tl;dr: duty lights on the arbitrary list vs the wurkkos "tactical" lol light, what makes the comically less expensive td0x series worse

So, I'm looking through the arbitrary list of popular lights, specifically the duty light section, which lists Acebeam L35, Eagletac GX30L2-R, Acebeam L18, and Acebeam EC35 II if you ctrl-f "duty". I'm also interested in wurkkos because everyone likes the ts10 it seems, and they've got a few other lights on the arbitrary list.

Anyway, looking through the wurkkos website I noticed they had a "tactical" light, and it's way cheaper while looking (to me) equivalent in features.

I assume the "(to me)" part is the problem and I'm missing something big here, but I figured I'd ask because the price difference is pretty meaningful and wurkkos seems like a company people like. Is the td0x an ok budget option, or is it dollar store trash, or is it lacking some specific thing that swat firefighter tactical operatorlords need, or what.

Arbitrary List of Popular Lights - Spring Equinox 2024 Edition

In honor of Spring Equinox, I've made an updated list of popular lights. The sun may be returning, but you still might need a flashlight.

https://zakreviews.com/arbitrary-list-2024.1.html

@flashlight @flashlights @EveryDayCarry @EDC @flashlight

Thanks to the wonders of UV resin i got a super-cheap UV flashlight for curing it, but the thing didn't last much. I don't do this a lot, only occasionally, so a proper full expensive dedicated curing setup is a waste for me, and a not too expensive flashlight is not a bad idea, but I'd like to have one that won't break down after a bit. Is there such a thing?

And, any idea how to use them? 3 pins is perplexing.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/13027695

In the late 1970s, H&K partnered with Hensoldt to create the ZP/AP (Ziel/Aiming; Projektor/Projector) and then ZPP/APP (Ziel/Aiming; Punkt/Point; Projektor/Projector). This was essentially a calibrated flashlight with an aiming point and pressure switch. It projected a beam of light that was specifically 2m wide at 50m distance, with a black spot in the center which would measure 30cm at 50m. This could be focused and zeroed o the black spot was a functional aiming point, allowing both target identification and engagement...

A very similar concept was used in the by the British Special Air Service most famously during the 1980 Iranian Embassy Siege. Instead of the ZPP their MP5s where fitted with Maglite D-cell flashlights on top however.

Ian's video on the ZPP: [8:47]

https://youtu.be/mYcLNA7QmXg?si=

Review: Acebeam E75 - an efficient general-purpose flashlight with great color rendering, USB-C charging and a 21700 battery

https://zakreviews.com/acebeam-e75.html

Some tools do their jobs so well they're a little boring to write about. The E75 provides everything most of us could want in a midsize flashlight, and very little we wouldn't.

#flashlight #EDC #EveryDayCarry #FlashlightReview @flashlight

The full review is available here

English review at BLF

Summary

The Gyrfalcon S8000 is a powerful charger that targets professional users. It allows you to set many detailed options to adjust the charging and discharging process. And it performs really good in charging and discharging batteries!

On the other hand it doesn’t feel quite finished. The firmware got improved a lot over my testing period, but there’s still room for improvement and extension. There are a few mechanical usability problems with the terminals as well.

It is quite obvious that Enova took more than a single look at the SkyRC MC3000 when designing the S8000. It has a similar appearance, similar menu and the manual is almost identical. However it still lacks some features to be a real competitor. So far it is more like an “MC3000 light” – but with the potential for improvement!

Hullo! I just wanted to make aware of the latest updates on one of the newest Fireflylite flashlights, the X1L Elite (I am in no way affiliated with them and read the most info on Reddit, but it would be nice to kickoff a discussion on it here too).

Yesterdays update includes these 3 emitter choices:

• CREE XHP50.3 HI 5000K CRI90 2600lumens 120 000cd
• CREE XHP70.3 HI 6500K CRI70 3500lumens 84 000cd
• CREE XHP70.3 HI 4000K CRI90 2600lumen 62 000cd

It's very strange that the 70.3 HI 4000K would output the same lumes as the 50.3: I asked them and Ivy (the sales representative of Fireflylite) says it's because it's the low bin K2, if someone were interested.

There is as of now just one review by ZeroAir but it is expected that at least two other reviews will come out soon.

I hope some of you find this interesting, I personally find the 4 new models that are slowly coming out of preorder beautiful and with solid specs.

What are your thoughts? Did you preorder the X1L or other new gen FFL flashlights?

Review: Skilhunt EK1 USB-C keychain flashlight

The EK1 is Skilhunt's take on a twisty keychain light with USB-C charging and an optional high-CRI LED

https://zakreviews.com/skilhunt-ek1.html

#flashlight #flashlights #keychain #EDC #EveryDayCarry #skilhunt @flashlight

The full review is available here

English review at BLF
German review at my website

Summary

The Sofirn SC13 is a small and lightweight EDC flashlight with a creative design. The waist and texture feel very nice in the hand and allow for a reliable grip. Sofirn did everything right with the UI: It is simple, has shortcuts to lowest, highest and last used brightness and no unnecessary features.

Not sure if there is any benefit from the fancy Fresnel optic. The beam has a smooth spot with some small rings in the spill. Unfortunately the tint is not the best: slightly green with a noticeable tint shift between spot and spill. But for most users it should be acceptable.

Got curious? Then check out the full review linked above. There you can also find a link to Amazon US with a 10% discount code.

So I have an Astrolux MF01S with the extended battery tube and recently it wouldn't turn on after not having really used it in a bit due to moving. I put all the cells into my XTAR VC8 and one of the cells wasn't recognized by the charger. I used a multimeter and it's not reading any voltage from that cell (reads appropriate voltage from other cells). Is there anything to do or is this cell just dead for some reason? I believe they're the samsung 30Q's that are generally recommended.

The tiny shitty fan on my Opus BT-C3100 (V1) is failing for the third time, sick of replacing it, so I want to buy a new charger.

I need something that can charge and measure the capacity of Ni-Mh and Li-Ion batteries up to 26650 in size. Was looking at the dragon vp4 plus which seems good, except it's max discharge is 500ma which is a bit pants since my old opus can do 1A. Is there anything better around the same price range?

The full review is available here

English review at BLF
German review at my website

Summary

The Prime C2 – Armytek’s new entry-level model of the Prime flashlight series. Compact size and with a simple user interface. But also tough, great switch and with the proven magnetic charging system.

But in my opinion there are too many compromises with the driver, the firmware and especially the light quality. Why was the battery level indicator omitted? The LED is probably still hidden behind the switch. Why is the current so low? The LED could handle more. And who approved this horrendous beam?

I would have been happy to recommend this flashlight. I was really looking forward to it myself. Unfortunately I got disappointed. But just try it out and decide for yourself whether you like it or not. Alternatively, I can recommend the Prime C2 Pro, which is a bit larger but otherwise better in many respects.

...and have some new toys because of it!

The full review is available here

English review at BLF
German review at my website

Summary

The Manker E05 II is a compact EDC flashlight, supporting Li-ion and NiMH batteries. It has three levels of brightness with constant output for most of the runtime. The mechanical tail switch makes it easy to use.

Waterproofing of the switch is a little questionable, though. Better don’t try to press it under water.

You can get the flashlight in various colors and materials. You even have the choice between different LEDs (get the Nichia 519A version).

Hey guys! I’m looking for an EDC light that’s 800+ (pref 1000+) lumens, tailcap switch, rechargeable via mini USB or USB-C, and less than $50– is that price point delusional?
The closest I’ve gotten is the Wurkkos FC11 but that’s a little too large for my pocket and doesn’t have the tailcap switch (which means it turns on in my pocket sometimes and I can’t turn it on as quick when I grab it). My use case is obviously flashlighty stuff but an important use for me is that it’s part of my self defense layering.

Lumintop has a “Tool AA 2.0 EDC” that is about the perfect shape (fits in my fist- not square, knobby, or fat) and size (3.52*0.73 inch), but it’s not rechargeable, not as bright as the Wurkkos (but still bright at 650 lumens), and I don’t need its 5 different light modes to cycle through if I accidentally tap the back during use. Still would recommend the light, and I thought about getting a USB-C rechargeable AA for it, but as previously stated I’d really like something a little brighter and ideally a better tailcap switch.

I browsed the forum, and I saw a couple posts about the Wurkkos TS10. It’s kind of similar in size to another light I have and is a little fat for what I’m looking for. I think the FC11 is as thick or a little thinner, and still a bit big for what I’m looking for. May still try the TS10 if I can’t find anything else. I’d still consider stuff outside of the $50 price range but I really want something inside if at all possible.

My oldest kid dropped this light... way too long ago and it stopped working. The light is very simple electrically and the switch was fine, so off to get a new Nichia pill/driver/LED combo. As a bonus, the newer (since like 2018, I've had this flashlight for a while) driver has much better mode spacing. The part was pretty cheap ($25), Benjamin was friendly/helpful, and I'm a happy camper.

Removal was a massive pain due to the tight packaging and threadlocker. Amusingly, the switch side had no threadlocker and came out easily using snapring pliers. I had to make a 'custom' tool to remove the driver. Annoying, pill itself was also threaded in addition to the retainer. The pill also didn't have as great of a spot to key into it, so removal was a one way road.

Thankfully no threads were harmed, everything went back together easily, and I have a working tiny pocket light again.

3000 K BraTS10 and 4500 K DD MT21C lighting up the inside of a van while loading up the theater set and equipment.
The van was otherwise not lit at all on the inside. @flashlight #flashlight #theater

Over Christmas, I realised that I don't actually own any torches, and whilst I have no interest in throwing myself into yet another expensive, niche hobby, I wondered if the folk here could help suggest a possible flashlight.

I'm wondering what kind of options are for a headlamp style flashlight, ideally one that can be detached from the headlamp mounting, if that's a thing. In the most ideal world, the flashlight itself would be small enough I could fit it in my everyday carry tool pouch, which is a tool pouch that's around A5 size.

I used to have a basic headlamp which had three lights on it and a button which toggled between modes so it had some variable brightness. I liked that I could tilt it up and down. I used it mostly for digging in unlit storage units, or illuminating in and around my car when unloading at night. It wouldn't need to be too bright (the brightness aspect is one of the things I find most overwhelming about fancy flashlights, because there's a lot of in-group lingo to be learned which I haven't had the brain for.

One of the worst parts about my old headlamp was that its charging adaptor was specific and it'd often go uncharged if I couldn't find the specific charger for it. I don't know how fancy flashlights(TM) are generally powered, but I don't want to get a nice gadget I never use because it's awkward to charge. Proprietary connectors are a bit of a nightmare.

My budget would be up to £100 as a maximum, and only for something that ticked all my boxes. I have no idea how reasonably my goals are here, so thank you for reading this. I'd be glad to hear any suggestions anyone has, whether they be product suggestions, or questions that might be useful for me to consider in narrowing this down. You don't need to explain your recommendations too much — I can go away and research stuff once I have a place to start, but at the moment it just feels a bit big

Thanks

Edit: I feel like I've got plenty to go on now, thank you to everyone who answered, I love y'all, wonderful nerds

The full review is available here

English review at BLF
German review at my website

Summary

If you often have to charge a lot of Li-ion batteries, the XTAR VC8S might be a good choice for you with its eight slots and powered by a USB-C port with 45 W USB PD. It also comes with helpful extra features like internal resistance measurement and a capacity test mode to check the performance of your batteries. To prepare them for storage, it has an storage mode that automatically charges/discharges them to 3.6 V.

NiMH batteries can be charged as well with the VC8S, but it only charges them with a fixed current of 500 mA and might terminate a bit early. That’s enough for casual charging, but if you want more control over the charging process, you might prefer a different charger.

Unfortunately the charging current cannot be manually set for each slot independently, only for four slots at once. If you rely on the automatic current selection, some batteries might be charged with a little too much current. This limits the flexibility of the charger when you want to charge different sizes of batteries at once.

I love using warm lights. With the W1 Amber and the candle flicker mode in Anduril, I can relax and imagine I'm in some ancient torchlit bathhouse.

Full review here

German review at my website

Sorry, I haven't got the time yet to translate it into English. But as it seems to be discontinued, I wanted to share this PSA with you!

Summary

If you like it colorful, the Wurkkos WK40 is the right flashlight for you, a little rainbow in your pocket! The four LEDs (white, deep red, green and blue) are controlled with a ring and a tail switch. It also has a buck driver for mostly constant brightness, USB-C charging and a short battery tube. You can choose from seven fixed colors or an infinite color gradient. Various blinking modes for your next party are included as well.

As this light seems to be discontinued, you might want to get one now as long as you can!