I already stock and use 18650 batteries for my ghey e-cigarette, so I have been considering picking up a few compatible lights.
Anyone have experiences and possible recommendations for good 18650 compatible flashlights?
I already stock and use 18650 batteries for my ghey e-cigarette, so I have been considering picking up a few compatible lights.
Anyone have experiences and possible recommendations for good 18650 compatible flashlights?
What is the purpose?? For defense, general household use, outdoor survival, disaster, military, law enforcement, vehicle, etc?
Also, what is your price point?
There is a bewildering selection of less-inexpensive Asian-made lights available (Fenix, Olight, Eagletac, Streamlight, etc.) but for serious use I'd look at Malkoff, Elzetta or Surefire.
Since I'm a Malkoff fan boy I'd suggest a MD2 Body and Switch with a Hound Dog 18650 head or a complete MD2 Body with your choice of a P60 Drop-in.
Ive been pleased with my Fenix headlamp and handhleld rechargeables. I keep an extra 18650 charged and ready to go. Sorry, Can't remember the models right now but both go up to 900+ lumens and were around $100
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Last edited by FOG; 10-17-2017 at 05:21 AM.
I have been using a few different generations of Klarus XT2C for a couple of years now, with good results. Before that, I was using 16650 cells in my FourSevens lights. If your light is set up for the voltage range of a single 16650 or 18650, you will get more power and runtime than 2xCR123 can provide, at lower cost.
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Any legal information I may post is general information, and is not legal advice. Such information may or may not apply to your specific situation. I am not your attorney unless an attorney-client relationship is separately and privately established.
Sorry, was a bit tired when I posted and made mind-reader assumptions. EDC, defensive, household would be my primary uses.
A big driver of my question was that I know there are lights out there that work reliably with the battery but are not necessarily advertised that way, and I have a high degree of confidence that I can get decent info from a lot of you guys.
I'm by no means opposed to paying for quality/reliability. I'm more likely to go 2xSurefire-priced lights than one Elzetta even though I would like to own an Elzetta at some point.
I have not looked into Malkoff devices as much as I should considering the opinions of multiple people here I have converging views with. Thank you for adding to that list!
This is a big motivator in my thinking here. Doing a bit of research on the batteries just to learn, it became clear that the 18650 has a lot of advantages in light applications. I've heard really good things about that Klarus model, especially given it's affordability.
Makloff makes a very good light. I use their LED dropins in a couple of formerly incandescent Surefires. The user interface has driven my current choice of Klarus. I like having high and strobe both immediately available from the tail switch, with medium and low being readily accessible for the vast majority of light uses when I don't need battery-draining brightness. The XT1C provides impressive performance with a single 16340, but unfortunately the switch does not have a momentary option.
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Any legal information I may post is general information, and is not legal advice. Such information may or may not apply to your specific situation. I am not your attorney unless an attorney-client relationship is separately and privately established.
I have used Surefire (back in their incandescent days), and FourSevens in the past several years as LED prices have come down. I have been happy with my FourSevens lights for both pocket/every day carry use as well as around the house lights. I recently picked up my first Malkoff...an M61Hot MD2 with high/low, and I am very, very pleased with this light. While the output may be lower than my previous light (when comparing raw numbers as given by the manufacturers), both the construction and the quality of the light (both components, build, as well as the actual light that comes out of the light--spill, throw, etc), are far superior to me. I am tempted to get something like the HoundDog head @NHshooter posted above to run on the MD2 body, and snag an MDC or something for pocket carry. The MD2 I linked to may be a touch big for some to pocket carry, but it's very similar in size to other lights set up for use with 18650's.
Last edited by martin_j001; 10-17-2017 at 06:39 AM.
Jeff Martin
Klarus XT2CR comes with 18650 and usb charging built in.
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