Looking for a non-blinding flooder

Hi All,

I've owned a ThoreFire C8s since October of 2015. For the most part, I've been pretty happy with the light but now I want something a bit more floody. I typically use my C8s in mid (280 lumen) or low (30 lumen) while hiking/camping, working under my car, etc. I rarely use high (900) due to the very bright hot spot. I know that lumens are a measure of total light output, so if I want to double my lighting area and maintain my C8s's mid/low brightness then I need more output power. I just want to make sure that I don't go overboard and wind up with a light that has multiple settings that are way too bright. I'll be using this light mainly in the vicinity of other people and don't want to blind/annoy anyone or myself.

Basic requirements:
Sub $200
No clearly defined hot spot (my C8 suffers from this)
18650 or 28650 cells
Multi-battery preference due to run time considerations (not a requirement)
Low/no standby current (I'll forget to unscrew the tail cap)
No form factor limitation beyond handheld

I'm only including beam distance with the though of less = more floody. If I'm missing something, please suggest it.

Here's what I'm considering in pop-cans. If the Nitecores had lower standby current I would be much more interested in them.


* calculated using Nitecore's standby time in their user's manual and a 2S2P battery config with 3400 mAh batteries


Here's what I'm considering in side by sides (ie 2 x 18650) and single cells (1 x 18650)



I welcome any and all feedback.

Re: Looking for a "useable" flooder

Self-reply.

After talking to some other people, I'm considering the following, sorted by size:

Fenix LD75C (600/200/40)
pros: tons of battery life, nicely spaced brightness levels
cons: somewhat throwy, expensive

Nitecore TM06S (480/160/3)
pros: tons of battery life, I'm under the impression that it's floodier than the LD75C, $60 cheaper than the LD75C
cons: holy standby current, I don't see myself using the 'moonlight' setting much due to the size of the flashlight, especially if I have smaller alternatives, so I'm really down to two brightness levels

Noctigon M43 (500/100/5)
pros: tons of battery life, very floody, pretty cheap
cons: unknown standby current, tuna can vs pop can, I don't see myself using the 'moonlight' setting much due to the size of the flashlight, complex UI?

Fenix TK35 UE 2015 (380/120/20)
pros: good battery life, smaller form factor, I kind of like the 20 setting
cons: $50 more than the EC4S, but I kind of prefer the look

Nitecore EC4S (400/80/2)
pros: smaller than TK35 UE
cons: not a whole lot, but I'm somewhat put off by the tail cap style and other options on this list are floodier

Fenix FD41 (350/150/10)
pros: focus ring
cons: focus ring, battery life relative to the flashlights listed above due to having fewer batteries

Zebralight SC600FD (tons of brightness settings)
pros: floody, tons of brightness settings, well liked brand
cons: someone said too floody (is this even possible?), too many choices/complex UI battery life relative to the flashlights listed above due to having fewer batteries

If anyone has any experience with any of the above lights, or has something else to suggest, please chime in. I'm looking for usability, every day brightness levels, and floodyness.

Self reply #2 since I've learned something.

Total light output (ie lumens) does not have to result in a dazzling bright hot spot. If I want to know how dazzling the hotspot is, I should be looking at the hotspot's intensity (ie candelas or cd). Think of a fluorescent light (high total light output, but low intensity) compared to a laser (low total light output, but very high intensity).

Using my C8s and and a 'ballpark' candela number I found for a generic c8 while googling, here's my baseline:

* calculated with a 3,000 mAh battery

So, at the distances I use my flashlight at, I find 30,000 pretty bright and both 9,333 and 1,000 reasonable.

Here's an update to the original table of pop cans, including the new ones from post #2:

* calculated using Nitecore's standby time in their user's manual and a 2S2P battery config with 3400 mAh batteries


Here's an update to the original table of side by sides (ie 2 x 18650) and single cells (1 x 18650), including the new ones from post #2:

* the first number is a narrow hot spot, the second number is a floody hot spot


So it turns out that most of the pop cans on my original list (other than the TK75 and LD75C) have hotspots that not any more intense as my C8s. The only question is whether or not the additional hotspot size will make my eyes more sensitive a fixed intensity level.

It looks like I need to figure out trade offs between overall floridness, achievable hotspot brightness, battery life, and form factor. Comparing lights across equal hotspot intensities makes for some interesting battery life comparisons.