ya i tried it, size is a bit bigger, which isnt too much of an issue, but personally i dont like the 3 modes, it just means i need to twist it 3 times to get to 100 lumens.
@niajef and roostre: you are correct, this is only really noticeable while "white wall hunting". But it was my first obvious impression when I compared the beam and color with other tiny lights I have (C01S, DQG Tiny AAA, Astrolux M01). I agree it won't be a nuisance in real life usage and might bother only flashaholics, not the people I plan to gift the light.
Nevertheless I am wondering: can the (tiny: 12mm diameter) optic be swapped, and what for? Any suggestion for clear or frosted optic, rather than the pebbled one?
Another option: what about polishing the pebbled surface on extremely thin grain sandpaper? I might try it but I'd rather have a spare optic in case it fails.
Yeah, people have done that, but it’s irreversible.
If you like floody, a small piece of diffusion film can work wonders. Sticks on, peels off cleanly. Keep the sticky part clean, and it can stick on again.
Yajiamei store is the best source of plastic lenses.
Here is a lens with smooth surface.
Here with frosted surface.
BTW, new Lumintop AAA flashlight released - Lumintop EDC AAA
Thanks samyy for the suggestion. I have started browsing their store since the examples you gave are a bit too large (13mm, whereas the E3A optic is exactly 11.8mm). But I'm puzzled: their lenses are sorted by LED type (e.g. CREE XLamp XR-C & XR- E lens, CREE-XPG & XPE & XPL& 3535, CREE XLamp XB-D & 2525, etc.). Which LED type should I choose for my E3A, knowing its LED is a Samsung LH351B?
In the meantime I managed to cut a disk of thin rigid diffuser film using a 12mm punch. It turned out to be 12.3mm once cut, and did not fit inside the head, so I carefully sanded its edge until it ended up being 11.8mm diameter (the edges are not perfect but no matter, they are hidden under the rim of the head). [edited after a closer look to the resulting beam]: this improves slightly the beam quality, but there are definite purple tint shifts in some parts of the outer beam without rotational symmetry. So better in real life usage and at medium distance (above 1'), but still ugly at white wall hunting.
BTW, I've seen "DC film" mentioned in several threads. What does "DC" stand for?
- Not very compact: 15mm diameter, vs 14 for most tiny AAA lights, and 12.8 for the DQG Tiny AAA
- Not very light: 17g, vs e.g. 7.5g for the Skilhunt E3A, and 13g for the DQG Tiny AAA although it is stainless steel, not Al
- Unspecified LED color: Cree XP-G3, and then?
- "Intelligent" mode memory function: not for me, I hate being blinded at night when I get High whereas I would have liked Moonlight. I wish all manufacturers would replace it with a "manual" memory function, like allowed by Anduril. Thus you always get what you expected, without needing to predict what your next use of the light will be, each time you turn it off.
I'll sit this one out.
The lenses I recommended are Ok, you just have to remove the (white or black) plastic stent, the size of the lens itself is exactly 11,8 mm.
OK, thanks samyy, perfect.
I wanted to place an order for three different angles of each model (smooth and frosted), and expected to be charged the $2.82 shipping fee only once for this $1.80 order, but no, they charge me much more. So I wrote to the seller to try and avoid this.
The collimator is interesting, but this light is not a keychain light. With the lens sticking out, it will soon be scratched or even broken, and there’s no obvious way to attach a split ring.
I’m real late here too. It was a good read. Made me order a Skilhunt H3A high CRI. I’m into throwers but I enjoy AAA because they’re cute and so cheap. Usually buy on sale. A new flashlight fix for $10 or less. Usually a lot less. I’ve got a handful of different colored Sofirn C01 , even some with red LED’s just because they were only $4 shipped. Similar deal with a couple Olights and Lumintop. Got a bunch of AAA Eneloops for them. They’re everywhere, in all my packs, on all my keychains to navigate the 100’ obstacle course from my trucks to the house on moonless nights. Like Lightbringer kind of said, I appreciate the nice lights, but really don’t give a rats azz about beam patterns, tint or UI on my AAA’s. Now, since nobody’s mentioned it, check out the Convoy . What a beautiful little stainless light for $10. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32730506517.html?spm=2114.12010612.8148356.1.60263c7awxZOfO
Thought about buying a E3A high CRI already last year, but somehow forgot it. Now I’ve ordered one before it is too late.
The Astrolux A01 has a slight edge over the Sofirn.
i like their edc01 better
I’m specifically interested in Thrunites because of these low moonlights. I have a Ti5 with a similar low and probably floodier. I wish it was even a bit dimmer. It’s still a bit bright to shine on sleeping kids faces and ceiling bounce is sufficient for that. Then again, I suspect my night vision is very good.
Personally I agree that the moonlight is anything but useless. Love the Ti3 for its moonlight! I bought several Ti3s as gifts and kept the one with the lowest moonlight. Unfortunately this one has a tendency to either advance past moonlight or just start in mid mode. Have adapted to this and turn it on in my hand now if in the dark. Really should always start in moonlight and that is what I would prefer — most do.
I think the NW version of the Ti3 has a very pleasant tint. Can’t speak directly to CRI but as a dog walking light it is pleasant and gets the job of finding the treasures left behind done effectively. Can’t be too bad of CRI — at least for what I need it for.
Multiple drops, multiple wash cycles, multiple years of reliability. That is what really makes it a solid choice for under $10 when it is on sale. Do any of the others have an equivalent level of robustness and reliability?
Been carrying the Thrunite Ti3 (not V2) on my keys for around a year now. This was their “NW” version and its definitely more warm than neutral! A little more yellow/brown than my Malkoff M31W samples but still very pleasant for a light duty use. As long as you keep the contacts clean its been very reliable for me so far, and I love the tiny size. Significantly smaller than any of my other AAA lights outside of the i3e (which is a no-go for me due to high mode only).
The Ti3 V2 is still a good light and I have a handful I’ve swapped to various emitters to compare (90+ CRI XPG3, SST-20, LH351D) side by side. Actually I’m very surprised how nice the high CRI XPG3 is despite all the bad press it gets here. Have another one coming from Mountain that I’m going to try in my new-to-me Quark QPA.
Gotta agree with buck91. I have both Ti3s; original and the V2. The original is definitely my favorite. It has functioned flawlessly since new (forgot how long I have had it but it has been many years). I had a battery crap in it before I new about batteries. I cleaned it up and it still works perfectly.
I don’t know what the color temperature is but it is “warmer” than the V2. The body, while a bit taller, is slimmer. In any event, I do like the V2 in its price range due to the FF mode.
Here are the original and V2:
Both black hosts are stock aaa Thrunite Ti3 V2:
Because my first impressions of my recently received Skilhunt E3A High CRI were excellent, I've ordered a second one (it will be a nice gift).
But I realize now that both units are very hard to twist on/off, even with two hands. One-hand operation is impossible.
I'm both surprised and disappointed, since the Zeroair review says "The twist is very smooth".
The threads are rather loose, therefore the head is very easy to turn as long as the o-ring is not involved. But then when screwing in the head past the o-ring, it becomes much harder. So I put some silicone grease on the o-ring: this improved things only slightly, but now the o-ring tends to partly go out of its groove. Pushing the protruding part back into the groove with my nail while slowly screwing in the head does the job, and once in place it stays there... as long as I don't unscrew the head past the o-ring.
It looks like the o-ring is too thick and/or too wide, and/or the groove is too shallow.
@ E3A owners: how is your light twistwise?
Any suggestion to correct this? A narrower o-ring?
that might be just you, i have 0 problem with twisting my E3A, one hand is not very easy, but doable, two hand is super smooth