How Zebralight ended my flashlight collecting...(For Now)

I started down this rabbit hole of Flashaholism last August and bought 20+ flashlights, what a great new Hobby, I truly discovered a new world of illumination!!
I was having a difficult time following the rule of only having one flashlight order shipping to me at a time. My collection was growing fast:

  • Emisar D4
  • BLF Q8
  • BLF A6 (2)
  • Lumintop tool
  • Skilhunt H03
  • BLF 348 - (got lucky to actually get one)
  • Convoy s2+
  • Jetbeam Jet-1 MK
  • Convoy C8
  • Haiklite SC02
  • Acebeam H10
  • Astrolux A01
  • On the Road M3
  • Preon P1
  • Olight I3S EO
  • Olight Seeker R50 pro LE
  • Olight S1A Black
  • Olight S1A Limited Edition Copper
  • Olight S Mini Copper

I had always been intrigued by the absolute devotion that Zebralight owners had for their lights, and decided to buy one…OK two. It took me a long time to pick, but I decided on The following models:

H600Fw Mk IV 18650 XHP35 Floody Neutral White Headlamp
SC64w 18650 XHP35 Neutral White Flashlight

I ordered mine February 4 and recieved them quickly on February 12, 2018.
Since receiving and getting familiar with these lights I have not ordered another flashlight, and don’t have any desire to do so. Here is why:

UI….before I got the Zebras obviously the Q8 and D4 were tops in terms of UI, but the more I use the Zebralight the more I prefer this UI. It is simple, and quick and it becomes 2nd nature like no other light I have used. Ramping is nice, but I honestly prefer just have 3 easy to use and find levels. I use the SC64W every single day and I seem to love it more every day.

Ergonomics….This light just feels right it is great in the hand or pocket, and the button is the best of any light that I own by far.
This is a unbelievably compact 18650 flashlight. It makes the smaller battery lights almost obsolete. I don’t see much benefit to give up 18650 power levels for something that is only slightly more pocket-able.

Efficiency: the Zebralight driver is Godlike, It seems like i Never need to charge this light.

Tint: mine is perfect I Think the XHP35 at 4500K is my ideal LED

Powerful: 1400 Lumens is nothing to sneeze at in a package this small

Build quality: probably better than any other light that I own it feels like its carved from granite.

If you are considering one of these guys go for it, I find it almost perfect.
The only Light that I am really interested in at this point is some sort of 30,000+ Lumen super flooder

I also Posted this on Reddit…sorry if you get overexposed

The AA Zebralights are even smaller. My H53c makes my H600fc feel very big in comparison. Overall, I agree with you… I believe in general you get what you pay for, and Zebralight is almost perfect. Amazing driver efficiency, super compact, very bright, PID, fantastic construction and long term reliability.

The only thing they are missing is Nichia emiters, for best colour rendition and tint.

I’m also EDCing an SC64w.

Great light. Very small and bright.

That said, the ergonomics aren’t perfect for me. I don’t use the clip, so having the clip installed is just wasted weight. But I leave it installed because removing it exposes the sharp corners of the clip mount.

Also the complete lack of knurling means the light doesn’t feel super-secure in the hand. I’ve already had it squirt out of my hand once resulting in a 4-foot drop onto a wooden floor. Fortunately, the light suffered no damage. Not even a scratch.

I agree with everything you say. I love the Zebralights too. I have the SC600w III HI, SC600Fd III Plus, H600Fd III, and the H603d (mule).

Was thinking about buying the SC64w, but worried about tint shift. Could you or someone post a white wall and an outdoor beamshot for me? Tint shift is something I can’t deal with, which is why I won’t buy anything with a .2 emitter in it.

Thanks

I will give it a shot later today.

I had Zebralights since they first introduced the H50, truly no hotspot headlamp (sadly I sold it, regret it). I now have H51wF and H51w.

Been wanting the SC80, which can use AA or CR123. Those are very hard to find.

Great compact lights.

click pick for the review

yes :slight_smile:
Zebra prioritizes the max brightness spec, that most buyers focus on.

Yes, although I have plenty of other lights that are fun to play with, I always come back to my Zebras when I want something for serious use. They’re miles ahead of all others. Pricey, but worth it.

FWIW, if you like the ZebraLight UI, there’s a way to use it on the D4 and Q8 too.

Thanks Jon, I’ve see his beamshots before. Compares everything with that blf 348. He never posts beamshots by themselves and never any outdoor shots. The camera will do weird things with side by side shots like that. Would like to see it by itself, especially outdoors, where it will be used.

Here’s my BLF 348. I don’t think it looks as purple as his does. (standard white ceiling)

Have to agree with you. I got my sc600w III HI two years ago and it is still one of my favorites. I got it after my sc600 mark I, which is still actively used from time to time.

Unfortunately it did not stop me from buying more lights. Well, it is not capable of doing everything

PS.

those BLF 348’s are avail on Bangood at $12.50AUD.

Personally I prefer a SkyRay S-R5 with Neutral and XP-L hi is my perfect torch. Just “fits” my hand.
With my latest Sofurn C8T as an Allrounder.
Thank god for individual choices hey.

The lack of knurling on the SC64w is a huge let down for me. It’s otherwise nearly perfect but I somehow can’t bring myself to spend that kind of money and get no knurling at all, what were they thinking? Just a pity the SC600 and SC5w are both knurled and this one isn’t.

Same issue I have with the Emisar D4.

I had this happen to me once a few years back. I bought 2 Sunwayman V10R Ti’s with variable infinite brightness control ring.
Modded with a Nichia 219 4500k. Perfect tint with the perfect amount of light for any task right at your finger tips, besides searching (Not much of a thrower). :smiley:
Tough as a light can be. A few minor scratches from carrying in my pocket, but nothing like a aluminum anodized light. EDC’ed it several years without buying a single light. I actually even stopped coming here. Then I stop in to BLF one day and see all these wonderful new improvements and here we go again. I have ordered close to 20 new lights since Christmas of last year. I thought I was done but apparently not.
.
When you find that perfect light such as the zebra light, it’s like the search is finally over but eventually there’s something better that will come along. Maybe even a newer model of the same light. Glad you found your Holy Grail of flashlight’s. It’s a Nice feeling to have. :wink:

It’s nice to know that this phenomenon happens to others.
I used to be insane with buying, modding, selling, it was a dark time in my life despite all the lights.
Then I got an SC62d and it all stopped. There was an SC52 in there also.
After a couple/few years mostly out of the hobby I got on BLF because I really do like flashlights and it busies my minds and hands to mod them or come up with grand plans.
Seeing all the cool things that all the smart folks here do is inspirational. Very excited about programming a driver, still waiting for that clip to arrive. Any day now!
I’m thinking about a new SC64w, not for the “because it’s the new model” reason, but because I start thinking about how I’m paying dearly for my 300 lumens with the Luxeon T and could probably get twice the lumens for the same mAh with the SC64.

Not sure if these help. FWIW>>>>
not my pictures! :star: 感謝電筒王lusan_senna兄的照片!!

SC64w by Cree XHP35 NW 4500K (1400lm)

I gotta say, after buying my first Zebralight, SC5w MK II, I have been impressed so far! So my next logical choice is a 18650 one. I’ve already got another thread going figuring out what to buy. I’ve received allot of helpful opinions on the matter. I will be picking up a SC600 variant as soon as I can. I have a feeling it will be my favorite 18650 EDC. The Jaxman E2L’s might end up neglected for a while after I get one. LOL.

Yes, ZL’s are expensive, and yes I scoffed at the prices at one time, however now I am beginning to see why Zebralights command the prices that they do.

Ahhhhhhh stop talking about these zebras, this is going to cost me money again. Where’s the good old blf, where we were happy with a crappy sk98. :person_facepalming:

I have like, 6 modded SK68’s and two modded SK98’s. They where my first li-ion lights. I remember when I was blown away by the brightness after I hot rodded them. Now it’s old news lol.

If only someone else made a decent budget priced 18650 light under 96mm length with side switch and a decent driver and UI.
Or even half the price of a ZL, which still isn’t budget.

There’s only one already, but it has a reputation of switch failure.

Ohh dream I will.