From my younger days when we use to overclock cpu’s, the heatsinks were most important and a lot of RD was done by heatsink manufactors to achieve the best cooling. They were made using a cooper core to absorb the heat and a aluminum exterior to get rid of the heat. It was always my understanding that cooper absorbed the heat the best but aluminum shed’s the heat quicker, the best properties of both metals.
Hi.
Got my EMISAR D4 Ti from Hank at intl-outdoor.com yesterday.
It is a very nice light, like all the other D4 models.
Mine version is the RAW (A) model:
Nichia 219C 90 CRI 5000k
Optic 10623 floody
- 18350 tube.
D4 Ti
Weight w/batt : 170.9 g
Weight wo/batt : 126.7 g
Head (alone) : 70.7 g
18650 tube : 46.1 g
18500 tube : N/A
18350 tube : 24.2 g
Tail cap : 9.8 g
D4 Alu
Weight w/batt : 110 g
Weight wo/batt : 66 g
Head (alone) : 30.6 g
18650 tube : 28.5 g
18500 tube : 20.9 g
18350 tube : 14.4 g
Tail cap : 7.1 g
shame its so expensive, u land at around 112$ no matter what emitter more or less unless u want the nichia which doesnt cost extra, the other emitters are +18$ and color choices +15$ just too much…
Thanks Hunter1, could you tell us how the threads feel on your TI ?
Is there any gritty or galling feeling ?
Hi JamesB
It feels just like what you say, like “sand” in the threads.
That said, threads go butter-smooth into the head - nothing there.
In the “tail-cap” I think the “problem” is. You cant see anything
but you can feel it when you put it on - all way till you tighten it down.
I lubed the threads on the tail-cap, cleaned it all off again.
Did the same thing over again a few times so I could say that
it was “all clean”. It got better, but still a little “sand”-feeling.
This goes both for the 18650 and the 18350 tube wich tells me that the “problem” is the tail-cap.
I will leave it as is for now and hope it will wear out to the better.
All that said, it is a very nice little light…
Titanium-on-titanium always shows some ‘galling’.
Yep that’s the nature of Ti/Ti, but i saw some variability in the phenomenon although i’m not sure what the main factor was (Ti alloy, surface finish, thread profils…)
I’m so excited!!! My preference is A or D
For Ti on Ti I use NEVER SEEZ
Received my D4 TI today. I chose version F, with the 18350 battery tube and 5D XPL HI.
Very nice. the light looks absolutely gorgeous and feels great in the hand. the knurling on the 18650 body tube really helps. Output and tint are great.
Biggest drawback for me is the extra weight. I can feel it bouncing around in my pocket, unlike a lightweight aluminum light. Time will tell if this light gets relegated to a drawer or if I end up EDCing it a lot.
After using this light for a week, I’ve come to the conclusion that the aluminum version is much more practical.
The biggest problem with the titanium version is heat. Run it on a fresh VTC5A, with the light cold and it gets hot and begins rampdown within 10 seconds. Within 20 it is too hot to comfortable touch and output has ramped down to probably 1/10 its original output (at default temp sensor settings). It also becomes very uncomfortable to hold. The copper is where you naturally want to rest your index finger and thumb and this becomes awkward when the light gets toasty.
My aluminum D4s take much longer to heat up to this point and they shed the heat much faster. Aluminum in this light seems much more practical. Dark anodizing has much higher emissivity than shiny copper, and the aluminum version radiates heat from the entire light, not just part of the head. I’m not positive this will improve over time either. After a week of use, my copper head is still shiny. No sign its going to oxidize anytime soon to a duller state that would radiate heat better. I suspect it has a coating or polish on it to keep it shiny.
As much as I love the look and feel of the titanium D4, I suspect for EDC I’ll end up going back to my modded S2+ triple or an aluminum D4. It’s not a good sign that my shortened S2+ triple on a FET driver with basically no heatsinking at all can maintain high output considerably longer than my titanium D4 before it gets too hot to touch and ramps down.
Is the button any more recessed than the aluminum version? Does it have tailcap lockout? I want a ti but am worried about accidental switching in the pocket. You can sell me yours if you want.
Hi…
Same button as on the alu version, .
The tail-cap do have a mechanical lockout.
… no, you cant´t have mine… :sunglasses: .
The tailcap lockout probably works because, as the aluminium version, the battery tube screws against the insulated tail-PCB, the batt-minus does not go via the metal of the tail.
It has lockout? Awesome. Ill need to pick one up then.
I have one on order as well, but it was a bit of an impulse buy: it looks good but I will not likely use it much: I even find the aluminium D4 too large and heavy for pant pocket use (my E2L shorty is about the biggest light I can bear for pocket carry), as a bike light it is too expensive and bling (I tend to forget it and leave it on the handle bar, the bike is parked on the street at night), and for camping I have a headlamp and more throwy flashlights.
I can imagine that it will live in my weekend bag, but I guess it will end up on a shelf, showing off its glorious self, next to many many other flashlights :person_facepalming:
been EDC’ing my titanium D4 with 18650 tube for the last couple weeks. My impressions:
- The light looks absolutely gorgeous. I picked the right-most color (I think version F), with blue and gold anodizing. It looks great, but at the same time not too flashy.
- It’s significantly heavier than the aluminum version, but not too heavy for me to comfortably EDC.
- The “hand-feel” is much better than the aluminum version. The square-cut knurling on the battery tube is excellent, and titanium is naturally grippier than anodized aluminum.
- Still looks good after 2 weeks banging against my keys. On very close inspection the copper looks slightly worn, but the anodized titanium still looks absolutely pristine.
- Excellent output and tint. Substantially brighter than my other D4s, even the one that I put XPL HI in.
- Head gets hot incredibly fast…. much faster than my alunimum D4 on the same cell. As expected this leads to very rapid rampdown. From off at room temperature on a full VTC5A, the light starts at probably 4500 lumens of beautiful 4000K 5D tint, but within 45 seconds has ramped down to a max of maybe 50 lumens. This rampdown is much more rapid and severe than on the aluminum D4s.
- While the head gets hot, the titanium battery tube remains cool. Unlike with the aluminum version, the only comfortable way to hold this light on turbo is to move your hand completely off the copper head.
- Once the head gets hot, it takes a lot longer to cool to a comfortable temperature than the aluminum versions. In this version the heat is emitted from the copper head. This means much smaller surface area to work with than the aluminum version. Also dark anodized aluminum radiates better than my still-shiny copper-head. Copper also stores more heat, so there is more heat to dump.
Overall, I really like the titanium version of this light, but the incredibly rapid rampdown is a major drawback. Something like the new Zebralight SC600 IV with XHP50.2 that can sustain 2000 lumens for something like 5 minutes is probably a lot more practical.
I decided to run 18350’s in mine because of the heat issue. That copper head really does retain the heat, which is nice when its cold out 
RMM (MtnElectronics) has the D4Ti in stock … placed an order yesterday and it has shipped today.
Ordered a D4Ti Gold/Purple (I’m having a Goldfinger moment, I apologize!) 219C with matching 18350 tube and an additional 10623 frosted optic to change out for a more diffusive beam.
My D4 Aluminum models (an XP-G2 2B and a 219C) are V1 firmware and I take pains to use them modestly ; Max is only for very short term use.
I don’t want heat to blister my fingers (or any other body part). It will be nice to have TK’s V2 firmware in the Ti model. I expect that I will need it and really appreciate the results for the finer thermal controls and other features which were added.
I use Samsung 30Q and Aspire 18350 cells with the two D4’s I have presently and will use the same cells with this Ti model.
Equipment for firmware refresh is a few bucks only, you could try to upgrade them