In order to get gifts from China in time for the holidays, I want to get my orders in early. The wife and I spent an hour in a nearby park testing this light against against that light, and the Ke5 always came up as one of the best budget light bargains. It’s just such a SUPER light for a comparatively low price. So I want to get some as gifts for my flashlight-addicited friends, all of whom I started down the wild and wolly path of flashlight addiction.
BUT I see that some BLFers have received a few bone Ke5s here and there. Who had bad or good experiences with which vendor?
Maybe we’ll end up with a good list here of preferred and “avoid” Ke5 vendors to help others when buying this great light. Or is it just luck of the draw, and doesn’t matter where I buy them? Anybody have good experiences or bad experiences with a particular vendor?
What do you think? Should I spread my purchases between a few good vendors and hope for the best? I’d hate to end up with five bad Ke5s from Manafont, for example, where returning anything to those cheap *&8&8%$% involves more negotiations than a cold-war nuclear-arms-reduction talk between the U.S. and Russia.
I could go with the more consistent M10 or an A0 clone or a trustfire F15, but the Ke5 really has it all.
I’m posting this because some BLFers have got bone ke5s from various vendors. This is too bad because the ke-5 is one of the brightest budget light bargains going — IMHO. The thing amazes me every time I hit that clicky. man , is it bright!
Just got my second of two orders from keygos.com (10 days from date of order) for the ke5 and both seem perfect in condition and brightness, comparing them to my original ke-5 purchased in the spring from keygos.com. Tailcap readings are all 4.5+ (probably would be higher except for my el cheapo Chinese DMM). However, one ke5 will not change modes when the tailcap voltage is tested with a DMM. It changes modes just fine normally with the clicky.
I’m not concerned about this as I have several other lights that do this, most notably my hd2010. Or should I be concerned? Anyone know if this is indicative of problems to come?
I was going to try another vendor, but where I’m 100% with keygos.com, why fix what ain’t broke? Ordering two more now in two separate orders with 2 different paypal accounts. Lets see if they keep up the good work.
At least I have two for Christmas presents now. Still need to get 4-6 more i’m thinking.
So if you have a better vendor to try, let me know and I may give them a try. If not me, then you will give a fellow BLFer a good chance in acquiring one of these super lights — and not one of the dim clones supposedly kicking around.
It’s luck of the draw, my man, but everyone I’ve gotten has been 3.6 to 4.5 amps—about equaling the performance of the 980L and nearly, the Trustfire/Fandyfire X8. I can relate to everything you share. But I think the “duds” out there are not that common. Yes, a few will be less bright, but not that many. I once thought I had a dud when testing it at work, but upon taking it outside and home, it was about the same as the one I stuck with as my own.
I recently got two more, both driven well (judging by brightness and throw). Clean and scratch-free, they were a bargain. Keygos.com has them the best, I’d say. Just avoid no-name ebay sellers unless you’ve dealt with them before—*_but always, always put in the Paypal notes to test for connectivity, cleanness, and to check for body damage.
_*
Okay, got another two ke-5 flashlights in perfect shape from keygos.com. Since the beginning of October, this is my third sequential order of two ke-5s each time.
I now have 6 total perfect ke-5s ordered since Oct. 10ish.
When two ke-5s would come in, I would order another two. I spread the purchases out since Oct 10ish to check stock consistency. Shipping has been fast (two weeks per order or so); wrapped well (multiple layers of bubble wrap in a padded envelope); and the lights have been close to perfect — bright as all get-out and pulling 4.5+ at the tailcap.
With 6 lights now received over a month, I’m thinking QC has been cleared up.
I could have ordered my lights all at once. (I’m ordering ’em as holiday gifts.) But I ordered the lights this way to test the waters for any BLFers who got spooked when a few bad-apple ke-5s showed up in the summer. So nows your chance I think if you want one. I’m ordering another two tomorrow for a total of 8, and then I’m done.
Well, they’re not ALL gifts, I’m keeping three. I like this light so much, I want a couple backups in case I drop one off a cliff or whatever.
Remember if you get one (or two), the ke-5 doesn’t like some TFFs and other protected chinese 18650s, just like the HD2010. works fine with any unprotected and keepower protected, for example. xtars are also ok.
It pretty much tied with the 980L and small sun Ty08 tonight, but the ss’s spot reached a bit farther.
I just ordered a Keygos M10 from Keygos.com crossing my fingers
Hope it wont take long till it arrives to my forwarding company at Shanghai China. Looking forward to test it out :bigsmile:
They are monsters. I took mine out for Halloween and made the neighborhood mad. lol See the thread I made on it. They demanded I turn it down. Went the whole trip on low at maybe 115 lumens and it was still bright. I’ll never quit using this light, no matter what new stuff I get.
That is correct. In fact, even with my crappy Chinese cheepy DMM, I’m getting 5.12+ on one I tested last night.
They get warm, but if it starts to get too warm, you can switch to the next mode down which isn’t that much dimmer than turbo. But last night I had one on for 15-20 minutes and it never got too hot to hold. Just very warm.
>>>>>I just ordered a Keygos M10 from Keygos.com crossing my fingers
They’re great lights, just not very bright. At least mine isn’t.
I have a U3 and a new driver on the way to mod mine. But I can’t get the pill out no matter what I do, so I hope I can reach in through the barrel to seat the emitter and driver.
I don’t understand why they put the super-bright driver/emitter combo in the kinda whimpy no-heatsinking ke-5 body and the not-so-bright combo in the m10. With all the great basically unused heat-sinking in the m10 (it’s too underdriven to get hot), I’d think the ke-5 emiitter/driver combo would have done better in that host. Strange.
>>>>>Went the whole trip on low at maybe 115 lumens and it was still bright.
>>>>>I’ll never quit using this light, no matter what new stuff I get.
We could start the ke-5 admiration society.
Yes, the low is great for walking under normal conditions. Perfect brightness so it doesn’t burn your eyes out … Plus I really like the way the ke-5 does both throw and spill. I love my hd2010, but taking a walk with it? A theoretical possibility but even on low, there’s this eye-searing 1-foot diameter spot 10 feet in front of me, essentially illuminating nothing else. But that’s the trade: super spot = not very much spill.
But the ke-5 has a pretty darn good spot and spill too. Someone really did their homework on this one.
I often wonder why keygos doesn’t use the ke-5 emitter/driver combo on a real thrower like a Jacob deal or small sun zy-T08. It would be KILLER.
Keygos made a pretty good splash with some nice solid lights, and then they just stopped issuing anything new. It has been months since they brought out a new light. Too bad.
