I have the Sipik and like it a lot, except that the small details of the shape and the finish are not among those I like best. I ordered a similar no brand name light with more fins, but don’t have it yet.
Googleing for similar lights, I found that the Palight M6-2 [http://www.dhgate.com/palight-xlamp-xml-m6-2-flashlight-5-model/p-ff8080813976b4890139918fb99c2452.html] has the same shape and specification for three or four times as much money. So I am wondering if anyone knows where that design came from.
Heat dissipation seems good. [Part about heat dissipation edited out after further tests.] The flood is very good, but the throw is limited by the large led and small lens.
Added next day: Amazon found me the Raysoon RS-V8, which closely resembles the brandless one I ordered with more fins. It is 3 mm. longer than my Sipik (closed) and the same head diameter.
I have a Sipik Sk73, and originally it got a bad rap for overheating. Also the ones I have are too purplish in color. Thinking about upgrading the emitter to something with higher efficiency (and therefore run a bit cooler) XM-L2? and better color bin. I like the small size. First 18650 light that I used for EDC. I am a fan of zoomies because sometimes I want to light a whole room evenly, and sometimes I want the ability to shove a lot of photons into a bad guy’s eyes.
I now also have a clone, or another clone if Sipik didn’t originate the design, “Ebest - Zoom CREE T6 5-Mode 1200-Lumen Memory White LED Flashlight”, from Epower on Amazon. I liked the fins in the picture. The light has deeper square topped fins that I like better than the Sipik version’s but not as many as shown in the pictures! Most of the rest of the description is wrong too, but the worst is the dreaded next mode memory. What do I expect for $13? It really does have an XM-L, and the size is the same as the Sipik. Fits in a pants pocket but not as neatly as a 68 clone. There is no marking on the outside, not even the usual “Cree”. The memory makes the Sipik, which starts on high, still my best light, short of the Maratac I gave my wife, which starts on low. I might try swapping the pills sometime, to get the fins and no memory on the same light. All I have done to it so far is to add a little heat sink goo where it slides.
I wonder what tool I need to take the pills out? The “Ebest” has no slits or holes on the front of the pill at all. I expect it is screwed into the body like on Sipik 68s, but it could be forced in.
In the two of these I have, the head slides on the front of the pill and covers it up. Only the front of the pill and the hollow around the source are exposed when the bezel and lens are removed. The Sipik one has two small holes in the front of the pill that might be turned by needle nose pliers or a more specialized tool. The unmarked “Ebest” one’s pill is just flat in front. Neither will unscrew by just twisting the head, as some others I have do. If I had some sort of inside out pliers that would expand to grasp the inside of the pill, that should do it.
What about the Raysoon RS-V8? http://www.fasttech.com/products/1601/10001000/1076804-raysoon-rs-v8-cree-xm-l-t6-800lm-5-mode-convex
It is much the same design but with more fins. Does anyone know how good it is and whether it has memory? There was a favorable review of the Raysoon TD-398, except that it has a hollow pill and next mode memory.
$19.70 shipped with headband and clip seems low enough. The question is whether it is an improvement over my SK73.
I shelled out the dough for the Palight M6-2 over a year ago to test as my work light.
The ano is really good quality HAII and after more than a years abuse like submerged in engine oil, run on high till I cannot hold it with bare hands so I put on gloves, drops, a few hundred battery changes, dropped it 2 stories once when it slipped from me the status is:
Changed clickie switch. It became erratic when I dropped it 2 stories.
Changed emitter to warm white XR-E when I accidently dedomed the XML in it while screwing the pill out to clean out salt water and oil from the threads/driver/emitter and the led died from that.
Added 1 copper disc behind the XR-E to make the focus better. Even if the led is not directly mounted to it but only set on top in fujik it really helps with heat management. I put my gloves on sooner now :-D
I still use original 3 mode driver with HI-LO-STROBE because it has memory and I nearly always use high. Low is quite low actually but has noticeable PWM. I am sensitive to that. But not so much that I changed the driver.
The pill is not hollow.
It is the shortest 18650 zoomie light I've found to date. You have to use unprotected batteries due to lenght constraints. I use IMR batteries because I like to wear my gloves ;-)
Hope this is somehow useful info.
EDIT: The clip is a MOFO and never failed me yet. Also fits a host of other lights.
Thanks Ledsmoke and DenBarrettSAR. I will stop worrying so much about overheating. The UltraFire version I had had next mode memory. I gave it to my daughter because it could take protected cells. Nice to hear that some of these things really are as rugged as they appear.
The Palight is more expensive than the others, so we don’t know whether the others would stand such hard use. They all seem similar in the descriptions and pictures.
