Mila made me do it !!!
Has anyone had one apart? Wonder if the emitters are swappable without a degree in rocket surgery
doubt it is worth it to swap emitters
prob cannot get it apart, then the thing may be potted or whatever as well
I see no non-destructive ways to open it.
This might be another TF light using LEDs from Genesis Photonics, so it might be difficult to find a replacement LED. I tried to get their NW CRI80 LEDs to no avail. If someone has a source, I’ll be all ears.
It’s a nice looking light but I don’t understand what makes it different than the many similar rectangular lights that are also out there. As for getting it open: maybe a heat gun around the edges to soften the adhesive holding the ends in? I think if I went to such trouble I’d want to rebuild it completely though, rather than just swapping leds.
1. It has a metal body instead of an easy to damage plastic body.
2. It has easy to access lockout.
3. It's inexpensive.
(These three points are what I'm looking for.)
Take all three of those points into account, and there isn't much competition out there.
Some RovyVon keychain flashlights are also very good, but they need to be at a pretty good discount to be considered "inexpensive."
What would you want to improve? It’s tiny, bright, high capacity, temp regulated, budged priced, has easy and fast soft lockout. Hard to imagine there’s something not to like.
Unheard knows what I'm talking about! 
a. does not have a clip
b. will never accidentally activate, because
- long press required and
- pressure is fairly substantial
heat gun would be one thing to try
but the plastic may burn or harden up under heat, no way to predict (instead of melt)
plus you may overheat internal parts, like the battery [fire smoke etc]
There are several Nitecore lights like that, the Surefire Sidekick, Fenix E03R, Astrolux K1, etc. I think of those without having even looked for this type of light. I’m not saying those other lights are better. Just that there are other lights in the category. I don’t even understand what is attractive about the form factor, though that’s just me. I prefer lights with swappable batteries unless there is a compelling case for an internal one, which usually means the light is tiny, e.g. Nitecore Tube.
With the heat gun, I think you just have to be careful.
As for rebuilding: I’d want to reprogram the software to customize the UI, make both leds white or else one of them deep red (670nm), and put a raised ring around the pushbutton to prevent accidental activation. Lockout mode is a clumsy workaround imho, for a switch that is too easy to activate accidentally.
I’m not trying to slag on this light, I just find the disproportionate attention it gets to be a bit perplexing.
When I say "inexpensive," I'm talking about approximately $20 or less.
Surefire Sidekick is quite a bit more expensive and does not have a lockout feature.
Astrolux K1 does not have a lockout feature.
Fenix E03R is kinda expensive, and provides less lumens.
Are there any other keychain flashlights that you think might be in the competition, because those three aren't, except maybe the Fenix E03R (if you want less lumens for more money.)
A lockout device only means that the switch is so badly designed that it needs a lockout. So I’d consider the presence of a lockout to be a minus, unless the light is a total failure. The Surefire seems like a nice light to me.
Did you look at the Nitecore Tip and its close relatives?
Here is something cheap, no idea about quality:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32803090535.html
I have to say this format of light just doesn’t excite me much. I prefer normal swappable batteries. Also, all of them are too large for a keychain imho. Lumintop Pimi is closer to the right size, or Sofirn SC02 if you can stand a little more size for greater convenience.
I don’t understand the notion of wanting a perfect light to be cheap, either. When you find the perfect light, buy it, pay whatever it costs and stop worrying. Low priced lights are for when you want lots of them.
For me, the perfect keychain light is the Photon Fanatic LPK, which was relatively expensive by BLF standards, and also quite low lumens compared to these rechargeable lights. I like the idea of a Pimi-format light with 20 or so lumens and proportionate runtime. More powerful lights are nice in their own way but I haven’t desired one on my keychain so far.
Most (if not all) keychain flashlights that don't have lockout, need lockout.
Trust me, I've used plenty of keychain flashlights, and all of the ones that I've owned need lockout.
Yes, I owned one of the earlier versions that had lockout.
They are not made well, and it fell apart.
The newer ones don't have lockout, by the way, but since they're not made very well, it doesn't really matter.
You can buy expensive lights if you want to.
No one is stopping you.
Go ahead and waste your money however you want.
But I'll look for high quality inexpensive lights, and of course, I'm not the only one.
Maybe you'll feel more at home at CPF with their love of overpriced flashlights.
This is Budget Light Forum, after all.
Of course, this is BLF. But, if you are still looking after all these years, maybe a different strategy might work better ;). Fwiw I haven’t felt that my money was wasted when I’ve bought nice lights. I can’t afford to buy lots of them, but the ones I’ve had were mostly very satisfying. If you’re into flashlights as a hobby but focusing on lots of cheap lights instead of a few good ones, you might be missing out.
I don’t feel that the D4v2 with the raised switch ring needs a lockout. It’s not a keychain light but it shows that it’s possible to make a well-enough-protected pushbutton to not need a lockout. I’d say the same of lots of tail clickies I’ve used, but those lengthen the light enough to not play well with keychains.
I’ve similarly had a LOT of small twisty lights and none of them have needed lockouts, unless their threads were loose enough that I’d call them defective. Do you require a pushbutton?
I’m not surprised to hear about Nitecore being crap. It fits what I’ve heard in general about them. Oh well.
Read my post again about lockout.
I'm talking about keychain flashlights, not all flashlights.
Here in EU, I get this price
Subtotal
US $20.38
Store Coupons
US $1.00
Shipping
US $0.00
Total
US $19.38
Not so good, compared with prices mentioned above. 
Kind regards
@gregor:
Strange.
It's still coming up $15.70 for me.
You think that I should start buying expensive lights when I'm very happy with high quality inexpensive lights?
Whatever you're smoking, I do not want.
Are you telling me that the SC01 is not a keychain flashlight? Or that it needs a lockout? I can’t tell which.
I would call the SC01 a keychain flashlight, it is inexpensive, and I haven’t heard anyone say it needs a lockout:
As for pushbuttons, I haven’t seen anything you’ve said about lockouts that is different between keychain and larger lights. It’s just that the keychain lights you’ve been using have crappy switches.