Brinyte S18 Review and Teardown (2017 edition)

Brinyte S18 Review

!

!

Hey folks so I was contacted by Brinyte to do a review for them! They only wanted a video but I thought I will write a review also. This light made me giddy so I must share it. They offered me a few different choices of lights and I chose the S18 because it looked really interesting. Not the usual style flashlight at all!

The S18 like most Brinyte flashlights is made for hunting they also do dive lights and standard flashlights. I think Brinyte would be most known for its hunting lights? On here probably the B158 a very famous light.

!

!

Brinyte also sent me the spare pills so I might be of my head while writing this. (If you got that joke we all know you have been up to no good also lol). which are a red and green Cree XPE R5 LED setups. These beam shots should be very fun and long.

The video of this light is already up its a bit long but I pulled the light apart so that is how long it takes to go through a few pills and pulling stuff apart. So please feel free to thumbs down like every one else.

Okay so where to start? The S18 looks awesome it a very different looking flashlight. The S18 has aggressive knurling and an aggressive overall look to it. I like that a lot it makes the S18 a very different looking flashlight overall.
The front bezel has crenelations and the back of the tail cap also has aggressive crenelations. The front crenelations are not sharp but the rear crenelations are a tad sharp but they will not cut you!
This back bezel may come in handy for smashing things if needed. I wonder if I could stick it to a tree.

!

!

Most importantly you can still tail stand the S18 even with these crenelations. The S18 overall has enough mass to act as a weapon if need be for whacking (whack a mole) coming in at 316 grams in total. (Without the batteries)
Every thing on the Brinyte S18 feels over sized and built extra tough. I like this feeling you don’t always get this feeling on flashlight when you buy it.

C8/S18/L2 i think i can not see the pic
!

!

The Brinyte S18 is a fairly large flashlight one of my biggest that I own personally but its much smaller and thinner then my Convoy L2 and L6. So I wouldn’t call it massive by any means. I like the size of the S18 because it is made to fit two 18650s this means the battery tube is skinny while the head is larger. Giving the S18 an awesome fit in your hands.

Size specs

  • Head: 57mm
  • Body diameter: 24mm
  • Length: 242mm
  • Weight: 316 grams (excluding batteries)

Extra specs

  • Reflector: 50mm
  • LED board: 20mm
  • Driver board: 20mm
  • Glass 52mm

!

!

Build quality is good overall not much to mention except for one small spot on the reflector. It looks like a machining mark I am not sure if this will effect performance. Maybe the CNC bit was blunt? My S18 still throws good even with the mark it still gets 56000cd.

The threads on the S18 are very well cut which is extremely important seeing as its made to change pills fairly frequently. The threads on the body and the spare pills are extremely thick which will help with wear issues.

!

!

There is no marks on my anodizing and every thing seems to be in place. The amount of detail Brinyte has gone to with the S18 is amazing they are using a floating driver and are even using a nylon driver retaining ring. This is all put in place to help with recoil while shooting.
The Brinyte S18 does use a forward clicky switch which is usually preferred when shooting. I personally think a forward clicky is easier to use for a none flashlight person?
They even put plastic/nylon around the switch to help absorb shock. Or I could just be tripping maybe its only standard plastic? Who really knows.

!

!

The S18 uses two 18650s there is no option to use one 18650 seeing as the working voltage is 5.5- 13v so you will have to mod the driver to use a single cell. It would be a fairly easy job then you would also have to use a dummy cell as the battery tube is long. It can not be undone to fit one cell.

The S18 does have O-rings all around to help keep out dust and water. Its got average specs here with a drop resistance of 1 meter maybe because of the weight but I think it will be able handle more then that. The driver will be fine seeing as its floating in the pill.

!

!

Life proof specs (Excludes my house)

  • Drop resistance: 1m
  • Waterproofing: IP68 2 meters underwater

The S18 is using aircraft grade aluminum alloy and type 3 hard anodizing fairly standard materials here. The anodizing does seem very hard wearing and thick which is a plus seeing its a larger light. There is no AR coated glass on the S18 because that would effect the performance of the colored LEDs. I would like to see it as an option as it will help with a tad extra throw and output if that is what you want.

Brinyte also put an insulation washer over the LED on the S18 this helps stop short circuiting on the reflector which is a nice touch. I got 2 spare insulation washers and spare LED gasket for each pill. This really helps with idea of changing the pills on the go on the S18. This means just about any one can do it safely (Yes condom joke time)(insert here if you know what i mean).

!

!

The Brinyte S18 has many different options for pills and output and LED types its like a variety pack of goodness.
I will go over what pills I got with mine.

!

!

The main output method/pill would be the Cree XML2-U4. As we all know the U4 is top bin which is a nice addition they didn’t have to use this binning seeing as the S18 is a reasonably priced flashlight.
I guess good value for money here. The XLM2 sits on a direct thermal path copper board of 20mm in size. The MCPCB used for the XML2 is a tad thicker then the rest it is 1.5mm thick while the colored LEDs are 1mm thick boards.

!

!

The main pill this one is set up like the rest of the pills but appears to have a different driver to the colored LEDs.
Brinyte use 20mm a partition board with the driver loose inside the pill this helps with gun recoil. The driver appears to be custom made as there is no markings on the board . The driver appears to be a tad smaller coming in at 17mm in diameter. I would have to unsolder the driver to have a proper look can I charge over time rates for that?
The driver itself is great it offers awesome output and very good regulation you would expect that from a buck driver. The wires used to connect the partition board and driver are super thick nice addition.

!

!

The Brinyte S18 is proper bright it surprised me I was expecting average performance like when I first got my L2 before I modded it. That was using an LD29 driver I think? Any way I got a lumen reading of around 1200 lumens max from the S18 which is no slouch. I think the difference between the S18 and L2 could be the use of different emitters.
This reading of 1200 lumens is from 2 freshly charged Sanyo 18650 nothing special here like not high drain cells. I left the light running for a while about 5 mins and it even out at 1150 lumens flat. I shit you not the output does not budge its so damn linear. One of the best things about using a buck driver. The current from the driver is around the 3+amp mark at least with fuller batteries I would expect that to drop as the batteries wear. Not by much but! As the voltage is so high even with flat cells.

!

!

The throw numbers are decent as you would expect from a such a big reflector. Probably not as high as you would think but respectable. Second time I have reviewed a Brinyte flashlight and the second time they wrote down a weird candela rating.
They quote 500m throw and 8200cd which of course is way to low. I got a candela of 56000cd at 3 meters which is around the 500m quoted by Brinyte. Seeing as the S18 is a tad brighter then quoted it would make an awesome light to de-dome the LED. You may be able to get up to 90-100kcd once you de-dome the Stock XML2. I got really good results de-doming the stock XML2-U4 LED on my Brinyte B158 so I would expect around that candela result.
If you done an emitter swap you see better results using a de-domed XPG2 or XPL.

!

!

Modes and run times Cree XML2-U4

  • High mode: 1000 lumens at 2 hours
  • Medium Mode: 500 lumens at 4 hours
  • Low mode: 100 lumens at 20 hours
  • Strobe and SOS: 1000 lumens Unknown run time

Output numbers from Brinyte and throw

  • 1000 lumens max
  • 500m throw
  • 8200cd ( I am not sure where they pulled this number from)

Output numbers by me

  • 1200 lumens max. Levels out at 1150 and sits there.
  • 56000cd
  • 500m ish

Red
!

!

Okay now the other two pills I received are both Cree XPE-R5 LEDs one is red and the other is green. I am not sure what you are meant to use green for? They are bloody bright I mean really bright in this reflector maybe to bright.
They are both built exactly the same just different colour LEDs. Both are on 20mm copper boards they appear to be custom boards at that. Only one spot on each side for the wires to attach like Noctigon boards. These MCPCB are a tad thinner then the XML2 board coming in at 1mm thickness.

Green
!

!

This set up uses the same 20mm partition board with a smaller 17mm driver floating on the inside. This is a different driver on these pills and only has one mode. So its an on/off driver all you really need here. This driver looks like a much simpler buck driver which they can get away with as its not doing high amps. Brinyte rate the driver at 1amp so they both should do around 6 hours run time depending on the batteries you use which is really good.

Red and Green Cree XPE driver
!

!

Output coloured LEDs

XPE-R5 Red

  • 150 lumens
  • 200m throw

XPE-R5 Green

  • 200 lumens
  • 200m throw

!

!

What is included in the pack? My pack is huge! (I wish I could say the same for my package)
From what I have seen you can find this as a package with the different pills or they can be bought separate. You will always get the XML2 included with the light.

Brinyte S18 (With Cree XML2)

  • Cree XPE-R5 Red
  • Cree XPE-R5 Green
  • 18650 Charger
  • Lanyard
  • Instructions (I lost mine!)
  • Washers and gaskets for the different LEDs
  • Spare O-rings
  • 18650 batteries (Customs now has mine enjoy!)

!

!

I think the Brinyte S18 is an awesome buy for any hunting enthusiasts if there are versed with flashlights or not. Its a super easy to use light with the forward clicky comes with all the attachments some one would want. The build quality is superb and its tough plus changing the pills is super easy.
The modding potential is there also if your an enthusiast. You could easily de-dome the LED and get extra throw or even fit a XHP50 in and slice the dome you will have good throw and massive output. I am going to put a XHP50 in mine.

Beam shot time!

All these pics are taken with ISO 400 i think i usually 800 i have to check.

Low mode 100 lumens
!

!

Medium mode 500 lumens
!

!

High mode 1200 lumens
!

!

Tree 100m
!

!

Red light district i mean LED lol! ( I wish)
!

!

100m with the XPE-R5
!

!

Signaling the ninja turtles.
!

!

Green tree and green LED makes for some awesome camo
!

!

Brinyte S18 left and EE X6 using a XML2-U2 Direct drive right
!

!

S18 left and C8 with a XPL dedomed on the right
!

!

Brinyte S18 left and TK4A right the brightness is so close
!

!

S18 left and stock S2+ right
!

!

Skip till the end for beam shot i think its at 18 minutes.

Thanks for taking the time to read!

Regards Chris

The shown LEDs are not XPE R5

those are XPE2

the highest bin for orange-red is Q5 107 lumens @350mA

the highest bin for green is R3 121 lumens @350mA

deep red which would be better for night hunting with 660nm is only availiable as XPE
the highest bin for deep red is 388mW @350mA

10x or your review m8, yet something esle needs to be mentioned

I`ve tested its 1S version for my hunting nees, and i cant say i will buy that flashlight again

The emitters fine tunning and reflector fixing is quite hard, the reflector quality isnt good at all, the beam profile looks not so good too, the 1s body was heavy, i can imaging the weitgh of the 2s version… plus, as you can see in the photoes above the emitter`s heat dissipation isnt good at all too, and the driver by default and when modded will “flow” inside

yes youll have a better overall candelas number than C8 but not that much

Thanks for the review and all the extra info guys. :+1:

Thanks for the info mate i dont know much about the XPE series. The green die looks like a XML-U2 surface type with the bonding wires so i guess its top bin and the red i am note sure about. Maybe if i measure output that will tell me.

Yea i get what you mean the reflector is loose it wobbles until its tighten down makes the positioning hard. I think that is so you dont break the LED while placing it back together. I think this model handles heat well i didn’t notice any performance loss maybe once modded it will struggle. Or i could just not be feeling the heat loss which is worse.The pill is heavy overall.

What throw numbers did you get from yours?

Nice review, thanks! :smiley: