It's an old "Soshine" branded NiMH AAA cell claiming 900mah. I'm not about to test it but I did use it for a while. I've standardized on Eneloops since then. Anyway this is FYI so you know that NiMH leaking is a thing.

I’ve got a little stainless Coast A5, which I love, but its beam pattern is very, very much inspection torch. Dead circular, even spread.

Is there anything similar in body, but with a more every-day torch beam? I don’t really want some black knobbly military-cosplayer’s thing, I’m not too bothered about a built in charging port, I want minimal. I love the simple, smooth stainless body of the A5, it lives in my smart jacket pocket along with an elegant little pocket knife, I just wish it had a thrower-style beam.

The full review is available here

English review at BudgetLightForum
German review on my website

Summary

Despite its slim head, the new Sofirn SR12 is a real thrower – the deep reflector and the Luminus SFT-25R make it possible. With a length of only 112 mm and a diameter of about 24 mm, it should still fit easily into your pocket, making it perfect as an EDC flashlight. It becomes even more interesting when combined with an optional short battery tube for 18350 batteries, which reduces its length to 79 mm.

The full review is available here

English review at BudgetLightForum
German review on my website

With this little review I wish you a merry Christmas! Have fun, but don’t overdo it with the lights. The tree should not start to burn at any time! 😉

Summary

When the Wurkkos TS10 was released in mid-2022, only few might have imagined what a great success this flashlight would become. Compact, playful, great light and also affordable. Over time, different colors and materials such as titanium, brass and copper were added.

The Wurkkos TS10 SG is a successful update of the classic TS10. With the new optics and the Luminus SFT-25R, the throw has been significantly increased. Otherwise everything has remained the same. There’s a reason the TS10 has enjoyed great popularity for years.

I've got a streamlight microstream that I've had for a few years now. I really like the general size and power. It'd be super ideal if it had a very dim mode. I'm only really dissatisfied with the microusb charging.

Is there anything out there that I should be looking at? Ideally rechargeable with a pretty simple UI... Honestly that's about all I'm looking for. Any suggestions?

Flashlight review: The Sofirn IF24 offers two white light sources and a colorful one, USB-C charging, and an 18650 battery.

https://zakreviews.com/sofirn-if24.html

#flashlight #flashlights #EDC #EveryDayCarry #review #ProductReview #FlashlightReview @flashlight

Rating: 4.5/5.

I needed another headlamp and was familiar with an earlier, micro-USB, white-led-only version of this light. Build quality of both is fine, I'd say not fantastic but perfectly usable for not too demanding purposes, and a terrific value for the price. Claimed water resistance level is IPX6. Headband is comfortable given that this is not a tiny light. I think it is still small enough to not need an over-the-head strap. Weight is about 108g including battery and strap.

Wurkkos and Sofirn both sell these lights and I think I heard somewhere that the actual manufacturer is Boruit. There are various models with different configurations. The H25LR has one white led, one 660nm (deep red) led, and USB-C charging.

Order date: Nov 22 2024. Got shipping notice on Nov 24. Package delivered December 5, so about 10 days transit from China to California, not bad. Cost was $19.99 including an 18650 battery. Shipping was free due to order being above $19. This is hard to beat.

The included battery is labelled with Wurkkos branding and says 3000 mah. It is an 18650 button top. I didn't test the capacity or charge current, but I measured the length at around 66.5mm not including the button, with the button adding another 2mm or so. So maybe it's a protected cell, I don't know. The springs in the light are pretty stiff. If you loosen the "tail" cap by 1/4 turn or so, the light breaks contact with the battery, giving you a lockout from accidental turn-on and also from parastic drain. I tried swapping in an unprotected flat top battery and that worked fine including the lockout.

The UI is fairly sane given that it's a 1-button light with multiple colors and levels that doesn't run Anduril. Short click to activate white led at the same level as last time, long click for red, also at same level as before. Once either led is on, hold down button to cycle through 4 levels. I didn't attempt brightness or runtime measurements.

My general comment about the beam is that it's more directional that I'd prefer, particularly for close-up usage. This is for both the white and red leds. It's not terrible, it's just that I like floody beams for reading and fixing stuff.

The lowest levels of both leds are ok, not super low. Some people appreciate ultra low levels and I can understand that. These are just regular low. I find that level 2 of the white led is about right for reading, walking indoors in the dark, etc. The higher levels are there when you need them.

The red led goes from low to quite powerful, like several watts. I don't quite understand the purpose of a powerful red led. Does anyone really want long distance outdoor illumunation in deep red? I would have been fine with just the low level, or a redesigned light with two full sized white leds, plus an auxiliary small red led. The red led for me is for minimal disturbance to your own night vision and that of others around you. So it should be just bright enough to maneuver in the dark or see an object (telescope, say) well enough to reach and turn a knob. I don't remember ever wanting a bright red light.

There is a handy featue of an RGB led under the on-off switch. When you first turn on the light, that led acts as a battery level indicator (green=charged, etc.) and it stays on for a few seconds. Also, when you plug in a USB charger, it lights red during charging and green afterwards.

The instruction pamphlet says charging takes 4-5 hours, suggesting a 500 ma charge rate similar to the micro-USB version. I.e. it's likely to be the same charging circuit except with a USB-C connector. That is ok with me. The instruction pamphlet also amusingly says that questions and problems should be emailed to [email protected], heh.

A slightly more "premium" approach would be to include faster charging (3 amps) and maybe powerbank output. I do like lights with built-in chargers, as opposed to the kind where you have to remove the battery and charge it outside the light. Sorry about that, Hank ;).

Wurkkos now has the interesting HD10 Mini which is a 14500 powered anglehead flashlight / headlamp with Anduril, sort of like the Emisar DW4 but smaller. I don't really care for the 14500 battery type but it would be nice to have a lightweight 18650/18350 version of this light (the DW4 is too heavy). Or it would be of more interest if it could run on 1.5 volt AA cells in addition to 14500. As it was, I went for the 18650 version instead. For a lightweight headlamp I have a Nitecore HA11 and might get or concoct something ultralight at some point.

Anyway that's my new light day for now and it has been a good one.

Addendum (December 26): I noticed something interesting about the front of the light, center, above and below the main leds (see circled green areas in the pic). There are two milled slots that look like they were designed to hold tritium markers. I guess I'm off to mixglo.com to get some. I'll have to measure the slots but basically 2x5mm or thereabouts.

Update: Mixglo situation is that 1.5x6mm vials are $6.50 so two vials plus a $6 tube of Norland adhesive (1 ml) would total $19. BUT, Mixglo offers untracked shipping for $6 only if the order value is $15 or less. Otherwise you need tracked shipping which costs $22. It's cheaper to make two separate orders. I think I'll order one vial plus the adhesive, try to install the vial, and then order a second vial if the first one goes in ok. I'll update if and when there's a new development. Fwiw, tritiumworkshop.com (in the UK) is another well regarded source of tritium but it ends up costing a little more, depending.

Update 2: more careful examination convinces me that those little holes weren't intended for tritium but were just part of the heat sink-like styling. But, it should still be possible to do something there or nearby between the "fins", possibly with a bit of Dremel-ing. I want to take some caliper measurements before ordering vials.

Addendum 2 (2025-01-12): I just checked and a protected Fenix flat top cell (67.8mm long) works fine in tihs light.

The full review is available here

English review at BLF
German review at my website

Summary

The Sofirn IF23 Pro has a lot to offer: a bright spotlight, a floody side light with adjustable color temperature and various RGB effects. It is controlled quite intuitively via a button and a rotating ring. The battery can be swapped easily and the flashlight can also be used as a power bank in an emergency.

On the other hand, some details are not fully thought through to the end: finding the right position of the rotating ring in the dark is a matter of luck, the magnet is too weak to hold the flashlight reliably in horizontal orientation. The spotlight needs more throw to better stand out from the floodlight. Whether you like the flashlight depends very much on your individual requirements.

The full review is available here

English review at BLF
German review at my website

Summary

Earlier this year, Wurkkos released their first “flat” flashlight with a floody sidelight and a green laser. Now they added a variant with UV instead of the laser: the Wurkkos HD01 UV.

White spotlight and UV light, plus white and colored floodlight, combined with an elegant, flat design – the Wurkkos HD01 UV has a lot to offer. It is rare to find such a variety of light sources in a single flashlight.

Although the driver is simple, this should be acceptable considering the low price. With the HD01, you get a versatile companion for EDC use.

I took it out of my pocket and tried to turn it on, hmm, twist switch was rather tight. Tightened it down or maybe it was already down. It didn't turn on but I figured I maybe had left it on all night by accident and drained the battery. Started to remove the head and heard a popping sound. Battery (alkaleak but fairly new) had some kind of black stuff on the casing near the negative terminal, no other obvious damage to the light or battery. I put in a new battery => won't turn on. So I guess the circuit is blown.

I like the light and they are affordable so I guess I'll get another, but it seems like a shame that I don't see much of a way to repair it or scrounge usable parts from it. I will try to remove the circuit board when I get a chance. Not now though.

Oh well. Bring a spare.

Looking for a quality light in a compact form factor and most importantly no extra modes. I want a single button that turns the light on and off. No brightness settings and for the love of god no strobe mode and no colors.

There's a new highest-capacity 14500 battery, but it falls a bit short of advertised.

#flashlight #flashlights #battery #batteries #14500 #vapcell @flashlight

The full review is available here

English review at BLF
German review at my website

Summary

The Nitecore EDC23 EDC flashlight has been my everyday companion for a few weeks now. Thanks to its flat design and compact dimensions, it disappears nicely into the pockets of my pants. Nevertheless, it offers unexpectedly high performance for its size and a long runtime. I particularly like the operation with a separate button for turbo and a slide switch for the lockout.

The beam was optimized for high efficacy and throw. Therefore you have to accept some compromises, particularly with the light color: a slightly green tint and low CRI are the result. It would be nice to have a clip that allows the flashlight to be carried deeper in the pocket.

And yes, this is the halloween edition. They just had that on their site when I wanted to buy the flashlight, so I thought why not. I think it looks pretty funny. It was technically delivered on halloween as well, but I wasn't at home at the time. That's why I only have it since last saturday. Anyway, it's a pretty nice flashlight, really bright for the size:

It just feels so nice to use and gives you the impression that you have something high quality in your hand.

Also thanks to y'all for making posts in this sub. Looking aroung this community let me to get this flashlight. It's nice to have a community with people who find flashlights interesting and make good recommendations.

I'm looking for a new light for EUC riding. I currently have a SP36 which I find too big and heavy and also a thrunite TC15 that lacks throw and uses a micro USB that I dislike. A buddy of mine uses a Fenix TK16 v2 and it seems to be a good balance of flood and throw, but I dislike the buttons. I really like the features of my SP36 and the single button.

I need good flood and medium throw in order to see further ahead. I looked at hank lights and I'm quite interrested, but I'm new to all this. Through my research, I think a D1K might be a good format. I saw a few people riding EUC that said the D4Sv2 with XPL-HI is best, but this emitter isn't offered anymore.

What do you suggest?

Arbitrary List of Popular Lights - Fall Equinox 2024 Edition

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

#flashlight #flashlights #EDC #EveryDayCarry #headlamp #headlamps @flashlight

The full review is available here

English review at BLF
German review at my website

Summary

The Skilhunt MiX-7 Gen 2 is a successful update of the little multi-color flashlight. Finally it delivers what its name suggests and you have the option of mixing the colored LEDs with each other. With the long Plus version you can now use 18650 batteries for a longer runtime.

The UI is still not perfect, but it is an improvement on its predecessor. For example, the UV light is a little hidden to activate. On the other hand, it is not an easy task to design a UI for so many functions with just one button. It would be nice to be able to adjust the brightness of the mixed colors.

Has wurkkos ever released a red aux only version of the ts10? If so please tell me where to send my money

Illuminated by the new Skilhunt MiX-7 Gen 2 with color mixing capability.

Hey! I'm looking for a headlamp to use on a kayak. Everything you use while paddling eventually gets drenched, so it needs to be waterproof. I paddle on the Baltic Sea so the water is slightly salty, too.

I've noticed a bunch of headlamps have magnetic charging now. For example, Skilhunt H150 looks good and fairly priced and it's IPX8 rated, but there's the magnetic charing connector. I've seen reports that it produces sparks when shorted. Isn't that going to be a problem when it gets wet? I also wonder what kind of effect repeatedly being exposed to the sea water has on it. Anyone got experience with it?

The full review is available here

English review at BLF
German review at my website

Summary

You don’t hear much about JETBeam. That’s a shame, because the long-established company has some interesting flashlights in its portfolio. The new JETBeam E26 (“Kunai”) has just been released.

The E26 was announced a few months ago via a Kickstarter campaign and was successfully funded after just one day. I had the opportunity to test the flashlight before it was officially shipped.

JETBeam made a successful start with the E26 “Kunai” into the world of flat flashlights: white light, UV light and a green laser, combined with intuitive UI using a rotating ring and two buttons, fast charging via USB-C and an ergonomic, practical design.

For the perfect experience I miss direct access to the lowest level, which could also be a little lower. That, and if the flashlight was a little shorter, it would be the perfect EDC flashlight for me. But even as it is, it makes a very good impression.

This review was sponsored by flashlightgo.com, a Chinese shop with a large selection of flashlights.

Just arrived, review will come in a few weeks.