Review: Black Shadow Terminator 4*U3/4*18650

Thanks Johnny, had my eye on this one for a while.
Outside beamshots would be nice. :wink:

Very nice review! I like the number of pictures, you can really imagine how the flashlight looks in reality. Too bad it is a little bit above my price range . . .

Can you say how many Amps in draws in the different modes?

Wow.
Nice review. Thanks !
Good quality photos.

What’s the story with the stitches in your finger ?

Is it safe to use unprotected cells in this type of light?

Thanks for the great review. BS Terminator really set a new standard for multi-emitter flashlights. I think she will be very competitive winner product. Now she just need more marketting.

My only minor minor cons for her are as below:
1.No memory. Though it has only 3 level to cycle through so not really an issue.
2.Button switch occasionally miss my click, It need a firm click to properly switch. But only happens maybe 1 out of 10 click, and possibly my fault.
3.No real firefly mode, I wish there is one maybe 3 Lumens mode. Will be more useful than the strobe mode.

Excellent review! I love this light.

I’m a little bummed that I got the U2 version. Evidently no one knew it would go to U3s so soon.

That said, it’s still a great light.

Brillant thank you.

Also explains why there have been such large variances between outputs users have been arguing about.

I’ll be more than happy to get this one- will just have to wait until a vendor is only selling the updated version.

I can’t say for sure about the tail amps. I can’t figure out how to get a measurement with the way the tail is. I tried a few ways but none would work. Now that I have my IS I generally don’t care about tail readings since the OTF lumens are what you see in the end. I still try to get tail amp readings but this one had me stumped. :~

I’m going to try and outdoor shots eventually but where I am (city dweller) it’s tough. Rezolution and I are working on getting together for a large beamshot photo session near his place. It will have to wait until we get to it.

Thanks for the kind words. As for the stiches, let’s just say I should be more careful when putting an edge on Gurkha Kuhkris. Either that or get files with handles. :bigsmile:

Johnny,great review thanks for taking the time to do this.I have to say that I'm astounded by the build quality of the guts and driver.It seriously puts alot of the"big boys" to shame.U3 version of this has me very interested,I just hope they don't convert to xml2 after I get it.

Dengoh, I find the amount of light coming out of the switch to be almost too much. In my bedroom with no lights but the green glow of the switch in standby, my entire room is lit up and it’s almost too bright to sleep with. I do agree that a 3 lumen moon mode would be a nice addition as low mode on this light is a little too high at almost 500 lumens. Definitely an outdoor light unless you are tailstanding in an outage.

As long as you use a matched set of quality cells (I use unprotected Panasonics a whole bunch) and monitor the voltage to make sure it doesn’t get too low you should be just fine. The light will let you know when you hit 2.75v by the power light turning red and flashing but I’m not comfortable letting them get that low.

Ok, thanks for the info :slight_smile:

Thanks JohnnyMac for the very comprehensive review.

It is safe to discharged to this level. I have two times seeing the red LED flashing even after I switch off the light, then I took the batteries out, both times measured 3V on my batteries. I guess under load, it will be below 2.75V. When I put the depleted batteries back, it will be green LED. If she has something like EA4 that can measure batteries voltage, she will be perfect perfect. She is already perfect with this low voltage warning feature as on par with many other new flashlights with low voltage protection.

Again, no matter how good or safe 18650 flashlights are, everyone should have at least one good multimeter if want to use 18650 batteries, I have two and put them in different houses. And treat batteries with respect and don’t abuse it.

Ok, very interested, so I would definitely want the U3 or XML2 version, how would I go about ensuring that I got the latest, greatest, finalized version?

Johnny, this is the best review I've read in a long time. You rock bud!

Thank you, good sir! A very Happy New Year to you! May your bottle of champagne be treating you as well as mine is me. :beer: :face_with_monocle:

I just got home from a neighbors house. I'm wasted!.. Happy New Year to you my friend!