts off after one and a half hours.

And if your want even longer runtimes, consider something like the Trustfire A8 which has the same head and beam pattern of the 501/502 but utilizes the much bigger 26650 batteries.

Ouija

zx6man wrote:

I have 2 of the ultrafire ones too (the zoomable ones). They are great.

with these mounts

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cycling-Bicyc ... 484679354c

The zoomable's have terrible beam patterns. Often giving a dark central spot with a doughnut corona on some. You get better patterns and more 'throw' with a solid reflector, such as the popular 501/502 torches.

zx6man

I tend to have one zoomed in one zoomed out, so don't get any dodgy effects. I do have one of the normal Cree T6 headlights too if I need more light for longer periods.

confused@BR

Drifting through Tesco on Thursday, noticed a 'rolson' hand torch for £1.25! Ten led's, and three 'D' type batteries. Not suitable for cycling or anything but £1.25! My inner cheapskate was aroused

Ouija

confused@BR wrote:

Drifting through Tesco on Thursday, noticed a 'rolson' hand torch for £1.25! Ten led's, and three 'D' type batteries. Not suitable for cycling or anything but £1.25! My inner cheapskate was aroused

If it's got ten LED's in it it's probably because each LED is so dim that they overcompensate by throwing larger numbers of them together to try and achieve what a single awesome LED could achieve on it's own. Most of those 'mega conglomeration' style cheapy lights have LED's that are only 0.1 or 0.2w output and struggle to put out more than a 100 lumen. Compared to a single 10w style Cree XML emitter there's no comparison.

heavymental

Ouija wrote:

The lenser P7 is pretty 'meh'. All packaging no content. By which i mean after you've stopped drooling over the glossy presentation you end up with a light that isn't very bright, uses heavy Ni-Mh batteries that don't provide much in the way of voltage or run times. Look for torches with a Cree XML T6 (or U2) emitter in it. Two to three times brighter, runs off Li-Ion batteries (4.2v and with between two to three times the storage capacity of a Ni-Mh battery of the same size) and lighter. Can be picked up for a tenner.

Really? Turns out my boss has one so I've just been messing about with one. Looked like a pretty decent bit of kit. Actually I can't imagine it's possible to get anything more powerful from such a small unit!?

Is something like this a better bet then? http://www.amazon.co.uk/XML-T6-Lumens-F ... 43&sr=1-10 I can't imagine it's really 5 times brighter but it is cheaper...

Ouija

Yeah, the XML's are the brightest LED's out there at the moment. Though i'd personally go for a torch without the zoomable lens (more focused light with a fixed reflector). Something like the Ultrafire 501 or 502 torches with XML's in them (some of the older models have older types of LED's in them). Even a Trustfire A8 if you want a bigger battery and run times.

heavymental

Jeeessus! There's a million different options out there! Any links?

Ouija

Heavymental wrote:

Jeeessus! There's a million different options out there! Any links?

For someone in England who stocks them then try this

This also sells them but his listing is a bit cagey about weather he sends you a XML T6 emitter in the torch or a Q5 (nowhere near as good).

heavymental

Cool. Have asked the latter about the emiiter that gets sent. It seems like a very good deal... suspiciously...

k-dog

I've got a Nitecore D11 which is fantastic - but they're about £60.

Small but really bright. I wanted something that would run off AAs too.

Lycra-Byka

Courage Monsieur wrote:

Thanks all

I wondered about Cree as it's so popular for use on the bike.

Lycrabika - is this the one?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UltraFire-CRE ... 43b044bb2b

and is this one three of the above in one? The hardcore option.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Trustfire-380 ... e_Camping_.

That's the one fantastic value!

Second one would dazzle the sun! But sadly would be too cumbersome on the handle bars.

As someone said, get decent batteries and charger it would make a world of difference to runtime.

Also yes the zoomable lense does give strange beam patterns but again, as someone else mentioned, use two at different zooms (one spread and one focused) and it lights up small counties!

Do try and angle them down at the road though because the give the type of light a cars main beam headlight omitt. They are blinding.

Courage Monsieur

Thanks all for this happy journey into the world of torches.

While on these travels, I noticed the LED Lenser K1, which is tiny keyring light. £8 in Maplins and I got one today. Quality stuff. It's like the Maglite Solitaire, but better. The K2 is a bit bigger.

I'm probably till going to get a Cree for use round the home etc.

Ouija

Courage Monsieur wrote:

Thanks all for this happy journey into the world of torches.

While on these travels, I noticed the LED Lenser K1, which is tiny keyring light. £8 in Maplins and I got one today. Quality stuff. It's like the Maglite Solitaire, but better. The K2 is a bit bigger.

I'm probably till going to get a Cree for use round the home etc.

The K1 only has 17 lumen output. You can getXML's in keychain form....



that give out up to 1000 lumens output (have one dangling from my backpack even as we speak). Similar price too.

rodgers73

Tesco do a good couple of good led torches and there's so many branches returning one is easy!

Ouija

rodgers73 wrote:

Tesco do a good couple of good led torches and there's so many branches returning one is easy!

Tesco = Good?

Does not compute.................................................




Seriously. Nothing you'll find in your local supermarket, local bike shop etc currently comes close to the stuff you can buy from the far east. The real high end lights made by Hope, Lupine and exposure that cost hundreds of pounds struggle to reach the same level of brightness as the Cree XML stuff coming out of the far east for less than £30.

rodgers73

Yeah, seriously. It's about £18 instore (cant find it online) and its like a bloody searchligtht. Black aluminium body and very sturdy. It lives in my car and I'm more than happy with it. Plus if it ever breaks I only have to go down the road to sort it, not try and post it to Taiwan or somewhere!

solosuperia

I feel hoodwinked I thought this thread was going to be about "The Killing lll".

DrKJM

Ebay do an led replacement for a maglite. I have a 2d cell torch and am tempted to try one. Does anyone have any experience of these? I have a cree based light I use on my bike but the heft of a maglite is comforting at times.

Lycra-Byka

Although a supporter of the XML's do not believe the 1000 lumen claims.
I would hazard a guess nearer to 600lm

Bear in mind most on eBay are cheapo and although still great value they do differ in quality of output.

k-dog

DrKJM wrote:

Ebay do an led replacement for a maglite. I have a 2d cell torch and am tempted to try one. Does anyone have any experience of these? I have a cree based light I use on my bike but the heft of a maglite is comforting at times.

I've had a few and they're pretty good. I have a 3D maglite and I just hit a new Terralux one. I had a similar one before. I got it to make the batteries last longer - and they do. Miles longer.

But I've been surprised how bright it is too. It's just better all round.

Courage Monsieur

@Ouija
Nice one. That's a tad big for me to put in my pocket every day with the keys, but it looks good. Might get one anyway for travel.

itguy2

Put simply, I love the ultrafire 501b with XML led.

They are amazing value for money. I bought one off eBay from a uk seller for £16 and then another from china (arrived in 7 days) for £7.

Build quality on both is great, they are super powerful (and the lumens output is directly proportional to the ampage of the driver and the battery quality).

Fits on the bike well, small when hand-held.