EXPLORER E66 vs Yezl/ zy-T13/zy-t08/A60. **Thrower

After a couple searches I couldn’t find anything about these lights or particularly this one. I was making some buys on Amazon to pick up a couple wf-502B lights to resell at work and came across this “Greatlite EXPE66” EXPLORER E66 TACTICAL ” light. I thought it was a fairly good looking flashlight so I figured, what the hell, and grabbed one as the price was only $13 and change. It was also a PRIME item so I got it pretty quickly. Wow- I was blown away! I knew from the description that it had an xml and ran on two D batteries, but I wasn’t prepared for what happened when I turned it on. I immediately noticed that the hotspot was way smaller than average for an xml and abnormally bright. Long story short- the build quality sits somwhere between good and very good, 5 modes (yeah-bummer), but with a very nice glass lens and thick o rings (glow) as well as spare everything but lens. I popped two Duracell Ultras in and began doing a wall comparison with some of my better lights then took it outside for a field test. Out throws: Zy-t08, zy-T13, DST, YEZL, all the large Defiant lights, Trustfire X6, to name a few. Nice deep reflector and an actual bezel that unscrews to let you get to the lens. Surprisingly, this out throws all of my lights except the Jacob A60! It is touted at 600 lumens, but next to the Jetbeam BC40 (830 lumens) it will overtake the Jetbeam. I went to put the link up for you guys but now the cheapest one I can find is around $26. I’m not sure how I snagged it for half that. … I’m always on a quest for throwers and this one totally surprised me. The hotspot is nearly the same size as the A60 when side by side. This is one you might want to consider. * having a hard time trying to get a pic on here as well as a link to Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00GKBUCCY?cache=0629d3782f9e2ac8390a3b682d2e299d&pi=SY200_QL40&qid=1414666890&sr=8-1#ref=mp_s_a_1_1

Here's the link for those not on a mobile device:

http://www.amazon.com/GreatLite-EXPE66-Tactical-Series-Flashlight/dp/B00GKBUCCY

Badger4715 why don't you post some pic of your light with other lights.

We cannot let if it's any good. To me it loks like a cheap for a high price.

Thanks RC. :slight_smile:

No problem. ;)

I’ll try to do some late tonight when I get home from work. Quality is by far NOT the worst I’ve seen. Good threads came well oiled, machining and finish have no flaws, nice glass lens, firm forward clicky side switch for momentary on, no dimples or flaws in reflector, no rattle with batteries, very nice tight beam with Smooth spill… It is definitely not cheap, just kind of minimalistic. It isn’t aggressively designed, that is why it initially looks unremarkable. Autozone appears to be selling this one and other models for $84-$100. Not that they are flashlight retail pricing standard- just a price point for reference….I just happened to find It priced at $13.32 and took the chance.
I don’t have anything to gain by talking it up-if it had ended up being sucky or even average, I wouldn’t have bothered to post but it ended up being kind of a sleeper so I wanted to share it. I’ll try for some beamshots and tesr down pics tonight.

OK, sorry for the delayed response here- my wife who was due to deliver our second daughter on November 22,
called me at work last week and said “We are having this baby this afternoon.” Put a hold on some things…… Anyway, here are a few quick pics- sorry for lack of quality-they are taken on my phone as our “Real” camera is now lacking memory for anything but pink, chubby cheeks. Again, this thing screams compared to pretty much anything else I have and the deception here is not that this is a cheap light, just a fairly unimaginative design. Finish is flawless, threads are perfect, oiled and silent. Blemish free glass lense and perfect smooth reflector. Seems to be a true SS Bezel on the regular GLO-Rings with a set of plain black spares, black tailcap boot, and lanyard. I mis-spoke when I mentioned extra Lens. 2 DuraCell Ulta D-cells and it burns a hole in the wall over pretty much anything i put against it. If you want to see anything specific, let me know. There really isnt much info on this light or brand that I could find other than AutoZone sells this and some of its brothers in the +$100 range. I’’l do the best I can if you have questions. Sorry about the random blue squigly line that I cant get off my phones camera…

Take away the silly green button and suddenly it looks a little more serious- IMHO

covered over green button here *


Couldn’t resist : )*

So beamshots… I Will try to get a few up tonight……

OK, this is my first attempt at posting beam shots so sorry if they suck. These comparisons have some control factors to make them as consistent as possible: All tested on “High” mode, All used Tenergy L-ion, 2600 mAh, protected 18650 batteries fully charged (Except the Explorer E66- which runs on 2 D-Cell batteries). All lights rested at 8 ft from the wall from same height and angle. All shot on AUTO setting of my Galaxy S4 Mini.

I realize some of the comps do appear brighter than the E66 but with its smaller beam profile it is still a superior thrower over all but the A60.

So…… call it what you will- These are the best I know how to do and I have no reason to make up something false. I’d never heard of the brand and still dont really know anything about it. All I know is that I got one hell of a light for $13.32.

FYI, Crickets. Amazon price is up to $71.80. Thought this was interesting since I paid $13.32.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00GKBUCCY/ref=mp_s_a_1_fkmr0_1?qid=1416639950&sr=8-1-fkmr0&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70

It looks like a nice light. Thanks for the beamshots! How does it compare to a 2D maglite in terms of machining and size?

Congrats on the little flashoholic!

looks like you made out like a bandit! I would buy one if it was the same price you paid for it………. :bigsmile:

I don’t have a 2D Cell Maglite so here is 3D cell probably late ’90s era as well as a Maxtoch 2X and SmallSun ZY-T13 for size comparison.

Cheap plastic Maglite reflector sitting on the E66 reflector. Look like the same width for both. E66 reflector is metal, aluminum I guess- its fairly heavy for its size.

Side by side: