PAYMENT INSTRUCTIONS IN OP Spark SF3/SF5 Flashlights + SG3/SG5 Headlamps —— CW or NW —— $44 shipped w/tracking – minimum met!

Got my SG5NW today. Great shipping, it was in the mailbox on Friday according to tracking. That’s eight days from order to delivery. NICE!!!
As for the light, it’s mostly good.

  • The output is good
  • The tint is perfect for me, very nice
  • The finish is nice, not perfect but nice
  • The clip is OK, but backwards and not reversible. Will see if I can get used to that.
  • The headband fits my head but not the light. Headband must be made for the SG3 body diameter. It’s too loose. The workaround is to leave the clip on when inserting into headband loops.
  • The threads are well cut but sharp and a little rough sounding
  • aggressive knurling on tailcap and lens ring, no grip issues there
  • carbon fiber wrap is nice, has minor finish issues (up close, noticeable seam and imperfections at edges)
  • Modes are useable, would rather cycle like the Wizard (hold for the next mode, not restart at Min)
  • Nice UI feature: From Off, double-click to get Super. Turn off. The next start returns to saved mode (a-la Wizard Pro, I like that)
  • Accepts protected cells, TrustFires are working fine, not tripping protection yet.
  • The standard wide lens EATS a ton of lumens. I’m probably not going to use it and stick with the add-on reflector I ordered with it.
  • Brushed finish is inconsistent, on some parts (about half of the anodized surface) it is not noticeable at all
  • Tailstand is unfortunately not great, due to poor cap design. Aesthetics won out over function here. Headstand is also not good due to protruding button.
    Here’s a pic with the Wizard Pro, which up to now has been my EDC. While the SG5 is a very nice light, the Wizard has nothing to worry about. I’ll use the SG5 for sure;

    Some quick measurements
    table(table#posts).
    |Mode|Batt Current (A)|Output (Lumens)|
    |Min|0.004|0.5|
    |Med1|0.2|4|
    |Med2|0.12|32|
    |Max|03|77|
    |Super|0.77|196|

Notes:

  • TrustFire Protected 14500 at 4.05V

I think the inconsistent of brushed finish was intentional. You can clearly see the mixture of both matte and brushed on the body. I like it a lot.

The S10 looks like a good competitor to the SF3 but I am unable to find a NW version in Ti with the XM-L2 to match the S15 Ti that I have. Hkequipement has the S10 in Ti with a NW tint but it looks like an XM-L not an XM-L2.

The S15 compares favorably to the SF5 but it has a horrible clip and tends to turn on in my pocket sometimes and I have to soft-lock it out. I do like the user interface better on the S15 though. But all things considered, I think the SF5 has it beat by a small margin. My SF5 has a beautifully warm tint, carries much better in my pocket, and from what I can tell uses a 100% constant current circuit. It also doesn’t turn on in my pocket. It would be nice if it had a shortcut to moonlight like the S15 but at least it has a mode memory. Whoever designed the S10/S15 clip was on crack. My wife saw the S15 clip and said “that’s like carrying your gun in a special holster that points it at your face, nice” and she was right.

Got my SF5NW today and I’m really impressed. First of all, I didn’t get a tracking number but I had faith that HKEquipment would deliver. I have never received a light as quickly as I have with HKEquipment. I will buy from them again, even if I find an item a few dollars cheaper elsewhere.
The light itself is quite nice.

  • The tint is one of the nicest tints I have
  • The build quality rivals the Zebralight SC52. Very similar builds, in fact. Excellent anodizing.
  • The switch has the nicest feel of all my lights, with a little less effort than the SC52 and the Solarstorm SC01.
  • Very nice UI, though a hidden strobe wouldn’t hurt.
  • Although larger and longer than the SC52, I think it would carry better since it is less bulbous than the SC52.

- Threads are smooth but I prefer the tighter fit of the SC52.

  • Slightly wobbly tail stand due to the raised circle on the tail cap.

Nice! But you still have ~1s of the previous mode used.

Anyway, I used the light yesterday night, and depleted the AW RCR that was in, so left the light with no battery in this night. This morning I put a cheap Chinese CR123 (Nextorch, probably not the worst amongst chinese CR123A), and guess what, my light is now working perfectly! No more bogus UI, no more flickering! And things gets better, since it also works flawlessly with RCR!

I am a bit confused about the reason(s) of this behaviour, maybe the light felt that it was on the edge to spend the rest of its life in a box in my “light storage unit” :party:
Now I’m starting to like it.

@Racer: I don’t think the Ti S10 ever came with XM-L2 (maybe I’m wrong!). Mine came with an horrible tint XM-L, turns out it was more the fault of the lens than the led. These lights are easy to modify. I found out thermal path was not that good (of course, Titanium, eeh), the driver/led/button is like a small module.

I’m quite certain that my NW SF5 is a 5C1 tint. It’s unquestionably warmer than all my 3C lights, and it’s also quite noticeably warmer than the 4C Roche F6 I just received. But compared to the 5C1 P60 drop-in I have here, it is very similar. 5C1 is one of the loveliest tints I’ve seen yet so it’s a wonderful surprise, and just adds to the awesomeness of this little light.

In hindsight the fact that the brightness bin was specified as T5 was a pretty big clue that the tint bin was going to be on the warm side.

Thanks for the group buy, received the SF3 NW, really nice !!!

How is the parasitic drain on your Sparks? I measured mine and found 0,101mA with RCR, which is a bit high…what do you think? I know it’s like 250 days on a 600mAh RCR, and that you can very easily lock out the light, but still… In fact I measured the drain because I’m sometimes under the impression that the light is not fully off…do you have that?

To compare I measured other lights :

Olight S10 : 0,006mA
Zebralight H31fc : 0,025mA
Sparks SG3 : 0,106mA
Sparks SF3 : 0,101mA

Seems about right as reported by this review.

Yep, I was just re-reading it.
Before buying I just caught “around 1.4 years on 1400mAh CR123A”, which was more than ok, but with a RCR it’s less than half that. I guess now I have an excuse to use my light more >)
Now my problem is I have too many CR123 lights to use, I don’t know which one to pick when I need one :weary:

I just measured .106 mA on my SF3 with an AW hot off the charger. Not a factor for EDC as far as I’m concerned, and if it ever bothers me, well, an eighth of a turn locks it out.

Do you also have the impression that the led is slightly glowing when off? That’s odd, but sometimes I do :quest:
I agree for the lockout, hardly a concern then.

Used mine on a boy scout campout and am pretty pleased with it so far. The size is nice, the appearance is great, using in headlamp mode. Did not get the add on lense, okay w that. Good output and run time and I had 10 of the RCR123 size which were just sitting there, now have something to use them in. Thanks for the group buy.

I don’t really need one but I’ve been wanting a high powered headlamp like these.

I was told the GB prices are still valid…

Does that mean I can order one direct from HKE at that price?

I think you can, else, just contact him.

the SG3, looks really good to me with that carbon-fiber sleeve, and takes 16340 batteries!

htc one mini 2 handytasche

Newbie <<
Signed up based on the GB offer for this great light… was looking for something small that could be used as a headlamp for my Nitecore HB02 headband… but that I could also use as an EDC… I do a lot of camping and work around the campsite as a result, so I needed something with a lot of flood and low settings… I have my Olight M22 Warrior that is used for everything else, when I need a lot of light or a lot of throw… the SF3 NW is the perfect solution in my opinion (based on reviews here and other forums)…

Ordered on 8th Dec, shipped out of HK on the 10th… waiting patiently now for it to arrive :weary: (I have no patience whatsoever!)
Fingers crossed it will arrive before Christmas, as it is my Christmas present to myself :slight_smile:

Thanks to everyone here for organising the GB codes, and I fear that I have now been contaminated with the ‘light-bug’

Jaeger, welcome to the forum. Did the light arrive? Do you like it?