Question Best Batteries for Handheld Lights? 1x-2x batteries

[napDiver]

What battery sizes would you consider?
Min/Max number of batteries would you want in your light?

I tend to like the 22650, people tend to like the 21700. Unless I need a really small backup light, 18650 feels undersized versus other options.
I like 1x-2x batteries and open to 3-5x batteries as well. However, I feel a cannister might be more appropriate at that point.

I'm going to use this to help decide my next handheld light purchase. I lost mine in my last trip. It was an generic scuba light that i upgraded the batteries to high quality (2x) 26650.

 

[tbone1004]

I'm not familiar with 22650, but I have yet to see any real high quality 26650 batteries. @stuartv seems to like them though. Part of the problem with those batteries is because they aren't really used in most industrial applications there isn't that much attention paid to them, certainly not like 18650/21700's.

Personal take.
Backup lights, primary lights for open water diving, etc. should be single cell 18650/21700. If buying new I would tend to go with 21700 since that is the way the world is moving and would look at something like the @OrcaTorch D710. This has the added advantage of the BMS board on the cell having an integrated usb-c charging port which is convenient. The light will accept a normal 21700 and the included battery can be charged in a normal charger, but the usb-c port is certainly convenient.

At the point that you need either more light output or you need more burn time, then you should go to a canister. Sure lights like the Dive Rite LX20+ that use 4x 18650's are beasts, for open water I don't like the drop risk of not having a light that expensive be tethered. Cans are expensive, but what a lot of divers don't ever really learn is that 15 years ago a "bright" canister light was a 10w HID that burned for about 2 hours. The D710 on medium is comparably bright and burns for over 3 hours. Now unfortunately @OrcaTorch doesn't use continuous output drivers on these lights so they taper off especially on the high settings, but you'll never really notice that unless you compare it to a light that is constant output like the UW Light Dudes, Dive Rite LX20+ etc..

I have no use for 2x cell lights anymore, they're too long and unwieldy in actual use and the new LED efficiency is good enough that you don't need that amount of burn time anymore, even in a cave.