Unbranded (SkyRay 856) 2*26650 3*XM-L light

Hi there, TJ :slight_smile: I’ve had my eye on the Skyray 856 for some time now, but just couldn’t commit (having no reviews to go by). Just like you, for $33.80 I’m willing to give it a shot :wink:
Wish me luck ! (I just ordered one 0:) )

tj - Good to see here. Doing good work.

That looks like a really sweet deal, nice!

Just took it for a spin out in the yard…

I don’t have any beamshots to share (not yet, at least), but I will say that the light doesn’t disappoint, and it definitely has a worthy place in my collection.

I don’t want it to sound like I’m making exceptions for this light just because of its cost, so I need to qualify that statement. My collection mainly favors throw over flood. Until recently, for a floody light to stay in my collection, it had to have huge wow-factor. With the exception of this and the FF 3900, the only floody lights that I do have in my collection are home-built, multi-emitter, super lights. They are hot-rods that either have squat for runtime on high, or are much larger and heavier than this and still don’t have nearly the same runtime on high. In other words, prior to the additions of this and the FF 3900, my only flooders were enthusiast-elite lights, completely impractical to all non-flashaholics, and probably to most flashaholics as well.
In fact, the closest thing I had to a light in the flood category that even pretended to strike a balance between size output and runtime, was the impractically expensive to build and feed, triple SST-50, 3*AWIMR26500, 2D Mag-mod that I mentioned earlier. The cells in that light alone cost more than this whole bundle, and still only provide maximum regulated output on high for less than 30 minutes. It would not be fair to compare it to this light or the FF 3900 for any purpose (but I have anyway). In short, it would be difficult for the output of a budget flooder to impress me at all.

All that said, having just used all my flooders one-by-one in the yard, I’m left with the following impressions:

  • All my home-brew flooders are completely insane, but they make me smile. They are, in my mind, truly collector’s items.
  • The intensity of the center spot of this light and the FF 3900 compare favorably to that of my triple SST-50 homebrew, but the homebrew easily overpowers them with a larger spot and flood that has more intensity and volume
  • The introduction of the FF 3900 to my flood collection, cost-aside, made that triple SST-50 light which was formerly my most practically balanced flooder, seem completely impractical, when considering size, weight, output and runtime.
  • Compared to the FF 3900 which weighs in at 475g with LiFe cells, this new 2*26650 3*XM-L light which weighs in at a comparable 555g with IMR26650 cells, provides a spot that is equal in size and intensity to that of the FF 3900 and flood that is slightly less powerful, but at 2/3 the current draw of the FF 3900.
  • Factoring in the comparable size and weight, the comparable output, and the vastly greater runtime provided by larger cell capacity and lower current draw, this light makes the FF 3900 seem impractical. Oh, I almost forgot, it’s cosmetically better and it cost less too.

If you’re looking for the most powerful flooder out there and can afford a triple digit price tag, then you can dismiss this light. If budget flooders are your thing, odds are you don’t already have one like this. If you’re in the market for a budget flooder that checks all the boxes, then this is the one to get.

Very cool! Good for you.

TJ,

Nice write up and thank you for the details of how this torch stacks up to your insane home brewed mega torches. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I’m sure beamshots would have told the whole story alone, but you did and excellent job describing how it compares to your collection, both in total output, throw, and shear practicality.

I scrolled through most of what Ali express is currently offering, and this light seems to be one of the best (if not THE best) deals in terms of bang for the buck. I’ve been holding out for a triple XML torch with pleasing design, good heat sinking, 26650 powered, and budget priced. This one satisfies all of those.

Went to order this light and they are now charging $6.32 shipping! Total is $40.12, which is still good, but it kills me that I didn’t jump on this right away.

Yeah… I hadn’t played with my homemade flooders in a while and after having done that, I got kinda carried away writing about them. The crux of what I meant to say was comparing those to the FandyFire 3900 made their designs seem completely impractical and then only a month or two later, comparing this light to the FF3900 made the FF3900 seem completely impractical.

Sorry to hear about the shipping charge. I guess now that the seller is on his way (with a whopping four sold) we’ll see an up-tick in pricing. Still an awesome deal though.

Yes, it still is a great price even with shipping since it lists at DX for $50.

It just kills me that I could have saved $6 had I ordered sooner. That’s like 2 gallons of gas!!

EDIT: Just place the order. Now the long wait…

Hill

I mentioned this above, but it’s worth repeating. If you prefer an unbranded light like mine, you have to ask for “no logo” in the special instructions/comments section, or you’ll get one like in the pictures. The UniqueFire logo isn’t so bad, but in the pics, it was way too large and ran off the flat part meant for that sort of thing. I also thought the “caution extremely hot” looked silly on the bezel, but that’s just me.

Thanks, did not realize that. I already order, but will send them a message.

You sold me… just ordered one… I’ll probably forget by the time it gets here…

Hi Folks,
This light looks (and sounds) very good to me. It’s too bad that they added the shipping cost. Anyway, the sellers are very, very small and one of the two links takes you to one of their two sites where they say they’re open to quantity buys and drop-shipping. By the way, the price they list for only 10 lights nets you down (including the newly added shipping cost) to slightly less than the $33.80 that the first few buyers were able to “steal” this light for. Anyway, I’m hoping to find at least 5, maybe 10 or more people who would like to take a chance on this beautiful light. WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Regards, KumaBear

P.S. The batteries and charger are also included. The blue batteries are questionable (although similar ones have worked our well as spares for me) and the charger does look exactly like a couple I’ve received in packages - both of which are spot-on in charging voltage - so the charger may be good for a gift, or whatever.

Count me in

-S

I spoke with Janny Wen and mentioned I wanted one of these but wasn’t happy about the sudden shipping charge. I got the impression she was going to give a better deal depending on how many I wanted. If a GB is going to get started, I’m in on it. As long as the retailer ships them individually to each person and not as one big lot to the forum organizer.

I never bought anything from this website (although I would want to) because cheapest shipping for my country is EMS, so its pretty expensive…

I will be in on a GB at the $33 price shipped, or if they have done away with the shipping charge!

Most likely it has already been mentioned, but they don’t list 26650 in the ad. They do show the 18650 in an adapter. Why no mention of 26650?

Forgive me in advance for being slow!! :wink:

I don’t know why they don’t mention it uses 2x26650’s, but I can tell you it does.

Thanks Richie, I will be watching to see if the GB goes through, and/or they take the price back to the $33 and free shipping…

Well, I got the song and dance that it was out of stock so I said F it and cancelled the order. I’ve had it with nonsense, just don’t have any patience.

Rich