great budget torches

[taffprepper]

Hi all, I recently picked up a number of Ultrafire xtm-l T6s off the Bay and I was really impressed. If you buy from the UK suppliers all you tend to get is the torch but if you buy from a Chinese seller you get the torch, batteries (which are quite expensive to buy separately as they are the 3.7v 18650 type) and a charger. they go for about £10 and are ridiculously bright. I watched some reviews before I bought mine and was not disappointed when the torches arrived. They are splash proof (one guy put his underwater for 10mins and it functioned perfectly), have five modes, full-medium-low-strobe-SOS. And they claim to be around 1200lm which isn't far off. They really are awesome and the boys at work can't get enough of them

[gm_prepper]

I have a Olight M20 Worrior @250lms max when I bought it. cost me £75 and also have four filters (diffuser, red, blue and green). Has several modes from low, medium, high and strobe. I love this torch it's never far more than a few feet from me, same as my Leatherman. It's got an impact bezel front and back and is very water resistant. I've put it through some grief and it's held up, once dropped it outside my house into the water drenched mud, couldn't find it for three days when I saw a shimmer in the tyre marks in the mud. dug it out n tested it, worked on the button. I use it in places which are darker than most ever would including dungeons at night and will light up the room like sunlight on high, also good at night as a spot light/marker light.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Olight-M20S-X ... 53f22610f8


I also own several of these:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ULTRAFIRE-CRE ... 4ac5694943

Now please not as these are cheap Chinese the 2000lms claim is misleading as the LED is magnified several times before leaving the front of the torch. Saying this they are very well built n sturdy and with a few mods pretty dependable. They aren't waterproof but can be with cheap rubber O rings. it has an extendable front end to magnify or widen the beam, the beam is already pretty difused. Has several settings from low, med, high, strobe and SOS and will run pretty well on 3 AAA's. Can be got for about £10 delivered.

Saying all that, I got a grip charge torch today from the 99p store, seems solid enough for plastic, will experiment to make it water tight as much as and seems pretty bright with the duel bulb, enough to light a room in the dark, will be going back for several more.

Can put up pics if required.

[taffprepper]

Sorry guys, correction - they are xml-t6 not xtm-l.

[poppypiesdad]

What sort of run time have they? Its great to have a high power torch but pretty useless if it runs out after 10 mins , and with "odd" sized batteries and recharges you need to have a stock of them and a point to recharge them from.

Ive changed over all by bigger torches to either AA or AAA , led lenser have little battery caddies inside to take 3 or 4 AA or AAA , in a SHTF you may be stuffed with no batteries and in the dark .

And with BIG BRIGHT TORCHES they work in two ways , to let you see your way , but also to let others know where you are , a possible downfall.

J

[taffprepper]

I've found mine to have a pretty decent run time but I use a much higher mah rated battery than the ones you get as standard. The batteries are quite large but will fit inside a waterproof match container to keep them dry and secure. The torches I bought are the non magnifying type and are super bright. Impact bezels front and rear, I think the model is C8. you could probably rig the charger into a solar unit, but mine had a car charger connection. And you could knock up some form of pin hole cap to cover the end for stealth.

[gm_prepper]

Hey there Poppypiesdad,

My M20 is about 1.5 on high and 80+ on low continuous. Not sure on the cheaper torch but I have chargers and solar charging capability.

Agreed on the possible downfall, but has def uses, being mil spec the sudden bright light can also give you the advantage in a SHTF moment to surprise someone or make a safe getaway as well as the other pluses. But saying all that this is another reason to have a filter as the light travels a lot less so good for night navi / map reading.

[Auntystatic]

I have a few of these torches and a good supply of 18650 batteries, my charger runs off mains and 12v and can charge 4 at a time, but they last much longer than my AA and AAA torches, depends on what current they hold most of mine are 3800mA or 3.8A whichever floats your boat, but I do have some 5000mA ones although you do have to take some of the claims with a pinch of salt

[taffprepper]

You need to be very careful with the batteries as I have seen the plastic sleeves for sale on a Chinese website with various brand names and mah ratings so be careful what you get and if possible test them when you receive them and you can be sure they perform to what they claim.

[gm_prepper]

You need to be very careful with the batteries as I have seen the plastic sleeves for sale on a Chinese website with various brand names and mah ratings so be careful what you get and if possible test them when you receive them and you can be sure they perform to what they claim.

It's always best practice to throw the ones that come with just in case ye ever tempted to use 'em. Not always bad but when they are can be fatal look at all the laptop recals which use similar batteries just soldered together. Decent set of rechargables, cost more but worth it n always get a backup. I prefer the likes of "18650", large so hold a longer charge, harder to misplace/less fiddly in complete darkness.

Some of the sleeves as ye say on the cheaper ones are a pain, I forgot to mention those in my comment about my cheaper alu torch. I use 3 AAA's with it and use home made sleeves outta day to day stuff like roll of card and so on sometimes cord, money can also be used. stops the torch failing if knocked or dropped via intermittent battery connection.