It is a DTP copper board, there is very little performance difference between the different brands, they all perform very good. What I did notice is that the solder mask of the KD boards peels off a bit easy, this is nothing problematic with normal use, it happened to me when sanding down one from 20 to 19mm and even then it was only the edge that came off a bit.
Runtime with 4.6A on a 3000 mAh cell like the 30Q should be 40 minutes or so.
Nice review, now you made me want one as well :person_facepalming: and I already have two XHP50.2 flashlights :laughing:
Very nice review!
Haha! Sold out already! I think you found a winner, thanks for the review.
I came across this light few days ago on KD and it really got my attention with the XHP50 LED it uses with that price. Thanks for the review djozz! I may grab one up later.
Is it possible to boost the current a bit more? Having a 2500 lumens pocketable light is something cool.
Yea, I saw this a week ago and was very close to buying it. Now I just might have to!
An extension for 2*18650 would be enough to put me over the top!
Thanks
This old C8 extension tube (I believe it was from Fasttech a few years ago) fits fine, same threads. It just makes no electrical contact in the middle because the threads on the KDIY light are anodised, you have find a solution for that.
Hummm, would have to change the driver to handle the increase in voltage but would definitely be a nice option if you wanted longer run times.
Thanks
Thanks djozz for the nice review. :+1:
The host is a Roche F8. Very solid platform. At one time the heads could be bought separate letting you lego a different drivers/head/LED’s onto bodies with only a few thread turns. It’s the cleaner version that P60’s didn’t evolve into. Tail caps often had built in cigar rings but not all.
Djozz great review!
Why did i even read this? Gotta buy one now…
Well spotted, thanks for the info, I will update the OP. I did not know it, I never had a Roche F8. This teardown of the Roche F8 by Ouchyfoot in 2013 (link) shows the exact same internals as well:
Thanks for the review! I was looking at the K5 from them, it’s sort of like a 26650 version of this one, little different body and head styling.
I actually bought that H1-A driver to play with and see if I can mod it into a convoy C8 with XHP50.2
Nice find, thanks for your thoughts :+1:
I found that in a small smooth reflector (Eagle Eye X7), the XHP50.2 shows some irregularities in the hotspot (though much better than the donuthole that the XHP50 makes), while in a 50mm smooth reflector it was alright. So I’d be curious what it does in a C8, it still may benefit from an OP reflector.
I have both OP and SMO on hand.
Also ordered the H2-C driver to play with. Will see what both drivers can do with resistor mods. My guess is they will probably be thermally limited unless they can transfer heat to the host, and getting much more than the stock 18W will be hard. Still nice to see some good boost drivers coming out. Now we just need more quality hosts with stock 20mm+ drivers.
Back to the KF8 though. I have a Roxane M6 with a very similar switch arrangement. Same orange Omten with the ring and pad contacts. Never liked that design much, especially if there is room for a proper PCB switch.
I may go for the standard switch at some point, the brass switch container can be the source of a retaining ring by sawing a piece off, and just the height of the assembly must be guarded.
An extra piece of information on the driver:
I ran the battery down to 3.50V resting voltage, so well over half-drain, and measured current and output at 30 seconds. Current has increased to 5.6A now, and output is 1905 lumen. So the driver is still totally in control of the output! :sunglasses: Mind however that I did remove some resistances in the light, so the stock light may not get this result.
I found an extra negative for this light: when the switch assembly is screwed really tight, the way I like it, the battery tube does not make electrical contact with the tail (a common fault with these tail designs). So it needs the paperclip treatment 
(I used a stripped and bend piece of 20AWG wire filled with solder instead).
The Thorfire C8s uses a 19,6mm driver very easy to fit the H1-A driver :
https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/37376/2706
Great review.
Every so often, I read that the big explosion in flashlight technology has already tailed off. The biggest jumps in output came at the beginning of the LED revolution, when flashlights went from somewhere around 80-100 lumens up to about 500, and soon thereafter, to 700 or 800.
I gotta say, I just don't buy it.
When you can get a 2000-lumen light like this for only $35 USD, I say the game is still on!