Spec me an LED Torch

At that kind of price every kid should be exposed to LED torches!


Although I bet the bad kids will end up shining them at oncoming cars and blinding the drivers.
 
345 lumens for 6 quid, how is this possible.

This one looks similar and runs off an AA battery ? I'm thinking thats the kind of thing great for a kid to keep in his schoolbag all day for walking home along a road when the clocks go forward, etc

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ZOOMABLE-...itu=UCC&otn=5&ps=63&clkid=3665844275641936615

I very much doubt its 345 lumens, running on one AA. Probably more like 100 max I'd have thought. That's what the 4sevens, ITP and Fenix 1 x AA torches run.
 
I read that the difference between good quality and bad quality lights is the ability to drop the brightness to say 1 lumen to max, instead of just being able to pump out max power all the time

Not having multiple light levels doesn't mean a torch is of poor quality.
My main three torches are Fenix LT1, LT2 and T1 (all now discontinued), and they each only have two settings, high and low. The LT1 is my work torch and has seen some abuse including being dunked in a 15% NaCL solution. It's never let me down.
The AA maglites I had before all stopped working due to their twist on-off mechanism failing.
 
What are people's thoughts on the best compact head torches? I have a Black Diamond and an Alpkit running AAAs but they are older tech and have rear battery packs, I'm thinking of a single cell front mounted using either an AA or 18650, it must also be waterproof. Are Zebralight the only ones worth checking out?

I'm also thinking of swapping power to 18650s. I always got AAs thinking that I can always get spares from most shops even in the arse end of 3rd world countries but these days I'm mainly camping for a weekend or week and only really use one set. 18650s just seem to pack more punch in a smaller package. So, what are the best 18650 cells and charger right now?
That'll also allow me to get a BC40 which looks amazing :D
edit: I'm aware 18650s and AAs are different sizes, I'd be buying new torches, the headlamp mentioned above, ~£10 single cell torch from ebay and a BC40 :)
 
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Charger wise the Xtar WP2II was recommended to me by Aod, and he seems to know his stuff, as for the 18650s it seems you really do get what you pay for. I can't link as I'm posting from my phone but a few pages back Aod linked to battery test reviews which you may want to have a look at.
 
Thanks guys, I'll check out the Xtar WP2II, trustfire batteries and do a little more research :) (always helpful to have a start point to begin researching from)
 
I got a Led Lenser P14 recently, cost around £40, uses simple AA batteries and has around 200 lumens, and is nice and compact, good for walking dog at night.

I did consider a Fenix but knew if I spent £60 I might as well spend £91 and it goes on from there, so was sensible instead..
 
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