Modlite Pistol Mounted Body

[JAD]

I'm not the smartest guy, and I know it's way outside of my lane. I stumbled across a podcast with a bunch of flashlight designers on it, and some stuff stuck - including running CR123A's in lithium ion designed batteries possibly turning the batteries into a small grenade in your hand. Both Cloud Defensive lights I have came with a warning sticker about using anything other than 18650's in them as well.

This is one of the batteries included with my OWL :

The Panasonic-Sanyo GA is a good high-capacity cell when you need up to 10 amps of maximum continuous discharge current. It has a high energy density - 693 Wh/l volumetric and 224 Wh/kg gravimetric.

https://batterybro.com/products/pana...ga-3450mah-10a

1) I screwed up my earlier post and took the shortcut of referring to energy density and then providing numbers for specific energy ('gravimetric energy density' is a bullshit term). I work in a mass-focused world usually so I think in those terms, and for the most part I get away with it because for my chemistries they're pretty linear (near future chemistries not so much). I should have said: lithium-metal primary batteries (non-rechargeable) generally have much better specific energy than lithium-ion secondary batteries (rechargeable). A pedestrian CR123A is 275 Wh/kg, where the best lithium ion batteries in the world are sitting right at 260-265 Wh/kg.

CR123As are generally lithium manganese dioxide. I get to work with more dense chemistries a lot -- lithium thionyl chloride, or LTCs, are available up to 500 Wh/kg. These are much more volatile and are the reason I'm inherently nervous about primaries.

Lithium ion makes up for their low energy density (Wh/l) and specific ener by being rechargeable. Also, primary batteries generally have low power density (a limited rate of discharge in proportion to their capacity). Less than 1C (one times capacity, so a 1.5 Ah battery doing 1.5A) is the best you can get from most commercially available primaries, whereas I am literally ten meters away from a 25C continuous lithium ion cell (a 30Ah cell that will merrily dump 750A for as long as you want to to hold the wire).

2) If you try to recharge a lithium-metal primary battery, it might explode. That's the danger with primaries. There are protective devices built into some cells, and you might get away with it depending on the voltage when you start charging (I'll explain the mechanism if it's of interest to folks). I wouldn't worry about using primaries in a dual-capable flashlight as long as the charging was done outside of the light. If the light has a USB port and can function as a charger, I'd avoid putting primaries in it as a matter of principle.

[JAD]

Call me crazy, but I like 123’s. The strongest light I own is a M600DF and I use the 123 instead of the rechargeable. While it’ll cost me four bucks, I like being able to be at full power in seconds, by swapping out the batts. Also, part of the reason for my move to the Eotech this past year, was to consolidate batteries. Now my rifle optic, rifle light, and pistol light all use the same battery. It certainly makes battery management in my pack easier

Mission drives the gear train. If you are frequently using a battery for a limited amount of time and you have a reasonable opportunity to recharge, secondaries make sense. If you are storing the appliance mostly and need the highest reliability in occasional use, primaries are better. My flashlights, weapon lights, and weapon sights use primaries. My telephone, computer, and watch use secondaries.

[cmbarny2]

I have made the switch to Modlite for all my duty lights so far and my pistol light will be as well as soon as its released. The OKW Head is MORE than capable on a rifle for inside work. I'm running it on my SWAT entry gun which is also my regular patrol rifle and there is zero issue lighting up a room with the OKW but gives a much better option for being able to punch out and see stuff. I have a PLH (original) on a 18650 body as my handheld "people searching" light and my HLX has been relegated to "other searches." My pistol light being the only light that currently still uses CR123s. Its stupid easy to keep extra 18650s in a Storacell in my bag just like I did with 123s before and switch as needed if the light gets used to always have a fresh battery. With the pistol light I'll do the same thing, keep multiple in my bag and if I use my light to clear a house or something I'll swap a fresh battery in after and throw the used one on a charger where as if I did that with 123s I'd be throwing away half a battery charge every time I swapped.