I know the stock answer is "Fenix xyz123" buts it's been so long since I even looked at a torch I have no idea what is current...

What would be recommendations for best and brightest flashlight under £50 and under £100?

:thumbsup: :flowers:

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Other than reliability ‘Best’ being subjective though. For a while I’ve been looking for a torch having a good diffused/uniform spread to improve composite photo shots. Feedback on those boasting shock wave lumen levels however indicate most of what’s out there have a doughnut or sweet spot spoiling the light.

Mr Eckaslike has a GT that does a good job but may have a switch/mode arrangement not to one’s liking.

Mr Mawr refers to my JETBeam BC40-GT, which, by shopping around can be bought for under £50.

Claimed 2750 lumens is probably accurate (Jetbeam seem pretty honest about such things).
I find the beam pattern quite pleasing - a result of the large, textured reflector. A smoothly mirrored reflector would increase the throw but give more of a hot-spot - good for seeing a long way, not so good for photography.

Shape is a bit odd - long thin body to take two 18650s in line, then a bigger head. It's too heavy to hang round your neck and too long for most pockets.

Switchy modes consist of 4 levels, all accessed through the single press-button on/off switch. It cycles through them, as you switch it off and on again. But after a while it forgets and goes straight to full power the next time you turn it on. There's nothing to tell you what level it's on.
This is my only criticism but in use I don't really find it a problem.

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.....refers to my JETBeam BC40-GT.....

.....and as I think I commented on before, the name is brilliant. It sounds like the kind of torch that Max Power or Clint Thrust would own :)

I have the Fenix TK35 which is a squatter, shorter torch as the 2x 18650s are side by side. Fits in a coat pocket nicely. Bullet proof and currently around the £70-£80 mark. Nice feature of the 35 is that there are 2 buttons, one sets the mode and the other turns it on and off. The buttons are differently sized so that you can turn on and off in the dark without pressing the wrong button and ending up going through 20 different power/flash/strobe modes. It turns on in the same mode that you left it in.
You will recall seeing it last time we were underground together, back in the 1980s :lol: :lol:

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You may chuckle but I have just bought a SupwildFire, with 16 LEDs from Ali Express.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2017-NEW-SupwildFire-40000Lm-16x-CREE-XML-T6-LED-5Mode-LED-Flashlight-Torch-Light-Lamp-A10/32828091245.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.3da24c4dcbJt65 

Must have been late one evening after a couple too many wine gums.
It does however do a good job, only takes one 18650, fits nicely in the hand, dropped out of my suit into knee deep water and mud on its first outing and survived, then survived a fall from waist height onto a tiled floor. It produces a pleasing spread of light without any major hot spots, so is handy for quite close range pics and as supplementary light. 2 attached hand held pics. does have 4 modes, high, low and 2 flicky ones, last 2 are an irritant. Bit of a punt for £20, but so far happy with it

[https://www.aditnow.co.uk/Photo/Phl-Collapse_116536/]
[https://www.aditnow.co.uk/Photo/Phl-Branch_116537/

Fenix LD60 is rugged, fits into hand, runs for days, good light spread, waterproof.

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I find the Fenix (natch) PD35 to be a good tool for my basic photographic endeavours. Mine has suffered much in my hands and is still fine.

I just got an XTAR WK18 from Torch Direct (https://www.torchdirect.co.uk/1000-to-1499-lumens/xtar-wk18-pacer-led-torch.html ) which seems pretty good for an up to 1000lm single 18650 torch. Seems pretty well built and nice & compact. No flashy modes on the normal click through. It doesn't have memory of the last light level but seems to come on at the lowest level rather than in retina-burn mode. It is also currently for sale at £14.95 which is pretty good.

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I know the stock answer is "Fenix xyz123" buts it's been so long since I even looked at a torch I have no idea what is current...

What would be recommendations for best and brightest flashlight under £50 and under £100?

:thumbsup: :flowers:

How long have you got? :o

Slightly depends what you want to do with a torch...

For surface use, the Fenix TK series have larger reflectors and therefore a good throw, but that's not necessarily what one's after underground. Apart from the TK35, which has a wide bean for a TK, but it's well over £100 so we won't worry about that.


In the £50 to £100 bracket, the question comes down to batteries. I'm increasingly of the opinion that USB rechargeable and 18650 is the way to go so you can swap out batteries 'in the field'.

There's the a question of whether you want a side mode switch or / and a tail clicky.

The UC30 is a nice, compact bit of kit, with USB socket and just the side switch. The downside is the absence of 'momentary on' and that the side switch can be difficult to find in the dark, particularly with gloves on.

The slightly larger UC35 has a built-in USB socket, plus tail clicky and side switch for modes - so to my mind it's a better bit of kit.

Honourable mention to the PD35 v2.0 which has the tail switch and a side switch, but doesn't have build-in charging.


Under £50?

Er, haggle with me and try and get an RC05 for that price. A nice little rechargeable light and although the magnetic charging cable is a bit odd, it does help with the waterproofing.

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Spend a little more, get a Fenix TK35 - You won't regret it.
It's a lovely bit of kit, even for someone that builds hos own lamps. I love mine.

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Pocket torches that take 1 X 18650 are useful.

Brightest I have seen is the KD liter that runs an XHP 35. I did a write up a while ago on this site.
My issue with the Chinese torches is the stupid flashes. I have bought a few Convoy bare shells that I am going to build up with a Cree XPG2 and a single mode 4 X 7135 driver to give 1.5 amps.
All it does is work and switch on and off. Heaven.

Done one already and its very good, the rest when I get round to doing them, I will sell to friends.

Ho, ho, ho, no flashes and all you do is switch it on.
Happy days

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On a whim not too long back I bought a LED Lenser X21r.2 and the thing is totally daft in terms of light output and throw but not at all practical for exploring unless it's a walk in walk out job (it's huge) But for places like Moel Fferna, Penarth, Cwmorthin with huge caverns it's a beast! They pop up on ebay every now and then.

Imolent DX 80 is 32,000 lumens, wrote about it before.

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I have a couple of supposed IP65 rated, stainless bodied lamps with Cree XML's from Aldi - the earlier one takes 2 x C batteries, the newer and more powerful takes 3 x C. Both at < £25 each. Both have wide angle to spot capability. So far, after many trips u/g, they have not let me down. Use them for spotting things of interest when taking parties around and pointing the way. Also for light painting...
For cheap lights, they've been excellent as auxy lights.
Clive

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Emisar D4 and D4S or Acebeam EC65 are certainly candidates for the brightest lights within the price range.
They will hold max output just for a short time. They're not hand held for long on the highest settings.
There are plenty of options available for the D4 and D4S but they might be difficult to get hold of in the UK.

I think the answer to the question (sort of) is Fenix TK47.

The question is one of throw rather than flood, which pushes towards a TK series light.

Two versions - one 3,200lm with a floody-ish beam with 408m throw and the other 1,300lm with a reflector optimised for throw, ing a 700m beam.

That said, a TK20R - 1,000lm and a 310m throw - would probably also do the job, with the added bonus of being quite a lot cheaper and being rechargeable.

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Emisar D4 and D4S or Acebeam EC65 are certainly candidates for the brightest lights within the price range.
They will hold max output just for a short time. They're not hand held for long on the highest settings.
There are plenty of options available for the D4 and D4S but they might be difficult to get hold of in the UK.

Those look awesome, thanks Michael. I guess you're using them for photography? Are they reliable? The sheer output of them makes me think they might cook themselves? And they can't run for long on a single battery? But they sound like they fit the bill - I'm after a monstrous amount of light for a short period in a small format.

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D4 and D4S are the latest addition to my lights and I haven't done a lot of work with them yet, but all available reviews class them as reliable. All are cool white - XP-L HI V3 1A, 6500K. The D4s will give you a longer runtime before stepping down. D4s are either normal or extra floody optics. You won't get anything much brighter as small as these lights.
The stepping down temperature can be configured to whatever heat proof gloves are available. The default setting is quite moderate at 45 °C. The clip on the D4 also helps to keep your fingers away from the head. The lamp will manage several burst on max power but can't be used continuously. The lights will work with unprotected batteries only.

You'll need to decide which LEDs and battery options you want. Some will cost extra.

I haven't got a EC65 available. There were some issues with the first batch of EC65s overheating. It also uses a different battery type than all my other lights. There's only a choice between 2 types of LEDs for the EC65.

What setup do you want to use? The lights don't mix well with my normal setup due to the much shorter runtime, but I could just take a few extra snaps next Saturday at the Ostwig slate mine.

What setup do you want to use? The lights don't mix well with my normal setup due to the much shorter runtime, but I could just take a few extra snaps next Saturday at the Ostwig slate mine.

I'm looking for something to use above ground for very short periods of time, to do a sweep of an area (at a distance) to be sure there's nobody there. It wouldn't be used in conjunction with any other light or for long periods of time.

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D4/D4S are floody and have a range of only 300 metres. You might want something with more throw depending on the distance.

Simon if you are not using it for photos buddy ( as its a bit on the cold side ) the Skyray torch is a cheap as chips and is quite astonishing output they are all over ebay they will melt a nats eyeballs at 500 mts! 32000 Lumens

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