Review: BTU Shocker (3 x XM-L T6 NW | 3 x 18650)

Well, at least Greta would likely mop the floor with little sweet thing. Heck, she might be able to even kick my butt! So I’m ok with this comparison :slight_smile:

Very cool! So did he admit defeat? Anyway I’m glad to so your BTU held its on in the light-off. So are are you cool with the BTU now?

rdrfronty will take your BTU if you are not happy with it. :wink:

He admited defeat but during the day he was whining that it wsnt dark enough or his battery wasnt charged enough etc :slight_smile:
and yes im cool with my btu . its a showoff light for sure :wink:
u keep your paws off my btu fronty 8)

  • i replaced all the springs on the battery carrier with thicker ones
    the original ones are not holding the battery tightly .just pull them outwaards and you will realise how soft and squishy they are

Nice mod. I’ll be sure to keep that in mind if mine give me any issues.

NEW UPDATE Tk 75 vers BTU SHOCKER
so we decided to go out to a darker place and test it out again today Over a large field instead of a parking lot …Tk 75 battery was also changed to the fenix 18650 and the fenix turbo seems to have become bit brighter!!
we tried at long distence and close up shots
both seems to have similar output
with the btu SLIGHTLY OUTDOING the tk75 in throw .
SO ITS MORE Of WIN BY DECISION FOR THE BTU NOW!!

Actually after owning SR95S UT that have 250kcd that have very obvious better throw than TK70, I can tell you her advantage diminish after 200m as we can’t see that far. Although those within 100m will be brighter because of better throw, but TK70 throw is already bright enough and flood better. So for a 1000m vs 600m thrower I have, the realistic practical gain is only maybe 100m from distance 100m to 200m.
And BTU vs TK75, the practical gain in throw is even less. For quality in UI and material, TK75 is the one to get. For modding purpose, BTU is the one to get. For newbie like your colleague, TK75 is right choice. And you are right to get BTU since you can do modding on it.

yes true . i ordered the dry driver
im weighing my options wheather to change driver or not 8)

I get my TBU Shocker today… by DHL
Thanks for the nice and objective review. Your pictures told thousend of words.
The choice is up to you…
Firstly I would like to buy the Xtar S1 or the Fenix TK75…. after read your review…. I changed my mind….
Now I like the TBU Shocker: big, heavy and solid quality! I can’t wait for longer… DHL… where are you now!

I ordered the DRY driver after received the TBU after 4 business day.
When receive the DRY driver, I’ll change it… for more light!

I thought someone already tried DRY driver in BTU, it is not improving much.

YUP .I changed mine few days ago . not much improvement. same output . changed back to the digital driver now .it drives at 3.8 amps and the dry is at 4 amps??? .. have a good soldering iron ready if you do change. its a bit of a chalenge to change the driver .you can end up screwing up the good digital driver. the dry driver is cheap. THE ONLY THINK I LIKE ABOUT THE BTU NOW AFTER USING IT FOR A FEW WEEKS IS ....THAT I CAN UPGRADE IT OR REPAIR IT EASILY...NOTHING ELSE. THATS IT . I RECOMMEND A TK75 IF YOU ARE A NEUBIE .

All I can say to that is no other LED light on the market offers the combo of throw and power of the BTU U2. Simply put, if this light doesn’t impress you, there is nothing out there that will.



Sucks that I have the NW version because it doesn't impress me.

In turbo the DRY driver runs in direct drive, so the amperage totally depends on the quality of the batteries. If you used IMR, you could probably get 6+ amps to each LED and possibly blow the thing up if you wanted.

Just curious, but could you elaborate?



It's huge so when you pick it up you think holy cow this thing is going to be like an HID but it isn't. It's a cool conversation piece but the TN31 beats it for throw and the TN30 spanks it for flood, and by the looks of it the TK75 beats it overall. I need to do some further testing in an open area against my other lights to give it a far comparison though.

For the size of this light and the three c8-sized reflectors it should blow my socks off. It might be because I have the NW version?

Even though there’s no point arguing opinions I just want to say that even though a TN30 will beat it for flood and a TN31 will beat it for throw, what if you want both the throw AND the flood? We don’t have any side-by-side comparisons of the CW and NW together, so we can’t be 100% certain you would be impressed by the CW. I’m using the Shocker daily for my needs and I can say that it does meet my illuminations requirements (and surpasses them by a lot), but I do agree it is too big. I’m getting a bit bored of it now, and want to get an insane single emitter thrower now.

Bottomline: It’s not a light for everyone due to the size, weight and output, but it beats carrying both a dedicated flooder and thrower since it combines them into one.



That's what I meant by "overall" for the TK75. I have no doubts the TK75 is a much better light than the Shocker. I just can't justify spending that much on a flashlight that doesn't have XM-L2 emitters right now.

Please dont get me wrong ...The BTU is an IMPRESSIVE thrower/flooder light !we all agree with that but the overall thinking we have is when holding it in our hands ,,the sheer size and weight gives the impression that this thing will shock and awe but it dsnt ...Iv held the tk75 in one hand and held the btu in the other hand a and the tk75 is very light weight compared to the btu ,and yet gives it a serious competetion!!! The good news is that when a 1500 lumens led does come out(it will be easy to upgrade while the tk75 will not be) il updgrade this thing and once it gives 4000 lumens and throws 900 meters il say then only will it justify the weight and size of this thing .

@ slewfish -I use 3 keep power 3400mah on my BTU.so battery isnt a factor.There probably was a increase .i have no measurement tools. but to the naked eye there was no diffrence when i compared it to the tk75 when using the DRY driver, which was disappointing . The original digital driver performs flowlessly.

A cool white BTU is pretty much dead even in throw with a TN31. Personal tests on mine and my brothers lights show this. This is what I have recently gotten -
Brothers TN31 - 126k
My TN31 - 122k
My BTU - 125k
All tested under the same conditions at the same time. All 3 lights running Keeppower 3400’s. The BTU’s throw is sometimes misleading because it lights up so much crap in the air that it is harder to visual detect stuff way down field like some dedicated throwers. But I have also verified its throw with true measured distances and a meter. The BTU will truly throw 700m.
And I’m truly glad this light isn’t like an HID. If it was, I wouldn’t want it. I also must add this light will easily out throw and out power my Ryobi 35wt HID. And it spanks it with the instant on that only LED’s offer.
And I don’t doubt the TN30 might have more flood than the BTU. However one should note that even the new XM-L2 TN30 only throws 440m - WAY short of the 700m the BTU does. TN30 is much closer to a king in throw than a BTU. Basically these lights have different intended purposes.
Now a TK75 is worthy contender. Output is about the same, but even falls about 100m short in throw.
The BTU is a thrower first in foremost. It just happens to put out a ton of light doing it.
But yes the light is pretty big and heavy. I personally like that. Besides its considerably smaller than my SR90.
But I honestly admit its not too practical for everyday flashlight duty. But I also don’t think a 3000 lumen, 700m throwing light was ever intended for everyday use.
But all this aside I know this light isn’t for everybody. It just stumps me when people say the light doen’t impress them. I’m just curious what would it take to do that exactly?