You will need a Li-Ion charger to charge IMR14500.
Your Eneloop charger is for Ni-MH battery only.

To get max 900 lumens from EA11, you will need IMR14500.
Eneloop will only give you 160 lumens, as per their specs.

For SC52, light output with 14500 batteries are the same except that the H1 is 535 lumens for the first minute and then step down to 300 lumens, while Eneloop starts at 300 lumens.

This post has been edited by widget: Oct 1 2015, 07:42 PM

By AA, they mean Eneloop XXX, not cap ayam battery
The new ZL SC5 can go up to 500 lumens, but they are only design to take AA, and not 14500, unlike the SC52 that can still accept both.

If you still in the hunt for Nitecore Tube keychain light, Gearbest is selling it for US$6.29, from 8pm to 5am, today and tomorrow only.
Nitecore Tube

Bear in mind though that waiting for shipping from Gearbest can be a PITA though, so if you order the light from them with free shipping, prepare to wait for at least a month.
And please pay through PayPal in case GB screw up your order or your package never arrive

MH20w bro.
Coming soon

For concrete jungle, cool tint is nice, but for nature walks with lots of greenery, warm tint with high CRI is much nicer

I've the Xtar VC4 and also Nitecore i4, which is basically Nitecore D4 minus the digital display.
If I were to buy my first charger, I would buy th VC4, as it is a much faster charger, which can do 1A for 2 slots or 0.5A for all slots while the D4 can do 0.75A for 2 or 0.375A for all 4 slots.
But with the Xtar, you need a good quality USB plug, at least those that can output 2A, like iPad plug, to be able to charge at full rate. With the D4, any power cBle with figure-of-8 plug will do.
However, with that being said, my main charger is Opus BT C3100, as it can do so much more than both chargers and can also do 2A for 2 slots or 1A for all 4 slots.

Battery-wise, any cell based on NCR18650GA or NCR18650B, be it in the stock form or under rewrappers brands such as those from Keeppower, Efest, Soshine, etc, should be good for long run time. My 1st choice cell always been AW, but they are getting harder to get and expensive so nowadays, I'm quite happy with Keeppower.
I don't think you will need those cells with continuous 10A like those use by vapours.

This post has been edited by widget: Oct 9 2015, 06:43 PM

I agree that there are many fakes AW flying around and buying the legit cells direct from Andrew Wang himself is really testing your patience and HK Post will only ship Li-Ion cells by snail mail, unlike few years back where can get the cells in within 1 week. Nowadays if I want to get the AW, I buy direct from F-stoplight in Singapore if I'm in SG for business.

I do have two NCR18650GA and a Keeppower 3500, which some said is based on 18650GA, but not as many as NCR18650B as the 18650GA in stock form only comes in unprotected flat-top version, whereas the18650B can be had in button-top, flat-top, protected or unprotected variation.
On some of my flashlights, like Nitecore TM16, it can only take button-top, hence my continue usage of 18650B or 18650BE cells.

Thanks for the 2 links. Will need to dust-off my heat gun and solder kit from the storage

And these just in. My 1st Convoy, in matching blue and red, direct from Simon.



Attached thumbnail(s)

15% BLF discount
He's very prompt in replying to message, but I've never email him

Opus BT C3100 charger is a god-send.
Makes my Xtar VC4 and Nitecore i4 chargers collecting dust.

Plus a good multimeter to check the voltage, so that you don't have to power in your charger

Lol!
Most of mainstream flashlight manufacturers are China companies.
In addition to @power911 list, include Olight, Jetbeam, Sunwayman, Acebeam, etc.

Zebralight is US-based company, but assembly is done in China, and so are some other US companies like Inova/Niteize.
Pure US-designed and made flashlight companies include Surefire, Elzetta, HDS, Malkoff but boy, their flashlight are damn expensive, but their wokmanship and reliability are top-notch. And not forgetting Maglite too

This post has been edited by widget: Oct 20 2015, 01:42 PM

Not a fan of Ultrafire brand battery, but never own their flashlight yet.
For 4 bucks, from your photo it looks much better built than those pasar malam flashlights

Bro, BLF is a bad place to hang out lah!
Within a few months hanging out there, I purchased Convoy S2+ (with 18350 short tubes in the mail), ordered BLF A6 in bare SS (in the mail) and tentatively join th BLF X6SE and X5 group buy.
As if I need any more flashlights?

This post has been edited by widget: Oct 25 2015, 12:51 PM

Congrats on your new flashlights power911

Received the 2 short tubes from Simon for my Convoy. Excellent stuff from him.
Photo below shows size comparison

Once you hit 2 months, from their shipped date, open a ticket and tell them you want a refund or reship.
If you pay using PayPal, tell them you will file a PayPal claim if they don't refund 100% or reship the item.
Their standard reply is they will only refund 50% if you don't buy shipping insurance, so you have to be firmed with your reply to them.
I had about 15 shipments from them with total value of closed to US$400 this past few months and 2 went AWOL. So be pepared for this kind of thing when ordering through GB.
I have about 10 orders from Banggood, and all were received within 2-3 weeks, even with free shipping

Did you buy the 18350 tube with your S2+ as well?
It looks sweet and feels nicer with shorter body

Mail calls!
New toys, designed by the good folks at BLF

BLF Kronos X6/X5 box set no. 93/400 and BLF D80 Lucky Sun

Illuminated tailcaps!
Who need tritium vials eh?

Words of caution:
The stainless steel light is effing heavy, don't think it will ever leave the house.
If you buying them for normal usage, the aluminium version is the more sensible option.

The copper X5 is the star of the show though.

Nitecore?
I have 4 Nitecores already, and continue growing...
Just some of my lights collection.



If you are new to 18650 battery or any other Lithium-Ion batteries, just make sure you use reputable batteries.
Avoid those batteries that end with "fire" like Ultrafire, Trustfire, Tangsfire, etc except maybe SureFire and Windyfire.
Get a reliable charger too, and avoid those brands I mentioned above.

If in doubt, get the Nitecore brand's battery and charger, although they are a bit on expensive side