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What to do with all those 18650 Vape batteries
- Thread starter Robert B
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"Hi, my name is Robert... and I'm a torchaholic."
How long have you been falling down that rabbit hole?
Been sliding down the slope for about a year. Sad, but it's been a fun slope.
Lol!I know, use them in a flashlight. *wife rolls eyes*
The same thing happened to me, with the same wife reaction.
Edit: but not Tiny Monster bad.
I think @conanthewarrior has some experience with that.
I might be thinking of someone else for cycle mounts, but I know Conan played with the torch crowd for a bit.
I might be thinking of someone else for cycle mounts, but I know Conan played with the torch crowd for a bit.
riverdan
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Good to know. Thanks Jim.
I've had https://www.fasttech.com/product/1446903 on my wishlist for a while, Thinking about giving it a shot come spring.
I've had https://www.fasttech.com/product/1446903 on my wishlist for a while, Thinking about giving it a shot come spring.
Can't remember who it was... a couple of you freaks... but you got me all hopped up about 18650 flashlights.
Did some reading, took some suggestions. Got my eye on a JetBeam HR25 headlamp. Less than $35 at FT.
I actually bought the HC20, but FT discontinued it that week and refunded my money. I was going to track down the thread and the people after I got it and do some happy screaming. I think it was the Say It Here thread. (Sorry if it was you Conan... fairly certain it was.)
I still planning on buying one and screaming for joy. 800 lumens with one battery. That's worth a little noise.
Did some reading, took some suggestions. Got my eye on a JetBeam HR25 headlamp. Less than $35 at FT.
I actually bought the HC20, but FT discontinued it that week and refunded my money. I was going to track down the thread and the people after I got it and do some happy screaming. I think it was the Say It Here thread. (Sorry if it was you Conan... fairly certain it was.)
I still planning on buying one and screaming for joy. 800 lumens with one battery. That's worth a little noise.
I wouldn't mind having a couple of modestly priced but good value singles, I'll be having to retire some vape cells soon I'm sure.
But I don't have a clue what specs I should expect at what price/quality point, so I've just not bothered getting into it.
Yet.
But I don't have a clue what specs I should expect at what price/quality point, so I've just not bothered getting into it.
Yet.
The Convoy S2+ is a fairly floody light, simple to use. I would suggest getting the 3B tint (neutral white), with 7135x4 (resistors). The fewer the less power but more run time. The 7135x8 gets pretty hot but is brighter and less run time. The 7135x6 is a good compromise also. It uses the Cree XM-L2 emitter.
The S2+ will easily light up 150 ft of trail in front of you. The big plus is, you can use your existing 18650's, and also use it as a conventional flashlight. Waterproof, nicely machined, and 16 bucks. There are dozens of handlebar mounts available for conventional lights.
The link has a bunch of beamshots, plus examples of the different tints. Owner of the store is Simon. Very good guy to deal with and honest.
Here's a little beam shot of the S2+. The trees just beyond the pines are a good 150 ft away from where I'm standing. (picture taken with a galaxy s6)
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You have link to the shop? I keep getting taken to AliExpress. The design looks similar to my O-light S30.
I wouldn't mind having a couple of modestly priced but good value singles, I'll be having to retire some vape cells soon I'm sure.
But I don't have a clue what specs I should expect at what price/quality point, so I've just not bothered getting into it.
Yet.
Figure out what you want out of a light. Such as, a light to use around inside the house, to light up the neighborhood, or to shoot a fine beam 300 yards across a field. The light in my picture above, between the small copper light, and the Stainless steel light, that looks the size of a beer can is approx 4000+ lumens, and takes 4 18650 batteries. It has 3 XM-L2 emitters, modified driver, and can definitely light up the neighborhood.
I have quite a few more than in the pictures of many different tints, beam patterns, and lumens. None of them are all that expensive.
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Yes, that is Simon's Aliexpress shop. Here's the link to his home page on Aliexpress. Aliexpress hosts thousand of web stores. Those Olight's are nice. I have a solid copper Olight S1 Baton and a black aluminum S1.
Ah, didn't realize that. I'm on a tablet and it kept wanting to install an Ali app, and I was like WTF!
Thanks
Simon is the manufacturer of the Convoy line of lights. You will see Convoy's at many places including Fasttech, but they all come from Simon's shop. If he says there is a Cree or Nichia emitter in the light, there will be. Many of these off-shoot chinese companies will advertise Cree emitters, but will put cheap junk emitters in them. All of those "Cree" flashlights you see, have nothing to do with Cree Corp. out of N. Carolina, and most all are cheap crap.
Also, there is Mountain Electronics here in the US. He carries Convoys, and modifies some. Richard and his wife Lisa run the place and are great folks. If he has something in stock, it ships within a few days.
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You can get the same ones from Fasttech, not branded, but same manufacturer for less than $30
riverdan
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Yeah I noticed that when I did my initial search.
Just curious. What kind of run time do you get on the S2+ on a single battery? I would imagine i'd probably run it at or close to 100%
And if you don't mind me picking your brain a bit more. What would you recommend as a headlamp. I imagine it would have to have a pretty good head strap so I don't have to worry about it flying off my helmet. External batter pack wouldn't be an issue I don't think as I could slip it into my camel back.
Just curious. What kind of run time do you get on the S2+ on a single battery? I would imagine i'd probably run it at or close to 100%
And if you don't mind me picking your brain a bit more. What would you recommend as a headlamp. I imagine it would have to have a pretty good head strap so I don't have to worry about it flying off my helmet. External batter pack wouldn't be an issue I don't think as I could slip it into my camel back.
Lol!
The main problem with high powered flashlights is heat. The more 7135 resistors installed on the driver, the more current that is allowed to the LED, thus more heat and less runtime. I've never timed them, but I imagine a S2+ with 7135x4 or 6, would be a good compromise between run time and the light not getting too hot. A couple hours run time on turbo?. You'd want to carry a spare battery. You might be surprised, running the light on medium instead of turbo is still a lot of light, and could give you many more hours of run time. You don't need a huge amount of light when your eyes are used to the dark, to see where you're going.
As far as headlamps, Nitecore makes some good ones like the HC30. There is also Armytek, & Zebralight. I am personally thinking about a Zebralight H600fd III. Pretty much everyone who owns a Zebralight raves about the quality and how good the mode spacing, and user interface is.
The one thing to think about using a headlamp is, the beam jerking around. I would imagine wearing one on a bike, you would want something more of a flood than a focused beam. The Nitecores seem to have more of a hot spot beam, where Zebralight has many different models to suit your purpose. The H600fd is one of those floody lights with a nice smooth beam and no real hotspot. The nice thing about these types of head lamps, is they can be used as a regular hand held light with a pocket clip, or mounted to the handlebars with a swivel clamp.
As far as batteries go, the Samsung 30Q are 15amp 3000 mah, or the LG MJ1's which are 10amp 3500mah. Most all these single battery lights are pulling less than 4amps at the tail cap on turbo mode. You will need to find out if the light takes button top or flat top batteries. Most Nitecore's take button tops. Lights like the Convoy's can take either. Not sure about Zebralight or Armytek. If you have a charger like the Opus BT3100, you can use LG D1 3000mah which charge to 4.35volts for extra run time.
Lights like these soup can or beer can lights, require button top, since the positive end of the battery has to make contact with the inner ring. Convoy's have copper springs on both ends, thus can take either. Nitecores have a copper contact on the positive end, and a spring on the tail cap thus requiring button tops.
Just like vape products, there are youtube reviews of most every light. Finding beamshot comparisons is the hard part.
Sorry about the long winded reply, but I enjoy talking about this stuff
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One other thing to think about is the tint. CRI is color rendering index. The higher the number the more like natural sunlight it is. A cool white (1A) will be at a lower end of the index like 70 or lower, a neutral white (3B), will be more in the range of 80. The Nichia 219b emitters will be more in the 90+ range. (great for photography). However, generally speaking, the warmer the tint, you will sacrifice lumens. A warmer tint will also cut through the fog or moisture in the air better, whereas the cool white will reflect off the moisture creating a glare or haze.
Proper fog lights in a car, that aren't there just for looks, will have a much higher CRI than the headlights. Most of the cars in the US with fog lights are there for the coolness factor. Anyone who's driven a car in Europe knows what actual fog lights can do. It's a requirement that have certain specs, and have controls in the car to operate them properly. If you take a car from the US to register it in Europe, you have to have the lighting system re-worked, and it's expensive to do.
Proper fog lights in a car, that aren't there just for looks, will have a much higher CRI than the headlights. Most of the cars in the US with fog lights are there for the coolness factor. Anyone who's driven a car in Europe knows what actual fog lights can do. It's a requirement that have certain specs, and have controls in the car to operate them properly. If you take a car from the US to register it in Europe, you have to have the lighting system re-worked, and it's expensive to do.
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Yeah, that was me
. I needed a torch, and ended up getting one of those demon blinders that run on 18650 batteries. (A Convoy S2+ with a cree X-ML emitter, my memory is terrible, it has 6 erm, things, each at 350MA if I remember correctly, that power it-they do it in a 2, 4 , 6 and 8 option, each more powerful-the one I own is the brightest flashlight I have seen, I even got another one for my Bike in the winter, can actually see where you are going in the dark on mid mode).Don't get me started on the trouble I caused when I mentioned Efest over there-they see them as the best batteries, bar none. Even the people who are pulling serious amps with some crazy, stadium style lighting use Efest batteries-and seemed to hate me when I mentioned they are re-wraps that lie quite a lot about their actual amp rating-which I found odd, as we get a lot of our graphs and tests from torch guys and girls :/.
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I'm assuming you're not talking about CandlePower. They seem to be on the same page as us.
Yeah, that was me
Don't get me started on the trouble I caused when I mentioned Efest over there-they see them as the best batteries, bar none. Even the people who are pulling serious amps with some crazy, stadium style lighting use Efest batteries-and seemed to hate me when I mentioned they are re-wraps that lie quite a lot about their actual amp rating-which I found odd, as we get a lot of our graphs and tests from torch guys and girls :/.
Those "6 erm things" are the 7135 resistors.. lol
The BLF guys are coming around, but still quite a few shitFest lovers though. The reddit guys sound like sales & marketing employees for Keeppower and ILumn
riverdan
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The main problem with high powered flashlights is heat. The more 7135 resistors installed on the driver, the more current that is allowed to the LED, thus more heat and less runtime. I've never timed them, but I imagine a S2+ with 7135x4 or 6, would be a good compromise between run time and the light not getting too hot. A couple hours run time on turbo?. You'd want to carry a spare battery. You might be surprised, running the light on medium instead of turbo is still a lot of light, and could give you many more hours of run time. You don't need a huge amount of light when your eyes are used to the dark, to see where you're going.
As far as headlamps, Nitecore makes some good ones like the HC30. There is also Armytek, & Zebralight. I am personally thinking about a Zebralight H600fd III. Pretty much everyone who owns a Zebralight raves about the quality and how good the mode spacing, and user interface is.
View attachment 43534
The one thing to think about using a headlamp is, the beam jerking around. I would imagine wearing one on a bike, you would want something more of a flood than a focused beam. The Nitecores seem to have more of a hot spot beam, where Zebralight has many different models to suit your purpose. The H600fd is one of those floody lights with a nice smooth beam and no real hotspot. The nice thing about these types of head lamps, is they can be used as a regular hand held light with a pocket clip, or mounted to the handlebars with a swivel clamp.
As far as batteries go, the Samsung 30Q are 15amp 3000 mah, or the LG MJ1's which are 10amp 3500mah. Most all these single battery lights are pulling less than 4amps at the tail cap on turbo mode. You will need to find out if the light takes button top or flat top batteries. Most Nitecore's take button tops. Lights like the Convoy's can take either. Not sure about Zebralight or Armytek. If you have a charger like the Opus BT3100, you can use LG D1 3000mah which charge to 4.35volts for extra run time.
Lights like these soup can or beer can lights, require button top, since the positive end of the battery has to make contact with the inner ring. Convoy's have copper springs on both ends, thus can take either. Nitecores have a copper contact on the positive end, and a spring on the tail cap thus requiring button tops.
Just like vape products, there are youtube reviews of most every light. Finding beamshot comparisons is the hard part.
Sorry about the long winded reply, but I enjoy talking about this stuff
No need to apologize. I know left of nothing when it comes to lights and the more info I get the better.
Looking at your first set of pictures, it looks like you have both the S3 and S2+, Did you notice any real difference aside from the slightly different size?
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Yes there is a bit of difference. The S3 is setup with 8x7135 resistors and the S2+ is setup with 6x7135's, a warmer tint, and runs longer on a single charge. The S3 is brighter but gets hot fairly quick. The S2+ mounts on my snow blower and can cut through the blizzard much better because of the warmer tint.
They are very nice lights. High quality and reasonably priced. One of the best "bang for the buck" lights out there.
Convoy makes the C8, which is a nice thrower, but Xin-TD and International Outdoors makes a C8 version that is amazing at 30 bucks. It has the Cree XP-G2 S4 emitter, runs a single 18650 flat top. It's the light on the far right of my picture above. Here's a beam shot from 300 feet, and it's not even completely dark outside yet.
riverdan
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Is there an easy way to differential between all the models? every time I look at them I get more and more mixed up when I get to things like S8 and C8 not to mention all the sub numbers.
Aside from looking up pictures, can I get an idea of what the throw/flood will be just by looking at the lens and reflector?
Aside from looking up pictures, can I get an idea of what the throw/flood will be just by looking at the lens and reflector?
riverdan
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Just came across this bit of info
https://www.reddit.com/r/flashlight/comments/2tvmqs/where_to_begin_on_convoy_lights/
https://www.reddit.com/r/flashlight/comments/2tvmqs/where_to_begin_on_convoy_lights/
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Sorry if I've taken this too far off topic, and I can make another thread just to discuss this stuff further if you'd like.
Other than that, from what I've come up with, the S3 has the best flood with no hot spot but not the farthest reach. I think that would be best mounted on my handle bars, possibly x2
Now when it comes to something to mount on my helmet, I think what I'm looking for is something with a relatively wide beam that has more throw but without a concentrated hot spot. I guess that leaves the M2 and the C8? maybe the S5?
I'm finding lots of little info about each light all over but with various results it's hard to put them in definite categories. Most info seems to be in russian too.
Other than that, from what I've come up with, the S3 has the best flood with no hot spot but not the farthest reach. I think that would be best mounted on my handle bars, possibly x2
Now when it comes to something to mount on my helmet, I think what I'm looking for is something with a relatively wide beam that has more throw but without a concentrated hot spot. I guess that leaves the M2 and the C8? maybe the S5?
I'm finding lots of little info about each light all over but with various results it's hard to put them in definite categories. Most info seems to be in russian too.
No need to make another thread, this one is fine. yeah, Russians & Europeans are vapers & torchaholics too !!
First off, I can only comment specifically on the S2+, S3. My C8 has been modified by Mt. Electronics by having the silicon dome on the emitter (LED) removed to enhance the throw. So the beam on that would be much different than stock.
All the convoy S models are 24mm tubes and basically the same length within a few millimeters. All of them are quite floody and seem to have the same reflectors. That said, my S3 seems to be a little more floody than my S2+, but I don't know if that is because of the tint and resistor packs installed or if the reflector is slightly different. So I think it comes down to style of the machining more than anything.
Both can be bought with the same combinations of resistors and color tints. If it were me, I would stick to the 3b tint with the 7135x6 resistors. From what I gather, the x4 is going to be about 400 lumens (on highest mode) and the x8 about 900 lumens. Those numbers would be higher with the cooler tints, and lower with the warmer tints. My S2+ was bought for the purpose of cutting through moisture in the air (mounted on snowblower). The warmer tints won't reflect off ice crystals or moisture droplets like the cooler tints will. Hence, I ordered it with the 5B tint and x4 resistors.
S2+ is 5B tint with x4 resistors (left)
S3 is a 3B tint with x8 resistors (right)
Picture taken about 8 feet away from the wall. It doesn't show too well in the picture, but the sheer amount of light on the S3 is more.
Here's my de-domed C8 thrower from the same distance, just for comparison. The bright spot circle is about 3 inches in diameter
The M series with larger reflectors will throw further given equal emitters. The C8 is a model on it's own. The M series are considerably larger with a 31mm head, about an inch longer and heavier. Might be kind of clumsy mounted to a helmet.
You may want to order an S2+ or S3, mount it on your handlebars and test it out. You may find you don't need one on your helmet. Heck, buy two or three of them with different configurations. You'll find a use for all of them. If you don't, then you have a nice Christmas gift for someone !!
edit... Simon also sells handlebar clamps and helmet headbands. Cheap enough to order one of each to test out too.
First off, I can only comment specifically on the S2+, S3. My C8 has been modified by Mt. Electronics by having the silicon dome on the emitter (LED) removed to enhance the throw. So the beam on that would be much different than stock.
All the convoy S models are 24mm tubes and basically the same length within a few millimeters. All of them are quite floody and seem to have the same reflectors. That said, my S3 seems to be a little more floody than my S2+, but I don't know if that is because of the tint and resistor packs installed or if the reflector is slightly different. So I think it comes down to style of the machining more than anything.
Both can be bought with the same combinations of resistors and color tints. If it were me, I would stick to the 3b tint with the 7135x6 resistors. From what I gather, the x4 is going to be about 400 lumens (on highest mode) and the x8 about 900 lumens. Those numbers would be higher with the cooler tints, and lower with the warmer tints. My S2+ was bought for the purpose of cutting through moisture in the air (mounted on snowblower). The warmer tints won't reflect off ice crystals or moisture droplets like the cooler tints will. Hence, I ordered it with the 5B tint and x4 resistors.
S2+ is 5B tint with x4 resistors (left)
S3 is a 3B tint with x8 resistors (right)
Picture taken about 8 feet away from the wall. It doesn't show too well in the picture, but the sheer amount of light on the S3 is more.
Here's my de-domed C8 thrower from the same distance, just for comparison. The bright spot circle is about 3 inches in diameter
The M series with larger reflectors will throw further given equal emitters. The C8 is a model on it's own. The M series are considerably larger with a 31mm head, about an inch longer and heavier. Might be kind of clumsy mounted to a helmet.
You may want to order an S2+ or S3, mount it on your handlebars and test it out. You may find you don't need one on your helmet. Heck, buy two or three of them with different configurations. You'll find a use for all of them. If you don't, then you have a nice Christmas gift for someone !!
edit... Simon also sells handlebar clamps and helmet headbands. Cheap enough to order one of each to test out too.
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That would be the name lol-I could not remember what they were. I knew they affected brightness and runtime though-I can't really use mine on full power for too long, it gets very hot at the emitter end, anyways mid is still bright enough to light up the whole road, plus run's for a fair few hours-even the lowest power mode is handy, if you ever got lost (not that I would where I live-but nice for if you live in more rural areas, I gather the battery would last for ages).
The thread I made went on for loads of pages, but ended on amicable terms, one person came in with some sense, and said "I don't see why Conan would lie about them being one to avoid-but this brings into question how can something that a lot of us class to be the best, be classed as one of the worst by vapers?"
I explained it is because we have our devices inches from our face, and we quite like our faces where they are, and about them being re-wraps. Someone did say that ALL batteries are rewraps, not sure what that was about, but in the end one guy who makes some mad lights over there said he understands why for a vaper it would be more important, but he gets the best performance out of Efest batteries for his torches/flashlights, so we understood that for us vapers, they are not the best, but for flashlights they loved them.
That was at BLF, I haven't been there for ages though, I don't see how they find an Efest rewrap better than the original battery performance wise :S
I may have this the wrong way round, but when I was on the BLF more, I understood that the Convoy with 8 emitters was brighter/used more power than the ones with less resistors? Just trying to remember if I am correct or not.No need to make another thread, this one is fine. yeah, Russians & Europeans are vapers & torchaholics too !!
First off, I can only comment specifically on the S2+, S3. My C8 has been modified by Mt. Electronics by having the silicon dome on the emitter (LED) removed to enhance the throw. So the beam on that would be much different than stock.
All the convoy S models are 24mm tubes and basically the same length within a few millimeters. All of them are quite floody and seem to have the same reflectors. That said, my S3 seems to be a little more floody than my S2+, but I don't know if that is because of the tint and resistor packs installed or if the reflector is slightly different. So I think it comes down to style of the machining more than anything.
Both can be bought with the same combinations of resistors and color tints. If it were me, I would stick to the 3b tint with the 7135x6 resistors. From what I gather, the x4 is going to be about 400 lumens (on highest mode) and the x8 about 900 lumens. Those numbers would be higher with the cooler tints, and lower with the warmer tints. My S2+ was bought for the purpose of cutting through moisture in the air (mounted on snowblower). The warmer tints won't reflect off ice crystals or moisture droplets like the cooler tints will. Hence, I ordered it with the 5B tint and x4 resistors.
S2+ is 5B tint with x4 resistors (left)
S3 is a 3B tint with x8 resistors (right)
Picture taken about 8 feet away from the wall. It doesn't show too well in the picture, but the sheer amount of light on the S3 is more.
Here's my de-domed C8 thrower from the same distance, just for comparison. The bright spot circle is about 3 inches in diameter
The M series with larger reflectors will throw further given equal emitters. The C8 is a model on it's own. The M series are considerably larger with a 31mm head, about an inch longer and heavier. Might be kind of clumsy mounted to a helmet.
You may want to order an S2+ or S3, mount it on your handlebars and test it out. You may find you don't need one on your helmet. Heck, buy two or three of them with different configurations. You'll find a use for all of them. If you don't, then you have a nice Christmas gift for someone !!
edit... Simon also sells handlebar clamps and helmet headbands. Cheap enough to order one of each to test out too.
I have a handlebar clamp for my S2+, I have to dip it and down to the left, otherwise I am pretty sure drivers would be quite angry with me at night lol.
I have the S2+ (Well 2-I tried to mod the first and accidentally destroyed the emitter with my soldering iron lol)-I can't actually remember what tint it has, it is quite a whitish blue light, do you think it is worth getting an S3 or is there not much difference between the two?
riverdan
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uh oh... this my friend, is a very slippery slope... you're going to get me in trouble.
I'll probably start with a couple S3's of the x6 3B variety and see how they go. All my batteries are 25R's so they should get decent longevity.
I really like the form factor of the S line, I might give the S5 or S8 a try at some point
Correct, the more resistors the brighter and more power. I honestly think if you had the same emitters, the same number of 7135 resistors, there would be very little difference between the two, if any at all. Just by looking at them, I don't see any difference in the reflectors. I could be wrong, but I think the tubes themselves are mostly cosmetic.
The cool thing about them is, they are so inexpensive and you can configure each one differently for what ever uses you have.
While your at it, grab one of the S2+ 18350 lights. Handy to carry in your pocket. About the size of a SMPL mod
Oh no. I don't even own any 18350 batteries, but seeing that small convoy torch, I think I soon will lol.
At the moment I am using a Tank 007 for my daily carry-single AAA (I use Panasonic/Sanyo Eneloops), still brighter than any incandescent torch, but I like that.
I really do think I have a hoarding problem , Yoyo's, darts, vapourisers, and all other things that I collect over the years. I will be on one of them extreme hoarding programs in a few years crawling through my house lol.
At the moment I am using a Tank 007 for my daily carry-single AAA (I use Panasonic/Sanyo Eneloops), still brighter than any incandescent torch, but I like that.
I really do think I have a hoarding problem , Yoyo's, darts, vapourisers, and all other things that I collect over the years. I will be on one of them extreme hoarding programs in a few years crawling through my house lol.
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Good call!
I realize I could buy one of each light mount em all up, and still only have dropped 50% of what a single 900lm "Bike" light from a discount bike shop.
Thanks for opening my eyes to the wonderful world of lights Robert!
A lot of people don't like the thought of an 18650 battery for a flashlight. But if they thought about it, an 18650 has about 4 times the energy a AA battery has. Couple that with being able to charge it 300 times. One 7 dollar 18650 is the equivalent of 1200 AA batteries. How much do 1200 AA batteries cost?
I carried on that discussion with a guy from the Fire Department. He said their one small fire station goes through over a thousand alkaline batteries a year What started the conversation was, he said he didn't need 18650's because he gets "free AA batteries" from his fire station to use in his flashlights at home. I said "your welcome". He said "about what?". I said, why don't you buy your own batteries so I don't have to pay for them...
I carried on that discussion with a guy from the Fire Department. He said their one small fire station goes through over a thousand alkaline batteries a year What started the conversation was, he said he didn't need 18650's because he gets "free AA batteries" from his fire station to use in his flashlights at home. I said "your welcome". He said "about what?". I said, why don't you buy your own batteries so I don't have to pay for them...
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With $2 off coupons at my local Bj's: 25 X 48ct trays @ $11.48 = $287 + tax
Good job reminding him where the $ comes from to buy those "free" batteries.