Best Flashlight for under $70?

[Gun]

The Skyray King is a little smaller then a soda can. It's an amazing light and it also tails stands really well so it can be used as a lantern if your power goes out. It will easily light up a room.

It does take 4 X 18650 batteries though and they need to be button top to make good contact. Since the batteries are in parallel you can run it on fewer for a reduced run time.

Oh okay, that's not too bad. Sounds good!

THESE batteries were recommended to me by InfinitusEquitas, they look good to you? I'd like to get the charger for them as well but couldn't find it.

Is there like a duty cycle that you have to do while using the skyray? Infinitus said that once it gets hot, turn it off, let it cool, then switch it back on. However I'm not sure if he meant that for all skyray's or just his modded one.

 

[Livinloud]

CHARGER FOR 4 BATTERIES AT ONCE

 

[Gun]

CHARGER FOR 4 BATTERIES AT ONCE

Thanks very much but is there any chance of finding one cheaper than that? If not, that's fine.

 

[jcranmer]

Oh okay, that's not too bad. Sounds good!

THESE batteries were recommended to me by InfinitusEquitas, they look good to you? I'd like to get the charger for them as well but couldn't find it.

Is there like a duty cycle that you have to do while using the skyray? Infinitus said that once it gets hot, turn it off, let it cool, then switch it back on. However I'm not sure if he meant that for all skyray's or just his modded one.

Those batteries should be great and that's a great price.

This is what I'm using at the moment:
AW 18650 Protected 2200 mAh Rechargeable Lithium Battery

 

[Gun]

Those batteries should be great and that's a great price.

This is what I'm using at the moment:
AW 18650 Protected 2200 mAh Rechargeable Lithium Battery

Okay thanks

So now I think I'm just going to wait till my birthday, see if I can get a bit of money, then decide what to buy and what I can afford.

 

[Livinloud]

cheaper yeah you can get a 2 battery charger for $10-12. i dont recommend junk, that one i linked is top of the line goodness slightly lower quality would be THIS but when you think of it that one is roughly $5/battery slot and the nitecore is $6/battery slot AND it can charge 4 different batteries at once and know when each battery is done. it is legit a smart charger. i dont recommend buying those junky chinese brand chargers but the knightfire is good even though its chinese. i have the knightfire right now and am buying the nitecore next week. id sell you my knightfire but the shipping would kill you

 

[Gun]

cheaper yeah you can get a 2 battery charger for $10-12. i dont recommend junk, that one i linked is top of the line goodness slightly lower quality would be THIS but when you think of it that one is roughly $5/battery slot and the nitecore is $6/battery slot AND it can charge 4 different batteries at once and know when each battery is done. it is legit a smart charger. i dont recommend buying those junky chinese brand chargers but the knightfire is good even though its chinese. i have the knightfire right now and am buying the nitecore next week. id sell you my knightfire but the shipping would kill you

Good explanation, if I decide to get the flashlight I'll get the charger you linked . Haha, very true :na:

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

Those batteries should be great and that's a great price.

This is what I'm using at the moment:
AW 18650 Protected 2200 mAh Rechargeable Lithium Battery

Those are good, I have a couple.

On a dollar to mAh ratio though... they kind of suck

The 3100mAh panasonics offer the best capacity, chemistry, and quality combination.

These sanyo cells are also excellent: $11.03 Sanyo UR18650F 18650 2600mAh Protected Rechargeable Lithium Batteries (2-pack) 2-pack - protected at FastTech - Worldwide Free Shipping

Obviously the 3400mAh cells are even better than the 3100mAh, but they don't quite have the best price...

If you want premium cells, these are currently the best option, without breaking the bank on AW's: 2pcs keeppower 18650 Rechargeable Battery 3400mAh [Keeppower 3400] - $25.00 : www.doingoutdoor.com

Also a note of caution - the SRK can run on even 1 cell, but you will be putting a lot, a lot more strain on it.

If you do this with a crappy cell - you're asking for a lot of trouble. Only IMR cells are really meant to handle that kind of discharge. Of course the trade off is reduced capacity.

Second note of caution - the SRK has no low voltage protection. It will keep going until the battery is depleted. Considering how much the batteries cost... best to avoid that. Meaning protected batteries only in the SRK if you want to play it safe.

 

[ryansoh3]

Also a note of caution - the SRK can run on even 1 cell, but you will be putting a lot, a lot more strain on it.

I had some trouble with that, as the battery holder doesn't have designated slots and the cells rely on each other to hold together.

Two cells were fine, but one would wobble around and make no contact.

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

I had some trouble with that, as the battery holder doesn't have designated slots and the cells rely on each other to hold together.

Two cells were fine, but one would wobble around and make no contact.

You kind of have to just have the battery in the compartment on the botton, hold it sideways, and twist on the head slowly.

No reason to do that though :tinfoil:

Also they took care of that issue on the latest clone version by extending the grooves just a little bit.

 

[Gun]

So just to clarify, as long as I get THESE batteries and THIS charger, I'll be fine?

 

[jcranmer]

So just to clarify, as long as I get THESE batteries and THIS charger, I'll be fine?

Yep, although I don't have that charger...yet!

 

[Laik]

Why not just make your own? *Que Old el Paso's "Why not have both?" music*

 

[Gun]

Why not just make your own? *Que Old el Paso's "Why not have both?" music*

Nah. I'm already sort of building a laser (as you know) that may screw up, I want to know my flashlight will work!

 

[Livinloud]

you can get different batteries if you want to have more.......


20 batteries for $45 shipped

12 2400mAh Sanyo for $50

 

[jcranmer]

Those are good, I have a couple.

On a dollar to mAh ratio though... they kind of suck

Oh I know there are better prices on even better cells. I just like lighthound because I don't normally like to wait on shipping from China.

Also a note of caution - the SRK can run on even 1 cell, but you will be putting a lot, a lot more strain on it.

If you do this with a crappy cell - you're asking for a lot of trouble. Only IMR cells are really meant to handle that kind of discharge. Of course the trade off is reduced capacity.

Second note of caution - the SRK has no low voltage protection. It will keep going until the battery is depleted. Considering how much the batteries cost... best to avoid that. Meaning protected batteries only in the SRK if you want to play it safe.

The fewest I've run one on was two cells just to see if it would work. As already mentioned the battery holder makes even trying a single cell too much trouble. Even with two cells I didn't try to run it for more then a couple of minutes.

Since flashlights get more run time then lasers, I almost always recommend and use protected cells.