Ultrafire UF-5C
Flashlight type: Baton flashlight, defensive type impact tool.
Mode arrangement: High > Low > Strobe (with memory)
Switch type: side switch reverse clicky
Price paid: $49.80 from http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-Shipping-UltraFire-UF-5C-900-lm-Super-long-LED-flashlight/688125536.html
I’m actually been looking around for reviews of this particular flashlight but apparently I just can’t find any, an unfamiliar ultrafire for almost 50 bucks? It isn’t a budget friendly price at all, so I’m like; “Man, should I buy it or not?”… And guess what? Finally ended up trying it out myself and realized it pretty much worth the money which I’ll be talking about it shortly as you scroll your mouse.
Specs description; http://www.ultrafire-shop.net/UltraFire_Shop.php?view=productPage&product=145&category=3
UltraFire UF-5C
CREE XML T6 White LED
900 Lumens
Smooth Reflector
3 mode Change
Emitter Color: White
Construction: Type III hard-anodized finish
Water and Dust proof for adverse weather
Battery Configurations: C size(1.5V) x 5
39cm(L) x 4.7cm(Diameter)
Net weight: 336g ( without battery)
Pros;
- Very bright (but doesn’t hits the claimed lumens tho)
- Good quality, original ultrafire
- A lot better than maglite (for the price and output)
- A great impact tool (when fully loaded with batteries)
- Decent heat sink
- Mode memory
- Glass lens
- Side switch located near the head
Cons;
- Ringy pattern beam
- PWM on low mode(but not noticeable)
- Non-anodized screw threats on both sides/unable to lock-out
- Reverse clicky (in my opinion for a security baton light i would prefer a forward clicky on it)
- Battery wobbles easily inside the tube (somewhat annoying but can be overcome by thickening the batteries with duct tapes)
Baton flashlight?
Some find it useful, some find it useless. But if you are familiar with Maglites especially longer versions fully loaded with C or D cells. You surely wouldn’t want to get hit by one. Baton flashlight are very popular as part of the security tool I believe back in the old times but until modern day, small sized bright CREE lights ruled over, with ASP or Monadnock collapsible, expandable steel batons took over straight fixed baton or fixed Tonfa, T-batons as well as C or D cell baton type flashlight. Pretty much separating and ending the trend of baton+flashlight combination done by Maglite.
Now before I proceed, I know some experts who mod Maglites into LED which is awesome, and I do wish to get one of them in the future, but if you’re like me, a dummy who couldn’t mod anything. Ultrafire UF-5C is a great production baton flashlight.
Built quality;
No box packing but came well protected by thick layers of bubble wraps. It’s cheap looking at that point I almost got disappointed for the price paid but until when I finally get it out from the packing, I was amazed by the built quality which is unexpectedly great, no flaws at all! It’s very light in weight without batteries loaded. The switch is a little bit too stiff to my liking but works fine, the durable rubber switch its circled up by a stainless ring. The body tube wall is kinda thin but it seems sturdy enough as I tested it by hitting a couple times on sandbags and punching-bags. It’s about 15” long which is still a good-enough-to-reach as an impact weapon.
model name right there
no sharp edges on the tail cap butt end, but knuckled cut out design that can possibly maximize the striking power when doing jabs with corner edges of the tail cap.
crenulated bezel which are decently sharp
I get a pretty good grip on it, same traditional ways on using a lengthen Maglites, you carry the weight over your shoulder while holding the head, using your index finger to operate the side switch. And ready to swing it forward against any target if needed.
perfectly well centered XM-L T6 emitter
As you can see I duct taped those batteries to solve wobbling issues in the battery tube
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I’m not an expert against the inner parts but here’s a simply look inside.
pic above shows the head spring(left) and the tail cap spring(right)
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Brightness;
It’s bright, but not 900 lumens, from my estimations it could be around in between 600~700 lumens on max, about 200 lumens on low. Well spaced mode arrangement; High > Low > Strobe. Power by 5 piece of C sized cells.
It has mode memory which most people would like, with a decent fast strobe.
Well centered XM-L T6 with smooth reflector, glass lens with green GID o’ring that caused ringy pattern beam I believe.
The heat sink part is very well made, it gets warm in 10 minutes on high which is reasonable.
Presents of PWM noises and flickers on low mode are detectable by camera and by holding the flashlight head close up to your ear, but not noticeable in normal use. Not a major issue at all.
Some simple beam-shots
kinda dislike the ringy pattern in the center beam, i guess its probably caused by the green GID o’ring
crenulated bezel design caused beam artifacts.
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Comparing to my ASP 16” attached with ASP Tactical USB.
Conclusion;
It’s a baton flashlight, people buy them for a purpose, self defense. Especially some places where fixed or expandable batons are banned, some people might think its a great light to store in a truck or any vehicle but I wouldn’t recommend it because alkaline batteries tends to leak. Unless there is primary lithium battery available for C or D sized. You might do the trick by using lithium AA batteries with AA to C size plastic battery converter but then it won’t be heavy enough for effective impact strikes.
A few things I don’t like about it will be the battery wobbling issue, ringy pattern beam profile and non-anodized threads, otherwise it will be a top pick for baton light. If done with XM-L2 U2/T6 it will be godlike.
I know there are some other baton type flashlight but most of them had their switch located at the end of the tail cap which required switching grips or two handed operation, unlike side switch located near the head which provides you quicker access to blast the lumens on your attacker while holding it in a baton ready position for striking(flashlight tube placed over shoulder), that being said you are able to do everything one handed with side switched type baton light.
Like I said, if you like maglite typed flashlight yet couldn’t get it modded for some reasons, this is a great production baton flashlight. If you are going back and forth deciding you should get it or not, I would say yes if you are looking for a bright and defensive baton light, but if you are on a tight budget well then better save your money up to spend it on something else practical.
It’s a great less lethal defensive light which I’m going to pass this to my dad soon.
I believe you might able to get it from ebay or somewhere else for a slightly lower price.
My apology for certain test like tail cap reading, runtime duration and some others which im not able to do at this time
Thanks for your time and hope it helps.