What Manker did was huge: they dared to build a BLF-developed driver with BLF-developed firmware in the BLF-A6, which is very innovative for a chinese budget light builder. EE was not prepared to do that, and in general chinese budget flashlight builders are using the same few set of ancient poor drivers (the drivers that Eagle Eye put into their flashlights are far from sophisticated and have been around for at least 4 years) because they do not innovate, they copy.
I haven’t said that the guys behind Manker are dumb, I think they have learned a lot by this technology transfer, so this should have been a win-win situation for both sides.
BTW: Is Manker really a budget light builder? I’ve seen >100$ lights from them, so I thought they are more quality oriented.
No problem, it is still open.
I am not taking anyone wrong, simply pointing out the view I see about this situation.
Eagle Eye has no clip, nor a good cutout for a clip, so it would be a wash if EE had made this light in reference to a crappy clip (mine is fine). Comparing to EE, the Manker is a let down in terms of fit and finish… Compared to any other $25 light, it is a winner… Like my signature line says, comparison IS the thief of joy…
I was a proponent of Manker due to their responsiveness, not a clip… The EE finish would have been great, but this GB was from December 2014, so the time and lack of response from EE soured me on them.
Neal is from BangGood, NOT Manker, he is as aggravated as any of us on the fit and finish. If you want a new clip, PM him about your broken one… No one but ourselves owe us anything in the big scheme of things…. If you go to sleep at night feeling like someone owes you something, you will not wake up happy…. I gave that up years ago, I only owe Me, that way I have not surrendered my choice on my happiness to anyone else…
consider me “in” then… 1 black BLF a6
Done and thank you! Welcome to the not-so-dark-side….
here are a few examples with the right coupn mgiht be even less then 8 usd
convoy s2 host - Buy convoy s2 host with free shipping | Banggood Shopping its a s2= for9.45
http://www.gearbest.com/convoy-s2-host-\_gear/ if you deduct drivers and led
i bought this one https://www.fasttech.com/products/1343500 for 19.40 nothing to complain but a total different league this light is ok for 25 the software is amazing in my opinion the hardware is the total opposite we would be better off with a standard s2+
S2 hosts, buy five and they’re $8.04/apiece: https://www.fasttech.com/product/1277401-convoy-s2-diy-edc-led-flashlight-host
thanks hank i knew i saw it somewhere for around that price but didnt find it.
they are good hosts for this price
Sincerely appreciate the links… I have been looking for these at a price like this…
I ordered the BLF A6, liking its form factor as the best tradeoff between smaller size and longer run-times. Then along came the short tube, which I ordered knowing full well that I probably won’t use it (a) because I prefer the original form factor and (b) because I already have a small pocket rocket in the form of an Nitecore EC11. But for the paltry sum of 4 bucks, what did I have to lose? (A missing clip? Sheesh!!)
Then came the bare BLF A6. Which I bought because … I’m not sure why. It certainly wasn’t an impulse buy, since it took me three days of mulling over to decide. I guess that I bought it because if I hadn’t, I would have felt that I had missed some sort of golden opportunity.
And now that I bought the bare BLF A6 which I really didn’t need, the question is whether I’ll spring another $4.00 to buy a bare short tube that I really, really don’t need.
Meanwhile, the stock market goes up and down each day, changing my stock portfolio by tens of thousands of dollars … while I ponder the issue of whether I want to spend (not whether I can afford to spend) $4.00. :bigsmile: :money_mouth_face: :Sp
remember the S2 doesn’t have a separate bezel that unscrews — unlike the S2+ — so it’s going to be harder to get stuff into it.
Doable, but different.
Love it
I am already in for (2) - #425, 426.
I have now purchased all three tints so put me in for one more anodized a6 short. Thank you!
Total of 3.
Neil
This is mighty wicked, I am super tempted. Like 1dash1, I too sometimes ponder $4 a little too much while spending way too much on my various glasses. I got my 1A, and already place another order of 3C for the BLF A6 ( actually order-cancelled, order-cancelled, and then finally giving in and let the third order go).
I may have to skip this one. Got way too many 18650 already and don’t really wan to invest on 18350. We’ll see if I change my mind in a few days. hehehe.
I’m already on the list for one, but I just ordered 2 more BLF a6 so I’m going to need two more tube please. So that would be 3 black anodized tubes total for me thanks. I’m number 417 on the list
Update: Just got in the BLF A6 threaded short tube, it looks good, but there are some fit issues that keep it from working on 4 out of 5 of my BLF A6’s
I will post some pics in a day or so, they look great and make the light what I had envisioned. I do believe that they are lighter than the S2+ 18350, now I have to find a scale to verify this…
Thanks for the patience on this group buy so far…
Thanks for the update ReManG 
Could you weigh the complete BLF A6 with the shorty tube & a 18350 cell?
I have been trying out the A6 as my EDC but i find it much to heavy (i have been totally spoiled by my 1000 lumens XP-L Jexree Mini at only 25g ;)) so i am really hoping the shorty A6 will cut down on some of the weight
My stock BLF A6 with the 20R cell & without a clip weigh 111g, and i hope the A6 in triple spec with the shorty tube could get the A6 in to the XP-L Jexree Mini’s range of lumens per gram.
Another $5 temptation. And, ah, there it is: Jexree Mini mod V6 with XP-L V6 3D on DTP with 18awg wires & the bare MTN12DD board with *detailed* mod info
Yeah it was one of my first mods & it is still my favorite EDC.
Drop in a XP-L V6 3D on 10mm sinkpad & use the Efest IMR10440, and nothing beats it in lumens per gram :bigsmile: (and not least per :money_mouth_face:+ the beam is great for anything up close (as soon as you learn to not use it like a little light but aim it like the big output deserves. It has a nice soft hotspot about twice the A6’s with a very similar spill and because no AR perfectly rendered nice tint 
And now with Richards single sided 10-12mm fet driver you can even get modes and LVP if you want.
And hank, i like to use the red anodized version for the red XP-E2 on a 10mm sinkpad and it works even on AAA cells, the XP-L gets to weak output to be much usable on enelops but the XP-E2 colors is fine and they work on the 10440 also on the stock driver.
I might have something that beats it
Fenix E05SS with direct driven XPL, unsure of the weight of it
Edit: 32 grams without battery…