just popped some batteries in my tesco torch to go in the car, bought after recommendations on here many years ago, and am thinking a couple of new cheap chinese 18650 battery torches might be a good call for the coming dark nights, dog walking and all that.

so before i just buy off ebay/amazon et al, anyone got any links to recomended ones ideally sub 10quid?

I got some 18650×2 zoomable’s cheap, but it’s worth running some electrical tape around the zoom ring, otherwise it’s just annoying.

Sourcing 18650 batteries can be tricky. Powerful, reliable, inexpensive…pick any two…

I’d recommend something like these.
Ebay
2 quid each and you get enough for car, garage, house, coat pocket etc plus a few spares. Also use AA batteries easily bright enough for dog walking and won’t burn your house down…

All my cheapo 18650 torches from Deal Extreme don’t work properly – mainly intermittent contacts. Highly annoying. Wouldn’t bother again and would just buy something decent.

dx.com flashlights come from lots of different makers, some are obviously better than others, the cheap ones are clearly going to be more variable than the more expensive ones. I have one that flickers no matter how much I faff around with the switch, I also have this one:
http://www.dx.com/p/aurora-ak-p7-5-ssc-p7-c-8-mode-memory-900-lumen-led-flashlight-with-assault-crown-1-18650-17599#.V_wNaet4WK0
that I’ve had for quite a few years that’s been perfectly reliable, but it’s £38 so you’d expect it to be better made.
However, the torch I’ve used more than any other is this one:
http://www.dx.com/p/trustfire-r5-a3-cree-xp-e-r5-3-mode-230-lumen-memory-led-flashlight-1-aa-1-14500-39062?utm_source=dx&utm_medium=edm&utm_campaign=20120912#.V_wNtut4WK1
It’s as bright as anybody really needs a torch to be for general use, it’s really cheap, I’ve got six of them, three going back five or six years at least, only one has died, for no obvious reason, all the others work just fine.
I used to use them on my bike and helmet using Twofish Lockblocks, and at 230 lumens, capable of lighting a country lane quite adequately.
They use 14500 Li-ion rechargeables, or ordinary AA’s, the 14500’s are better, at 3.7v they drive the emitter harder, but they’re more expensive and need to be ordered online.
Swings, etc
Long-time use without issues means I can recommend both, the little TrustFire is the one I’ve used most, continue to use, and will for as long as they keep working and I can get (ever cheaper) replacements if they should finally give up the ghost.

I’ve been using a ultrafire wf 501b for night riding mounted on my helmet, twice a week for over a year now with no problems. It was less than a tenner! It doesn’t come with any batteries so bought them from torchy.

Someone else I know has just got a convoy s2 or something that seems to work well and is a bit smaller.

cheers guys.

for what its worth i also still have an ssc p7 that must be 8-10 years old now, highly recommended on here at the time, still going strong and on original batteries/charger bought drom dx.

I have an Ultrafire 501b that I bought from C&B Seen. It’s been good so far – three years on.

+1 for Ultrafire. 10 years plus and still going strong. One of the best ten dollars I’ve ever spent

I just got a cheap pair of 18650 torches/bike lights with a rear red led for a few quid off ebay, they all work and seem fine but not tested in real life yet. Two LED head torches have worked well enough for a few years though (ok to be fair one charger died and I upgraded a set of batteries last year but the other charger is fine).