UltraFire WF502B 210 Lumen LED Flashlight $12 at DinoDirect

Sounds nice but I'd prefer one that didn't use such expensive batteries.

^ True Li-Ion does cost more, but you can pick up a pair of cells and charger at places like Dealextreme.com for under $20 total.

Figure that for ~ $30 total investment you have something at least twice, and often 3x or more brighter than any AA or AAA light we've seen featured here. The higher energy density of Li-Ion can be worthwhile if you use a light a lot.

This light uses a (supposedly rated as, but probably closer to only 1/2 to 2/3rds of that) 600 lumen driven Cree XM-L, T6 bin LED, not the lesser 3W, Q5 bin LED. At $12 it's the most light for the buck that you can get unless you want to spend twice as much on the light alone to get something else that runs off 2 or more AA for a shorter period of time... and that's only theory, I don't recall seeing any XM-L 2+ x AA lights available yet though there may be some out there somewhere.

Usually the bare LED alone costs about $9 or more when buying a single piece at a time.

However with small generic lights there can be issues driving higher powered LEDs. This one is no exception, some people have found theirs had better heatsinking if they wrapped aluminum foil (or applied heatsink grease) around the module in the head... though usually on a small high powered light like this, you'd run it on high for brief periods you need a lot of light then on low most of your use.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?317766-Ultrafire-502b-1000lm&highlight=WF-502B

Here's a review for this light (host, but using a less efficient LED) http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?163854-Ultrafire-502B-CE

it's a $12 dollar flashlight....hardly worth three pages of regurgitation.

I have some 18650 batteries. Rock star. Cheap as dirt to use. No more wallet r4pe with the CR123s. Picked up them up at dealextreme for maybe $10-14 with charger.

Excellent flashlight, arguably the best lumens/$ ratio anywhere. But the popups and feel at DinoDirect are skeevy and off-putting. Dealextreme is the standard and just a tad more expensive. Golden Gadgets has it as cheap.

Web site says 600 Lumen, but Ben says 210 Lumen. Wonder where Ben got the 210 figure?
[EDIT]
dave_c explained 600/210 in the previous thread.

What's "Cruel flash"?

^ They used to sell one with a Q5 LED that claimed 210 lumens... maybe still do, I didn't check.

Cruel flash, relating that to modes from other sellers, is just a fast strobe, one supposedly fast enough to disorient an attacker/animal/etc. both psychologically and giving their pupils no time to adjust to the bright dark sequence. However (and I could be wrong), I vaguely recall on the versions with more modes, the strobe speed wasn't all that fast so it didn't have the full disorienting effect that some do, but I don't know if it applies to this lesser 3 mode driver version or not.

Missed that the title says Q5 / 210 lumen. Since DinoDirect says XM-L, may get 600 lumen. In that case this is the most bang for your buck as 'Sliver' and 'dave_c' said. "Cruel flash" is more flash marketing term than the bland 'Fast strobe'. Thanks for response.

< WARNING >

Once you are logged in DinoDirect, you are forever logged in. Lock is open and there's "Sign in" at top, seeming to indicate you are logged out. But you are still logged in -- and you are still logged in even after system reboot!!! What a slimy friggin bastards !!!

Anybody know how to log off from DinoDirect?

[EDIT]
Finally able to log off after deleting all cookies from the DinoDirect domain.