# Best compact hid for under $300



## light obsessed (Sep 30, 2009)

What is a very durable compact tube style hid light with the most throw for the price.


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## Tekno_Cowboy (Sep 30, 2009)

The Wolf-Eyes HID's are pretty nice, or so I hear.


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## Patriot (Sep 30, 2009)

The price of the aluminum tube HID came down greatly with the introduction of the Tactical24 HID and Oracle24 HID both available through the The CPF Marketplace. These are essentially the same lights sold through different distributors. Most people here have purchased the Oracle.




The Wolf Eyes Boxer is the smallest 24W light made and it's only definciency I can think of is its 6000K beam vs. the 4300K beam of the other two lights. On the plus side, the Boxer has a 3 cell carrier and will except any 18650 rechargeable. The other two lights use propriety battery packs. 


That should get you started. Don't forget to search the existing threads about these lights here at CPF proper.


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## roadie (Oct 1, 2009)

bare in mind ...... at msrp of $300, 

its almost sure that its made in china ... so if u dun mind the quality, poor charging (lions cells not balanced, thus battery life shorten and unequal output), finishes easily scratched, no warranty or too expensive to send back to manufactor to repair.

Why not ?


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## Patriot (Oct 2, 2009)

roadie said:


> bare in mind ...... at msrp of $300,
> 
> no warranty or too expensive to send back to manufactor to repair.





The three that I mentioned all have dealer support in the US.


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## light obsessed (Oct 5, 2009)

What is the farthest throwing tube style hid light under $300


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## Patriot (Oct 5, 2009)

light obsessed said:


> What is the farthest throwing tube style hid light under $300





I'd have to guess the Oracle 35 since I don't know of any other tube light under $300 that has the same wattage. If you do order it I would inquire about getting a smooth reflector if they offer one. This will improve the throw substantially.


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## light obsessed (Oct 5, 2009)

AE makes a 15watt xenon for $300. I read that they have better reflectors and are better quality. What do you think about ae?


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## jasonck08 (Oct 5, 2009)

light obsessed said:


> AE makes a 15watt xenon for $300. I read that they have better reflectors and are better quality. What do you think about ae?


 
I wouldn't go for an HID as low powered as 15W's, or you'd be right around the brightness of a quad die LED light such as one with a P7 or MC-E LED.


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## light obsessed (Oct 5, 2009)

What kind of lumens does a p7 light put out behind a reflector and lense. I have a malkoff maglite d cell p7 and it claims 700 out the front lumens. Does ae claim out the front lumens or just bulb lumens? An hid will still throw a good bit farther right?


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## Patriot (Oct 6, 2009)

All of these HIDs are rated in bulb lumens just as most LED lights are rated in emitter lumens. LEDs are 5-10% more efficient at getting lumens out the front because they rely less on the reflector. You're correct that any of these HIDs will throw farther than any quad die LED.

Your original requirement was "compact" and "the best throw for the price"

This is going to be a 24/25W HID. You have the three original choices I provided, or you can go to a 25W AE Xenide and sacrifice the compactness. It out throws all of the tube lights that I'm aware of. The exception would be to have a smooth reflector for the 35W Oracle or Tactical but I don't know if that's an option or not. I read somewhere that it was.


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## light obsessed (Oct 6, 2009)

I was going to get a malkoff p7 and put it in a mag 6d to get about 6 hours of runtime. I just couldn't justify the cost of over $300 with all the components and the size and weight of the 6d. The 6d won't be as handy as the oracle or as bright. I think I am going to buy the oracle 24x-9 that comes with 2 batteries. Are there any problems with this light that I should worry about? Where can I find some white wall beam shots of this light? I have looked all over and I have only found 1 picture of beam shots. Are there any aftermarket bulbs that I can put in this light to make the beam smoother?


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## Patriot (Oct 6, 2009)

light obsessed said:


> Where can I find some white wall beam shots of this light? I have looked all over and I have only found 1 picture of beam shots. Are there any aftermarket bulbs that I can put in this light to make the beam smoother?




Did you perform a CPF only Google search yet? See window just to the left of your log in name at upper right. Here is one thread.

HID bulbs don't really have much bearing on how smooth a beam is. The reflector does and this light already has a heavily textured reflector. It about as smooth a beam as HID can produce outside of frosting the lens or filtering.


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## light obsessed (Oct 6, 2009)

Yes I have searched for this flashlight using the search function. I was having trouble seeing pictures with internet explorer so I switched to a different browser and I can see the beam shots now. I skimmed over 10 pages of a thread for the oracle 24w and people have been having battery problems. I read that the battery with the warning sticker was the bad one and the one without the warning sticker was good. What do you think about all this? I definitely want to get one as the price is right but after doing some reading I am thinking that the battery problem is the result of the low price.


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## Patriot (Oct 7, 2009)

Any light can come new with an under performing battery. If you're skeptical, call them on the phone and ask them to function test your specific light before shipping it. A lot of these have been sold and few have problems. If you're still leery buy a different brand but realize there is no guarantee for 100% reliability and that includes LED lights. Even some of them use proprietary li-ion battery packs...some of which might not work as advertised. Purchasing from a dealer with a good reputation insures that you won't ultimately lose out.


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## brightnorm (Oct 7, 2009)

Patriot said:


> ...
> The Wolf Eyes Boxer is the smallest 24W light made and it's only definciency I can think of is its 6000K beam vs. the 4300K beam of the other two lights. On the plus side, the Boxer has a 3 cell carrier and will except any 18650 rechargeable. The other two lights use propriety battery packs....


I am _almost _very happy with my Boxer. It is indeed small, about the same size and weight as the Tigerlight FBOP (7-7/8" L & 19.5oz vs the Tigerlight's 8-1/8" & 19.1oz). Despite its wider bezel and body it still hefts and carrys very much like the Tigerlight.

There are three changes that would make it a truly outstanding small 24 w HID:
1) 4300K - 4,800K bulb
2) Faster ramp-up
3) Full regulation (I haven't been able to confirm specifics of the Boxer's regulation, if any.

I realize this is like saying that we could have great apple pie if only we had apples, but if any modder out there could transform the Boxer from a fine little light to a great one, I suspect I wouldn't be the only one in line with "Paypal $$$ sent".

Brightnorm


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## cernobila (Oct 7, 2009)

Tekno_Cowboy said:


> The Wolf-Eyes HID's are pretty nice, or so I hear.



Well because I like the WE M300 to the point that it is now my main "pick-up" light for normal use, I decided to try out my first HID light.......so I have the WE 24W 3x168 Boxer on the way. This will be my "outback in the middle of nowhere" travel/camping light.


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## light obsessed (Oct 8, 2009)

I think that I will save some money and go with either the oracle 35w or the 24w. I'm not sure which brand to go with though. Which one should I go with? Which one is better as far as supporting their product and responsiveness?


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## Hwy115 (Oct 11, 2009)

How about this one?

http://www.xenontorch.com/website/web_page/products/FL02GM.htm

In the mid to low 200's on ebay. Works great. Made in Japan.


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## Patriot (Oct 11, 2009)

Hwy115 said:


> How about this one?
> 
> http://www.xenontorch.com/website/web_page/products/FL02GM.htm
> 
> In the mid to low 200's on ebay. Works great. Made in Japan.




That's essentially the same light as the "Tactical" and "Oracle" HID's but without all of the good member user history, CPF supporting dealers, and CPF discount. If a person was going to buy this style/model of light, I can't going through any other dealers unless they want to join in the CPF community and offer the same benefits. 







> *brightnorm
> *
> There are three changes that would make it a truly outstanding small 24 w HID:
> 1) 4300K - 4,800K bulb
> ...



Yes, those would all be fantastic changes. I've only ever seen one regulation chart and it's not too bad looking for this type of light.








All things considered I'd just be happy if WE used a 4300-5000K.


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## cernobila (Oct 11, 2009)

Patriot said:


> All things considered I'd just be happy if WE used a 4300-5000K.



I tried out the Boxer 24W/168R at night outdoors and compared it to my Maglite loaded with 1185 bulb and 3x Kaidomain D Li-ion cells. The Boxer was slightly brighter and very white compared to the 1185 which looked light-brown. I am happy with the Boxer performance and this light will replace the 1185 Maglite on my next outback camping trip through Western Australia......also like the idea of having only one cell type to carry and charge.


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## Patriot (Oct 12, 2009)

cernobila said:


> I tried out the Boxer 24W/168R at night outdoors and compared it to my Maglite loaded with 1185 bulb and 3x Kaidomain D Li-ion cells. The Boxer was slightly brighter and very white compared to the 1185 which looked light-brown.




Well, I've never seen an 1185 look light-brown unless the batteries were nearly dead or the bulb was faulty but perhaps you just meant that as a comparative, exaggerated example which is fine by me. 

To me, the 1185 seems yellow-ish white and the boxer seems very blue. My ideal color temp preference splits the difference between these two examples right down the middle and so I prefer 4300-5000K. When I used to use the Boxer, Microfire, or AE lights I often notice that they're not ideal but accept them for some of their inherent benefits. In the case of the Boxer24 and K3500R, the main benefit is that they're the smallest examples of their givin wattage but the Boxer's ability to take any 18650 is pretty darn neat too. I can see why it's your newly chosen camp light. :thumbsup:


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## cernobila (Oct 12, 2009)

Patriot said:


> Well, I've never seen an 1185 look light-brown unless the batteries were nearly dead or the bulb was faulty but perhaps you just meant that as a comparative, exaggerated example which is fine by me.
> 
> To me, the 1185 seems yellow-ish white and the boxer seems very blue. In the case of the Boxer24 and K3500R, the main benefit is that they're the smallest examples of their givin wattage but the Boxer's ability to take any 18650 is pretty darn neat too. I can see why it's your newly chosen camp light. :thumbsup:



Yep, as you said above........but my Boxer looks white with no tint that I could pick......and having all my lights use the same cells is a bonus.....


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## JWBlack (Oct 15, 2009)

Patriot said:


> The price of the aluminum tube HID came down greatly with the introduction of the Tactical24 HID and Oracle24 HID both available through the The CPF Marketplace. These are essentially the same lights sold through different distributors. Most people here have purchased the Oracle.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## Patriot (Oct 16, 2009)

*JW*, looks like you may have had some technical difficulties in quoting me but I extracted the following so I hope I got it correctly......

No sweat btw. 




> *JWBlack*
> Do you have an opinion about the Wolf Eyes Boxerr that you would care to share?




I think it's the best light of the three mentioned with the exception of the 6000+K beam. If it was closer to 5000K color temperature I don't think the light could be beat in the ultra compact group.


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## Tessaiga (Oct 16, 2009)

Hey... I've got a Boxer for sale..... hint hint.... CPFMP.....  


OK... back to topic...... I too have been wondering if there is anything more compact than the Boxer..... 

Saw the Polarion PH50 and that was a BEAST!!!! Super compact relative to the light that it puts out, but to say its compact would be really stretching it. Not too keen on the new 24W HIDs myself...

Guess will have to wait to see if someone comes up with something exciting some time soon...


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