Review: TrustFire Z8 - XM-L Flood-to-Throw

Does yours from that ebay seller have the trustfire logo and model number etched on its head like the one reviewed? That sellers pics show no logos. When this light was reviewed it was a brand new model. It has become very popular and has likely been cloned by other factories. If yours is not stainless and doesn't look exactly like the one I reviewed then you bought a cheap clone. This is why I only buy from known reputable sellers and rarely from ebay.

You bought this light based on a very detailed review and tons of glowing reviews and praise from other owners of the authentic stainless steel bodied TF Z8. When yours is not stainless and is of far inferior quality to nearly everyone elses examples you assumed that we all lied about the Z8 or had no clue of the difference between SS and aluminum and you

never thought maybe your example was a cheap copy since it was not the same as everyone elses? Sad truth is that when a great light comes out other sellers come out with inferior copies to cash in on a lights reputation in order to make a quick buck. Short point is that you were taken by a cheaply made clone. Either get your money back from the seller or file a PP claim then leave negative comments for that seller so no one else gets taken like you were. If you still want the real thing then buy one from Tmart, Fasttech, or DX.

No... please buy mine!!!

I think John Mac is missing the hundreds of people who hate this light and want their money back .. the words glowing reviews need to be tempered by the fact the light is so widely regarded as a huge piece of S***.

I have lots of lights and I know what a good light is .. This ain't it .. It's heavy as hell so carrying it would just be impossable. Mine is so dificult to twist it makes it almost unusable . I had to sand down the SS shaft to even get it to work and then repolish it .It still needs more material taken off to work correctly . The tailcap seems like an after thought and designwise it doesn't match .The tint is fugly. the beam pattern is stupidly bizzare. and the xml emits all sorts of color shifts throughout the zooming of this screwed up light . Come on J mac lets call this light what it really is ...Somewhat pretty,,,,,, and a horrible light, absolutely worthless A total waste of a good battery . I've never seen an uglier tint shift in my like , It goes from purple to yellow if you have the strength to twist it with both hands . This is actually a common occurance from Tmart who obviously only buys stuff according to price .90% of what I've purchased from them seems like a second or just really poor quality .

This was a really stupid buy and it needs to be avoided by everyone ////or please dear god ...buy mine

x 546708933503763 (I agree)
(was this review written on 1st April?! Don’t worry JohnnyMac, we still love ya, and your sexy reviews)

Who would have thought that a stainless steel light would be heavy and a zoomie has the characteristics of a zoomie. Crazy!

This light is okay with a driver swap, at least for the price and with the sense to know what to expect with a steel zoomie.

JM is right, if your light isn't steel, you didn't buy a Trustfire Z8, so it doesn't make sense to complain about it here. Go complain to the vendor that sold you a fake.

This looks like the AL version . Body is AL + 102g .

Afraid I don’t agree.

I think the Z8 is a great little light. Much nicer in the hand than an SK68 and has worn far better due to being stainless and not cheapy aluminium with poor anodising.

Mine zooms very smoothly and is smoother and easier than any SK68 I’ve owned to zoom in and out.

Mine was also pretty bright too. The only complaints I had were:

-PWM on low (but come on, lets face it, almost all budget lights suffer this, so it’s equal odds)

-next mode memory. Which is a real PITA, but again a common trait across many of our favoured budget lights

-a rather too cool a tint. Mine was ice white.

-it gets flippin hot!!! Which means it must be driving the led rather well and have a fairly ok thermal path.

It doesn’t throw as well as an XR-E SK68, but that’s hardly surprising. But it’s brighter on flood and throws as far as some of my XP-G reflector lights do.

Z8:


SK68:


I got a real (came in a gen-u-wine TrustFire® box) Z8 in a trade…VERY unimpressive, I ended up basically giving it away to ‘TrakTuned’ who modded it and apparently loves it! Great machining. :wink:

WoW a lot of Z8 owners coming out and testifying that the Z8 light is crap.
Maybe they all bought a knock-off.
Well I guess all of the Trustfire followers need to purchase one and find out for themselves. Be Careful they aren’t made anymore. I guess if yours is a piece of crap you purchased a knock-off. Or you can contact one of the above flashlight mavens and ask where they got theirs, then you can be sure of the quality or lack of.
Over and out
I got my money back.

I had a Z8 and I loved it. I replaced it with a Sunwayman V10A..

For those who love this light I did add a really good Olight clip from Illumination supplies garage sale ..I think they were .50 to a buck . this is the only light I've found that the clipworks well with .... it fits it very nicely.Worth grabbing if you're a clip fan

Just wondering where in the previously listed TRUSTFIRE Z8 factory specs., does it list Stainless Steel any place. I keep reading “AERO SPACE ALUMINUM ALLOY”
Maybe it only “STAINLESS STEEL” to the mavens who want to justify spending $11.00 on a battery to use in a $14.00 garbage flashlight.

Is there a light that performs equal to a Z8 and does NOT look like it is made of 3 different lights?

Go to COSTCO and get the TECHLITE 3 pack 200lm and they come with batteries $19.00 for all. The lights even have DNA gathering capabilities should you need it.
Hi-Low-Strobe. Three decent lights for the price of 1 battery for the Z8 piece of garbage.

My second Z8 had some burrs where they didn’t show. It is possible that the quality might have deteriorated. Both of mine, however, are very nice. The excellent machining of stainless steel is impressive. I have ordered IML cells to see what they really can do.
I got a sort of simi-clone. It is a Smiling Shark SS8038 XP-E (says XR-E near the emitter). It is in most ways not as good, but it is cheap. The threads are all triangular. It is more polished. The SS is less ferromagnetic, indicating that it has more nickel in it. The lens seems larger. It is less bright and takes less tail current than an SK 68. It also is very nice looking.

The z8 is very dim compared to my $7 toptom zoomie! :frowning:

Just got mine, its pretty much a beauty, going to mod it a little with an xpg2 5b on noctigon.

Bought one of these from ebay/campingsurvivals/TMart relatively recently and per my Thoughts… thread: Though my Z8 looks identical to that of JohnnyMac’s review & is apparently genuine (see below [even came w/cert of authenticity card FWIW]), a very strong magnet of mine does not attract at all to its center body, so perhaps these newer Z8s [apparently] w/o stainless steel body are [genuine] - perhaps TrustFire has gone to (all?) aluminum [for them].

!!

On the other hand maybe its this: “ferritic stainless steels are generally magnetic while austenitic stainless steels usually are not.” Does anyone’s Z8 body attract any magnet? IOW not apparent to me how to confirm what material it is. It is polished pretty shiny tho:)

Either way not too thrilled with the flashlight.

Nice!

Very shiny

Is it a twist zoom or one of the push/pull type?

Perhaps working on / lubricating the threads would make the twist zoom more usable, e.g. the tail cap not spinning first.
Again, IMO from “Thoughts on my TF Z8, XTAR WK26 & ZL SC52W”, better off spending $6 more. Wait, better for me if you buy mine:)

A quick glance at the XTAR WK26, it doesn’t look similar or as interesting.
I don’t think it is likely they have changed to aluminum, though that is possible. Often SS, when mainly austenitic, is still still faintly ferromagnetic. Try suspending a small strong fixed magnet from a thread, or something like that, and see if you can detect a weak attraction.