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

Hey DENGOH, the TK75 throws like a little girl compared to the BTU. The BTU is the undisputed throw king of multi-emitter lights. That’s why people buy it, duh. I don’t know what your fascination is with the TK75 having magic xmls that produce more light with lower current.

can anyone with a lux meter ,take readings with lens On and then take reading with the lens off and tell us the diffrence.

I want 3 de-domed xp-g2 in mine.

tecmo is krazeeeeeeeeeeeee

That is completely not true. TK75 is one of the best thrower and flooder in one light. BTU is just copycat of TK75 brother with no new innovation in it. Glad you love your BTU though. No, people are not buying it unless get trapped by all these boasting.

Aha! There’s the issue! The 75 was bought with the expectation it would steam roll the BTU. When it didnt. A case of EBHS ( EXTREME BUTT HURT SYNDROME) developed. Then the evil RDR came in with actual fact ( which were as welcome as a transvestite prostitute in the vatican.) Thus compounding the EBHS… & here we are… LOL

Nope, sorry. BTU throws the best and is just as bright. I feel sorry for people who listen to you and buy an inferior light for more money!

The TK75 is a great thrower and flooder but Dengoh the BTU outthrows it by a 100 yards. This is not just speculation. This is what me and my brother observed in multiple tests with a light meter at multiple distances. Period. As much as I love my TK75 I can not and will not say it is a better light because it is not. In my opinion the BTU isnt better either over all. I promise if you get either one in cool white you will be impressed with your light. This is just a matter of personal preference. As for the R&D in the Fenix making it better, that also is not true. Fenix was once a new comer in this industry also and look what it has become. BTU has a very strong start with the quality of the shocker and I can see them going places. Sorry just my $.02.

First of all, I think the BTU and TK75 are both good lights, but after looking at the beamshots here - I have to say the TK75 and BTU are pretty close at 300 meters - the zoomed in shots look very close.

The zoomed in shots are definately dark. I am going to work on my settings a bit this weekend and see if I can fix this problem. The lights are equally impressive with a slight edge in throw going to the BTU and slight edge in lumens and maybe flood going to the Fenix.

Both lights are equal in output or throw to human eyes though in calculation BTU is 100m longer because BTU copy TK70 reflector (credit goes to Fenix). But what about flood? From beamshots, I clearly can see the difference that TK75 is better because flood is about angle of beam profiles. It is not something far away like throw. Again, a flashlight is not just about throw and flood. Let’s not forget a lot of things on BTU are sub standard and don’t deserve current price.

Well, BTU brand start as copycat with a lot disappointments. I have not much high hope on this brand. Ultrafire copy either, at least they sell it at much lower price. Just look at UF-T50 and Zebralight, Ultrafire is 2-3 times cheaper. Why? Because they know they save a lot on R&D and they are not greedy. BTU also spend a lot less on R&D as it copy TK70. If TK70 is selling at $180, can BTU sell at $90 or lower, definitely can as all these high end flashlights have 100% gross margin as they can’t sell as many as low end flashlights. I am still alarmed to see some of you defending BTU when you pay $150 for BTU where it is stated to be 3500 Lumens and AR lens. Well, maybe some of you really “LOVE” BTU. But that doesn’t mean you should spread around wrong information about BTU saying how good it is and hiding all the “cheatings” it has.

Those BTU lover attacking me or TK75, you need to reconsider your BTU throw is effort of Fenix. Be grateful when you enjoy throw of BTU. I don’t attack you all, I am just stating facts about BTU.

And I don’t work for Fenix. I once insisted TN31 out throw TK70 when ILIKEFLASHLIGHTS posted a lot beamshots about TK70 and TN31.

But I have watched you attack RDR everytime he comes in and posts his field stats. I don’t see the BTU as a ‘copy cat’ . At the time it was introduced. It was filling the void in the industry for a smaller heavy duty thrower/ flooder. If you remember, the TK75 was introduced after the BTU had been in production. Your blantant disregard for actual field stats is disconcerting. Even owners of the TK75 admit what a good lite the BTU is. You insist the BTU is sub standard. Yet you don’t own one. You aren’t fair & unbiased in your assesment. Many light companies rely on each others designs. Look at the SST-90’s. There are a finite amount of design variations. Just because one uses similiar technology doesn’t make it a copy cat. I think many of the so called ‘cutting corners’ you refer to. Was BTU’s effort to lighten a already hefty design.

I certainly am not trying to attack you. I’m just baffled why you have such a passion for hating the BTU. And most, including me, readily admit the TK75 is an awesome light. I have used both lights many times and I know BOTH lights are awesome. Both have advantages and disadvantages. And I have no issue if somebody picks the TK75 over the BTU, after all its a great light with features some prefer.
But what’s with the hatred and false claims against the BTU? A light that you have no personal experience with. It is a very good light with an unmatched throw and flood combo. No LED flashlight on the market can beat it. Now that is a fact.
And are you seriously trying to claim the BTU doesn’t have much flood? That’s a joke. The BTU has TONS of flood. Does it start as soon as a King or TK75 - of course not since it has the deeper reflectors with tighter angles. But I can assure you the BTU will illuminate a HUGE area of light for hundreds of meters.
Now if you don’t like this light, that fine. But why do you feel it’s your primary duty in life to wrongly trash it? You can see most actual owners of this light like it. Some have issue and have stated it. Some are just as impressed as me. But in either case we are justified in our claims good or bad since we have actually used the light.
I have never stated any false info on this light. I don’t guess what my lights do, I test them and find out the facts. Facts like when I openly admitted the TK75 edged out the BTU by 45 lumens. If I was trying to falsely promote this light I would have simply lied and said the BTU kicked its butt. But I didn’t. I have stated my opinion multiple times, such as I like the “heft” of the BTU, and I don’t like the two button function of the TK75. Those are just opinions and everybody has the right to their own. Just like I also think a side clicky on the BTU would be nice and a AR lens would be a good addition.
And if I actually thought another test on this light would actually allow you to make an better decision on the BTU, I would do it. But I know anything I post, show, or demonstrate for you will never be enough. You are so blinded by your hatred for it that nothing else matters. Just like everything I just wrote in this post is pointless since you will likely dispute everything I just stated.
Ok, now your turn to trash the BTU again.

Dale, I didn’t attack RDR, I was bashing BTU when I think BTU is overstated again. One can state how much they love a product, others can also state what are the shortcomings and there are better choice. It might look impolite to someone, to me, it is not. At least, I am not criticizing someone’s wife is ugly or son is fatty.

RDR, I have TK70. I know how the flood is, BTU flood definitely is not as good as TK75. Flood is about seeing things in front of you, not things at distance as that is responsibility of throw. I think I have said before, if you can record a 20 minutes video of BTU always in Turbo mode, with light meter monitoring its output, then you prove your statement that BTU can be used non-stop in Turbo mode, and really convince everyone BTU can be used in Turbo mode non-stop or as long as TK75 does. That will add one more good thing about BTU that is unproven yet at this moment. I don’t ignore good things about BTU for example its throw though TK75 throw as good to human eyes. But I disagree to ignore its shortcomings just because of its throw. Its throw is not really something very impressive either, just on par with TN31 that was difficult to call for better thrower in the past with TK70 to human eyes.

I don’t own BTU. But I have used TK70 for 2+ years accumulating more than maybe 600+ hours. I don’t hate heavy light. I have many other flashlights either. I don’t think I need to buy BTU to know its shortcomings. HID is my gap, LED flashlights are easy to me to study their shortcomings.

I know this is causing unhappiness to both sides and this is never ending if continue. I will not comment on BTU anymore in future even I read newbie post about buying BTU instead of TK75 after so many good things talked about BTU. Let’s have peace.

Ok, I want peace on my side too. Now I would like to do this test for you on the light. Only thing is I have no desire to upload a huge file like that. Not even sure if I have the equipment or service to do that.
I can test both lights for a solid 30 min., keeping both on turbo, no extra cooling, and test them on the lightbox at perhaps every 5 minutes - or whatever timing you prefer - and I would post up my results. If that would be acceptable and you take me on my word, then I’ll test them both this weekend. It’s up to you if this testing method is adequate.
So that test is up to you - yes or no?

http://www.lightmalls.com/archon-d100w-10-000-lumen-underwater-photographing-100wswc-led-diving-flashlight-with-battery

yeah, but how would the BTU or TK do underwater?

More than a few of us are interested in the beamshots as noted.

For that price i would want a sub :slight_smile:

who wants a cookie

RDR, thanks for offering to test. But I hope you do it not just for me, it is for all BLF members who are considering BTU and also to prove your assumption BTU can be used for long time in Turbo mode. I think your camera should have video recording function. This is huge effort as we seldom see people do long time runtime test except some professional flashlight reviewer, if you record it down, you can refer back to it later. We can think about how to publish the file later. I uploaded 3 hours video files to Facebook before, it can be done especially at night when lines are smooth.
I can take your word for it since you can’t upload big video files, maybe 2 minutes interval is better as that will give us 10 readings for 20 minutes.

To other who mention about underwater performance, I don’t recall BTU has the specification about it. I mean even someone tested his BTU can submerge under water, that doesn’t mean your BTU can. It is not stated to have IPX rating. So buyer still have to take their own risk with no manufacturer warranty if they want to submerge it under water. Of course, quite rare people want to submerge their flashlights under water except some reviewers got their samples from manufacturer.

umm the rear rubber seals on the btu are not thick enough for proper sealing .i noticed

oh and fronty can you test the output with and then without the lens .if theres a major diffrence il bug Ric to send me a AR coated one