Lots of you went to the labor of replacing entirely the internals of this headlight. How much extra cost did that incur? Would it make sense that the manufacturer did that improvement right at the beginning? Saving the users the labor and cost thanks to the economy of scale.
Members here are tinkerers, they get enjoyment out of modifying lights and making them either better or more to their liking.
To some, this headlamp has a killer feature that I haven’t seen on any other: A metal shrouded, o-ring sealed, USB charging port. If you didn’t know it was there you might not ever realize it has USB charging! No floppy little rubber covers to fumble with and hope they protect the port.
The BLF purchases of this light amount to a drop in a bucket, making the emitter and optic changes at the factory would be great for us but wouldn’t benefit them at all. Any suggestion would probably be met with a laugh. If you look at the range of headlamps this company makes it will quickly become obvious that flashlight enthusiasts are not their target audience.
I gave mine to a flashlight buddy, it had worked faithfully for long hours at my job. I’ve got another on the way with a driver from Quadrupel for it and an emitter swap waiting.
It may double the cost of this $10 light but I enjoy the work and the results.
$12-16, even with cost of replacement parts, it is still the best light for the money. it is also a great light as is, for anyone who isn’t a flashaholic.
I look at it this way. If it’s easy to make better, why not? Like modding your car or motorcycle. Plus, even after paying $11 for the headlight, $6 for the emitter (like sst40) and another $10 for the driver, you’re still in it less than $40. Consider a similar headlight with those features (after you drop in a nice driver and emitter) and performance and you’re into the $50 range for probably less lumens. Plus, you can customize the emitter tint (warmer or cooler, output, high cri), and get a different ui for the driver.
Indeed.
IMHO a well modded D10 will be better than literally any stock headlamp in the same cell / features class, regardless of price tag.
And can be topped only by well modded $40+ headlamps.
did it come in brown cardboard box or a white one? i noticed every one of mine d10s that came in brown box, had good holder, those that came in a white box had second gen. weak holder
No cardboard box, only bubble wrapped.
Unreachable for users like me who doesn’t know the hardware. Still need to add TIR optics and pocket clip and a magnet. At the end, it costs as much as buying directly something ready like Skillhunt. Not sure if a Skillhunt H03/H04 is really comparable in quality compared to your modded Boruit D10.
well i have several d10, as well as h02, and zl600, d10 is not in any way inferior to those, even in stock form, for everyday user, yes it’s stock driver has no regulation, but you’ll never notice it when you use it, it does not have thermal control, but it does not need one, it is designed the way that it never gets too hot, unlike zl and h02 i can easily remove it from the holder in a snap, if i need to. it does not have a magnet, true, but wearing it on your head, you don’t need one, btw zebralight h600 does not have one either. h02 does, but i can’t remember when i used it last time, however d10 is `1\4 of h02 price, and 1\8 of zl600.
in that case you should not buy one then, get h03-04 it has all of those thing stock, for upclose work get one with tir, for distance get R model with reflector, or you can get smaller reflector and a flap, that ,makes the beam wide. and no. you do not need to do anything, with d10. it is fine the way it comes from a box. pretty much same way as honda civic is a great car in stock form, but some upgrade the hell out of it, does it need those upgrades? no, millions drive them stock and happy, people that modify them, just want to upgrade them, cuz they like doing it.
btw why do you need a pocket clip on a headlamp? but if you insist, convoy s 2, 6 clip snaps right on and stays there firmly, and cost like 2-3 bucks, but keep in mind putting that clip on and off will scratch anodizing, but then, my h02 has same issue, it’s clip destroyed anodizing in my h02 as well. do not have one for zl, maybe zl anodizing is stronger, idk, but for 90- 100 bucks it better be
The clip to attach the light on the front strap of a backpack. This way the light shines in front of you. The Convoy S2 with its clip will shine downward to the feet. I prefer to attach the light like that or in the front pocket. I will use the headband only when there is no better method.
About “scratching anodizing”: this is something cosmetic, external coating right? Not a problem. As long as that scratching doesn’t interfere with the working of the flashlight (like shining light and switch working properly). And the pocket clip is solid enough so that the flashlight doesn’t pop out unexpectedly.
i meant using s2 clip on d10, it will shine forward, you can clip it on either side, button up or down, but the light will always shine forward
yes it is a cosmetic issue only.
if you want to use it on your backpack, you can also attach second holder to the sling, and snap the light in, out in half a second, very easy, do it even 1000 times no damage to anodizing from plastic holder, now stock extra holders are impossible to get separately, but you can easy 3d print one, there are few designs available, gchart designed 3 and i designed 1, i also designed a holder for zl that works like d10 holder. designs are tested and they work,
also if you taking it backpacking, camping, there is always a chance you lose it, it can happen to any light, d10 is very cheap for the price of 1 h02-3 you can get 3 or 4 d10.
also keep this in mind, h02, zl…. you can get in neutral even warm white, d10 afaik only available in cool white. if that matters to you, d10 may not be your light, it is easy to replace leds, but you have to have parts, and skills,
Loosen up the strap fully and wear it loosely around your neck . It's the most comfortable way to wear any headlamp . keeping the light under your chin keeps glare out of your eyes and looks about 10 times less dooffy. it's how all the cool kids are running their lights these days . Add a piece of diffuser film instead of messing with TIR optics .
I have had about 6 of these lights and it gets more play than 95% of my other lights . IMHO it's a great light to gift . To a nonaholic it's bright as hell ...it's rechargeable ..it has that weird Samsung battery in it. what's not to love . A headlamp is a "Must Have" light . I suggest the ...Manker if its still on sale 12~17$ the D-10 boruit ..The D-10 Nitecore :), the skilhunt h03 ,the armytek and a "used" zebralight...in that order . shut up and buy it !
Newb question:
I unscrewed the driver cap, wanted to remove the driver just to learn how to do it before I purchase a replacement.
Now…how do I take the driver off? I tried gently pushing from the inside, no effect.
I tried pulling from the outside, the outer PCB moves a bit but does not come out.
May I get help with that?
First you have to unsolder LED wires and then from inside push out driver-charger sandwich
I see. Thanks. 
En even newbier question. What is the difference between “driver” and “MCPCB” ?
The MCPCB is the metal plate the led sits on top of and is soldered on to. Has 2 contacts with wires going into it.
Driver is the circuit board that has all the electronic bits that controls the current and voltage to the led, and also has a microcontroller that gives you modes.
My D10 now features CRI95 SST-20 3000K on a lightweight MOSLED MCPCB.
$10 flashlight,$.20 TIR lens, ~$.50 MCPCB, spare LED. Not bad so far. Budget? Definitely.
But I’d like to try some other TIRs and have $50 order from Yajiamei on the way….