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Sofirn SC32 Review (Affordable EDC & Mini Tactical)

Welcome to my review of the Sofirn SC32, an affordable and powerful mini tactical EDC flashlight. This compact and durable flashlight is equipped with an SST40 LED, which provides a maximum output of up to 2000 lumens. It also features onboard USB-C charging, allowing you to easily charge the flashlight’s optional 18650 battery, giving you hours of use on a single charge. Whether you’re a professional, a hiker, or just someone looking for a reliable and versatile flashlight, the Sofirn SC32 is an excellent choice at a very affordable price. Thanks to Sofirn for sending it to me to review, and now let’s take a closer look at what this flashlight has to offer.

 

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Purchase the SC32 Below

Neutral White version https://amzn.to/3Jzb5Fw Use code 10FXVQ6X for an extra 10% off for a total of 35% off with the coupon on the page. 

Cool White Version https://amzn.to/40rdTuL Use code 15A3BS3V for an extra 10% off for a total of 35% off with the coupon on the page. 

 

Packaging & Accessories

Sofirn has really stepped up the packaging here with the SC32. Instead of a generic brown cardboard box with only the company name on it, with the SC32 you get a white box with color photos and printing, as well as specs on the back. It features magnetic closure sides like you see on many Olight boxes for example, a real step up in quality, especially for the budget price these sell for. Inside the included accessories which consist of a lanyard, extra O-rings, USB-A to C Charging cable, and a manual are within another box to the side. An optional 3000mAh battery was included with my lights, and I recommend getting it as it’s only about a $2 difference in price. 

 

Construction and Design

The light is made from aluminum and anodized in a more mat-black finish. One thing I immediately noticed was the difference in finish and Font between my two lights. The NW version I have is a more chalky finish and has the older Sofirn logo, the CW version is more of your traditional anodizing and has what I am guessing is their new logo in all capital letters. 

The tail is glued to the body tube and features a flat recessed electronic switch with a big button pad in gray aluminum that’s grooved. I have zero issues with accidental activation here which is nice. The clip only attaches at the rear and is pretty tightly held on. The body tube has small fins milled in for good grip and a more premium look in my option than diamond knurling. Threads are raw, square cut, and well lubricated. This is a dual wall light to make that electronic switch work as well as onboard charging, and there is a spring on both ends of the light internally. One note is that there are exposed pogo pins (4x) on the rear of the PCB so this should be easy to flash the firmware on if you wish without disassembly needed.

The head of the light features the USB-C recharging hidden behind a silicone port that sits flush on what I will call the front of the head, with an LED indicator light to the side. The front of the bezel has short semi-aggressive crenulations protecting the plastic TIR lens.

 

Retention

Your retention options are simple on the SC32, The light comes with a generic lanyard that can attach on the clip. The pocket clip itself is the other option. It only attaches at the rear of the light, and is a dual-direction clip. It’s a fairly deep carry and has plenty of room to put onto the pocket of jeans. No major pain points here in my opinion. 

 

SIze & Weight

The length of the flashlight is 100mm, with the diameter being 25mm. Weight with the battery and clip came in at 3.72oz or 105.7g. The light is IPX water rated and here are a few photos of similar lights that I might have. 

 

LED & Beam

The SC32 is using the SST-40 LED, It’s available in both cool white and neutral white which I have samples of both here. Cool white came in at 5772k at 63.8 CRI on my Opple meter, and the DUV had no unexpected tints. The Neutral White version came in at 4638k and 62.9 CRI with very similar DUV. I do notice with my eyes a bit more tint shift on the neutral white version of the light.

 

The beam in both lights passes through a plastic lens. Sofirn calls this a Fresnel lens, and what it creates is a more floody beam than a TIR optic. While it has a hot center it’s not very defined and spreads out rather quickly. Better for shorter ranges than longer distances which we will see in my night shots. 

 

Outputs

I tested the outputs on my Texas Ace Lumen tube and most outputs were a little under Sofirns claim. As expected Neutral white was a little less output than the cool white version. My only concern was Turbo outputs were lower than claimed by a decent amount. I think the battery may be part of this issue and I will update if I find something different. 

 

Heat & Runtime

I ran various heat and runtime tests with the two lights I had. Both of the batteries I received tested slightly above the 3000mAh rating. The NW cell was 3115mAh, and the CW cell was 3043mAh. With the CW light, total runtime in Turbo and High were very close between 5:15:00 and 5:20:00. Turbo saw the large step down after a 1:15. The light does have active thermal management that’s set to reduce the 55C (122F) to prevent issues. I did test this on the NW light and the highest I saw on the exterior of the light was 47C. The only difference worth mentioning between the two lights was the runtime on NW was slightly less at 5 hours total. 

 

UI

UI here is very simple, long press from off to go to moonlight mode. Once on long press lets you cycle through the normal low, medium, high. Double-click when on to go to turbo and triple-click to go to strobe. The light does have memory mode. 

 

Recharging

Recharging is accomplished via USB-C on the head of the light. The silicone port protector worked well, and stayed in place when not in use. There is a LED indicator near the port cover for voltage check and for charging indication. 

LVP between my two samples averaged out to 3.0525V and charging time took 2.19:00 with max charging rate being about 1.6A. Charging stopped at 4.1V which is good. 

 

Conclusion

Sofirn has stepped up their game with the SC32 in my opinion. The more premium packaging is nice and elevates the first appearance of the brand. They call this a mini tactical flashlight, but I would call it a great EDC option as well, due to it’s small size and easy UI. The one negative for EDC in a pants pocket might be the slightly aggressive bezel.

Sofirn continues to deliver great value here too, Before any sales you can order the light for $33 shipped with a battery at the time or ordering, and I am expecting to have a coupon for you to discount the price further. 

I can fully recommend this light for the price here if you are in need of a new inexpensive EDC and want something that’s more on the floody side with decent power and runtime. It’s great to see LED tint options here. I would rather have tint options and low CRI like this light provides rather than an undesirable tint and high CRI. 

Let me know what you guys think of the SC32 in the comments below!

 

Purchase the SC32 Below

Neutral White version https://amzn.to/3Jzb5Fw Use code 10FXVQ6X for an extra 10% off for a total of 35% off with the coupon on the page. 

 

Cool White Version https://amzn.to/40rdTuL Use code 15A3BS3V for an extra 10% off for a total of 35% off with the coupon on the page. 

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Nitecore NU33 Review (Red & White LED, 750 Lumens, USB-C)

Introducing the Nitecore NU33 Headlamp, a light designed for those who are wanting lightweight, small packaging, and multi-color emitters. The light features a primary cool white emitter (5867k), with an auxiliary neutral white (4575k) floody emitter and an auxiliary red mode. Thanks to Nitecore for sending this to me to look at and review. 

 

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Get the Nitecore NU33 at http://bit.ly/3QPXUC4

or on Amazon at https://amzn.to/3CTfuis

 

Packaging & Accessories

The packaging here is Nitecore’s standard retail packaging. Inside the light is in a black plastic tray and has a few accessories. Included is the light itself, a strap that’s preattached, a USB-A to C cable, a manual, and a warranty card. 

 

Construction & Design

The NU33 has an aluminum outer shell, with a plastic bracket that the tilt mechanism and mount are made out of. It looks like it’s available in black and purple currently. The back of the mount is contoured a bit for comfort, and I will say this is one of the lighter-weight and more comfortable headlamps I have used in recent months. The strap is made of black elastic and is adjustable. The outside of it has silver markings for style and reflections around the entire way. It has tilt control, only down and about 75 degrees. The buttons on top of the light stand proud and have different heights and textures so they are easy to tell apart. The internal 2000mAh battery is sealed inside and non-user removable. 

 

Size & Weight

I measured the weight of the NU33 with the strap at 3.38oz, or 95.7g. length is 2.45”, width is 1.7” and it’s 1.34” thick. The light is only IP66 water and dust rated, which is less than we typically see. Light rain should be ok but I wouldn’t do much more than that. This headlamp compares nicely to some of the offerings from Blackdiamond and the like but I don’t have one of those so I picked a few headlamps to compare it to. 

 

LED & Beam

Nitecore doesn’t say which LED’s are specifically being used with the NU33. The main emitter is cool white but surprisingly neutral. On my Opple meter, I measured it at 5867k and 66 CRI and just slightly green with a good amount of tint shift. Its beam profile here is a defused spot, There is plenty of spill out of the optic as well. The axillary neutral white emitter measured at 4575k and 85 CRI. This is your short-range flood emitter, it’s pleasant but only good for short-range tasks as it only goes up to 53 lumens. One thing to note as well as there is no PWM here, it’s a constant current driver. 

Below are the outputs I measured with my Texas Ace Lumen tube. They measured slightly above what Nitecore claimed in all modes. My two comments would be I wish that the neutral white emitter had a high mode reaching 100 lumens and that the low had a lower output option instead of a blinking mode. 

 

Heat & Runtime

Runtimes for the NU33 were pretty good. Turbo is able to maintain its claimed 700 lumens for around 5 minutes while gradually ramping down. From there it was pretty flat out for 3.5 hours, before stepping down a few more times for a total runtime of 4 hours. As expected high gives you quite a bit more runtime out to 10 and a half hours, but the output is much less between 100-200 lumens during this time. For the other modes, I will have to take Nitecore’s word on the output runtimes as they were too long to graphically test. Auxiliary mode runs for 47 and 147 hours respectively and red is rated for 26 hours of runtime on its constant mode. 

 

UI

UI here is pretty simple, the large power button is your on/off button (press and hold), once on pressing the button again quickly will change brightness levels. The other smaller round button is to change the emitter mode. To get to the blinking modes long press on the mode button when the light is on. The light does have lockout just hold both buttons together when the light is off for about 4 seconds and the main emitter will flash a few times to let you know it’s locked. 

 

Recharging 

The light does have a built-in non-user replaceable 2000mAh li-ion battery. Nitecore says this is equivalent to 3x AA batteries or 9X AAA batteries. The light recharges via a USB-C port on the bottom hidden behind a flexible plastic cover that stayed in place nicely. 

The total charge time I saw was 1:13:00 which is a little faster than Nitecore claims. Charge speed was under 1C but just barely for most of the charge and that’s probably why. There are 4 power level indicator LED’s on the left side of the light, each one representing 25% power and if the light is off you can just press the round mode button to turn them on. You can also use the light while charging. 

 

Conclusion

I was pleasantly surprised by this headlamp. It’s very light, yet feels well-built in the hand. It’s super comfortable to wear. I’m not a runner so I didn’t test that but I would expect it would do well here if you had the strap reasonably tight. I was pleasantly surprised the cool white LED here wasn’t cooler, 5800 CRI is workable, especially with the NW flood emitter for more up-close work. 

 

I will give it dings for the sealed battery, making it a disposable product and not very sustainable, as well as the red mode not having a low output mode. 18 lumens is fairly bright. 

I can recommend this one and think it’s a pretty good option for the average person. It’s probably not the best option for a flashaholic though. At the time of filming, the price is around $50 which is an ok value, you can certainly find this size of a headlamp for less with not as many features, etc and you can certainly spend more on similar lights from headlamps often used in the backpacking/climbing world running on alkaline batteries often. 

 

Let me know what you guys think of the NU33 in the comments below, if I have any discounts or coupons I will link to those in the description too. Thanks for watching this review, and supporting the channel, I will catch you on the next one.

Get the Nitecore NU33 at http://bit.ly/3QPXUC4

or on Amazon at https://amzn.to/3CTfuis

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Skilhunt M150 V3 Review (Nichia 519a, 14500/AA, Great Clip)

I have a new brand here for the channel with the Skilhunt M150 V3 Flashlight. This one surprised me how small but good it is. The optional Nichia 519a, and dual fuel battery ability is what initially attracted me to taking a look at it, but I was pleasantly surprised by lots of other aspects. It’s a well-thought-out light for a fair price. Thanks to Skilhunt for reaching out and sending this to me to review. Links to where you can find it and more info will be below. 

 

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Get the Skilhunt M150 V3 at https://shrsl.com/3vf4o

Or get it on Amazon at https://amzn.to/3vS7Row

 

Packaging & Accessories

The light came in a retail hanging box with lots of good information on the outside. Accessories included were the light, pocket clip, 800mAh 14500 button top battery, proprietary magnetic charging cable, Skilhunt branded lanyard, extra orings and the manual. 

 

Construction and Design

The light is made from aluminum and anodized in 2 colors, a black and a dark gunmetal gray that I have here. The tail is magnetic and is the only part that unscrews from the body tube. The body tube has milled-in grip that’s effective and attractive. There are multiple retention options which I will cover in my next section.

The switch button and magnetic charging point are opposite each other on the head, and that’s a slight problem here, only because they feel very similar to each other. I found myself picking up the light and trying to press the charging point, not the button several times. You can of course press both at the same time and while this fixes the problem it not how I use any other light. I think instead it would be better if they added some to the cover on the switch so it felt different in your hand. The front has the smooth blue bezel, and recessed lens and light orange peel reflector. 

 

Retention

There are multiple retention options for the light here. Starting with a lanyard you can mount it on the tail cap itself, or on the pocket clip. The pocket clip here is really what’s worth talking about. First you can mount it in two places on the light and it’s a dual direction pocket clip. It’s very deep cary when the clip is mounted at the rear, and allows you to easily clip it to a hat without a problem. The tip flares just slightly, so it’s not as likely to catch, and what I will call the front of the clip is angled nicely to assist in getting it over the material of your pants. This is one of the best clips I have seen on a flashlight in some time if you are ok with a non-captured clip. 

 

Size & Weight

One of the things that surprised me about the light is the size. This is one of the smaller 14500 sized lights in my collection, especially considering it has recharging capabilities. With the included battery, and clip it came in at 2.08oz or 59g. Here are some comparison photos, as you can see it’s even shorter than some of the AAA sized lights I have. 

 

LED & Beam

Subscribers (and I hope you are one) will know the Nichia 519a is my favorite LED of the moment. I was delighted to learn that it’s an option in this light and that’s what I went with in this example. Your other LED option is a Cree XP-L2. They mention a Samsung LH351D being available but it seems that was replaced with the 519a maybe? 

On my Opple meter, I measured the light M150 V3 at 4127k, 98Ra (CRI). The tint is smack dab in the middle with no unexpected tint shifts. In the main modes and turbo modes on a 14500 battery, the light is constant current. There is some mild PWM on the lowest outputs. On the tactical strobe, I could visibly see the PWM, and it looked like a rolling shutter to my eye. The beam has a fairly large hotspot, and a medium amount of spill. I have no issue with it but wonder what it would be like with a TIR lens. 

 

Outputs

A quick note on outputs here. The tables that Skillhunt show in the manual and on the website don’t mention the LED option that was tested but I can say with high confidence that it wasn’t the Nichia 519a because the output differences are substantial. In Turbo 1 the chart says the light should make 750 lumens, but what tested with this LED was about 410 lumens. Other reviewers measured similar numbers. This is something Skilhunt should really publish at least on their website. I don’t think it will cost them sales as most enthusiasts that are buying high CRI realize it’s not going to be the brightest LED available, and they are ok with sacrificing some output quanity for light quality. 

 

Heat & Runtime

I’m finishing up my runtime testing here so I will insert graphs that you can pause and draw your own conclusions. My testing did show turbo outputs both T1 and T2 were good for the claimed 3 minutes before stepping down. High was able to sustain it’s output for a solid 50 minutes. You really do get the best performance here with the 14500 battery, output is 4X more, and the bulk of the output is over double the output. Tubo lasts about 1:24:00 with the 14500, and the maximum output with NiMH battery output was 2:45:00 but most of that runtime is sub 100 lumens. The highest temp I saw was about 36C. 

 

User Interface 

Being my first Skilhunt light, the UI here was unknown, and I typically like to just pickup a light and see if I can get it to work and while I did it, it didn’t work like I thought it should. But after looking at the manual which can be a little confusing I was able to figure it out and begin to like the UI. It’s a customizable UI with memory that’s not too extreme like Anduril. 

So a few basics. Turning the light on with a single press will bring you into the main mode group in the last mode you used. Long pressing from off brings you into the ultra-low mode group. Within ultra-low you have 2 brightness options, that you can toggle between by long pressing. This same sub-mode group works with Turbo too, so turbo high, and turbo low if you will. So once you have the low end and the top end set you effectively have a 5 mode light that works like most others. Long press from Off to ultra-low, single press for your main mode groups where you long press to go up in modes in a 3 mode group, and then double press for turbo. Strobe is triple press from on, and it also has 3 strobe modes, tactical, SOS, and Beacon. Lastly, there is electronic lockout which is 4 clicks from off. The mechanical lockout also works well here at the tail cap.. 

 

Recharging

The light has built in recharging via a proprietary magnetic charging cable the light comes with. The contact on the light itself has a weak magnet on it, so I don’t think there will be as many problems on this design as other similar ones on the market. While the light does have the proprietary charging cable it uses standard button top protected 14500 batteries which is great for longevity. It’s also worth noting that recharging only works for liion 14500 batteries, not NiMH which the light can also run on. 

I recharged the light from LVP at 3.253V to Full at 4.127V using the magnetic charging cable in right at 1 hour. Charging started off fairly strong at .8A not the usual ramp on, and peak charge was 0.95A, so just slightly over 1C in charging rate. The button on the light does give a power indicator when in use in 4 different states with 2 different colors. 

It is worth noting that the charging cable that came with my light was defective. I emailed Skilhunt about this and they offered to replace it free of charge. Just bad luck I think on my part. I charged the battery externally without issue while I waited for it to arrive. 

 

Conclusion

I’m impressed with the Skilhunt M150 V3, and it’s going to become one of my recommended 14500 lights. It ticks a lot of the boxes, with a great emitter option with high CRI, Nice build quality, compact size, the ability to use 14500 or NIMH or alkaline batteries, a great clip, magnetic tail and a UI that’s pretty good once it clicks for you. 

I’m not the biggest fan of the proprietary recharging cable here, but I think the trade off of being more water and dirt resistant along with using standard batteries is a good trade off in my opinion. I would rather have a light I can buy batteries for easily in the future, and charge externally if I had to rather then proprietary batteries and cables that some brands with a similar color scheme have typically. 

Overall this is a light I can and will be recommending. I’m curious to if you guys might have one, or one of the older versions, and if this is something you might add to your list of flashlights to pick up in 2023? Let me know in the comments below. 

Get the Skilhunt M150 V3 at https://shrsl.com/3vf4o

Or get it on Amazon at https://amzn.to/3vS7Row

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Vosteed Rook Review (1800 Lumens, 3x Nichia 519a, 18350)

You may have seen my posts on social media and my first short here on Youtube on this but here is a review of it. Introducing the Vosteed Rook, a first collaboration flashlight with Reylight. It’s EDC focused, featuring 3 Nichia 519a LED, a USB-C Rechargeable 18350, battery, and a choice of 5 colors, Red, Blue, Black, Gray and Orange. What I have here is a prototype that’s in bead-blasted aluminum, with a different clip design. This is a Kickstarter project that is already funded but joining it’s the best way to get a Rook early and at a discount. Hurry though because the campaign ends early January 3rd, 2023. Full disclosure I helped Vosteed make an intro video for the campaign and my link below is an affiliate link. 

Due to this and a few other changes, this won’t be a full review, but it will be pretty close. Thanks to Vosteed for sending this to me to review.

 

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Join the Kickstarter Campaign for the Vosteed Rook https://bit.ly/RookLR1

 

Packaging & Accessories

My prototype here was too early to have any of the packaging you will get. That said I have bought several Vosteed knives and the packaging is top-notch I expect nothing different from the Rook. Yours will come with a 18350 battery with USB-C recharging onboard, and if the campaign reaches $30,000 you will also get an EDC Pouch and Vosteed Patch. 

 

Construction & Design

The rook is made from aluminum and will be anodized in a number of colors initially. Red, Blue, Black, Gray, and Orange. Its design takes inspiration from the Rook chess piece. It features 7 places for 1.5 x 6mm tritium vials, 3 in the tail button which my prototype doesn’t have, and then 4 in the tail section of the flashlight. The button here is a mechanical reverse clicky button, meaning you have to press the button all the way to turn the light on, and then half presses will change modes. The button itself takes a little more force to press and is flush with the top so it tail stands well, and should help prevent accidental activations. Tolerances here are better than the Reylight Pineapple/Lan series so there is less side-to-side play but there is still a rubber disk below so keep that in mind.

The light uses a standard “steel flame” screw spacing, so it will have a wide variety of clip compatibility. Right now I have a standard Reylight clip on it, as my prototype came without one. It’s a tad too long and hits the head section which results in a scratch on this raw anodized bead-blasted aluminum. The production light will have a redesigned clip to add some style and take care of this issue. The clip will be the attachment point for a lanyard if you wish too. In the hand it feels pretty good and the recessed area on the body gives your finger a place to index. 

The light does come into 3 main pieces the tail section, body tube, and head section. There isn’t any knurling on the light but ther various aspects of the design give you something to hold on to that should be adequate for many EDC situations. This isn’t a tactical light designed for extreme or tactical conditions. 

The head has a smooth bezel, a very scratch-resistant sapphire lens, TIR style Tripple optic, on top of the LED’s. The result is a pretty nice beam profile I will get into later on here.

I will grade the light as easy to modify emitter-wise, the main pill unscrews easily and gives you access driver and mcpcb should you want to dedome the LED’s or replace them with something else. 

 

Size & Weight

My prototype is going to have a bit of difference from the production light on size and weight. I know the production light will be slightly longer, have a different clip, and battery, and be anodized. So I won’t give too many specifics here. The diameter is 24mm, the length is 74 and the light is IPX68 water rated. Normal use scenarios shouldn’t be an issue. 

 

User Interface

The Rook is using the Reylight Programabale interface from the most recent version of Reylight’s popular Pineapple, Pineapple Mini, and Lan lights. It has 4 preprogrammed modes with different brightness outputs, by default it ships in mode 2, Moon, 10%, 40%, and 100% output. You can toggle memory mode on or off, as well as moonlight on or off. SOS and Strobe are only available in programming mode 4. The interface is pretty easy to use once you have the light set to how you like it. When changing modes though I would recommend consulting the manual. 

 

LED & Beam

The Rook comes with 2 LED choices, the Nichia 519a LED which is what I have here or Cree XPL Hi LED’s. Both are good choices, but for me I will be sticking to and recommending the Nichia 519a LED’s myself. As mentioned in previous reviews these are the most popular LED’s among enthusiasts in 2022 due to their highly desirable tint, ease of dedoming, high CRI, and increased output over previous similar LED’s. 

On my prototype here with the Nichia 519a LED, on my Opple Meter, I measured 3848k tint, with an RA of 97. The tint was very neutral and pleasing. These should dedome nicely too if you want to push it a bit rosier. The beam here is a very even large hotspot from the TIR reflector and has a minimal spill. It’s ideal for short and medium-range EDC-style tasks. On the higher mode, it does a decent job of lighting up things up to about 100 years I would say. There is PDM here on the lower modes, but it’s fast and I don’t see it with my camera or eye.

A quick note on Outputs, I didn’t get the claimed outputs on my sample. The peak output I saw was just shy of 1400 lumens in my lumen tube. I theorize this is because of a few things. #1 I am using a prototype and I know there were planned minor changes to the driver. #2 The two LED options that are being offered, Typically Cree XPL Hi LED’s will have more output than the Nichia 519a I have in my example. My runtime graphs in the next section will give you a rough idea of what’s happening.

 

Heat & Runtime

Here are the heat and runtime graphs. The light sustains its maximum output for around a minute before starting to step down and stays above 1000 lumens for about 2 minutes. Starting on Turbo total runtime was 72 minutes or so and the maximum temp was a very warm 75C. I then did a comparison runtime between Turbo, Hight and Medium runtimes. High runtime gains you an extra hour or so of runtime, and medium goes out to an impressive 9 hours 20 minutes. 

 

Recharging

As previously mentioned the light will be shipping with a 18350 battery that has USB-C recharging onboard. My prototype didn’t come with this battery, however, so I was unable to test this feature further. I can report the light will work with a standard flat top or button top 18350 battery. The light does have reverse polarity protection and LVP protection.

 

Conclusion

I am a fan of the Rook, it has the makings of what should be a nice, reasonably affordable EDC light in the 18350 form factor. A great LED choice here with the Nichia 519a, and Cree XPL Hi LED options for those that want a cooler tint. Combine that with a solid familiar user interface and it makes for a good all around EDC light. 

It’s worth noting these are “small batch” lights from a single maker. While not a true custom, are CNC produced, they are likely assembled by just one or two people. Both Vosteed and Reylight are small companies with just a handful of employees or a single entrepreneur. That said they both have some of the best customer service I have seen in the industry.

Aluminum may turn off some people here but it really is a great material for flashlights, and among the best in terms of cost, weight, machineability, heat dissipation, and durability. That said I wouldn’t be surprised that if the Rook is a success, we see more specialty materials in the future or a 18650 body tube to increase the length and runtime. Be on the lookout for a few stretch goals the campaign has tool. 

If you are interested there will be a link below that does help support the channel if you decide to back the Kickstarter. As always I’m interested in what you think of the Rook and if you will be picking up one. This is likely my last video for 2022, but I have lots more planned for early 2023, so make sure you are subscribed so you don’t miss the next one. 

Join the Kickstarter Campaign for the Vosteed Rook https://bit.ly/RookLR1

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Fenix PD36R Pro Review (2800 Lumens, 21700, USB-C)

Today I am taking a look at the new Fenix PD36R Pro. It’s an update on the previous light and includes a substantial increase in runtime. The light may look and sound familiar though because I took a look at the TK20R V2 earlier this year and it shares a lot of similarities with the new PD36R Pro. Thanks to Thrunite for sending this to me to review. 

 

Watch this review on YouTube: 

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Find all my social media at https://linktr.ee/liquidretro

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Links to Purchase

https://amzn.to/3OYXRCK

https://www.fenixlighting.com/products/fenix-pd36r-pro-rechargeable-flashlight

https://www.fenix-store.com/fenix-pd36r-pro-2800-lumen-flashlight/

 

Packaging & Accessories

The light I have is an early production sample that was sent before the packaging was finalized. That said I expect a typical Fenix full retail package that’s designed to hang on store shelves in your local sporting goods retailer. Included in your light will be a Fenix 5000mAh 21700 battery, USB A to C charging cable, Nylon Holster, pocket clip, Lanyard, spare o-ring, user manual, and warranty card. There is a few accessories that are not included but will also work with this light like a remote pressure switch that screws onto the tail, 3 different rail mounts, and a diffuser cone. All of these are sold separately. 

 

Construction and Design

I am only going to hit the high points here, and let the photos and video do the rest of the talking. The light shares a lot of physical traits with the TK20R V2. The light is made from T6061 aluminum and nicely anodized black, there is a special edition red camo version too at some retailers. At the tail cap you have 2 protruding buttons, a larger round mechanical switch that takes a good amount of force to push, and then a smaller rectangle mode button. The light does not tail stand as a result.

The pocket clip only mounts on the rear of the light. The body tube has a concentric ring knurling-like texture on the body, this provides a good amount of grip and looks nice I think. The charging port is covered with a textured silicone cover that fits very tightly, below it is a small LED indicator to show the charge level while charging. Red when charging, blue when charged.

Internally there is a stiff spring at the front of the light as well as in the tail, threads are smooth, square cut and a bit dry. Up front, the head is glued in place and the bezel is machined into the head. There is an AR glass lens, a narrow deep smooth reflector, and a nicely centered LED. 

 

Retention

Since this is a pre-production light I don’t have the lanyard or holster that the light will ship with in it’s final form. What I can talk about is the pocket clip. It only attaches at the rear of the light and is relatively narrow for the size of the light. It’s stiff and does a good job of retaining the light in my front pocket, with about 1” of the light sticking out. In my medium hands, the light is a nice size without being too bulky.

 

Size & Weight

I measured the length at 5.74”, and the diameter at 1.09” at the head. Weight with the battery and clip came in at 6.00oz. The light IP68 water rated, which means it can survive 6.5ft of water for 30 minutes. The USB port itself is waterproof as well, so even if you don’t have the cover in place that won’t be a problem. Here are a few comparison photos with the Fenix TK20R V2, and some other lights. 

 

LED & Beam

The Fenix PD36R Pro is using the Luminis SFT70 LED in cool white. My Opple meter shows it as 5456k and 60 CRI in medium mode. In higher modes, it cools off slightly and has a slight green tinge to the beam to my eye (and meter). The beam has a large pronounced hot spot in the center and a large spill with some tint shift noted. Compared to the TK20R V2, the hot spots are a similar size but the spill is larger here on the PD36R Pro. The Parasitic Drain was measured at a low 4.0uA with the tail cap off. There was some PDM here, especially on lower modes but my eye or camera didn’t see it only my Opple meter did. 

Measured outputs vs Stated Outputs

All readings were taken at the 30-second mark. The light was cooled in cool water between measurements.

 

Turbo – Measured – 2160 Lumens Claimed – 2800 Lumens 77.14% of Claimed

High – Measured – 978 Lumens Claimed – 1000 Lumens 97.80% of Claimed

Medium – Measured – 349 Lumens Claimed – 350 Lumens 99.71% of Claimed

Low – Measured – 157 Lumens Claimed – 150 Lumens 104.66% of Claimed

Eco – Measured – 35 Lumens Claimed – 30 Lumens 116.66% of Claimed

 

Heat and Runtime

For my heat and runtime, I tested with the supplied Fenix 5000mAh battery, on my Texas Ace Lumen tube. Turbo starts out here a the claimed lumens but by 1 minute it’s stepped down to about 750 lumens because the heat was up to about 43C. It increases the output some in the next 20 minutes as heat dissipates, but the light has a substantial drop at about 2:10:00, then again at 3:20:00, and once more at 4:30:00, where it runs at it’s the lowest output for many more hours. Total runtime was right around 8 hours, and the light does flash in the last hour of use to indicate it’s the battery is low.

I then did a comparison between Turbo, High and Medium runtimes and there isn’t really any real surprises. Lower outputs are more stable and have longer outputs. 

 

UI 

UI here is very simple and it’s the same that was found on the TK20R V2.. The light has 2 buttons on the rear tail cap of the light. There is the larger power button which Fenix is calling the Tactical switch, it’s a forward clicky switch with momentary, and then the smaller button which they are calling the function switch. You can half-press the tactical switch to turn the light on in the last mode used before locking fully on. Once on you use the function switch to cycle through the 5 modes in a linear manner. The light does have memory mode. At any time you can press and hold the function switch to get to strobe mode. 

 

Recharging

Recharging on the PD36R Pro is accomplished via the USB-C port on the side of the light near the head. The port cover is worth mentioning here, it’s very tight fitting, and can be a bit of a challenge to remove despite a small tab to pull on. You have wide access to the port so cable compatibility shouldn’t be an issue here. The light charged via C to C cables and PD chargers without a problem. One thing to note is that you can’t use the light during charging.

I charged the included 5000mAh battery (Rated at 4870mAh in my testing)  from LVP at 3.044V to Full at 4.227V in 4:13:00. The charging speed starts off slow for the first few minutes, then increase significantly with a peak of 2.5A before slowly declining. The total charge time was 4:10:00. One thing that was concerning was that the terminating voltage was slightly too high. Not sure if this was my multimeter or maybe due to the prototype nature of my light. When fully charged the side LED indicator goes from Red to Blue.

 

Final Thoughts

The Fenix PD36R Pro is a pretty large upgrade over the older PD36R in nearly all metrics and is overall a well-rounded flashlight. However, I can’t help to draw on the large number of similarities to the TK20R 2.0 that I reviewed earlier this year. Same LED, Same UI, Same battery, very similar performance, Same tail cap, and same clip. Where they differ is mainly in the charging port cover, and head size. The TK20R V2 is more of a tactical purpose, where as the PD36R Pro is more EDC/General use while also being capable of tactical use. 

It’s a well built light, one of the best USB-C port covers I have seen, and a very easy to use UI with the two dedicated buttons on the tail. I’ll give it a ding for not being able to tail stand and for not lacking a true moonlight mode of 1 lumen or less. 

 

Links to Purchase

https://amzn.to/3OYXRCK

https://www.fenixlighting.com/products/fenix-pd36r-pro-rechargeable-flashlight

https://www.fenix-store.com/fenix-pd36r-pro-2800-lumen-flashlight/

Posted on

Wuben X-2 Owl Review (3X LH351D, 1800 Lumens, USB-C)

Wuben is back at it with another Kickstarter project, this time with a smaller version of the side by side X series light using 2X 14500 batteries and 3 LED’s. Wuben sent me this early production prototype to take a look at and help them promote the Kickstarter campaign for the light. The Kickstarter ends December 1st 2022, so if you are watching this before then make sure to check out the link in the description below, and if not ill try to find some links to where you can get it after.

 

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Find all my social media at https://linktr.ee/liquidretro

See my Amazon Store with my gear recommendations https://www.amazon.com/shop/liquidretro

 

Link to the Kickstarter

Check out the Kickstarter for the Wuben X-2 Owl at http://bit.ly/3ErUEHf

 

Packaging & Accessories

Since this was a prototype it didn’t come with a box, or any of the accessories. If you buy one I would expect a full retail box, charging cable, and lanyard at a minimum. 

 

Construction & Design

The looks of the X-2 Owl is similar to the X-1 Falcon that I took a look at a few months ago, but smaller. It’s the same design language as the X-1 headlamp that Wuben also debut in 2022. So more squared off, sharp angles, and kind of a cyber space-aged type look.

The light is made from aluminum and is being offered in 3 color options, a standard black anodizing, a gradient ramp that’s a white fading into blue, and then the “white” MAO version I have here. I’m becoming a fan of the Metal Arc Oxide coating look even though it’s not the most durable finish around. The front and rear pieces are black and I think this is smart as it should help with durability. There are also going to be copper versions, and 4 different anodized titanium versions too. The light is offered in two LED options, the Samsung LH351D, and an Osram P9. Not every LED and body material/color combination are available currently.

The lights are held together with several screws, my Wera Hex Plus 1.5mm keys were able to unscrew them, and there was no thread locker that I could find. The rear specifically says “Do not disassemble” but I had to at least take a peak inside. What I found was a pair of what I assume are 14500 batteries in a pack, labeled as 2000mAh, 3.7v.. I couldn’t fully remove the battery pack so it must be attached to wires inside to the switch and charging port circuitry. I’m guessing removing more of the screws would get this to a place you could actually replace the batteries if you wanted to, but it would be a somewhat complicated process and may involve a soldering iron. Most consumers are not going to do this, even most flashlight enthusiasts.

Edit: I did go ahead and remove some more screws and the battery has wires coming out from it that are soldered directly to the circuit board. Totally replaceable if you should choose to, you just have to work a bit and solder. 

 

 

 

 

The button section appears to be the same as what Wuben used on the X-0, it’s a hatch system that covers the button and the USB-C port cover. It’s an interesting design, and while it doesn’t offer much water protection for the port, the port itself is waterproof. I will note, that because of this design using lockout is a must as this large switch is easy to press when carried in a pocket or bag. The hinged lid for lack of a better word is magnetically attracted. There are 2 sprung silver-colored magnets that it rests on. There was definitely some engineering that went into this. 

 

Retention

My prototype didn’t come with any of the retention options that Wuben is promoting on the campaign page. It looks like it has a lanyard option that attaches at the rear on one side with a metal clasp. This lanyard looks like it doubles as an integrated USB-C charging cable too, which is neat. 

 

My light did ship with the large improved clip that’s on the rear of the light. This is a very large clip that takes up the entire rear of the light pretty much. I don’t see myself carrying this in my front pocket, due the size. You could in theory put it in your rear pants pocket (In lockout mode), but I think for many people this will be a light they put in a bag and this is what Wuben shows in their material. The clip works well to fit onto molle webbing, which you might have on a bag or vest. Unfortunately, the clip is facing the wrong direction to clip this on to the top of a hat, the lights a little heavy for that too IMHO. 

 

Size & Weight

I measured the light at 3.35” long, 0.80’ wide, and 1.55” thick. I measured it as 4.33oz with the clip installed. The light is IP68 water and dust rated. 

 

LED & Beam

There are two LED options for the Wuben X-2 Owl. There is the Osram P9 which produces a few more lumens and I believe is a cooler white and the Samsung LH351D emitter which is a more neutral white and high CRI. Each version has 3 of the same LED’s, in a linear setup, each with optics. I have the Samsung LH351D version, and on my Opple Meter I measured the CCT at 4468K, and 96Ra (CRI). DUV was right in the middle, with no green tinge which was nice. The beam here does have a profile that mimics the shape of the physical light at shorter distances, at longer distances it diffuses and is unnoticeable. There is PWM here in all the modes, it’s pretty fast and I can’t see it with my eyes or camera.

 

Night Shots

Night shots can be found on the video. 

 

Outputs

Below are the outputs I got at the 30 second mark in terms of outputs and the percentages of claimed outputs with the Samsung LH351D emitter

.

  • Turbo – 1750 – Lumens – 97.2% of Claimed
  • High – 312 – Lumens – 78% of Claimed
  • Medium – 80 Lumens – 80% of Claimed
  • Low – 7 Lumens – 140% of Claimed (Take this with a grain of salt)

Wuben’s official Outputs.

https://i.imgur.com/LSgRi5c.jpg

 

Heat & Runtime

I did my testing with my Owl here that has the Samsung LH351D LED’s. I did this in the default output levels for each mode (they are adjustable). Turbo lasted about 90 seconds and after stepdown was about 600 lumens. This was then very consistent out to 1:17:00 when the light turned off. Max heat during this time was about 43C (Uncooled), at the 40-minute mark. 

I also did runtime comparisons with 3 modes, Turbo, High, and Medium. Turbos total runtime was 1:17:00, High was 2:50:00, and medium was out to just shy of 11 hours.

 

UI

The interface seems to be the same as the X-1 Falcon, so here is what I had written up for that. My light arrived in Lockout mode, so 4 presses of the button unlock or lock the light. Single press to turn on, long press once on to cycle through the 4 main modes. Double press from anywhere to get to turbo. The light does have blinking modes that you can get to from anywhere by triple pressing. Triple press again to cycle between strobe and SOS modes.

 

The unique aspect of this light is the programming mode, It allows you to adjust the preset value of the 4 main modes by one on Clicking and holding and the light will ramp up slightly and blink when at the top of the range. Just stop when you reach the brightness you want and it will memorize it. There are upper and lower bounds on what each mode will do too. Consult your manual to see the exact ranges and directions.

 

Recharging

As mentioned before there are two 1400 Liion batteries internally witht a total capacity of 2000mAh according to Wuben. These are non user replaceable. I did my recharging testing by first running the light untl it shut itself off. I then hooked it up to my tester and in this case used an Xtar 45W USB-C power source (With my own cable rated for 100W), and the light charged in 2:37:00. Max amperage during this time was right at 1A. The charge curve here I felt like was a tad harsh at the beginning, many lights tend to ease into it at the beginning while they are sensing the battery’s charge level, this did’t do that, just straight on with as much as it wanted. I did some subsequent testing and had no trouble charging via USB-C to C, or with chargers supporting USB-C PD. The light will work in Low, Medium, and High while charging. The light will still operate on low, medium and high while charging too.

 

Conclusion

The X-1 Falcon was a pretty large light, so making a smaller version is a logical step to take. The X-2 Owl I think will be a size that ends up being a better fit for people and a good combination of output with runtime. I’m not sure the switch version here makes a tons of sense, it make the use of lockout mandatory whenever the light is in a bag or pocket. While neat and different accidental activation is really easy if not using lockout modes. 

I like that Wuben is offering this in so many colors and materials from the beginning nearly. While I’m not a huge fan of established companies using Kickstarter, this does give them a good method to determine the demand for more specialty materials, or emitters. The LED choice here is good with the LH351D seeming to be the default choice for most lights, it’s a good neutral white, high CRI option. The beam profile is decent despite the emitters being in a line. Too bad here though that the batteries are not more easily replaced, it seems like that would be a fairly simple thing to do, even if you had to use a screwdriver to do it a few years down the road. So overall a solid option, if you want a form factor that’s a bit different or a flashlight that doesn’t look like your typical round light.

The Kickstarter campaign here runs through the end of November 2022, so if you are interested in looking more at it and picking one up check out the link below in the description on where you can find this one. It looks like they are expecting to ship these out pretty soon, in January of 2023, so you won’t have to wait very long.

Link to the Kickstarter

Check out the Kickstarter for the Wuben X-2 Owl at http://bit.ly/3ErUEHf

Posted on

Wurkkos TS10 Review (Inexpensive, High CRI, 14500, EDC Flashlight)

The Wurkkos TS10 was a light designed with input and feedback from forum members at BudgetLightForums (BLF) and the company. The idea ended up being an inexpensive triple-emitter flashlight with auxiliary LED’s powered from a 14500 battery to maintain a slim profile. Thanks to Wurkkos for sending me the black light here, I liked it enough, I bought this white MAO (Metal Arc Oxide) version myself when it was available for a brief time.

If you are watching this review around November 11th make sure to check the description below for links to where you can pick the light up for around $20 on AliExpress. If watching after no fear I will have links and any discount codes too, this is an affordable light, but might was well get it for less by using my links right? 

 

Watch this review on YouTube: 

Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liquidretro/ 

Join the Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/LiquidretroReviews/ 

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Enjoy this review? Buy me a Coffee/Beer: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Liquidretro

Find all my social media at https://linktr.ee/liquidretro

See my Amazon Store with my gear recommendations https://www.amazon.com/shop/liquidretro

 

Links to Purchase

Wurkkos Direct https://www.wurkkos.com/search/?Keyword=TS10

AliExpress Store https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803886988095.html?spm=a2g0o.store_pc_promotion.promotePruductList_2003993329748.4&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt&_randl_shipto=US

Amazon

TS10 Silver: https://amzn.to/3NXNsGS

CODE: USTS10BSR  20% OFF +10% coupon on the Amazon Page

 

TS10 Black : https://amzn.to/3E2gxg0

CODE: liquidre       20% OFF +10% coupon on the Amazon Page

 

TS10 Red? https://amzn.to/3E2gxg0

CODE: TS10USBSR    20% OFF +10% coupon on the Amazon Page

 

Packaging & Accessories

The light comes in a Retail Wurkkos orange and white box. The only identifying info is a sticker on the side showing which model and options you have. Inside it comes in a plastic tray, and the accessories include a lanyard, clip and optional Wurkkos 14500 battery (recommended), as well as the manual. 

 

Construction & Design

The light is made from aluminum mainly (There is a brass version too) with a number of configurations. The bodies come in 4 main body colors, Black, Red, Silver, and Green, with two LED tint choices 4000k and 5700k, as well as 4 aux LED colors, red, orange, ice blue, and green, and the final option is with or without a battery. I have the Black, with 4000k tint main LED’s and Ice Blue Aux here. Then I have this limited run of MAO finish that Wurkkos did with 4000k tint main LED and Orange Aux that I bought. The MAO finish looks great but isn’t the most durable as you can see from some of the marks and scratches on it. 

The design itself is quite small at only 2 and 6/8ths inches long. I have AAA lights that are longer. The tail features a metal disk with rings for texture covering the button On both of my lights it’s gray, not body color which is a little disappointing. The tail is glued to the body tube for reliability I assume. In the hand, it works reasonably well for a cigar or pinch grip. There is no texture on the body so in some conditions it could be a bit slick. The head is simple with some milling for grip and style. There are a few too many markings on the light for me, with a warning, brand, and model number as well as a CE, ROHS, nonrecyclable symbol on the back, and a battery polarity symbol on the tail. There isn’t a serial number that I can find on the outside of the light. 

 

Retention

Retention is where I deduct a few points for this light, and that’s mainly for the double-direction pocket clip. If I am going to EDC light, I use a pocket clip so it’s an important feature for me. The clip here could be deeper carry in the pocket in my opinion, it leaves about a ½” of the top of the light sticking out. It’s the pocket clip from the Sofirn SC21 and I had similar complaints there. The top hoop of the clip itself needs a bit more space for the material to maximize that deep carry ability, in my experience, it’s not enough to fit onto my jeans. Lastly, there is a bit of a shelf when putting it into your pocket for material to catch in prematurely. There are a few alternatives that the community has found fit, like the Olight Baton 3 clip, or Lumentop E05C clip that both carry deeper. There is also the option to attach a lanyard at the tail, but as you guys know that’s not really my thing.

 

Size & Weight

I measured the length of the light at 71.3mm, and a diameter of 21mm at the head. Weight with the included battery and clip at 1.79oz. The light is IPX8 water rated.

 

LED & Beam Profile

The TS10 is using 3X LatticePower CSP LED’s as its primary LED’s, and they are available in 4000k, and 5800k variants. There are also 3 secondary LED’s of various colors depending on what you order, these don’t have a brand mentioned. The colors available are Red, Orange, Blue, and Green. On the two examples, I have blue is brighter than Orange, and that’s not unexpected.

With my Opple Light meter, I measured the primary LED’s at 4152k and 96ra (CRI). DUV was good in my opinion and has an ever-so-slight orange tint. The beam profile is pretty good out of a triple LED light with an optic, it’s not perfectly round, and a larger hotspot for such a small light. As expected with an Anduril light, there is PWM here but it’s fast and not noticeable to my eye or camera. 

 

Here are the outputs I measured on my lumen tube at the 30 second mark. 

  • S1-NA
  • S2-7 Lumens
  • S3-52 Lumens
  • S4-300 Lumens
  • S5-1070 Lumens

Runtime & Heat

For my runtime tests I ran with the thermal configuration as the light arrived to me with the included Wurkkos battery for most of my tests. It was reported by others that the the light’s thermals were pretty accurate from the factory, and let’s face it most probably won’t be recalibrating this but know that you can, and that will improve how long it can sustain higher outputs. I also tested mine in a ramping mode which might explain why I didn’t see any step up in output like I would expect.

Turbo produced about 1250 peak lumens but within about 45 seconds stepped down to 150 lumens or so because of heat. Heat peaked at about 42C during this run, and this is factory setting. This is warm to the touch but quite safe. I probably should set it a bit higher and I will be messing with that after my review here. Total runtime was 2 hours 5 minutes at this lower output. 

I tested the battery as well, It’s a claimed 900mAh and I tested it as 836mAh on my Vapcell S4 Plus charger. I then did my runtime graphs with a Vapcell H10 and had only minor differences, with the Vapcell battery recovering a little better and producing more light in the first 5 minutes of runtime but overall getting down to that lowest output at the end about 6 minutes earlier. 

 

UI

This light uses Anduril 2 firmware. I won’t go into great details on how to operate it because I have done that on other videos but know that it can do nearly anything you want.

All that said the original version of the light shipped with a buggy firmware version (2022-02-08-0614) that meant the auxiliary LED’s stayed on during use of the primary LED’s, the larger problem was that the Auxilary LED’s had no Low Voltage protection. This would allow the light if the aux LED’s were on in high to drain the battery in a matter of days, potentially damaging the battery if it had no protection. Another thing the fixed firmware does is allow the lowest mode to be lower output. 

The good news is this bug has been fixed on lights shipping the past 2 months, so if your buying one today especially from Wurkkos direct the light you receive should be fixed. If not I created a video on on how to flash the firmware with Android since the light does have exposed pogo pins. I will flash this black light here after filming the video. 

 

Recharging

The light has no build in recharging. To recharge you will need an external charger. I have reviewed several here on the channel that would work well,

 

Conclusion

The Wurkkos TS10 is a really nice small EDC light in my opinion. It has a lot of the features that you typically have to step up in price to get, like auxiliary LEDs, high CRI in a slightly warm tint, a triple LED driver. It has enthusiast firmware that’s easily modifiable due to the exposed programming pads. It’s also relatively easy to do LED swaps on since the front bezel piece unscrews and gives access. There are a few Redditors that do this as a service for people wanting LED swaps. 

As with most triples High and Turbo produce a lot of heat and don’t last very long. This isn’t surprising but like most people, I wish it would last a little longer. The clip is a disappointment all around, I suspect they used parts bin part to save cost, but I would gladly pay a few dollars more for a purpose-built clip here that worked better. 

Overall it’s really a great value, with normal prices around $25 with battery, and if I get this video out soon enough you can even catch it for $20 on Singles day 11-11-2022 on Wurkkos AliExpress Shop or Wurkkos Direct. Any other coupons or deals I have I will put in the description below as well. I am sure some of you guys have this light already, so let me know what you think of it in the comments below.