The brightest light I have is a Quark 123^2 S2, which is a fine flashlight but not much of a thrower. I don't want to spend a lot more than $100. I'm thinking about the Maelstrom X7, but I want to avail myself of the collective wisdom. Your suggestions gratefully appreciated.
I have never used an X7, but I have the G5 and the thing throws like there is no tomorrow. It throws better than my E2DL and my LX2, but since it is reflectored instead of using a lens, the light itself is pretty large.
I like my Quark 2 AA turbo it throw's a beem of light a long long way. 75 to 100 $ I got mine from kandelpower off amazon.
If you don't mind a little DIY, I bought the pieces off Lighthound. I bought a SolarForce L2X body and a SolarForce LC2 Cree R2 drop-in. It will throw 300 lum at 80 yards with just two CR123s.
Three hundred lumens doesn't sound that impressive for throw unless it's a tight beam. Will that out-throw a Maelstrom?
Slightly thicker, but also slightly shorter than your current light, but it might be worth waiting for the release of the ZebraLight SC600. 750 Lumens Bezel ø 30mm Body ø 25.4mm Length 107mm http://www.zebralight.com/SC600-Cree-XM-L-750Lm-Flashlight-18650_p_55.html I'm waiting till a few folks have reviewed them, but baring ZL totally screwing up it's pretty much a foregone conclusion one i'll be making it's way into my collection. Cheers Mark
For sheer output the SC600 is a bargain compared to the Maelstrom. The head is smaller though, so I'm not (yet) convinced of how well it will throw.
I'm not the flashoholic many are here and at CPF. I followed advise i did search on on that site. Basically bought a body donor and drop in for a 2X 18650 set up. Throws better then my $150 V2 Catapult, guessing 600-800 OTF, but a real thrower. Cost under $60 less batteries. Do a little research on existing threads here , at CPF and DX forum as well.
I just picked up a Fenix TK35. Listed as 820 lumens and 333m of throw for about $110.00, here's a link http://www.batteryjunction.com/fenix-tk353.html I also bought 18650(2) rechargeable batteries and a charger, but it will run on 4 x 123's also. The light is rather hand-filling, but not overly large. Probably not a good EDC candidate, but great for what it is. It also has multi-levels and strobe. BTW, 820 lumens of strobe is serious business. My coworker tried to look into the strobe in a well lit room on a dare for 5 seconds, he managed 1.5 seconds and almost puked for his trouble.
IMHO whaen looking for thrower, look at reflector texture... As far as I know there are three types: 1. Orange peel OP - on most of lamps it difuzes light so that you have shorter beam shot but wider, used mostly on EDC and general purpose lamps 2. Smooth - SMO - IMO this is more tactical and hunting lights where you need larger throw and narrower beam, mostly mounted on hunting weapons for night hunting, don't know of military and law enforcement use (out of my expertize ) 3. Lite orange peel LOP - somewhere in between two mentioned above Look at JetBeam lights, they have some premium OP and SMO reflectors on their series...
Consider the Incendio TRUST 2. Pocketable,great thrower,around $65 shipped. Think Tod still has some at illuminationgear.com. I have two. Only thing I have that out-throws them is the LumaPower SigTac XM-L...which is around $120 shipped,but too large for my pockets. Update: Here's the link to more info,on CPF.My username was taken there; they know me as PsychRN: http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?238835-TRUST-series-Model-2-Now-Ready-to-Ship-27-Nov-2010
My friend have a Fenix Tk15 and it's a pretty good thrower (over 200 metres). I'm not really sure about the price but it should be rather cheap.
You know if you want a EDC pocket thrower that uses a single AA, the MTE C3-907 is outstanding for 25 bucks. http://site.gregmcgeeengineering.com/C3-907.html FerFAL
I don't have any experience with Fenix but I can tell you my Streamlight PT-2L sure has throw. At seven feet the very beam is only eight inches in diameter.
I bought a Lumapower Standard Signature that puts out 265 Lumens. It comes with a orange peel reflector, and a smooth reflector. Installing the smooth reflector makes this light a suberb thrower! The beam is nice and tight with no dark spots at all.
As a pocket thrower its hard to beat a JetBeam Jet-I Pro SMO fed an AW 14500. I wanted the OP reflector and when it arrived was SMO. One use was all it took to realize Cree rings are meaningless on a thrower. Kept and carry almost daily. Larger head options will outperform, but for ease of having with you when you need distance is its virtue.
Mine is the Sig Tac XM-L version with the extra head & 18650 tube. By far,the most outrageous $120 thrower I've ever seen....and I've owned a few... Really liking that sidekick button.
You may struggle to find a good thrower for under $100 without cutting some corners. Another vote for the ThruNite Catapult 2. And don't let people tell you that: 1) Anything XP-G is throwy, it's not that throwy 2) Anything using less than 2x18650 will be throwy. 3) Unless your definition of throwy is specific to small form-factor lights (1x18650, 2xAA, 2x123, etc). Honestly checking out CandlePowerForums will be much more helpful than here.
