In search for the brightest single 18650 battery flashlight!
- Thread starter doceric
- Start date
Help Support Candle Power Flashlight Forum
shelm
Flashlight Enthusiast
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2011
- Messages
- 2,047
Thrunite 1x18650 is the brightest, we all know it from the marketplace 
wjv
Enlightened
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2012
- Messages
- 962
1) "brightness" alone doesn't mean squat
2) You can have really good flood or really good throw, but you can't have really good "both" in the same light unless the light has a beam than can be manually focused.
There are some lights like PD32UE that do flood and throw well, but there are lights with lesser lumen that will easily out throw it, and other lights that are far more floody. There are many lights like the PD32 that are great general purpose lights, but don't excel at either.
There are so many factors that affect the perceived brightness.
- tint
- beam shape
- size of hot spot
- amount of spill
- quality of the beam
- lumens
If you had a floody 500 lumen light, and a very focused 350 lumen light, and were to shine them side-by-side on a wall, and then ask people "which is brighter?". The majority of people would pick the 350 lumen light.
How do you plan on using this light?
2) You can have really good flood or really good throw, but you can't have really good "both" in the same light unless the light has a beam than can be manually focused.
There are some lights like PD32UE that do flood and throw well, but there are lights with lesser lumen that will easily out throw it, and other lights that are far more floody. There are many lights like the PD32 that are great general purpose lights, but don't excel at either.
There are so many factors that affect the perceived brightness.
- tint
- beam shape
- size of hot spot
- amount of spill
- quality of the beam
- lumens
If you had a floody 500 lumen light, and a very focused 350 lumen light, and were to shine them side-by-side on a wall, and then ask people "which is brighter?". The majority of people would pick the 350 lumen light.
How do you plan on using this light?
GordoJones88
Flashlight Enthusiast
Eagletac TX25C2 is 1000 lumens and 20,000 lux.
thedoc007
Flashlight Enthusiast
Wjv said everything that needed to be said. Without knowing more, there is little point in throwing more suggestions in the mix. You have to narrow it down a little to make it useful...let's hear from the original poster again.
thijsco19
Newly Enlightened
You mean the G25c2 MK II? The TX25C2 has 'only' 15.8k lux, and the G25C2 has 21.8k lux.
Absolutely right. The 4Sevens Maelstrom G5 I have, at only around 340 lumens, puts out as good a throw as the new Nitecore P16...with over 900 lumens! The difference being that the Nitecore combines the flood with the throw. And in terms of how far the beam goes on both, you'd swear they had comparable lumens. Perhaps you should consider the P16.
Last edited:
tallboybass
Newly Enlightened
Selfbuilt measured the TX25C2 Neutral White version at 20,200 lux.
ledmitter_nli
Flashlight Enthusiast
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2012
- Messages
- 1,433
^^^ Yep. The TX25C2 has nearly caused me to abandon my 1,700 lumen quads. Good spill ... and that LUX.
The TX25C2 has nearly caused me to abandon my 1,700 lumen quads. Good spill ... and that LUX. It would help, as "Brightness" is not a single attribute, if you would start with the throw, say in meters, that you want to see things at with the light. It also helps if you say WHAT you're trying to see at that range, as different types of targets require different amounts of light.
After we get a usable range for the throw, we can work backwards to a light with a wide enough beam that can still reach that distance.
wjv
Enlightened
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2012
- Messages
- 962
Don't waste your time.
The OP has posted similar questions in several threads.
I have asked him several times for further info, and he has not responded.
Sounds like all he cares about is lumens.
likmonster
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Sep 24, 2013
- Messages
- 26
If you want something on the smaller side, I would recommend the D25LC2.
gravelmonkey
Enlightened
Lots of options for 'damn bright on 1*18650'
Oveready website has a few- Triple XP-G2 drop-in or the Torchlab triple head (both can run 1*18650 but brighter with 2*li-ion cells ie 2*18350. The Direct Drive XM-L2 turbo head is no slouch either and will run on 1*18650.
Alternatively: (If you can find one), a Kerberos Quad XP-G2 P60 drop-in in a suitable host. (Solarforce/bored Surefire etc).
Oveready website has a few- Triple XP-G2 drop-in or the Torchlab triple head (both can run 1*18650 but brighter with 2*li-ion cells ie 2*18350. The Direct Drive XM-L2 turbo head is no slouch either and will run on 1*18650.
Alternatively: (If you can find one), a Kerberos Quad XP-G2 P60 drop-in in a suitable host. (Solarforce/bored Surefire etc).
He said "in terms of flood and throw", so, it left the door wide open, and those are obviously not always going to work in lock step.
If he's never going to "Get the difference", I suppose you're right, and he's never going to get anything more than the usual "Get what I like" recommendations.
gravelmonkey
Enlightened
He said "in terms of flood and throw", so, it left the door wide open, and those are obviously not always going to work in lock step.
If he's never going to "Get the difference", I suppose you're right, and he's never going to get anything more than the usual "Get what I like" recommendations.
What IS the brightest light you could get out of a single 18650? Thinking 100% custom-built, no holds barred, brightest 'thing' ever. Screw run-time or useability!
For sheer lumen output, would anything match a 18650 charging a Xenon flash unit?
Or, can you stuff in a load of supercapacitors to drive a bunch of XM-L2's for ?10 seconds?
Just theoretical excercise, my electronics knowledge is pants and I thought, as OP doesn't fancy giving anything specific to narrow down the choices, we'd work out the "brightest single 18650 battery flashlight".
Well, MBI can get 600 lumens from an XPG2 driven with a single 10250...in a ~ 2" "flashlight".....so if it can be 18650 sized, imagine the specs for a direct drive equivalent....actually, about what Vinh does a lot of.
The thing is that if you go "bright" as in lumens, and I go "bright" in lux....and we shine our lights at a wall for people to say which is "bright-EST".... I will win.
Because you can't SEE lumens, and everyone who see's glare interprets it as "brightness", so, who ever makes the most glare wins.
He means TX25C2 XM-L2 U2 20k Lux, although my second one is 21k Lux. The one you referring to is the first generation XM-L U2.
BeastFlashlight
Flashlight Enthusiast
All he cares about is lumens, ok. Next question - is money no object?
