Review: Ultrafire Stainless Steel RL-113

Ultrafire Stainless Steel RL-113

Reviewer's Overall Rating: ★★★★ an a little more


Summary:

Battery: CR123 or Rechargeable CR123
Switch: Reverse Tail Clicky
Modes: (3) High/Lo/Fast Strobe
LED Type: Cree XP-G
Lens: Glass, Smooth reflector
Tailstands: Yes
Price Payed: $25.00
From Manafont
Date Ordered: 6/7, received 6/16

Pros:

  • Lots of light for a small body
  • Sturdy, well-built, lubed from the factory
  • Almost key-chain sized, but heavy due to stainless steel
  • Takes Cr123 (3.0v) or 3.7v rechargeables
  • Low mode should last a long time
  • More throwy than floody, especially for a small body (that is a + for me, may not be so for others)

Cons:

  • Not quite enough room for protected 16340 batteries without minor mod
  • A bit pricey for a small light
  • Has a strobe mode

Features / Value: ★★★★

I just got this light today, and I have to admit, I like it more than I thought I would. You can drop this thing in your pants pocket and still have a lot of light when you need it. Here is the size compared to an Ultrafire C3 Stainless and a Trustfire Z1

Design / Build Quality: ★★★★

Nice solid feel to the light, it came lubed from Manafont, things fit pretty nice for a budget light. I was impressed (see top photo) that they actually put the lanyard on correctly so that the light tailstands without wobbling. I could live without the milled slots in the body, I like the knurling better, but no real complaint.

The RL-113 is 8cm long, just a bit over 3 inches. And if you look at my comparison photo, the width of the RL-113 is basically the same as the wide spots in the Ultrafire C3 stainless AA light.

I'm not going to knock Ultrafire for this, but the diminutive size of the body of the RL-113 did not work with protected 16340 batteries, they are just too big and put too much pressure on the tail spring. You can see how a regular CR1234 and a protected 16340 compare in the body tube here

(Mouse-over the image below to see the comparison)

So here is the fix, to make the 3.7 protected cells work. Clip off the top three loops of the tail spring, and then both batteries work just fine. If you don't do this and tighten the tail cap all the way down, with protected 3.7v batteries the light will go off.

Battery Life:

No idea, I did not burn through a battery on it.

The light pulls 1.25A at the tailcap, and .25A on Lo

Light Output: ★★★★★

Strong for a small light! Well-defined hotspot, but quite large compared to a P60 reflector. Some greenish tint against a white wall indoors, I don't think you would notice it outside.

On 3.7v batteries, this thing is BRIGHT.

Beamshots coming...

Summary: ★★★★.5

Price is my only real complaint about the light; at 25 bucks, there are some real serious budget lights out there, like the Solarforce L2m. But they are not stainless steel either, but at twice the price of a C3 Stainless, I do think they could make this light cheaper.

There really isn't much in my collection like this, which is one of the reasons I like it. You could actually use it as a key-chain light, it is shorter than a Trustfire F23 by 1/2 inch, and it is only about 1/2 inch longer than an iTp A3 E0S

Nice review, Troop ;) For that price you can buy ITP A1 actually. I really like 16340 format lights, will have to buy one someday :p

Good job, troop.

Foy

Thanks troop!

Good review and nice flashlight. Maybe not so cheap..

If I had one, I can envision this going on the lathe to remove the random shapes in the body tube, converting it to a simpler body tube?

Would certainly appeal to me more. Asian style (at least the Indian and Chinese bits that I'm aware of) is far more ornate than I prefer. Can any of our Japanese members (Do we have any Japanese members?) enlighten me?

I quite like the style of the SS C3 - not plain enough to be austere, but unobtrusive.

This or this are what I consider my "prettiest" lights.

For those who read Slashdot and are used to random links pointing to the Goatse guy, the lights are the Aurora SH-032 (Which fits into elastic-sided holsters designed for 2AA lights quite nicely) and the EastwardYJ J06 (Which fits very nicely in the Ultrafire 119 holster).