Discussion
V8RX7 said:
A quick google suggests 500 lumen so it'll be as crap and overpriced as all the other maglites IME
They were good in the 90's compared to the £5 ones in woolworths but things have moved on !
I recently bought the BLF A6 1600 lumen which goes well with my Convoy L6 3800 lumen
And the BLF A6 is only £15They were good in the 90's compared to the £5 ones in woolworths but things have moved on !
I recently bought the BLF A6 1600 lumen which goes well with my Convoy L6 3800 lumen
nanodex said:
I thought getting a new torch would be a simple business, and quickly found myself completely bewildered with the options! I'm after a replacement for a Nightsearcher Trio which I've been using as my dog walking torch (rural Wales) but which is beginning to fail - the batteries drain very quickly these days. Obviously I'm after an upgrade... Ideally I'd get something with a dock where I could leave it charging, and just grab it when I go out. At a minimum it would have a charge level indicator as I'm getting fed up with the current one's habit of just switching off mid walk.
A lot of very small torches these days have a lumen output far in excess of the trio's - would something like the Olight s2r be a good choice? Not that the torch needs to be small, it's just that all the ones I've seen with docks or charging brackets seem to be.
Thanks!
Olight are a solid brand and good for docking purposes. Most of their lights tend to be a bit more floody than throwy. A lot of very small torches these days have a lumen output far in excess of the trio's - would something like the Olight s2r be a good choice? Not that the torch needs to be small, it's just that all the ones I've seen with docks or charging brackets seem to be.
Thanks!
This has what I consider an excellent mix of flood and throw - I use it as my road bike main light because I can see the immediate surrounds, whilst it still has a strong enough hotspot to be able to spot well ahead at the same time. I really like the beam pattern. Charging is via a microUSB cable.
https://www.gearbest.com/led-flashlights/pp_449755...
You'll need to grab an 18650 battery to go in there but they aren't expensive, something like this Panasonic NCR18650B should do nicely.
https://www.gearbest.com/batteries/pp_187046.html?...
tenohfive said:
Olight are a solid brand and good for docking purposes. Most of their lights tend to be a bit more floody than throwy.
This has what I consider an excellent mix of flood and throw - I use it as my road bike main light because I can see the immediate surrounds, whilst it still has a strong enough hotspot to be able to spot well ahead at the same time. I really like the beam pattern. Charging is via a microUSB cable.
https://www.gearbest.com/led-flashlights/pp_449755...
You'll need to grab an 18650 battery to go in there but they aren't expensive, something like this Panasonic NCR18650B should do nicely.
https://www.gearbest.com/batteries/pp_187046.html?...
Thanks for the recommendation - it's certainly a good illustration of how expensive the likes of Olight really are! I am however getting quite attached to the idea of a dock, ideally a wall-mount. Is there anything more reasonably priced than the usual 'premium' brands? E.g. the Olight R50 Seeker Pro LE looks ideal but that's £140 (!) This has what I consider an excellent mix of flood and throw - I use it as my road bike main light because I can see the immediate surrounds, whilst it still has a strong enough hotspot to be able to spot well ahead at the same time. I really like the beam pattern. Charging is via a microUSB cable.
https://www.gearbest.com/led-flashlights/pp_449755...
You'll need to grab an 18650 battery to go in there but they aren't expensive, something like this Panasonic NCR18650B should do nicely.
https://www.gearbest.com/batteries/pp_187046.html?...
Morning all, looking for a recommendation if possible please. We need a new torch for work, would prefer something that has a docking station with rechargeable battery as opposed to consistently buying new batteries but i have no idea where to look. Cost - around £50? Unless that's impossible?
I don't know what else to say, will be used each night for a couple of hours of constant use. Starters for ten?
I don't know what else to say, will be used each night for a couple of hours of constant use. Starters for ten?
mazdajason said:
Morning all, looking for a recommendation if possible please. We need a new torch for work, would prefer something that has a docking station with rechargeable battery as opposed to consistently buying new batteries but i have no idea where to look. Cost - around £50? Unless that's impossible?
I don't know what else to say, will be used each night for a couple of hours of constant use. Starters for ten?
Starter for £70... Olight S30R III, although it’s dock is just a magnetic base.I don't know what else to say, will be used each night for a couple of hours of constant use. Starters for ten?
If you’re looking for a cradle type, then expect to pay a fair bit more, albeit with an increase in output and runtime – i.e. the R50 Pro Seeker Law is 3200 vs 1050 lumens.
Look for something with 18650/26650/26700 battery, and check the runtime of Turbo mode. Most give max output for only a very short period before thermal management drops it to High mode or an output level above High which the body can disipate the heat without being too hot to hold comfortably with bare skin.
Search using something like “led torch charging dock/cradle”, of which this post/thread will now become one of the hits.
mazdajason said:
Morning all, looking for a recommendation if possible please. We need a new torch for work, would prefer something that has a docking station with rechargeable battery as opposed to consistently buying new batteries but i have no idea where to look. Cost - around £50? Unless that's impossible?
I don't know what else to say, will be used each night for a couple of hours of constant use. Starters for ten?
Personally I'd look at buying one which takes 18650 batteries and buy rechargeables and a charger - easily doable within budget and then when one item breaks you only have to replace it rather than the whole thing.I don't know what else to say, will be used each night for a couple of hours of constant use. Starters for ten?
Also you'll have spare batteries for when someone forgets to charge it.
chris4652009 said:
Guys, have any of you had any luck fixing the end cap style push button switches please? mine is flickering and dropping between modes on it's own at the moment.
It's a shame as it's a great torch
TIA
It may be that the battery's slightly loose inside and able to momentarily break connection. I had this problem with my BLF A6SE when I was using it as a bike light, a little shim along the length of the battery tube (made from a plastic straw) fixed the problem instantly.It's a shame as it's a great torch
TIA
I picked up a Convoy C8 XPL-HI from the gearbest sale, it arrived and I compared it to my trusty LED Lenser and another chinese twin 18650 torch and was initially very disappointed - how is it not brighter than my 12 year old lenser?
Then I realised it has about 11 billion modes and found the brightest setting and yes I can see how technology has moved on because it lights up my garden like daylight, and the central bright spot is actually too bright to look at!
For £14 that's a winner, it's gone in with the camping gear.
It's hard to imagine getting something brighter at that price point and I love the single 18650 format.
Then I realised it has about 11 billion modes and found the brightest setting and yes I can see how technology has moved on because it lights up my garden like daylight, and the central bright spot is actually too bright to look at!
For £14 that's a winner, it's gone in with the camping gear.
It's hard to imagine getting something brighter at that price point and I love the single 18650 format.
_dobbo_ said:
I picked up a Convoy C8 XPL-HI from the gearbest sale, it arrived and I compared it to my trusty LED Lenser and another chinese twin 18650 torch and was initially very disappointed - how is it not brighter than my 12 year old lenser?
Then I realised it has about 11 billion modes and found the brightest setting and yes I can see how technology has moved on because it lights up my garden like daylight, and the central bright spot is actually too bright to look at!
For £14 that's a winner, it's gone in with the camping gear.
It's hard to imagine getting something brighter at that price point and I love the single 18650 format.
My first decent torch was a Lenser following advice from forums and it wasn't a bad torch for IIRC £30 - certainly far better than my old Maglite.Then I realised it has about 11 billion modes and found the brightest setting and yes I can see how technology has moved on because it lights up my garden like daylight, and the central bright spot is actually too bright to look at!
For £14 that's a winner, it's gone in with the camping gear.
It's hard to imagine getting something brighter at that price point and I love the single 18650 format.
Around a year later I bought a £2.50 chinese LED torch that was almost as good.
I bought my kids £1 (including postage) LED torches last year and they are better than the £20 mini maglites, people who insist on paying a fortune for "premium" torches are spending far more than necessary IME
I followed the same route - Lenser as a first 'good' torch until I knew better. The trouble all started when the second torch was a BLF A6 during the earlier days (back before they were cool) - it was a slippery slope from there.
Convoy are always consistent, functional, well performing and completely nail the VFM price point - they're such an underrated brand.
Convoy are always consistent, functional, well performing and completely nail the VFM price point - they're such an underrated brand.
I have a feeling there are several torch threads, but because this is PH, searching for them is a soul-destroying waste of time. This is the one I found, so here goes...
Anyway. I'm after a small pocket torch. I have a Maglite AAA, which eats batteries, and is fairly crap even when they are full. I converted a bigger Maglite to LED, so I know LED helps, but, whilst trying to avoid falling down the rabbit hole, what can you recommend for non-torch enthusiast money, that takes 1 or 2 AAAs, and fits into a jeans pocket easily?
TIA
Anyway. I'm after a small pocket torch. I have a Maglite AAA, which eats batteries, and is fairly crap even when they are full. I converted a bigger Maglite to LED, so I know LED helps, but, whilst trying to avoid falling down the rabbit hole, what can you recommend for non-torch enthusiast money, that takes 1 or 2 AAAs, and fits into a jeans pocket easily?
TIA
Doofus said:
I have a feeling there are several torch threads, but because this is PH, searching for them is a soul-destroying waste of time. This is the one I found, so here goes...
Anyway. I'm after a small pocket torch. I have a Maglite AAA, which eats batteries, and is fairly crap even when they are full. I converted a bigger Maglite to LED, so I know LED helps, but, whilst trying to avoid falling down the rabbit hole, what can you recommend for non-torch enthusiast money, that takes 1 or 2 AAAs, and fits into a jeans pocket easily?
TIA
Anyway. I'm after a small pocket torch. I have a Maglite AAA, which eats batteries, and is fairly crap even when they are full. I converted a bigger Maglite to LED, so I know LED helps, but, whilst trying to avoid falling down the rabbit hole, what can you recommend for non-torch enthusiast money, that takes 1 or 2 AAAs, and fits into a jeans pocket easily?
TIA
Easy one, the Olight linked below.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Olight®-Keychain-Fla...
bingybongy said:
Easy when you know, yes...Lovely, cheers
ETA: Decent battery life?
Doofus said:
I have a feeling there are several torch threads, but because this is PH, searching for them is a soul-destroying waste of time. This is the one I found, so here goes...
Wash your mouth out!!!! This is the ONLY torch thread!You have many options and will be amazed at how good they are compared to a Maglight. The question is what you use it for and once that's clear advice will follow.
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