The SC01 has horribly low PWM on low modes. I’m usually not sensitive to PWM, but on this flashlight it’s noticeable in real life use. If your plan is to use it mostly on high than it’s fine.
Runs very bright on a 14500 but gets warm pretty quick
My EDC SK68, I messed up and left it running on my mother in laws desk for about 5 min with a blue UF 14500 in it…after 5 min it was CRAZY hot…this is practically the EXACT same thing in a little different wrapper (more sleek and thinner [oddish purple tint though])
Just know that I have had 3 sk68 fail on me. 2 of those were handled by my kid and thus had minor abuses (Mostly 3 feet falls) and one just had a switch failure from using it.
The higher brand lights, even with the falls, the daily use have not failed me yet.
The sk68 is of course great value for the money but do not expect top quality build, output. If you are on a tight budget, just go for it and you can wait to ‘upgrade’ later once you play a bit with the sk68 and know of the pros and cons. Playing with it will definetely give you a better idea of what you want in a flashlight and how much you would be willing to pay for premium brands.
They are better than the 9-5mm led jobbies, they are adequate, really impress flashlight muggles and are “fair” for a sub $5 cheapie…I give them to people as gifts and they really enjoy them…my next door neighbor uses his all the time, especially when he is working on his truck and stuff
I have a SK68 in my left pocket and a Convoy S5 in my right pocket, the SK68 is for when I can’t get to my Convoy that is my real EDC.
for the money…get one…hell get 1/2 a dozen and have spares (because you WILL misplace em), they are the BIC lighter of the small AA cheapies…everyone should have at least one
with AA batts they can run fine indefinitely on hi (if you have multi-mode) but with 14500 the H>L>Strobe are best as you can dial down the power w/o overheating the tiny little flashlight
Mine was called fordex or something on amazon…at $3.60 a pop…why not
Pencil lead mod to remove the next mode memory
With that said…there are TONS of clones of these…everyone and their mother in law in China makes them, so sometimes it’s playing roulette with quality/modes 14500 support or not…if you get them from FT you pay more but you definitely get true Sipik quality
Its great for the money and you can have decent expectations (relatively bright, low/high mode, tailstanding, pocket clip, zooming etc)
Life expectancy is like a lottery. I’ve had new lights fail when handled by my kid (switch failures). One of them fell down and the driver got moved out of its ‘socket’ and stopped working.
Handled properly, it should last ok. For the money, its a great flashlight. But do not forget as pointed out by others, tint lottery, driver differences, finish etc can vary.