My Shining Beam Blaze was stolen and I would like a replacement light that uses 18650 since I still have a few batteries and a few chargers (at home, work, second work, community volunteer space). I used the Blaze as the front light on my bicycle. I used the strobe during the day time and occasionally at night in a few situations. I like the 3 hours run time using the 400 or 500 lumen middle setting and the 720 lumen high setting was good for riding dirt at night even if it only went 1.5 hours. I carry an extra battery or two which is nice during fall and winter when days are shorter. The modular battery of flashlight is a big advantage over bicycle specific lights which tend to have built in batteries that recharge via USB which can be a 6 hour affair.
I did not really like the twist head to change modes on the Blaze because a lot of times it would not change the modes - dunno if I wore out contacts or they got dirty or what, but a lot of times, twisting the head did not change modes and I'd have a fiddle with it a lot to change the mode. Maybe there are better implementation of the head twist mode change. On the blaze it looks like the end of the barrel touches contact on the circuit board inside the head and disconnecting it and connecting it again would change modes. I think the repeated twisting wore out material on the printed/etched board inside the head over the years.
My requirements for the light are about $50 or less, maybe 400 or 500 lumen setting (I think that was the middle setting), and a higher setting for use in dirt about 700 to 800 lumens though higher would be ok. It should use single 18650 and have some sort of lock out - loosening the tail cap is fine as a lockout. Light only needs to be water resistant against rain and splash, light will not be immersed in water. The battery barrel should be 25mm diameter because mots bicycle light holders are designed to hold flashlight with that diameter.
I was looking at Nitecore EC25 or Xtar B20 - both seems like a decent light. Would this be a good fit for my requirement? Any others I should consider?
I did not really like the twist head to change modes on the Blaze because a lot of times it would not change the modes - dunno if I wore out contacts or they got dirty or what, but a lot of times, twisting the head did not change modes and I'd have a fiddle with it a lot to change the mode. Maybe there are better implementation of the head twist mode change. On the blaze it looks like the end of the barrel touches contact on the circuit board inside the head and disconnecting it and connecting it again would change modes. I think the repeated twisting wore out material on the printed/etched board inside the head over the years.
My requirements for the light are about $50 or less, maybe 400 or 500 lumen setting (I think that was the middle setting), and a higher setting for use in dirt about 700 to 800 lumens though higher would be ok. It should use single 18650 and have some sort of lock out - loosening the tail cap is fine as a lockout. Light only needs to be water resistant against rain and splash, light will not be immersed in water. The battery barrel should be 25mm diameter because mots bicycle light holders are designed to hold flashlight with that diameter.
I was looking at Nitecore EC25 or Xtar B20 - both seems like a decent light. Would this be a good fit for my requirement? Any others I should consider?
