Help find-best "cheap" led flashlight !

HELP !! I want to buy a fairly cheap, powerful and bright LED Flashlight that have ratings of 900-1200 Lumens.
My knowledge of LED's is really very limited My ?"s about flashlights are:
#1-Which LED Dies are the most powerful/brightest ?-MC-E , SST-50,?, etc.
#2- " " " " "" Have the most "THROW" ?--I need a tight beam with "Throw" ability
#3-What type of reflector is best to keep the beam tight for distance ?
#4-I basically just need a 3 mode flashlightlight--HI-LOW-STROBE.
#5-Flashlights that use 2-3 types of rechargeable batteries-(18650, CR123, 14500, etc.)
#6-I'm looking for a cheap Hi-Power LED Flashlight.
Your help and recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, MIKE

You can choose the Ultrafire 501B ,or 502B flashlight ,it is cheap, now have SSC p7,MCE ,XP-G Led you can choose ,i personly advice you choose SSC P7 if you want 900 lumens

Nothing from dealextreme & friends comes close to 900 lumens. Cheap lights at high powers are bad. There are plenty of OK lights, but if you really want >1000 OTF lumens go with something like the SR90 or a modded maglite with SSC-P7 dropin.

Not even a P7 will be able to get you there. The easiest way to accomplish this would be either an SST-50, or a triple R5. Many of the cheaper 50's only put out around 400-600 lumens. Like ossumguywill said, a modded Mag would work. Also, this light is a possibility, if you can get it driven at 4.5A.

That's a good idea-a triple R5 setup in a maglite might get you the power you're looking for.

You could try looking over at Candle power forum.

LED's will give you around 100lm pr. Watt, that means you need pretty good heatsinking. Cheap lights does not have that.

Guys; This is in response to your help and suggestions regarding my LED flashlight search.

LIGHTTAKE: You were the 1st to answer. Thank you very much for your answer and suggestions.

OSSUMGUYWILL: Regarding the SR90 , is that the OLIGHT SR90 you are talking about ? If it is , remember I said "cheap" ! That's a lot of $$$ and a big bunch of Lumens (2200). If it's not the OLIGHT SR90, please let me know the SR90 LED that you are referring to. (OSGW, You must travel alot because your postings are from all over the country !)

RANDOMLUGIA: You made reference to 555. That's the ULTRAFIRE CREE RF5 flashlight that you placed a link in your post in answer to my OP here. Can you tell me anything about the RF5 LED ? I think that maybe you are somewhat of a flashaholic !

TOKE: The CandlePowerForums. That's a tuff crew on that site. They are really into light related stuff and if you are not already in the know-how about LED related stuff, it's hard to get help to your ??'s sometimes.

Guys, I'll be waiting to hear back from you with your answers and anymore suggestions if you have some. Also, to those of you who have extended their HELP , THANK YOU !! MIKE

I have a SSC-90 from 4sevens and have just ordered THIS flashlight from DX.

It looks like something with a good throw and maybe capable of handeling the heat from the diode. Getting a driver will be a problem, but it looks like a 18650 match the SSC-90 for direct drive.

Another option I am working on is to take an Ultrafire WF-501B in P7 900LM configuration and add an aspheric lens. THIS one.
It is still "waiting for supplier".

202bigmike said:

OSSUMGUYWILL: Regarding the SR90 , is that the OLIGHT SR90 you are talking about ? If it is , remember I said "cheap" ! That's a lot of $$$ and a big bunch of Lumens (2200). If it's not the OLIGHT SR90, please let me know the SR90 LED that you are referring to. (OSGW, You must travel alot because your postings are from all over the country !)

Click to expand...

There is no "cheap" light that will actually give you this many lumens. 99% of the lumen ratings from DX or other chinese sellers are outright lies. The cheapest you could effectively get is a maglite with a modified LED dropin.

202bigmike said:

RANDOMLUGIA: You made reference to 555. That's the ULTRAFIRE CREE RF5 flashlight that you placed a link in your post in answer to my OP here. Can you tell me anything about the RF5 LED ? I think that maybe you are somewhat of a flashaholic !

Click to expand...

I also think you should head to CPF to get some input. Those guys really know what they're talking about, especially when it comes to modifications. I'm sorry, but I don't know too much about the light I posted. It's a very common host, most likely a copy of the Ultrafire WF-1000L. 2 18650 batteries should give you a hours of runtime, assuming you can get the light driven at 3A or more. Out of the box, the light won't give you nearly 1000 lumens, yet a driver mod to it is probably your cheapest option.

Many people ask why buy the chinese stuff, it rarely works right. Well, I buy it because it's cheap, knowing full-well that I'll need/want to mod it to work better, or at least as spec'd.

i just bought one in the US advertised as 500 lumen. It takes an 18650 battery and cost me $10.50 shipped.

I plan on using them for my next kits. Would be awesome to have tons of LED's capable of 500 lumens each

we'll see though....

Replying to 5 Posters

TOKE: Thanks for your help and the links that you have supplied. Let me know what happens when the lens supplier thing gets straightened out.

OSSUNGUYWILL: LED drop-in. Hmmm--Now, that's something for me to look into. What type of mag modified LED drop-in you suggesting ? Do the drop-ins have strobe mode ?

RANDOMLUGIA: I have listened to the suggestions made here and I have just started to look on CPF again .

BShanahan14Rulz: I understand what you're saying about " buying cheap" but I don't know how to modify them or get them up to specs, because I 'm not mechanically inclined.

MOHRENBERG:I have some ??'s about the US advertised 500 lumens-1X 18650 battery-$10.50 shipped LED flashlight. How many modes does it have ? 3 modes (Hi-Lo-Strobe) ? What type of switch ? I'm just looking for a cheap flashlight. How can I see it ? Can I get a link ? Let me know.

Once again, Thanks Guys. MIKE

202bigmike said:

OSSUNGUYWILL: LED drop-in. Hmmm--Now, that's something for me to look into. What type of mag modified LED drop-in you suggesting ? Do the drop-ins have strobe mode ?

Click to expand...

Dropin Lamp Assembly for MagLite : Malkoff Devices. Super bright, powerful LED modifications for flashlights, Super bright, powerful LED modifications for flashlights
the best available.

ossumguywill said:

Dropin Lamp Assembly for MagLite : Malkoff Devices. Super bright, powerful LED modifications for flashlights, Super bright, powerful LED modifications for flashlights
the best available.

Click to expand...

What is that link doing in a "cheap LED" tread.

As for my ideas, they will likely founder on the voltage drop on a 18650 at high discharge current and the fact that DC current is murder on contacts, e.g. tailclickys..
It will still be fun to try.
Later I can go look for a host with sideclicky and room for a small auto-contact designed for high DC currents.

Toke said:

What is that link doing in a "cheap LED" tread.

As for my ideas, they will likely founder on the voltage drop on a 18650 at high discharge current and the fact that DC current is murder on contacts, e.g. tailclickys..
It will still be fun to try.
Later I can go look for a host with sideclicky and room for a small auto-contact designed for high DC currents.

Click to expand...

Make sure that the current draw in your flashlight is reasonable. 5A from a single 18650 will be extremely dangerous.