Erik's (E1320) budget customs are well known here at BLF.
The poorly assembled TrustFire F15 (driver falling out of mine) became the rock steady EF-15 powerhouse. I don't know how many R5, T6 and U2 drop-ins he's souped up for I don't know how many ecstatic flashaholics. Of course when Erik transformed the lowly Q5 C88 into a thundering T6 EC88, he not only created a legend among the faithful, but Int'l Outdoor sat up and took notice, bringing to market the "Cyclone" C88, a near exact copy of what I will always regard as . . . the original.
About a month ago I reviewed the Shadow JM05. https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/7230 I basically liked everything about it except it was not driven hard enough. After using it some, I came to love its beam profile and the tint was awesome. Still though, its brightness didn't justify its size and weight.
That was then.
Today, by priority mail, I received my Shadow EJM05. It is Foy's new favorite torch. I'll wake my wife up if I do beam shots right now but I couldn't wait to share how thoroughly impressed I am with this incredible flashlight. In case you forgot how dang hot looking it is . . .
Even though IO's specs said it would pull 2.8 amps on high (it did not) I bought this light with thoughts of an upgrade of some kind in the back of my mind. If you remember, I measured 1.15 amp with 2 x King Kong 26650s. An XM-L at 2.30 amps ain't exactly dim but now it pulls over 3 amps and brother, this bad boy can throw. Not only that, it's got a beam profile to die for . . .
At left is the EJM05/T6. On the right is the EC88/T6 . . .
. . . they read almost exactly the same on the Foyometer but equal lumens never looked so unequal. Besides a much better tint, the corona is thinner around a more defined center spot but the best part as far as I'm concerned is the outer beam. Besides being bigger, I actually have some XM-L lights that are not much brighter overall than this bad boy is at its outer beam.
Simply put: It's a bazooka. Here's the installed new driver . . .
I forgot to ask what it's called but he got it from LCK LED Store. It's a 3-mode no-flocking-blinky; high, medium and low. Foy prefers unprotected cells and so I really like a clever feature this driver has. When two lithium-ion batteries (18650 or 26650) discharge down to a little less than 3 volts, the light will flash 2 times per 5 seconds and then shut down after 3 minutes. Apparently, the same thing happens when the temperature gets too high. I will experiment and report exactly how it works in actual use but it's a pretty sophisticated board. Beam shots will follow but trust me; this is one hell of a flashlight. I may feel differently later but I doubt it.
Bottom line:
The EJM05 is as bright as my brightest single emitter torch. It is easily the best throwing C8 light I have and with 2 x 26650 capability, it will almost certainly run for a good 2.5 hours on high. And then there's the beam quality, and the tint . . .
wowfactorFoy