Looking for something a bit brighter/better quality than the real cheap ones that sometimes feature on OzB but not looking to fork out big $$$. I know I could trawl through pages on the candlepower forums but most of that is for more than I would want to spend and to be honest I don't really have the time or motivation. I am more so wondering if someone who is into them has looked at one and thought that's (Probably crap compared to the 10 I have in my collection but) a good value torch.
Best Torch/Flash Light for around $20
tryagain on 15/11/2015 - 21:44
Comments
Convoy S2 is good, but it runs off 18650 batteries, which requires a decent investment - about 7 USD for a pair of genuine Samsung cells, or 3.50 USD for a single one. A decent basic charger would also run you about 5-15 USD. This is the kind of stuff I wouldn't skimp on - cheapie Li-ion cells and chargers tend to carry a significantly increased risk of fire/explosion. If you really wanted, you could probably pick up a dodgy cell (probably ripped out of old laptop batteries) for $1 off eBay and some cheap charger with questionable overcharging protection for a little more. I would not recommend doing that.
If you don't want to get into the whole world of 18650 cells, you might want to stick with AA (or even the 3xAA options). You won't get as good runtime, nor as high brightness, but if you have some NiMH AA cells they'd do fairly well (Alkaline does not like high drain).
Let me know which route you want to go and I'll try to provide a bit more info, or specific options.
Personally, I like FastTech, especially since they have a special Australia shipping option for $2 that apparently manages to get Li-ion in without issues (somehow… because most other shipping options will reject them). Actual torch prices are competitive with and maybe slightly better than Banggood.
I was pretty happy with this order: http://www.dhgate.com/product/ultrafire-e17-cree-xm-l-t6-led…. Paid a bit more to get a 2nd 18650 battery + came with a wall and car charger. Has an adapter in case you want to use 3 AAA batteries instead.
@elusive I am not opposed to getting into 18650 batteries, will need to get some batteries for what ever I get anyway although something that will take an the 3 aaa's as well might be a good option. From what I've read fasttech seem to be the supplier of choice for people into torches so if their prices are good I would be happy to go with them. I am also sceptical of of "Chinese lumen's" and knock off's from some suppliers so it makes it hard to compare.
@BlazinPast, certainly seems to be cheap enough for what you get but I suspect those "2000 Lumen's" would be quite overstated so it hard to actually know what your getting and therefore accurately compare.
BLFandCPFcodes will give you 5% off on Fasttech, I believe. Banggood has a similar code.My advice would be to stay far, far away from any batteries or chargers branded "Ultrafire", "Trustfire", etc.. I'm not sure if there even is an official company behind those, but it seems to be the common name used by at least a dozen disparate factories - and they're all shit. Cheap, yes, but you really do get what you pay for there. This is a great site for charger reviews - but just generally on the cheaper end Nitecore is decent, as is Soshine. If you have a good USB charger, this would work. Otherwise, there's a wall-powered version and a dual-slot one. The XTAR MC1 looks good and is the cheapest option at about 7 USD - also requires a good (1A) USB charger.
There are a couple other things to think of, if you want to go with the Convoy S2. Firstly, it's a flooder. That means fairly even light around you, not too concentrated in the middle (contrast thrower, which can cast quite far but not so good up close). Secondly, Fasttech offers quite a range (drop-down list on the right here) - the S2+ uses the newer XM-L2 LEDs, which can be up to 20% brighter.
Most importantly - you've got the mA rating. That's the max power. Apparently medium is 50% and low is 5%. What does this mean? Well, you could go for the most powerful 2800mA option but then you're also dissipating a shitton of heat - you'd get 5 mins before it's uncomfortable and it'd probably burn you at 10 mins. Not to mention being bad for the battery. Consider that if you went for that option you'd be running most of the time in low/medium. If, instead, you went for… say 1400mA max, that's half the brightness but gives you a bit more granularity at the dimmer end: your 5% 50% 100% now covers the 2.5% 25% 50% range of the 2800mA one. (Also, even the 1400mA XM-L2 is about twice as bright as the XP-E used in the Sipik Sk68 and clones you've probably seen on OzB.) This is entirely your choice - I went for the highest-power one.
And the last thing to consider: you see those ratings? T6-3B, T6-4C, U2-1A, etc.? That's the bin and tint. The bin determines the efficiency (light out for energy in, in this case with fixed current better bin = brighter), with U2 being better than T6. The tint determines the colour temperature. Usually warmer tints are lower bins because they have a thicker phosphor coating. IMO the warmer tints actually appear brighter, and are a much more natural colour too - I went for the 4C (T6-4C).
Sipik sk68
elusive…..so this is no good?
http://www.amazon.com/UltraFire-300lm-Flashlight-Torch-Adjustable/dp/B006E0QAFY/ref=pd_sim_sbs_421_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=51ah9rrp7cL&dpSrc=sims&preST=AC_UL160_SR160%2C160&refRID=1NFBX3FV71BD5P60AB99
Okay, with a very quick bit of research I think a Convoy S2 is a contender, http://www.banggood.com/search/convoy-s2.html I have no idea what all the different options are though or has anyone got any other suggestions that they think would be better?