SkyWolfEye S20 XM-L T6 Review

Flashlight Fiesta

SkyWolfEye S20 XM-L T6 Tactical Torch

Price: £1.98 highest bid free shipping
Manufacturer: SkyWolfEye
Model: S20
Power: Cree XML-T6 diode. 7W
Run By: 3x AAA / 1x 18650
Modes: 5
Focus Type: Zoom
Vendor: Seller via ebay
Description: Tactical XM-L T6 1000 lumen flashlight
Shipped From: Hong Kong
What's in the Packet?: S20, 18650 sleeve, AAA adapter

 Fully extended shot

First Impressions
I must say the original promotional shots of this torch on ebay were not that inspiring.  It didn't really look that good. I only bid on it because it was going cheap. It could always be used for spares at the least.
It arrived and looked a million times better than in the photographs.  Sleek and well made my initial misgivings were quickly dissolved.
The aluminium body is high quality and has a nice feel and weight to it.  The Zoom head is well constructed and has a good firm action.
The tail cap is of the highest order with what looks to be a Copper contact plunger rather than a crappy spring.
The S20 is very similar to the ever popular Ultrafire E-17.
Almost identical but subtly different is how best to describe this torch.
First of all the convex Lens is more magnified than the e-17 interesting to see how this affects the performance when I test it later.
The XM-L chip and surrounding disc looks high quality with no dodgy solder joints or grease marks etc. The business end is very nicely put together.
Waterproofing is managed by good rubber o-rings at all the main screw points. The screw threads are well machined and easy to operate. I'm really impressed with this torch so far. Is it too good to be true?.

 High quality T6 on board

Quality fittings and fixtures!

Testing
Good grief! The size of the flood circle on this is obscene! Not only does it completely fill the area in front of you but illuminates it with such a powerful intensity. The brightness is higher than my favourite Ultrafire E-17 which I was really surprised to see.
I don't think I have ever owned a torch that completely filled my garden with light, it's insane.
I'm putting this extra wide flood feature down to the fact that the magnification of the convex lens seems more magnified than normal. I wish they all came like this!

Flicking through the 5 settings is simple and precise. High, medium, low, strobe and S.O.S are there for the choosing.

Waterproofing is not an issue with this torch despite having a moving lens head. The rubber rings did their job properly. Dunking in a jug of water for half an hour was no problem.

 Full Flood is absolutely awesome

The focused spot is very bright

Waterproof

Rating: ✅✅✅✅✅ 5 out of 5+ "Best and Brightest T6" award
Out of the many XM-L T6 powered torches I own this SkyWolfEye S20 is by far the brightest and has the best flood beam. It's simply awesome!
It's so good that I have created an award on the strength of its performance. Truly staggering for under £2

I will be reordering these.....

Laserware 1G Green Gun Lamp Review

Flashlight Fiesta

Laserware 1G Green LED Gun Lamp

Mounted on my imaginary Rifle! 

Price: £3.89 winning bid free shipping
Manufacturer: Laserware
Model: 1G
Power: Green Cree XP-E Q5 LED
Run By: 1x 18650
Focus Type: Zoom
Vendor: Laserware via ebay
Description: Green Rechargeable LED Gun Lamp + Kit
Shipped From: UK
What's in the Box?: 1G Lamp, Gun Mount, Wall Charger, Pressure Switch, Samsung 18650 2500mAh Lithium battery, instructions

I got quite a lot for my £3.89! 

First Impressions
These little packages appeared a few times on the flashlight auction recently and they looked rather good for the low starting prices. I just had to get one!
Advertised as factory refurbished units I was expecting a few knocks and scrapes from the previous owners. I wondered if I had inadvertently stumvled into a quality lottery with this one.
After only a day or so my item arrived direct from the manufacturer Laserware based in England.  The larger padded envelope contained a much larger green go box than what I'm used to.
Inside was an almost perfect gun lamp, with only one small mark on the body. Everything about it looked brand new to be honest.
Also inside was a good quality gun mount, a pressure switch tail cap (not unlike the ultrafire WF-501B switch) a UK mains plug and a brand new Samsung 18650 - a proper protected cell I might add . All very nice indeed.
I will let them off with not putting the car fag lighter charger in the box seeing as though the rest of this kit was so good.
The lamp itself is made of a high quality solid aluminium with a equally solid focus ring mounted near the head.
The action of the focus ring is reasonably smooth and features a nice positive click when turning the dial.
The green LED is a good quality Cree Q5 by the looks of it. No cheap lattice bright crap here.
The tail cap,head screw and lens screw fittings are high grade with smooth operation and rubber ringed to be waterproof .
A cool feature of this lamp is the ability to charge the battery directly without the need to remove it first. Just plug it straight into the wall plug and that's it. it does feature protection circuitry so it shouldn't explode on you!
Overall a nice piece of hardware.

No need to charge the Battery separately

Wooo! A genuine Samsung protected 18650 battery!

Testing
As I don't own a rifle and in keeping with continuity I shall test this lamp with the tried and tested garden bushes test. Nice and simple.

*No Rabbits were shot in the making of this review 😁

 Full Flood Beam

Full Flood Beam

Glorious green beams are very attattractito look at and seem brighter than red or black lights. (Green light is received differently by our eyes)


The green beam is really bright and clear. The project circle and spot are far from perfect. Many artifacts from behind the optics can be seen on the projected light circle. It's not a deal breaker by any means.

 Narrow Beam 

Beyond the Narrow Beam. 

The focus system on this lamp is very interesting. From flood to spot is normal but carry on past seeing the Cree chip on the wall and the beam starts to open out again for some strange reason? This is where you hear the final click from the clutch mechanism. The beyond beam looks slightly defused as a spot. Not sure what that is all about? Nice touch though I think?

The flood to spot zoom feature works really well. A little clunky at times, although I feel this is down to its crude BB and spring bearing system which could have been designed a little better.

Battery life is mediocre really, dropping off after a few hours on the 18650. Not a problem if you can get to a plug socket.



Rating: ✅✅✅✅✅ 5 out of 5
Whether you own a rifle or not this lamp makes for a great night time light source. a nice change from the standard cool white LED offerings. This complete package for under four quid is frankly outrageous!
The original retail price of this package was eye watering to say the least.  Wallet flattening
Now you can forget that pay day loan and buy it for beggar all!
Extreme value for money. and the battery is at least worth £5 on its own!  More reasons to be cheerful.

Fake LED LENSER Torches - Buyers Guide

Flashlight Fiesta Special - Mr Aphoristic Investigates

Fake LED LENSER Flashlights!

It was inevitable that one day I might stumble across a few not-so-genuine torches. Especially with the amount that I have been buying lately. Stands to reason, law of averages etc..
So when I discovered that one of my newly acquired LED LENSER Torches was hooky I made it my mission to get to the bottom of this Confounded cheek!
I felt it was time to root out the truth (and the ebay weasle who sold them) and get my money back! lol

Now it's not the first time I have had a copy or clone, a prime example is the Sipik SK-68. A blatant Ultrafire mini Cree rip-off. But it's not such a big deal as it's a better quality torch than the Ultrafire and Sipik don't hide the fact that they ripped it off.
If the copy is better than the original and it only cost a quid then that's better value for money. So far I have gone on to reorder another 6 SK-68's - they are fantastic!
However, when you get a shady counterfeiter who produces a copy that's absolutely shite, and charges you too much for this piece of shite then that's just not on!. Bare faced cheek!

Introducing the rather superb LED LENSER P7.2 .
A high end professional torch designed by experts in Germany. Fantastic quality, fantastic customer service, fantastic 5 year Warranty

Introducing the rather shite KOWLOON P7.2 amateur edition.
A shabby fake chunk of shite which is fraught with issues and performs worse than a cheap £2 China special. No 5 year warranty, No chance of reselling it to anyone. Worthless!

Genuine V Fake
As counterfeiting becomes more and more sophisticated it is becoming increasingly difficult to spot the bad ones. It cost company's millions every year not to mention the cost to the poor person who bought it. Haha With this P7.2 these con artists could have gotten away with it.....I say could...
I guess it was pretty easy to rumble this fake from day one.
Having already researched fakes before hand I could sniff out the bull shit within a few minutes of seeing it.
I won't lie, I was a little annoyed naturally, but I also had to laugh at this absolutely amateurish contrivance!

Buying Guide - What To Look Out For:

This is in no way a complete list of pointers. On the contrary, these guys are getting better all the time and hiding their mistakes so it likely more things may get added over time.
These are the basic to things to keep an eye out for....

• Packaging.
Check the gift box (presuming you get that type and not the blister pack) the outside looks authentic and good quality but check the information sticker just inside the lid.
Does it look like a photocopy? Has it been cut down to fit the box? Is some of the feature information on the right hand side been duplicated?
Other than these things, the box is actually very close to the original.

• Modes.
The LED LENSER P7.2 has three brightness modes as standard.
These are 1) High, 2) Low, 3) Boost
Mine only had high and low modes, no boost.

•Tail Cap Clicky
Check the alignment of the red logo on the black rubber clicky button. Mine was slightly off center.
Check the functionality of the torch. During testing mine would sometimes fail to switch modes or even switch on.
Remove the clicker and check the quality.

•Serial Number
A problem with the serial number could easily go unnoticed 

Check the Font style of the wording.
Led Lenser use a font that has more squarer numbers and letters. 5 and S in this case are in comparison more rounded in appearance.  not that obvious at first.
Check some genuine P7.2 photos off the internet and make your own distinctions.

Check the roundness of the letter S and number 5

Check the alignment of the upper and lower text

In the picture below we have the dodgy P7.2 and the smaller P3. The last digital of the serial number should line up directly underneath the last letter/number of the model number. Look at the two torches again.

Notice the slight difference in font too.

•Check with your local Authorised Distributor
The wonderful thing about LED LENSER is that they keep an record of every single torch they make . This is printed on the side and should check out with the master list.
As a final check and for total piece of mind it is possible to ask your local led lenser Distributor to cross-check the serial number with the main production list.  They seem more than happy to help and will even suggest reputable sellers who guarantee the authenticity.
Of course, they confirmed that the P7 was indeed fake.

I contacted: support@ledco.co.uk


•Lens / Reflector 
There are two obvious gaffes in this amateur metalwork project.

1) The LENSER logo which runs around the raised LED platform is made from paper and peeled off. Highly crap indeed. This is not authentic!

2) The warning that is printed on the top part of the LED housing should read "Don't touch the LED" - not "DONT TOUCH THELED" which is clearly a foolish error. Even a 5 year old would know to put a space between words! Amateurs

It doesn't end there, the "patent pending" wording is not quite right either.
Must try harder lads!

•Price
And here is the biggest give away.
Although led lenser is a premium brand, seller don't generally get much of a mark up when they flog these. The profit margin is not that substantial so seeing a top led lenser on ebay for less than £30 is most likely a knock-off. Especially if these auction lots are not one-off private sales.  Those lots that seem to reappear again every few hours are perhaps the ones to be wary of.  Take a deep breath and think before hitting the bid/buy button.
Often buyers can be duped into thinking the seller is in the UK when really they are based in China.
My P7.2 was actually sold by a seller in China but shipped to me by an affiliate warehouse in England. He's buying them from fake city central and holding them here for quick delivery purposes purhaps?

Advice from LED LENSER UK suggests never buying cheap from eBay.


Surfing for sound bargains is always a risky business. It's very easy to let your guard down and get a kick in the head.
In my case this story has an OK kind of ending. The seller agrees to a refund. No requirement to return the item. At the moment he doesn't think he has been reported to ebay and is all friendly yet knowing he has been rumbled (and probably not for the first time)
Will ebay be closing his store haha....I bloody hope so for everyone's sake.


Yes, definitely buy a LED LENSER torch, they are simply brilliant.
Be on your guard and don't accept cheap imitations!

LED LENSER H7.2 Head torch Review

Flashlight Fiesta

Spelunking Special

LED LENSER H7.2 Head Torch

Price:
RRP: £55
Manufacturer: LED LENSER
Model: H7.2
Power: 1x High end LED chip
Run By: 4x AAA (Supplied)
Focus Type: Zoom
Vendor: Seller via ebay
Description: LED LENSER H7.2 High end professional head torch
What's in the Box?: H7.2, 4 X AAA batteries, instructions
Modes/Features:
•Low = 20 lumens for approx 60 hours
•High = 200 lumens for approx 12 hours
•Boost = 250 lumens for 7 hours
•Dimmer Switch
•Low/High mode
•High/Low Mode
•High/Strobe Mode

* Boost mode features regulated constant power architecture
* Speed focus/advanced focus system
* Low battery monitor and indicator
* Advanced heat sink
* Max beam distance 160m
* Gold Plated Battery Contacts.

First Impressions
When it comes to the very best in head torches there is only a hand full of outstanding manufacturers to choose from.
Petzl, Peli and Led Lenser are perhaps the best known.
So we start our Flashlight Fiesta high end reviews here with the much celebrated H7.2 from LED LENSER.
Arriving in a small cube shaped retail box the first thing I did was check for fakery. Satisfied that no underhand counterfeiting had taken place I pressed on with the review.

Build quality of this item is generally very good. The battery pack, business end and straps all feel rugged enough for the most demanding of jobs.
The complete package is lightweight and comfortable to wear. After half an hour of use its very easy to forget that you are wearing it.
Access to the main power on button is from the small button located at the top of the torch.  It's easy to located in complete darkness . The front part of the torch can be tilted to an angle of up to 90° to provide complete flexibility. Although not locking into place, the torch will stay at the desired angle without flapping about.
The one handed focus system is brilliant. It manages to move the reflector and the lens at the same time. Quite clever.
This head torch comes with a handy USB charging port on the front. Great if you run rechargeable AAA batteries and can't be bothered dragging a charger around with you. Nice
Overall a really nice looking product.
Something to show off to your mates at the camp site! 

 Real Gold Plated Contacts! Wooo!

Testing
This head torch is amazingly bright. Stunning is the perhaps a better word.
A nice feature is the hidden strobe function which is a refreshing change to every other flashlight you find these days. Instead of having to temporarily blind those around you whilst flicking through the modes, this strobe only activates when program 3 is selected.  I hate the strobe thing!
Set on program 1 (low/high) the various brightness levels were tested.

Low

High

 Flood

Focus

Boost

 Flood

Focus

Low Mode is perfect for close map reading for camp side activities- combine this with the dimmer switch and a fire fly style low lumen output can be achieved. Perfect for covert work or to avoid disturbing others.

High mode is bright enough for any application. It's incredibly clear and brilliant white.
Focus high mode into a narrow beam and this head torch projects an image over 150 feet away easily. It's certainly out performs an XML-T6.

Boost mode is just exquisite. The extra 50 lumens makes a subtle yet noticeable difference to the overall output.
Perhaps too bright for camp fire tending!

Dimmer
This handy little rotary dial sits on top of the battery pack.
Just spin this dial either left or right to customise your own lighting level. Simply and very effective.
A really great feature

So to sum the whole thing up, this particular head torch would be suitable for caving, spelunking, night fishing and of course camping - in fact anywhere you might need a huge amount of light without the weight of a huge bulky torch.



Rating: ✅✅✅✅✅5 out of 5
Absolutely top drawer head torch. Packed full of useful features and with a name you can trust. What's not to like.
Whether you are a caver or a camper you won't be disappointed

Cheap And Nasty 9 LED Torch Review

Flashlight Fiesta

Unbranded 9 LED Torch

Price: 49p
Manufacturer: Unknown
Model: Unknown
Power: unknown
Run By: 3x AAA
Modes: 1
Focus Type: Fixed
Vendor: seller via ebay

Crap innards

First Impressions
When it comes to advocating cheap chinese torches then Im the first to shout up. Sometimes something below par will slip through the net.......I'm not advocating this heap of crap!

Firstly it looks crap. Forget Aircraft grade aluminium for a moment and think about cheap monkey metal or rather crap steel. Not sure if it's Chrome plated or stainless steel as yet.  The Steel is poor quality and poorly finished.
Whichever factory this chunk of crap came from they were clearly having problems in the quality control department. The workmanship is truly shocking. If you happen to run your fingers around some of the edges you might just need a trip to A + E!  I must have cut my fingers twice when reviewing it. Not a good start.
The Chrome style (or is it stainless?) paint is shoddy and a scratch magnet.  It would be embarrassing to take this on a camping trip.
Looking inside the tube the rear of the Emitter can be seen and what a rat's nest of solder points! Looks like a basic 5mm LED school project.
Must try harder lads!

I hope the actually testing will be a little more inspiring?!

 This end cap is lethal!

Finger ripping good!

Testing

Hmm, well predictably this torch was pretty poor when pitted against the garden Bush. It was terrible. Just dim.

Close work use is a different story. As this torch employs a shallow reflector objects over short distances can be seen easily. Up close this torch throws out quite a decent spread of light.  

Crap outdoors

Rating: ✅✅ 2 out of 5

Quite simply piss poor. Yes it's very cheap and yes it cost less than 50p but you can get a really good flashlight for 50p believe it or not! (SkyWolfEye mini for instance).

The mear fact that you can sustain a nasty injury from just picking this thing up should serve as a warning!.

Don't bother bidding for these. You end up with dismay and bleeding fingers.

Cree Q5 Tactical Bat Light Review

Flashlight Fiesta

Free Q5 Tactical Bat Light 

Price: £8.27 free shipping
Manufacturer: Unknown Chinese
Model: Unknown
Power: 5W Cree Q5 LED
Run By: 1x 18650 (supplied) 3x AAA
Focus Type: Zoom
Modes: 3
Length: 37cm normal - 46cm Extended
Features:
•Waterproof
•Shockproof
•Extendable
•Rechargeable
•Spring Loaded deployment
•Upgraded Version?
Vendor: Seller via ebay
Shipped From: UK (Birmingham)
Description: 3 mode Baseball Bat LED Flashlight.  Security Torch
What's in the Box?:
•Extendable Bat Light
•UK Mains Charger
•1x 18650 lithium battery
•Karabina
•Quality close fit Lanyard
• AAA battery adapter + 18650 sleeve

First Impressions
I had seen these floating around ebay and wondered if I should pull the trigger and buy one? Having already taken ownership of a standard mini bat light I though this upgraded model might offer something more substantial. Ha I wasn't wrong! It's really  heavy and aggressive looking whilst also trying its best to pretend it's a multifunctional tool!  I'm not complaining though.

The long and short of it....

 This flashlight is a defensive baton first and foremost. Although that's quite obvious by its appearance! This bat has some rather serious features to deploy on any assailant who wants to have you over.
Along the length of the bat we find many raised segments much like a corn cob. These could do serious damage
As with many Chinese Tactical Flashlights we have a strike Bezel or crenulate Crown fitted at the very end around the lens area. This could also cause untold agony on any would-be mugger..nasty
Finally at the opposite end of the bat we find a rather handy glass breaker tip. This feature can be a life saver if you get trapped behind glass. Biut it can also be used defensively....surprise surprise!
Moving on to the secondary function of this tool is the rather good 5W Cree flashlight. It's no LED LENSER....but it's not crap eithet. Actually this bat when used as a torch is really
good (surprisingly!) more on that later..

 The Glass Breaker

The slightly nasty strike Bezel 

The build quality of this bat is quite good. The thick aluminium seems of a good quality and nicely anodised. I wouldn't be surprised if  this bat could take some abuse. I don't fancy hitting it against a wall to test the theory!
The extras in the box are of a good standard. The battery charger was notably better than most you find on ebay. Nothing dodgy about this type.
The fitted lanyard and Karabiner fixings are of a good quality and a nice touch. These promise to be hard-wearing.
Overall with the nice presentation box and everything inside this this little package is really good for the money....less than a tenner? What!


Testing

Zoom

High Power

Low Power 

Well the garden Bush test went rather well I must say. Not only did it light the bush up so clearly, it left no over spill when set to wide zoom. A good throw of light especially when set to narrow beam. Distances of over 100ft are easily reached.  These tests were carried out with the 18650 battery supplied in the box so using AAA batteries as an alternative is a great thing but the overall brightness may be reduced by 5-10% . Overall then Im very happy with the way this torch/bat/mace performs. Considerably better than first expected. 

Rating: ✅✅✅✅✅ 5 out of 5
This Bat or whatever you want to call it is simply stunning value for the money. In terms of Flashlights this is really unusual. From the bizarre spring loaded zoom to the corn on the cob noggin basher, It ooze's power and it doesn't hide the fact.
For functionality and piece of mind this item could be great for "security" purposes (make of that what you will).
As a collector of Flashlights I find this bat both fascinating and intimidating....but I love it.


* Caution! This thing must NOT fall into the hands of children or idiots..
This is a serious item and should be handled accordingly!