Wow! Impressed with this light!

Hello, all! I just received my JETBeam BC20 today and I'm pretty stoked! My initial impression is that it's a lot of light for the money. It's rated at 305 lumens and while I don't have the gear to test that claim it is incredibly bright- much brighter than my Surefire E1B, and Surefire is notorious for under rating their lights. It's well made, very solid feeling with very nice machining. It takes 2 x CR123A batteries and has a removable pocket clip.

The main thing I love about it is that it only has 2 modes! The very nice forward clicky simply activates the light in whatever mode you set it. With the bezel fully tightened the light is set @ full power or 305 lumens. A 1/4 twist or so of the bezel puts it into low mode. Dead simple! If you wish to use it as a "tactical" light to disorient an opponent simply point and press. For low mode it's easy to set it to low without even looking at it.

Finally, it's IP8 waterproofed and only $33! Pretty good deal. JETBeam has a pretty good reputation for quality so I expect it will hold up well but I'll update if it doesn't.

I don't (yet) own any JETBeam lights, but they have a good reputation and this light has gotten some good reviews. Very nice looking at the price point.

Thanks, I like the specs on the Jetbeam PA01. This may be the flashlight I've been seeking.

http://www.jet-beam.com/links/pro/pa01.aspx

It appears that little PA01 uses the same emitter as my BC20. So it should be pretty potent. The only downsides I see are that the single AA won't have as good a run time, plus it costs the exact same as mine (with 2 x CR123A cells).

Of course, if you need something smaller than the BC20 it looks great! I'll probably pick up a couple more JETBeam lights over time. I'm also planning to pick up that little Fenix that uses 1 x AAA.

I have some of the Fenix E01 AAA lights. Nicely made, no problems with them so far, about 4 years of use. Great price on them too. I keep one in my emergency hiking kit as a backup light. I also have one of the Maratac AAA lights, which I like better but it oost twice what the Fenix did and it is not THAT much better.

You'll like the Fenix, they make a quakity flashlight at a reasonable price.

thanks for the link - i will check them out.
if price is good ... will get one.

Pete2

I have a few "Black Cat" AAA lights that I bought from DX a year ago. I know I've written about them here before. A couple weeks ago I accidentally left one in a pair of shorts that went into the washer. Even with a 30 minute presoak and a full wash cycle it still works fine despite not even being advertises as water resistant! It's got a reverse-clicky, not my favorite switch (I favor the forward clicky) but they all work great. Supposedly 100 lumens but I think they just picked that number 'cause is sounded good. Pretty bright, though.

That said, I've heard nothing but good about the Fenix E01. The Maratac looks good but yeah, hard to drop $20+ on a AAA light!

For a good light around $16 I've been very happy with my Streamlight MicroStream LED. Right now it's $17-ish but I got mine for around $15. Very nice! Great switch, IP8 rated and bright for the size. Subjectively it's a bit brighter than my Black Cats, but not by much. A bit whiter, though.

Well, flashlight junkie that I am I ordered a couple more JETBeam lights! The first one is a JETBeam BC10. It's got the same emitter as my BC20 and is essentially just a 1 x CR123A version of that same light. Interestingly it actually cost a couple bucks more than the 2 cell version! But I just got talked out of my Tank single cell 123 by a kid I work with so I need another very compact one.

The other is the JETBeam BC25. It's a little more powerful than my BC20 and can handle the high voltage rechargeables. Plus it has a smooth reflector. Lastly it has springs on both ends of the battery; this would improve shock resistance if used as a weapon-mounted light. Should be a little bit more oomph than the '20 for not an awful lot more money.

Oh, also ordered another couple dozen CR123A batteries...looks like I'm gonna need 'em!

The madness continues! I just picked up a JETBeam BC25! Holy scnikies! This bad boy has some power! The advertised output is 650 lumens, and it's like having a car headlight in my hand! Like my BC10 & BC20 it has just two modes, is IPX-8 rated and sports type III hard anodizing on the finish. Cool thing is this on has springs on both sides of the batteries to absorb shock; it would probably work well as a weapon light.

I'm sure there are many great Chinese light makers but JETBeam is becoming a favorite of mine. Luckily not only did the BC10 & BC25 arrive in time for my camping trip, my shippment of batteries from BatteryJunction.com made it, too!

You're about 1/3 of the way there

http://dx.com/p/fandyfire-uv-s5-xm-l-t6-...-120679?item=42

And you can even get a 3 AA LSD NiMh powered XML 600lm Flashlight

http://dx.com/p/fandyfire-rook-cree-xm-l...-158643?item=75

I don't have any 18650's nor a charger. Ditto for the 14500's except for a pair of the Safts. I have my eye on a JETBeam that runs on a single 14500. Eventually I'll probably have to delve into the rechargeables but I prefer regular CR123A lithium primaries for reliability, cold weather power and availability.

Still, those look like real flamethrowers!

Is there a reason you didn't get the PC10?

I specifically chose it over the PC series because I wanted one with just a HIGH and LOW. Generally I avoid lights with a zillion different modes; I don't want them or need them, and they drive up the price of the light and make it harder to use IMOHO. So far I've never once used SOS or strobe nor wished I had them. I guess I can imagine a scenario where they'd be useful but when it comes to light I like the KISS approach!

I currently use AA and AAA batteries exclusively. I'm considering making the plunge into flashlights that use CR123 batteries. Is the improvement in performance worth the trouble?

It is for me, but I have an addiction to lumens. I ask myself if the flashlight-intensive activities I'm involved with are influencing my flashaholism, or the other way 'round?

If you try it and find that the improved output and runtime isn't enough for you, then you can ebay your light.

Well, the performance is better. AA cells are nominally 1.5 volts vs. the 3 volts for a CR123A battery. A good alkaline AA is around 2700 mAh vs. around 1550 mAh for a single CR123A. So in the same size light you can generally have one x AA or 2 x CR123A. You definitely get more lumens from the higher voltage lights as a rule. The re-chargeable cells are even more powerful but lack the long shelf life/low-self-discharge rate of lithiums and aren't as good in the cold.

But to me switching to lithium batteries is what completely changed the equation for me. The best price I can find on lithium AAs is generally around $1.75 each (Energizer Advance Lithium- the Ultimates are even higher). I get CR123A batteries for $1 online. My two most used lights both run on 1 x CR123A.

To me CR123A makes the most sense. I have at least 8 flashlights that use them, plus one weapon light. I still have a few lights laying around that use AA or AAA, mostly very small lights like my Fenix EO1. But for the bulk of my uses CR123A suits me best.

Phaedrus, you're absolutely correct about the disparity between AAs and CR123As in terms of mAh, but Watt hours are more important for capacity. There we see that a 3V CR123A with 1550mAh has a measurable advantage over a 1.5V AA with 2700mAh.

The voltage difference means that the "pill" in the flashlight doesn't have to bring the voltage up as far to meet the needs of the emitter, so the effective output and runtime is tremendously better for CR123A flashlight versus one using AAs.

Very true. Takes me back to Basic Electronics and Electronics Lab!

The Energiser Lithiums Ultimate AAs are rated at 3200mA @1.5V though.

Personally I don't see an advantage going to CR123s from AAs if using Energiser Lithiums Ultimates as the AA flashlight can still be used with Alkalines, NiCd, NiMhs etc all with varying degrees of performance. The way the flashlight regulates the LED could be another matter though but this is highly dependent from one flashlight to another.

The Fandyfire UV-S5 that I recently purchased (makes for an excellent ceiling bouncer) will have a energy capacity total of around 40-45 Whrs and will give a similar output to a domestic 100+W incandescent bulb for about 2hrs.. or around 3-400 lumen for about 10+ hours.

Although 18650 Rechargeable Lithium Ion's are restricted to the cells that you already own in an emergency the higher rated cells such as the Panasonic NCR18650A cells will give 3100mA @3.6V = 11,160mWhrs

Panasonic NCR18650B is also available but much more expensive giving 3400mA

So a comparison;

CR123a - 1550 x 3 = 4,650mWhrs
AA lithium Primary 3200 x 1.5 = 4,800mWhrs
NCR18650 = 3100 x 3.6 = 11,160mWhrs

Another flashlight that might be of interest for area illumination tasking work, which looks to have a very good form factor size to Cell capacity ratio combined with fully adjustable output upto 200+ Lumen.

http://dx.com/p/uf-h3b-cree-xr-e-q5-230l...-x-18650-122182

...at the high end of the LED's output where it draws a lot of current. At more moderate settings wouldn't the AA's higher mAh give a light more run-time? It seems so judging by the run-times of similar FourSevens 2xAA and 2x123A lights.

"I specifically chose it over the PC series because I wanted one with just a HIGH and LOW. Generally I avoid lights with a zillion different modes; I don't want them or need them, and they drive up the price of the light and make it harder to use IMOHO. So far I've never once used SOS or strobe nor wished I had them. I guess I can imagine a scenario where they'd be useful but when it comes to light I like the KISS approach! "

+1.
I agree totally.
All I need is a light with Hi and Lo capabilities. Nothing more.

I also like AA batteries - for the simple reason that you can buy them in most parts of our planet. You can't get always get the high grade alkaline ones, but you can get some kind of AA. The CR123 are fine for use in USA or Europe, but not easy to lay your hands on in third world locations.

Pete2

Actually CR123s are quite difficult to get hold off in the UK and are very expensive as they are usually sold in Supermarkets and Retails chain stores singly, typically costing around $7 a piece. Hence I use rechargeable RCR123s (impossible to find at a retail store outlet) and the occasional Internet online bulk purchase of the primary CR123s at which typically work out at around around $1.50-2. Energiser Lithium AA are generally easier to find than CR123s in the UK at retail outlets. CR123s are therefore relegated to last resort use!

CR123A batteries are common here. Ultimate Lithiums are pushing $2 each for AA so CR123A are considerably cheaper for me.

The Quark Pro QP2A-X (and boy do I hate their new model name convention) has these specs:



The QP2L-X has these specs:



As you can see, the CR123A model has significant output and runtime advantages almost across the board (no output advantage until Medium. I'd expect these were developed with alkalines in mind for the AA versions, so you'll most likely see an improvement there in the real world using Energizer Lithium cells. But it won't make up the difference.

The Jetbeam E3S looks like my next flashlight.

http://www.jetbeamusa.com/products/E3S.html

That's a nice looking light, Ireckon! While not quite the same type of light we've been discussing, a couple days ago I received my Surefire X300 Ultra weapon light- and all I can say is WOW! Incredible brightness with an immaculately focused beam. I hung it off the end of my FNP 45 Tactical and banged 150 rounds through it and the light was unfazed.