SkyWolfEye A8 (Compass Tail Cap)
Price; £1.80 free shipping
Manufacturer: SkyWolfEye
Model: A8
Power: Cree XP-E diode
Run By: 1x 18650 lithium battery
Focus Type: Fixed
Modes: 3
Shipped From: Hong Kong
Features:
- Compass Tail Cap
- Rechargeable
- Decent lanyard
First Impressions
SkyWolfEye torches are on the whole very good. Definitely on a par with Ultrafire in terms of quality and value so I had no hesitation in bidding for one of these.
The A8 is not a regular in the daily listings, perhaps popping up once or twice a week so bagging one when I had the chance was a good move.
The torch arrived by Kowloon airmail in the usual white bin bag packet. No cardboard box but nevermind.
The main body of the torch is the usual aluminium anodised with a scratch resistant coating.
The LED Head features a Cree XP-E diode set within a half orange peel reflector. It looks well constructed.
The crown or bezel is red in colour and has a smooth edge. This makes a nice change from the strike/attack bezel which seem to come with most torches these days. I don't think they serve much purpose really.
Moving down the torch and we find a recharging port. Really useful if you don't want to drag your battery charger around with you.
To aid waterproofing a rubber bung is provided to cover the port when you're not using it. Just how effective this bung is remains to be seen.
The bung is tethered to a rubber ring which runs around the torch. Although it stops you loosing the bung it also gets in the way. It's very easy to accidentally catch the ring with your hand and roll it backwards, of course ripping the bung from out of the hole. Annoying somewhat.
Recharging Ports Are Always Welcome
Further down the torch is the power switch. Thankfully it doesn't rattle about like many of the other torches with this design. It has a positive click and can switch modes using half-click.
The tail cap on this torch happens to be rather interesting.
Housed in the end is a little compass. One of those liquid floating compasses you find on survival bracelets and the like. It's seems quite accurate when measured along side a regular compass.
A bonus feature for the hiker or Outdoors type.
What a handy little feature....
Another thing to mention about the tail cap is the Lanyard.
Most of my other torches ship with the standard cheap black straps which have a tendency to fall apart and split. This grey offering is made from much better materials and feels much tougher and more reliable. I like it anyway.
The overall feel of the torch is well made and strong.
Howver, one thing to mention is the grip..... or lack of.
As this torch has no knurling or grip rings to speak of it has a tendency to slip from the hand sometimes.
The handle part is also slim in design which doesn't help the situation.
Perhaps this is why they supplied an upgraded lanyard?!
I'm not loving this aspect much so far. I'll get used to it.
Testing:
Much like the other fixed focus throwing torches this A8 projects a very bright spot beam within a circle of spill. I'm not sure what the actual brightness is in lumens but at a guess I would say about 200 lumems around the hot spot. Probably not the best thing for close map reading.
The A8 at full power
Half the power and the A8 is still very bright.
Personally I prefer a good zoom lens torch. I like having the option of changing the angle of the beam so another fixed lens torch was never going to excite me.
That said, it's very good at what it does do. The deep set reflector really throws the beam over a good distance. The distant trees are easily hit.
For a torch which is small in size it's big and bold in terms of output.
Rating: ✅✅✅✅ 4 out of 5
This is a great little torch especially with the added Compass. A rather unusual addition it has to be said.
Not too keen on the grip hence the almost perfect score.
It's not bad though for money.