I’ve the Sofirn Q8 Pro earlier this year… However I think that’s not what I’m looking for…
It’s bright no doubt but gets hot really fast… And doesn’t throw as well as I’d hoped for…
Was looking at the SBT90.2 lights but somehow seems the SFT40 ones are not the bad with a good combination of flood and throw…
Previously before the L8 was out, I found the L7 form factor too long for night walks with my boys and not easy to store…
The L8 seems to mitigate these…
Then I chanced upon reviews of the L21a with SFT40… And the beamshots looked impressive for the size…
And that reminded me about the 3x21a with SFT40… Lol…
Headache headache headache…
I don’t have the 3x21a, but I do have a 4x18a, and it is a chonky boy, even for a soda can light. If you are considering this for evening walks, that is definitely something to consider. I haven’t handled an L21a, but it seems more reasonably sized for your uses.
The L8 looks like an amazing light as well. If you don’t need regulated output and want a ton of WOW factor, it might be a good choice. I avoided it because it lacks regulation in any of the lower mode. It also uses a 26800 cell, which is a bit of an oddball size and not something I already have or am confident will still be around in a few years.
If you do decide to go any of these routes, I suggest you read up on the quirks of the Convoy e-switch UI. Convoy lights are amazing value for the money, but the UI is far from perfect, and some find it’s quirks to be deal breakers. Tactical_grizzly has written about it quite comprehensively, I would suggest reading what he has posted in the subject.
Just order a L8 and a S21a with 519a emitter… Lol …
Never-ending story… Lol…
The L8 and S21A finally arrived!
The head of the L8 is HUGE… lol… but it’s exactly what I had been looking for!
Feels good holding in the hand even with the huge head, and the beam profile is just perfect for night walk to shine further away or into drains to look for small fish. I doubt I will be using the Sofirn Q8 Pro much going forward, it’s supposedly much brighter but the beam profile just doesn’t fit my purpose… even though the L8 is a longer light, it feels better holding in my hand as compared to the chunky Q8 Pro. On hindsight, I should’ve gone for a SBT90.2 light in the first place… finally clear to me that I am for throwers… lol…
As for the S21A, although the size is bigger than the EDC type of light I am using with AAA batteries, the beam profile is great too and now I finally get it about high CRI versus low CRI LEDs when viewing the surroundings. Colours of everything just seems to pop… very nice… Just that it’s a little big and i have to find a way to hook it to my waist pouch permanently…
I’m a happy man and while I would like to say my collection is finally complete… we all know it will never end … 