Buying the real thing

Hi All,

Thanks for the great forum,

This is my first post so a little about my flashlight quest (torch here in Australia)

I always thought I had decent lights compared to everyone else I knew, I’ve had an AA mini mag for 20 years, solitaire, 1x3D mag converted to LED with drop in and 3x4D maglites that came with LED drop in. Last year bought the XL100 as a gift for someone and was very impressed with it.

I recently became interested in finding decent bike lights, they generally seemed overpriced for what they are and that led me to the idea of finding a bike mount for an XL200 or similar and if that would even work. Or an LED update for my AA Mini mag. That has led me down the rabbit hole looking at places for everything I can and learning so much about lumens, firearm mounts, crenelated bezels, XM-L CREE, rechargers, batteries and a host of things inbetween.

I think I have decided on what I want to buy but a lot of my reading tells me there are knock offs of knock offs, fakes, imposters, good deals with mystery points and bad deals and I’m not sure what’s what in ordering from what appear to mainly hong kong sites that have reasonable shipping down under.

So; I thought I’d post what I’m thinking of buying and asking where I can buy them at a good price but be assured that what I’m getting is actually what I’ve decided on from the forum reviews, also any tips on getting the most ie DD points / coupons etc out of my order would be appreciated

Tank007 E09 v3 (Looking for a key chain light - what the solitaire was supposed to acheive) that can take both AAA and li-on

Romisen RC-29 or Sipik 68; Something for my pocket / bag to have with me all the time and potentially to mount on a helmet if needed, I like the look of the romisen better but like the idea of using AA if lion is flat or unavailable leads me sipik

Solarforce L2P or L2M - looking for a p60 host for handlebars with some flood, like the p’s looks and HAIII better but the M seems to be available cheaper

XM-L p60 Drop In - Not sure which to get like the look of the Manafont one to try something truly powerful

C8 variant - looking for another handle bar mounted light with some throw this time, not sure if need dropin, want something reasonably cheap but different

i4 Intellicharger v2 - unsure if this needs aussie plugs but like the idea of lion and nicad nimh all in one

Batteries for each - Was thinking the sanyo protected (marsfire) from buy in coins but read they may be dodgy

I was also thinking of getting the PBSF knockoff at DX and the twofish DX knockoff mounts

Well looking forward to your opinions

Dealextreme was good when I ordered twice last year, got my stuff in 3 or 4 weeks. But apparently it now takes up to two months to get stuff. So if you can find another place for the twofish mounts that’d probably be best. I actually use my sipik on my bike once in a while. I have no mount, so my hand gets tired, but it’s fine for 15 minute rides in subdivisions and paved bike paths where I know the route and just use the light to look for sticks and so cars see me. I actually find I use the sipik the most just because it’s so small and has a pocket clip.

Thanks for the feedback, 2 months is rather a long wait, may have to brave ebay for those items

Customer service is actually better on reputable ebay sellers than alot of those chinese sites, due to the fact that their reputation is stated to everyone.

I have a long history with buying things on ebay (500+ items) and have not had that many problems and normally have got a refund with dodgy chinese stuff - I had just assumed to stay away from ebay as there are similar posts about unknown clones and knock off batteries and they seem slightly more expensive than other sites mentinoed; if they are more reliable and faster however then I’ll give it another look - any reliable sellers for the things i’m looking for?

Tell you the truth, I really don’t know any reputable sellers, but for things like the sipik, there’s a guide to tell if it’d real or not. And the clones tend to be just rebranded or better. I wish another person who bought more things from ebay would come here.

Hi fields, welcome mate.

Beware of any TrustFire/UltraFire battery cells. I have a few of the blue UltraFires I bought with lights when I first started, they are ok but inconsistent capacity. Not recommended in multi cell lights. But hey, when you get a charger and two cells for well under ten bucks with a torch who complains? :slight_smile: All the cheap chargers have actually worked ok. I keep an eye on them and remove the cells when the light goes green. Voltages have all been spot on.

Still, I could have saved by waiting and buying better quality cells and charger, which I ended up doing anyway.

The orange Keygos 26650 4800mAh are ok, I have 8 or so. Probably not the rated capacity, but they are much,much better than the blue UltraFire 18650’s. All bought from Keygos or one of the other three sellers listed below. I have quite a few Keygos branded lights from these guys and all have been good quality, no complaints so far.

I can recommend the Keygos KE-5 and M10 for bike lights. The M10 takes 26650 cells and will give better runtime. Both are nice quality and very bright lights for the size.

There are many reputable ebay sellers. I always try to buy from the ones with a lot of feedback and greater than 99% positive. Not gone wrong so far. I had one light fail after a week, and the seller refunded my money and let me keep the light, no problems. (that was hit time_hk BIC)

I can recommend ebay sellers Keygos = Cyberport888 = redlog = go_market (these are all the same merchant) lifebike (some clones) topofking = vikicompany = (UltraOK), antiquechina2009 (TomTop), hittime_hk (Buy In Coins) for torches

I’m about to order some protected Sanyo 18650’s from BIC. I have not heard of fake Sanyos yet, and am confident BIC will refund if there is a problem.

digital_freaks have some nice knives.

Delivery times have been 2-3 weeks on average, with a couple of things going past 4. Always got what I ordered.

I have also bought from T-Mart, Dino Direct, Light Malls, maybe a couple of others with no problems. YMMV, other have had some problems but being a member here should help sort out any issues. Most of those dealers have agents here.

Good luck, enjoy your new hobby, and most of all, have fun! :slight_smile:

By the way, don’t be overly worried about clones, I have bought quite a few on purpose, and they generally have been very decent lights, with some minor differences from the originals but way cheaper. Battery cells, and maybe chargers, are different matter. Yes, there are clone chargers around too.

Generally though, it’s worth the extra for original quality lights. I don’t mind at all paying extra for good quality. Both have their place.

I found myself mostly nodding in agreement all the way down.

With respect to batteries, there was a thread recently about BIC batteries being crap. I’ve bought from AW, Xtar directly and hkequipment.net. I have tried to stick with name brands in the hope that I don’t get done like this: Ultrafire fakes, opened up and refunded ! (see post #39 especially for a laugh/cry).

If you’re riding off road, you might consider a helmet-mounted light. The folks over in the MTBR.com diy lights forum are super helpful.

Welcome to the nuthouse!

Hi and welcome from QLD

Pretzy’s on the ball.

Batteries from an Aussie seller on ebay - I’ve bought a bunch of protected 3100mAh 18650s and a charger from this guy : http://stores.ebay.com.au/supersports600

  • quick delivery and appears to be an excellent quality product. ( better than my xxxxfire cells ).

Also got a good Ultrafire C8 from this guy : Security measure
but the int-outdoor.com sourced XinTD V3 C8 with C3 emitter is way better because of the tint, and as good as they get imho. (without modding) Reasonable delivery time from memory.

I’ve also bought stuff from manafont and have had no problems, and even the ebay HK C8 clones with XM-Ls are OK for around $10-$15. Just make sure there’s a picture of the LED in the listing and the store doesn’t sell mostly crap. I got a Q5 instead of a T6 once.
They’re easy to distinguish - the XM-L T6 has two metal corners : LED close-ups.

Anyway have fun and watch your wallet !

Thanks for the heads-up Suncoaster. I’m in need of batts and this seems a good bet, as I’m in Brisbane.

Fields, I’m about to get a couple of UF2100’s to try on the bike. Have been using 2 Ultrafire C3’s with 14500 batts on the road bike for a couple of years. Bit of foam and an o-ring to clamp on bars.
Now I want something brighter for the cagers of Brisbane and the 2100’s aren’t much bigger than the C3’s

UF2100 is a well made light ! I would have Erik also known as E1320 put 2 new pills E-Tomic 7135 3.5 amp and you will have around 1800 lumens in front of your bike !

If you are after a cheap P60 drop in try ali express. You can get xml U2 1a 3 mode drop ins for $10- $11. H M Slow strobe. They draw over 3A on high.

Wow,

You go away for a few hours and there is a lot to read,

I’m in Brisbane everyone too, nice to know there are BLFers everywhere,

I ride a roadie, mostly on a trainer but are getting out more and more and for longer and longer and don’t like some roads with no light and also being less than visible to motorists

OK so the gist is that if it looks ok then go for it in terms of torches and then make sure I get what I paid for

I like the look of the international outdoors c8, that site previously would not open for me

Would you guys recommend buying as much from one store or from multiple?

What’s the best place to buy solar force from?

I did not know that E120 sent overseas, I guess I’ll have to PM Him

Does anyone have a link to the aliexpress drop in?

Batteries and chargers will be my next challenge, balancing budgets vs quality vs safety

Thanks for the advice everyone

3 mode drop in

Cheers

Suncoaster, Do you mean you like the T6 emitter tint more-so than the U2? These are the 2 options they give.

Has anyone else ordered from this seller?

Yes
The Neutral White 3C T6 gives a warmer tint, and gives a daylight or natural look to outdoors at night.
It’s very different from Cool White.

I’m not sure if it’s available in the U2 yet.
You apparently sacrifice a bit of output for the nicer tint though.

There are plenty of previous threads about the torch vendor and the tint, which are what persuaded me to buy one.
Torch:

Tints:

Vendor:

Do yourself a favor and buy the Jacob A60 from Deal Xtreme. The Small Sun C10 is another winner for the price. $15 for either of these lights shipped is hard to beat for the money for what you get.

And welcome.

What would you get these in place of?