Edit: 11-04-2015
In the interest of saving time for anyone newly reading this old post the light was a dud and I do not recommend it mostly because it is no way better than an average $4 SK-68 clone. I returned mine. If your reading this just for kicks have at it…
Hey all. I think I just paid $13 for a different style of what appears to be at least very close to the sk68. I should have know better than to browse Amazon late at night. I got it with prime shipping so I should have it Tuesday. It looked semi-cool so I’m giving it a shot. It’s called the J5 V1 Pro. I’m wondering if anyone has one of these or knows anything about it. It’s roughly the same size as the sk68 and runs on AA or 14500. They make the same 300 lumen claim and it’s a push-pull just like the Sipik. It gets good reviews though and lots of them say the build quality is impressive. They also sell an sk68 called just the J5 Tactical Flashlight that the reviews claim is better than the standard clones for $7 but it does ship from Utah so if you’re in the US you’d get it a lot faster than from China. I guess I’ll see it myself soon enough but please chime in if you know anything about it. Thanks!
Yeah that’s what sucked me in. I like all those aggressive lines. Looks like the Sipik’s angry brother that just got out of prison. 8) If it functions even a tiny bit better the Sipik I’ll be satisfied. If it’s more moddable than the Sipik that would be sweet.
Once it gets here I’ll do some comparisons with my sk68’s and take some pictures. I need to pick up a couple protected 14500’s. I’m down to one Trustfire flame. I think my other is in the Coast HP1 that I lost. :_(
That’s funny. I was just looking at those. They’ll be ordered in the next half hour. I want a couple protected cells too though. Any recommendation there? Preferably something not too fat to fit in different lights.
“300LM J5 V1 PRO Tactical Flashlight. LED with Adjustable Focus Light Lamp (Head of the flashlight can be pulled out to focus the beam). This mini flashlight can use AA size Alkaline, NiMH, and lithium 14500 batteries.”
My guess on the “skid proof” description is either an unedited result of a translation program or just written by someone who knows English “kind of pretty much ultra ok” Tip of the hat to Richard’s sk68 variety. They were probably going for “slip resistant” LOL. It’s certainly a zoomie and the aggressive styling is unique. I’m thinking of this as the Mad Max version of the sk68. :bigsmile: Unless of course it turns out to be junk. I’m looking forward to its arrival.
I got the J5 V1 Pro yesterday. Unfortunately so far the most impressive thing it the box it came in. :~ I’ve contacted the manufacturer in the off chance that I somehow got a dud or maybe a returned light. Most of the aggressive looking sharp edges had small paint chips. The light output was almost exactly the same as any decent sk68 but the flood is a little narrower despite a larger diameter aspherical lens. That being said the zoomed in hot spot was a little tighter. I’m withholding final judgement for a few days to give them a chance to respond since this seems like a fairly new light. I just wanted to give you all a little update. More to come soon.
Fail. At least in my opinion. They could have had something good here but failed in execution. The machining no better than an average SK68 clone and the anodizing is probably worse. Right out of the box in bubble wrap it looked as used as one of my first SK68’s that’s been bounced around in glove boxes, backpacks and other places for a few years. If you’re willing to overlook the poor anodizing it might have a little modding potential but I’d say no more than the SK68. The emitter sits too deep so the flood is narrower than an SK68 despite a wider usable aspheric lens. Lumen output to the naked eye was almost identical to the SK68 using matched sets of AA alkalines, Enloops, and Windyfire 14500’s. That’s not a terrible thing of course as the SK68 has rightfully earned an almost legendary place in the budget market. However, considering I paid $13 for the J5 V1 Pro and you can get the best of the Sipik clones for less than half that I cannot recommend it. I’m sending mine back. I was particularly disappointed that despite contacting the manufacturer/seller both through Amazon and on their own website I got no response after waiting several days just to be fair. It would seem they don’t care. I’m including pictures below just to satisfy any curiosity.
Here it is next to the UltraOK SK68 Richard sells:
Here it is taken apart:
Here is a closer shot of the body and head. The threads are ok at best and overall the machining is on the rough side:
