I’ve run out of wall power fast charging my A123 packs. 
The new LEDs are amazing, and tried some with eskate, but the die size is so big, the light just diffuses out and has like no throw. Lots of heat and wasted power. It’s got me chasing older LEDs or non-cree stuff that has throw. I keep looking at Vin’s stuff at skylumen.com.
The xhp 3.5mm chips are pretty nice for throw, not laser beam but underdriven they don’t flood. I like em for handheld, goes far enough but still covers a nice area. I think the 70s need optics instead of reflector only. I just snatched a couple ThruNite lights, decent build quality actually. Their USB charge ports are really convenient
We’re so going to jail, but Thrunite Catapult V6 in neutral white, dead stock is the winner so far for handheld. Can be had a pretty nice discounts. Lovely light, really really nice all around.
Oh, you should try the TC15. Similar performance in a package size you could almost hide in your fist.
Um not really. There are a lot of high lumen 18650 lights, but they can keep peak lumens for only a few seconds. The 26650 hosts dissipate heat a lot better for continuous lumens. And the throw… I think the catapult is something like 5x the throw of the TC15! At first glance the 2 lights seem comparable, but wow completely different things. Catapult’s at 800+ meters of throw.
For compact 18650 hotrods, the Emisar are killing it. Like hulk smash. Actually, for compact everything, 18650, 18350, 4x18650, 26650. Smash.
My EDC is a zebralight SC63w. Amazing light! But no good for eskate.
It’s weird, the EDC gets charged twice a year, but the skate light gets charged every day. So USB is really nice on the thrower, but don’t really care on the EDC. The 3000 lumen helmet light is hilarious.
I’m gonna have to check that one out. I feel like there’s a thing as too much throw. Some of those beams are like lasers, goes far as hell but doesn’t spread wide enough imo. The older xml chips I have are kinda like that, a little too focused in the center
Agree for general use. But you can always diffuse a narrow beam. You can’t tighten up a flood. For skating, balancing lumens vs heat vs throw, to put the light where you need it, is the trick. That Catapult V6 is really a weird and exceptional light. I was really kind of shocked. It’s competing with HIDs. Nice big flood circle too.
for reference, I’d love a thread on lights topic, leds, handheld flashlights, DIY headlight tail light worthy components.
not just derail jail.
Check here
Stop it. My wallet doesn’t like it. 
what is that other site? should we switch over there instead? /s 
What the… this ain’t the klink!
I have the T1, it’s perfect, almost too small and too bright.
This video shows what the Catapult is bringing to the table very well.
The 1700 lumen light absolutely destroys the 3000 lumen lights in throw. The flood beam is quite nice too.
I stepped through the Olight R50 in the video before the Catapult. R50 is almost good enough. That hotspot the Catapult has will let you see potholes and other road hazards early enough for 25mph+.
The 18650 lights have good lumens at turn-on, but unless they have a crazy big head it’s all flood, and thermal step down kicks in really quick. If they’re putting out 2000+ lumens, runtime is kind of bad too. The 26650 lights have a bigger body for better head dissipation, and a bigger head for a bigger reflector, which improves throw. Bigger throw means you don’t need as many lumens, which improves time before thermal stepdown, and runtime.
The Catapult is doing some dark magic. That kind of throw used to only come with lights with heads twice as big. It runs fairly cool, has USB charging, is available in neutral white (cool white is more lumens, but neutral white improves depth perception in the dark – usually you can see more detail and distance with NW despite loss of lumens), and is amazingly cheap (throwers usually cost a TON). I’m almost talking myself into a spare, but there are always better lights coming along.
For fun, I think this Emisar D4s with 26650 is crazy. And so cheap! I’d grab a neutral white or high CRI LED version, with high cd (measure of throw). This light is floody by nature, the throwier versions are more useful and fun.
https://intl-outdoor.com/emisar-d4sv2.html
The Emisar D4 (1x18650) is also crazy fun for cheap. A real pocket rocket with a great UI. Fire hazard. I’d say the only downside is there’s no perfect pocket clip, which makes EDC inconvenient.
Emisar lights are also available in the US from http://www.mtnelectronics.com/index.php for a bit more $$. And skylumen.com has pimped out versions with upgraded/hotrodded components.
Oh I do believe the Emisars run open source firmware.
Are you looking for a light that is powered by a separate battery then your boards battery?
Thanks for the pointer towards an emisar d4, just picked one up on eBay.
I’ve got a diy head torch with 2 xml’s that is like strapping a car to your head but I could do with something pocket size.
More info on that light? Looks scuba- grade
It is scuba grade! I machined the case, polycarbonate lens, fitted compression o rings, magnetic coupled reed switch. I’ve only had it to 20 metres though. I built it mainly for mountain biking and caving but it has come spear fishing . Free diving in the dark is beyond my comfort zone It turns out!
The driver board is awesome. From a chap in the states. It will drive so many different led combinations and is fully user configurable.
I keep meaning to fit a buck converter to get 12v out of my board so that I can put it to more use.
Soooo coooo! 
Is it just too heavy? For helmet mounted, the magicshine 902 is kind of awesome, great build quality. Seprate power pack. Good beam. Not enough throw for fast speeds though. The bigger magicshine is enough, but it runs so hot and spills sooo much light.
Nice score on the D4. The 2 links I gave is the designer/oem, and his US partner. They have the coolest versions and hhe lastet/greatest. And mods like a 18350 body.
