Spec me an LED Torch

Soldato
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Stanley Hotel, Colorado
Sorry I cant take any credit for the album, I just spotted it and thought it was so good I'd post it here. Theres a chrome extension called hover zoom which will take the imgur url and let you mouse wheel through the pics and caption without leaving this thread.
The pics are especially good because even though this torch is like a football floodlight he avoided saturation or processing correction by using the drone to take a bigger view so its way closer to the real effect. Imalent MS18 is the big one, with a built in fan and its on amazon for 500. I only want the single LED type, that has 18 combined but any of those torch seem excellent
 
Soldato
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18 Oct 2002
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Bristol
I have (had) the Xtar VC2S charger from Fogstar. Yesterday I charged one of my Molicel P26A 18650 batteries but after half an hour or so, the charger went blank, totally dead and the battery shows around 0.4V on a multimeter.

What happened? Both battery and charger are around 14 months old, used in a torch, charged every month or so.
 
Associate
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25 Mar 2009
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Location
Leicester,UK
Looking for a new torch for dog walking/toy I've seen the astrolux Ec03 mentioned a few times?

Although I'm not having much luck with a 21700 battery.

Also seen the S21A mentioned
 
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Associate
Joined
27 Sep 2008
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1,296
Looking for a new torch for dog walking/toy I've seen the astrolux Ec03 mentioned a few times?

Although I'm not having much luck with a 21700 battery.

Also seen the S21A mentioned

I actually have both torches. I prefer the S21A, it's smaller, cheaper and a better colour tint in my opinion. It's not as bright as the Asteolux though.
 
Associate
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25 Mar 2009
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Location
Leicester,UK
I actually have both torches. I prefer the S21A, it's smaller, cheaper and a better colour tint in my opinion. It's not as bright as the Asteolux though.
Thanks any recommendations on Where's best to buy?

Been a while since I've bought a new torch still using

Cree XPE Q5 600Lm Zoomable LED Flashlight

UltraFire 1600Lm Cree XML T6 18650

For dog walking great size.
 
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Soldato
Joined
10 Jul 2010
Posts
6,308
Looking for a new torch for dog walking/toy I've seen the astrolux Ec03 mentioned a few times?

Although I'm not having much luck with a 21700 battery.

Also seen the S21A mentioned
I have the EC01 and EC03 and actually prefer the EC01 due to it's smaller head size which is more than bright enough for walking your dog down unlit and muddy paths. And yes, I speak from experience! :D
 
Soldato
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Ordered a Convoy s21a & Astrolux ec03.

Are the Nitecore chargers any good?
I've had an XTAR VC4 charger for a long time and it's never failed me. It just keeps on running. If and when the VC4 does go, I'm considering the XTAR VC4S as my next charger, as this uses USB C.
 
Man of Honour
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Today I ordered the Olight S1r Baton II - I was set on getting the S2R as really liked the size since I want a second compact EDC since I leave the copper Prince and Solarforce SS in the car and I wanted something a bout as powerful for the dusk and early morning bike rides and walks. The size of the S1R seems like some sort of wizardry, that and it has magnetic charging do no flaps to tend with for the IPX rating etc. I ordered a spare battery too. For under #50 seemed a fair price for such a high quality light outputting up to 1000 lumens and the magnetic tailcap means I can use for many other tasks too.

Still have and love the Prince (now fully set with patina on the copper!) and the SolarForce LII SS. Both are around the 1000 lumens mark but the throw and spill on the Olight looks to be much more refined. My only annoyance with them is that they are old skool now and a such have no USB/magnetic charging features. I find unscrewing the tailcaps and taking the batteries out every time to charge a bit tedious having been spoilt by wireless charging and USB-C on everything else I have with batteries.

Wanted a new charger too as I an slowly moving everything that charges to USB-C only so an Xtar VC4S is on the way too.

Exciting week awaits!
 
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Soldato
Joined
10 Jul 2010
Posts
6,308
Today I ordered the Olight S1r Baton II - I was set on getting the S2R as really liked the size since I want a second compact EDC since I leave the copper Prince and Solarforce SS in the car and I wanted something a bout as powerful for the dusk and early morning bike rides and walks. The size of the S1R seems like some sort of wizardry, that and it has magnetic charging do no flaps to tend with for the IPX rating etc. I ordered a spare battery too. For under #50 seemed a fair price for such a high quality light outputting up to 1000 lumens and the magnetic tailcap means I can use for many other tasks too.

Still have and love the Prince (now fully set with patina on the copper!) and the SolarForce LII SS. Both are around the 1000 lumens mark but the throw and spill on the Olight looks to be much more refined. My only annoyance with them is that they are old skool now and a such have no USB/magnetic charging features. I find unscrewing the tailcaps and taking the batteries out every time to charge a bit tedious having been spoilt by wireless charging and USB-C on everything else I have with batteries.

Wanted a new charger too as I an slowly moving everything that charges to USB-C only so an Xtar VC4S is on the way too.

Exciting week awaits!
Have you owned an Xtar charger before? I'd be interested in what you think of the VC4S, especially if you've had the VC4 previously.
 
Man of Honour
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South Coast
I think I have years ago one of the early 4 slot ones before i changed to a Nitecore i4 and have had Nitecore ever since.

VC4S is now here and I'm just charging a set of AA Eneloops which seems fine. I have noticed Xtar chargers favour higher amps to charge NiMH batteries though if it detects a battery with low resistance (as in a new cell or not much used cell). Currently 1 battery is at 0,5A whilst the other 3 are charging at 1A. I don't really have any regular use Eneloop AAAs and the ones I do have are charged once in a blue moon but for regular charging I wouldn't want to pump 1A into an AAA whereas AA is fine even though do seem to warm up a bit compared to the Nitecore i4 and Sony charger both of which are mains powered.

I'll charge a pair of 18650 and 16340s later in the week once the Olight arrives but everything I have read suggests Xtar VC4S is excellent for Li-ion cells but people question the NiMH charging currents on cells with low resistance.
 
Soldato
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The size of the S1R seems like some sort of wizardry, that and it has magnetic charging do no flaps to tend with for the IPX rating etc.
It's very cool when you first get it, but after a while I found it a bit too small and fiddly. The pocket clip always seems to interfere with your grip, which becomes more apparent when you have to use it in the dark with cold-numbed hands. Might work better if you make up a short paracord fob for it, or something.

but the throw and spill on the Olight looks to be much more refined.
Again, quite good up close, but I found the light overall to be quite lacklustre and not really good at any particular aspect. The Fenix E18R seems better to me, with a wider spill and a more concentrated hotspot for better throw. Consequently I could see more, at greater distances and had better peripheral lighting, even at only 750lm compared to the 1K of the Olight.
 
Man of Honour
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Will see how it goes! Olight do market it as a wide hotspot ideal for close range use which is fine for what I intend to be using it for.

It will also be used as a bike light replacing the cheap ebay one I have which is fine but in current colder weather have found the battery is dead in around 1hr 45mins even on the lower output mode which is a bummer as really liked the light output for an 11 quid light.
 
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Man of Honour
Joined
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Posts
100,333
Location
South Coast
S1R arrived today, quite impressed with it but the battery inside appeared to have some excess thread grease on it too so whoever greased this at the factory must have rinsed their way through a batch as quick as possible lol.

I think I will keep this in the car as it's so compact, it pretty much fits in the unused ashtray and can charge from the socket when needed too. The brightness is excellent, The Lumintop Prince is 1050 lumens and this is just as bright although the throw isn't as far. I don't know what to do with the SolarForce now, it's 900 lumens but compared to the other 2 is extremely heavy, might keep in the car boot as a backup. Didn't realise just how long the Prince runs for either, 3hrs 45 at 1050 lumens and 11 hours on medium! This will become my bike light really

It does seem to have excellent flood too.

Beams:

beam_Olight-S1R-BatonII.jpg


beam_Lumintop-Prince.jpg


beam_SolarForce-L2T-SS.jpg


The pocket clip always seems to interfere with your grip, which becomes more apparent when you have to use it in the dark with cold-numbed hands. Might work better if you make up a short paracord fob for it, or something.

Did you get yours new or used? Mine came with a rather chunky wrist strap!

Ai2r57L.jpg
 
Soldato
Joined
11 Sep 2013
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12,310
The brightness is excellent, The Lumintop Prince is 1050 lumens and this is just as bright although the throw isn't as far.
I concur.
It's great for shorter ranges and general townie-urban use, but out in a field or walking dogs through open woodland the beam starts to seem a bit... I dunno... Pastel, perhaps? It's a fairly cool white tint as well, which can make things look a bit washed out and odd. My Perun Mini was the same.


Did you get yours new or used? Mine came with a rather chunky wrist strap!
New, but the lanyard is a little thin for a hand in-fill, and being that long I foresee it catching on a lot of things. I prefer something I can just whip out and use, one-handed, without having to fiddle with anything. It's one of those little niggles that can end up being a right deal-breaker.
 
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