I need a light ASAP!

Amazon US carries several well respected brands.
Sofirn, Wurkkos, WOWTAC, Fenix, Olight, Lumintop, Nitecore, Others…
A headlamp is indispensable for camping and cabins with no electricity.
Pick up an extra battery or two from a trusted supplier - NOT Amazon.
And I’m sure there is an REI someplace that might have something.
All the Best,
Jeff

Yes, I also recommend Jackson Lee. He is an authorized reseller for Hank lights in the U.S… I bought a D4v2 from him and he ships out orders FAST, and is very responsive to requests/questions.

I would go with Amazon, and pay extra for quick shipping.

Ask Vinh to express shipping.
Where in California do you live.

I'm flying into SFO Sunday night, will be in Fremont Monday. Got a ton of lights but nothing dual channel like that.

I like this suggestion, if you want Anduril.

Thanks alot for the suggestions guys. Unfortunately Jackson Lee has basically no stock right now…. it’s looking like Amazon is going to be my best bet. I’ll probably get a budget triple and put these xp-g3 high CRI I have in them. I was just really hoping for a more versatile option, especially since I was feeling the limits of this same set up on my last trip.

It would be really nice to have a dual channel quad. With two of the emitters optimized for throw and the other two for flood.

Unfortunately nothing like that exists stock. Only option for that is to get something custom.

Illumn is in California, and lists store hours on their site.

Thanks again for all the tips guys. I just paid $35 for a Sofirn IF25 in “very good” condition delivered tomorrow from amazon. Pretty lucky find, I didn’t know this light existed and it ticks most of the boxes for what I was looking for in an $80 custom light. Dual channel warm high cri + higher output/throw, waterproof, light up button, it even has usb c charging and takes a 21700 cell which is a plus. I will need to retrofit a magnet to the tail cap and find a pocket clip for it.

Now I just need to source some Osram W1 emitters and I will be a very happy camper. Does anybody know a good source with fast ship time/have any lying around?

Side note, I’m looking at Wurkkos and man, they have some really cool dive lights.

Congratulations on your choice!

IF25 is a great light. It has one of the best interfaces available of the variable tint lights. Much better than the Lumintop FW4X. I have an IF25 and quite like it.

Some observations on the IF25:

  • Personally, I find the IF25 too large for pants pocket EDC. But it is a nice size for jacket pocket use. And with the right clip, you could clip it to a belt if you are going on a night hike.
  • The UI is very well done. The ramping interface for variable tint is elegant and simple. Sofirn also did not sacrifice the rest of the interface in order to fit in ramping.
  • The driver is set to keep output fairly similar regardless of tint. It will not go “balls to the walls” with a FET like some other lights. As a result, the maximum brightness of an Emisar D4 or FW3A is much higher. But the Sofirn can sustain its lower brightness for longer.
  • The IF25 has USB-C with a well-made and secure charging port cover. Unfortunately, like most lights with internal USB-C chargers, it is only USB-A to USB-C. The true USB-C cords that came with my ipad and Samsung phone do not work with it.
  • No clip, but I found a random clip in my clip box that fits.

Regarding replacing some of the emitters with Oslon White 1 or White 2 emitters:

  • If instead of dimming, you want one channel to be for throw and the other for flood, you could swap the 2 cool white emitters for Oslon emitters.
  • However, the remaining flood beam will be at 3,000K. If that’s too warm for you, remove one of the warm white emitters and replace it with one of the cool white emitters. The result should be around 4700-5000K flood.
  • Note that the SST-20 is already one of throwier emitters out there. You should get noticeably more throw swapping 2 of them to Oslon White 1, but the light will still never be a thrower… the TIR reflectors are too tiny.

Reflow Difficulty

  • Be warned that the Oslon White 1 and 2 emitters have a 3030 footprint (3 x 3 mm), while the SST-20s that come with the IF25 have the more common 3535 footprint (3.5 x 3.5 mm).
  • It is possible to fit Olson emitters onto the slightly too large 3535 pads on the star. However, the reflow may be difficult. The LED may tend to jump to one side or the other rather than sitting in the center. Expect to need some trial and error to get it right.

After reflow and before installing the star, I recommend the following:

  • Use a DMM and check the positive and negative terminals for shorts to ground.
  • Use a magnifying glass to carefully inspect all solder joints under the LEDs (an aspheric lens from a cheap zoomie flashlight works great for this).
  • Use a battery carrier with some wires and a low-power li-ion cell inside to check that each channel works before reinstalling the star. (Note: this will only work if the IF25’s star is wired in parallel. I haven’t checked that it is, but most multi-emitter lights are).

Wow that was really helpful, thanks Firelight. I just ordered 4 Osram W2 emitters from digikey, should get in Sunday or Monday, crossing my fingers. Soldering shouldn’t be much of an issue, i’ve had a fair amount of experience with this. When I was looking for a source, I was wondering if the larger 4040 osram emitters would fit under the optic….

Thats a bummer to hear about the usb-c, perhaps I could manually bridge the appropriate leads to get it working properly, we will see if they are present. What sort of water sealing is used for the usb port? I will be using the light for underwater use and want to be sure the light can actually be submerged like it claims, without risking water ingress right at the driver and charging circuits.

I’m a bit concerned by what you said about the output. Turbo output definitely isn’t my priority, but I do want a sustainable high output. Does the sustainable high output for like 10 min compare to that of the D4?

When I need to use a charger that only has USB-C ports to charge a light with a USB-C charging port that requires a USB-A to USB-C cable, I use the following USB-C to USB-A adapter (and anything similar from other manufacturers will probably also work):

https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Adapter-Converts-Technology-Compatible/dp/B01COOQIKU/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Anker+USB-C+to+USB+3.1+Adapter%2C+Converts+USB-C+Female+into+USB-A+Female&qid=1604788780&sr=8-1

Note: To work properly and charge the light, the adapter's USB-C connector needs to be plugged into the USB-C port of the charger and the USB-C connector on the USB-A to USB-C cable needs to be plugged into the light being charged. It will not work the other way around as the light will not charge if the cable connections are reversed.

Larger emitters with flat domes, like the Oslon Boost HX, will have no trouble fitting under the optic. However, those emitters probably won’t fit on the stock 3535 star. You may need to retrofit pieces of an appropriate star in order to get it to work.

The IF25 uses a rubber press-fit port cover. You pop the cover out to expose the socket. The cover dangles from a bit of rubber.

This is how USB-C ports are handled in most rechargeable lights. The IF25’s rubber cover is quite thick and solid and it fits tightly in its socket. It should be waterproof, but I do not know how well it will stand up to underwater use. The IF25 isn’t a dive light.

I haven’t tested it myself. However, I expect the sustainable high on the IF25 is probably higher than a D4 using the same type of emitters (SST-20). This is because the IF25 is larger than the D4, so there is more mass for heatsinking.

  • The D4 outputs thousands of lumens, but it very rapidly ramps down within a minute. Sustained output is at best 500 lumens even for the XPL HI version.
  • However, The IF25’s sustainable output will be considerably lower than the similarly sized Zebralight SC700d, which can sustain approximately 900 lumens for 2 hours.

Add’s claiming that a watch is waterproof to 100m don’t make it a dive-watch. It means that you can leave in on when you are under the shower. Same goes for flashlights. The claims of it being waterproof to 2m means that the chance your light will survive after you drop it accidentally in a puddle are quite good.

If you want to use a light under water, buy yourself a dive light. Using means moving around. The pressure on the seals etc from moving around something under water are NOT the same as the pressure on a light when you accidentally drop it in a puddle. As for a rechargeable light with a rubber flap: you can totally forget that!!
If someone gave me a light with such a flap, I would glue that flap permanently to the body. If I wanted to use that light in the rain.

I am aware it is not a dive light. Most lights advertised as being submersible at 2m for 30 minutes are more than capable of being used as shallow swimming swimming lights to about 3m. I would have assumed that a product claiming to be submersible would not have a hole in the unit letting water directly into the circuits, but unfortunately I was wrong. I had a rechargeable armytek elf which was advertised as being waterproof to the same standard, and it’s port was covered AND waterproof, sealed to the head of the flashlight. I will likely epoxy this port in the same way, although that might make it difficult/impossible to take apart.

I don’t need a dive light, I need a versatile edc light with good color that is submersible. I think this light will do the trick after some modification.

If you’re going to be camping a lot, you should look into the Sofirn LT1 lantern. Might be useful. It’s more expensive on Amazon than on Aliexpress of Sofirn’s site, but you could get it fast.

I just got the light! Got to say, I am quite impressed, but I think I will try flashing anduril for more configuration. I also did not expect the optic to be so throwy, so I put in an order for a couple frosted carclo optics from led supply. Almost certainly wont come in in time, but they said they’d ship same day first class, so if it’s coming from a western state maybe it will.

I will say I’m actually quite optimistic about the waterproofness of this light. The port cover is beefy and seems to seal really well, as bout as well as any press fit rubber gasket can. I will stuff the port with cotton and do a submersion test before I try pushing it.

Glad you like it allanrps.

If you are aiming for one channel to be floody and the other throwy, one option is to diffuse half of the TIR. Either by sanding the top of the optic over 2 of the emitters or by applying diffusion film.

Awesome idea firelight. Looks like I will be doing that as LED supply still hasn’t shipped my order. My Osram emitters are set for delivery today along with the flash kit, I’ll post beam pics once everything is set up.