I was very stubborn about not using 14500 cells.

For me getting the Zebra I really liked was cheaper than buying 5+ other lights, not being quite satisfied with them and going with ZL in the end anyway. If others work for you that’s good but I will say I feel more confident in the durability of my ZL over other lights I’ve owned or handled. At this point the only other EDC I’d really be interested in is a PFlexPro or if something totally new comes around.

I replaced the lens entirely with with DC-Fix but it wasn’t the stick on stuff it was the non adhesive thick and stiff like a credit card material stuff. Worked wonders.

I mistakenly did not actually use DC Fix film on my Wuben E05. My bad. When using the Wuben with the supplied 14500 battery on turbo all the defects in the beam can be seen. When using AA battery the film is able to create a blemish free beam and tint. In the next few days I will replace with genuine DC fix and see what happens.

I haven’t tried the thin peel and stick stuff yet. I know this thick stuff I have blocks more light than the original. Might try it. Don’t know why I didn’t try it the first time.

I have DC Fix (thin original) on 3 of my lights . It cuts throw and makes a smooth floody beam. On lights that don’t put out a lot of lumens, it may seem too dim.

FTR, I didn’t buy the Zebralight… it was a gift. I liked the overall look of it so much that when a friend was “trimming his herd” he gave it to me.

Aren’t 16340 cells 600mAh, same as 18350 and 14500? The Aspire 18350 came out claiming 1300 but that got changed pretty quickly. I know there are some variations between 600 and 700mAh but it’s typical for the better cells to be on the low end.

I have bought a great many lights, sold quite a few and had my stable grow yet again. Need to sell another 100 to be honest but after selling some 70 lights before it’s just really difficult deciding what to part with. I’ll thin em down again, eventually, or build a flashlight storage building…

Aspire 18350’s rating was revised to 1100 mAh, and it does deliver that, and can deliver reasonably high current as well.

I use two of the original 1300’s in my Ti X6 from Rey, they perform quite admirably! :smiley:

I’m really not keen on the 14500. I had to get into them when I bought a couple of BLF X5s. At that time there seemed to be only one good choice, 700 mAh as I recall, so I bought four.

Which sit sadly on the shelf, along with the X5s, that serve no purpose for me. Like Goldilocks porridge, just a bit too big, under-performing, not quite right.

I don’t think things have moved on at all since then. An Eneloop has more overall capacity and just quietly delivers the goods. NimH still has a place at the AA size, in this weird world of ours, that continues to ignore boost and buck drivers, perhaps because it’s just too difficult. Or out of the comfort zone. Just a decent linear driver could enthuse me. I think I see some progress happening there, thanks to Mike C.

Stick an Eneloop into e.g. an Olight S15 and be happy. You could use a 14500 too, it would work, but that would be pointless, once you analyse the results. As with any other 14500 powered thing.

Another point, having charged up 14500s in e.g. a domestic environment where they might easily be mistaken for AAs, is not a great idea.

Vapcell seems to have a direct line to the the SOTA cells, which are rather different, if sheer capacity is the be-all and end-all.

I used some actual DC-Fix this time and it made an tremendas improvement in beam quality. Photos taken on a white basement wall. Beam photos are same distance from wall. The beam of the the flashlight is quite nice when you take out the reflector also. It is the Wuben E05 flashlight of course. An important thing I forgot to mention that it was Boaz that sent me the DC-Fix last year so I could do some mad scientist work. It took me almost a year to find a flashlight worthy of needing the fix.

Great looking beam :wink:

I've tested 14500's against eneloops in my zebralight H52's & they give more or less the same run time exept you get turbo (+200 lumens) for 1 min with lithiums.

Thanks man.

Well I took my new Wuben E05 on a test drive tonight. I used both the supplied 14500 battery and a couple of old worn out Energizer rechargeable AA’s. I live in an urban environment so lots of ambient light even on a nature trail close to my home. Even the old Energizers could kick out enough light to make a difference on high mode. But using the supplied 14500 the flashlight can light up a field a couple hundred feet right in front of the user. Nice little flashlight I must say.

  1. I feel you there, it was the same story for me regarding reverse-clicky switches (though I was burned on next mode memory of nuckfutty cheapos). Thankfully Convoy changed that right quick :smiley:

2) 18650 all the way, for several reasons. I’m a sucker for long runtimes but not in the slightest for lumens, I’m a big guy with big hands that isn’t bothered by a slight size increase from AA, and most importantly, 18650 is all the li-ion I have. I live in one of those countries where it’s all but impossible to get li-ion cells imported, so if I am to jump through hoops to get those, I’d much rather get cells for my lights that don’t have an alternative like AA or AAA.

As a side note, I’ve been finding myself using my two sizes of Lumintop Tool and my Thrunite Ti3 and T10 the most often, but that’s always when I have my Convoy M1 or S2 handy, just for peace of mind.

Have you tried a 26650 light? IMO, that size tube fits even nicer in your hands than 18650, plus more runtime. :slight_smile:

Certainly thought of it, but times are tight and dosh is shorter than ever, so I’m keeping to the cheapest formats for now. Any budget-friendly (as close to Convoy-tier as possible) recommendations you can think of right off the top of your head? :slight_smile:

Sofirn SP 33

Not bad! Reminds me of when I was looking for a Nitecore EC20 at good price. Gonna keep an eye on this one for when the wallet isn’t as emaciated :smiley:

Well, if you like Convoy, there is the BD06 - it can run on both 18650 as well as 26650, thanks to the included adapter. But the Sofirn mentioned by the previous poster is capable of higher output, if that’s of some importance.