Emisar D1 / D1S review

You mightn’t need to ask… :wink:

Thanks to you too Thetasigma. Even though I have plenty of spare 18650’s, I realized all of them are protected cells except for two cheapie lower capacity unprotected flat tops. This light deserves better so I ordered two new Efest 3000 mAh cells from Ebay at a great price to be used exclusively in the D1.

I had checked with Richard at mtnelectronics but he was out of them. The seller on Ebay lists the Efest cells as the new version cells and calls them Li-MN instead of Li-ion. Whats that all about? I’ve never heard of Li-MN. Typo or what?

Some time back Powerizer made a 26650 that was Li-Ni-Mn-Co and really rocked, the later tech is Li-NiMn in chemical construction and as safe as they been able to make them as far as I know. They might vent but are highly unlikely to explode.

From Battery University.

Very interesting! Thanks for that Dale. I never realized there were so many Li-ion chemistries. Looks like the Li-MN should be fine.

Got mine (D1Svn) yesterday and that darn Olson Black is frikkin’ awesome! Moonlight throws more than 200 feet. My yard isn’t even close to big enough to let this light shine. Gonna have to take to the river!
Love the dry finish on the black D1S. Very dry feeling and you can hold on to the thing quite well. Never got hot but with 650 lumens it prolly wasn’t going to.
I thought my D1 threw pretty well, well the Olson makes it look like a AA Maglite! Can’t wait to try it with the Giggles GT when it comes.

D1S thrower has one major flaw: no tail switch

its the thrower that we miss : 50mm head range, p30 looking but has a better reflector, great UI….yet, the lack of a tail switch nukes everything

I asked Hank to redesign it, hoping he will….it will be a hell of a torch with a tail switch!

P.S

It gives 200k candelas and 2.2 lumens with Sst40 folks.

Different people, different needs, I consider the lack of tail switch an important feature.

Same here.

Youre both BLFers, you dont count :slight_smile:

The police forse, hunters , secutiry guards and army personel dont think so.

That light has a potential to become the next C8 generation, unfortunately the lack of a tail switch nukes that.

Hank is a reasonalbe man, D1S with both side and rear switch: definately the next C8

That’s your opinion.
For me, a “nuke” is if a flashlight has a side switch and a tail switch. You have to handle the light before you can switch the modes - that’s annoying as…
As a lockout - OK, but not as a on/off switch

  • for me :wink:

I think, the big Emisar Thrower would benefit a lot from a 26650 Battery tube.
It just looks too thin on the battery-end.

“The next C8”?
I don’t think so.
The C8 is a very cheap (y15:money_mouth_face: yet very good flashlight.
Unless the Emisars drop to under 20$, they are not a replacement.

Missing Tailswitch - how many buyers of flashlights are security-guards and policemen? Maybe 2-5%?

For the throwers, maybe 95%: including hunters and army personel ofc

You cant mount that torch too, thats another minus too

Plus, its quite hard to find that side switch in the dark, plus you can always misclick the side button

A 26650 based flashligt is quite a different story- As other said Ut20 is quite good and in that condition Emisar 50mm thrower covers it, yet Ut20 is 30$ and easy moddable too

By default C8 isnt anyting specialy, XPg2 modded is quite a different story, but then again its not 15$ :slight_smile:

15-20$ price range for a D1S in a host form is quite reasobnable and affortable

While we speak about throwers… :slight_smile:

Side switch only was the reason I got a D1S, I don’t want to use a flashlight with my fist up in the air or by my chest, I want to be able to change modes one handed with the light comfortably down by my side.

I also find with throwers that the further away the beam is from your eye, the less apparent backscatter.

I was looking for a 50 mm head range, 18650 light, wit only side switch. I found it. If it would have a tail switch, I would not buy it.

Don't worry about the police , they got their own crappy lights that make them feel special

Mitko - not sure why the tail switch is so important. The physical placement or the fact it's a power cutoff switch and not electronic?

Is reverse or forward clicky more popular?

For police and security guards, the classic full size Maglites such as this one have been side switch lights for years, and very popular with police and security guards.

Looking at the latest SureFire "R1 Lawman", it seems to have a combo of side switch and tail switch, though I'm not clear on how the UI works.

Of course I don't think the Emisar's are an attempt to be a "tactical" light, and I like it that way. I would agree a tailswitch would go more in the direction of tactical, but for tactical use, I'd consider:

  • better and true HA III coating
  • possible SS bezel and tail
  • tail switch with full support for tactical use - press&hold is max, etc.

For me, keeping the length short and the tail useful for clean tailstanding is important.

Q: Is the 220 kcd on a SST-40 de-domed? Still don't know how to reliably de-dome a SST-40 with chemicals we can actually get.

For these models, I'd rather see a magnet added to the tails, specially for the D1 and D4.

Funny, I’ve been considering adding a tail switch to mine…

Ofc you will, i am pretty sure about that :wink:

Tom, that light has a huge potential with both switches, unfortunately Hank said: Nope!

its like Simon you know, i was begging him for 4 years about those remote switches, 3 weeks ago in a chat he mentioned that he should releace them earlier :slight_smile:

Same with Emisar thrower, such a little step is needed to be the next C8…better and fully as it should be…P30 failed cause of the heavy gluing and lame reflector, S3 Pro cause of the boost driver( andf its hella lame too) and XHP35

Pretty reliable actualy, i have modded arround a dozen C8s and maybe 20 L2s this way, only 1 falut so far whitch is quite normal(a black pethrol looklike dot , some emitters do suffer from that after dding).

SSt40 L2 is the real thing m8, at 8 amps( paired with a black Li26650) it gives those lovely and steady 365-370k candelas and 2.2-3k lumens
Unbeatable
I use it as an offhand observation torch when hunting, running already for 2-3 months like every weekend

And several X6s too, even my own: do you know that at 7.5 amps and the new reflector it gives 115k cds?

According to the specifications, a D1s should be similar in throw to my Convoy L2. Has anybody compared the two? I might have to get one the next time mtn has them in stock if it’s fairly close.

I can see a custom builder using square threads at the tail, where the cell get’s changed out all the time, but I would think a wider more robust square thread would be used. These thin little square threads are a pita and I really don’t see how they’re better than the standard thread, even worse really as far as I’m concerned.

So these very thin little square threads will probably relegate this nice D1S to being a toy, used for lightning and candlelight but not serious usage outdoors as I find it too much hassle to cut square threads. (or the very thin ones to match this, anyway)