What a great light (and an even better mod host). I have over 50 of them, and anther local flashaholic has about half that many. Its too bad the new Defiant lights are so pathetic compared to their lights of yesteryear.
very true, the original Defiant lights like the 3C, 3D, 5C, DST, the 2-AA tactical, etc were much better than the few i seen recently at HD. Wish we knew who built these lights for Home Depot.
I think it was Brinkman
Just today I was in a HD and I overheard an employee telling a customer in lighting that Brinkman-Malibu has gone bancrupt, the reason why all Malibu lighting is on clearance
if it was Brinkman, they hit a good one with the DST design. They could have pushed that design to be even more successful with more powerful drivers, and emitters like the XP-L HI. even though my new Fenix TK75vn 2015 Edition is an awesome thrower, the modded DST i have with a over-driven XP-L HI can match it for throw distance with a single emitter on a single 18650 Samsung 25R.
as for brinkmann they are done.
all the flashlights were imports anyway and the same items are sold under many names as we have seen.
i have seen a decline in the build quality of the defiant/husky lines too.a neighbor recently got a 3c that i would class as flimsy.but these would be made from foil if they could get away with it at this price point.the bean counters have had their way here.the 3c at the shop that is several years old weighs 3 times this new one.
Just to reconfirm, can someone please double check to see if the 5C Defiant battery tube or other parts will lego with the a DST? Id like to mount a 5C tube on the DST head for 4 cell lithium to power an XHP35 HI.
oddly this is the only Defiant version i don’t have to test that.
Me too… 
Hopefully someone else can check for us.
I have both, but I can’t get just the battery tube off the 5C. It’s glued on pretty good. I will try with a little coaxing tomorrow.
Im surprised its glued. Thanks for trying. If you dont have strap wrenches, you can wrap rubberized materials around the light, then wrap a towel around that and twist while wearing gloves. Good luck.
FP, I have both and I PROMISE I will get the 5C apart and let you know.
In the past I have tried with the strap wrenches and failed… But those strap wrenches came from HF……….
Thanks dchomak. It will be much appreciated. Fingers crossed that the threads are the same.
Ive destroyed several sets of HF strap wrenches until I finally bought decent set. Have you tried the BOA strap wrench’s?
IIRC isn’t putting the light in a plastic bag and dumping it in some boiling water a thing for loosening threadlock/glue? Clearly you’d need a good bit of boiling water for a light of this size.
I’m not sure whether the technique is plastic safe, but it’s bound to be better than baking. I think it should also avoid the color shift seen with baking. Maybe someone else can speak with more authority.
Ive tried the boiling/freezing trick several times without success. It depends on the glue, but most quality thread lockers require 550F or above to force them to release, which can sometimes require both a blow torch and a serious amount of torque. Depending on how the heat is applied, it is possible to be done without melting a plastic reflector, but it is certainly put at risk in doing so.
Well I just tried a propane torch and a leather lined vise with pipe jaw inserts. Still no success.
I have tried now off and on for 2 years on this light and never have been able to free it up.
Last resort?
Even if I successfully protect the finish, I risk crushing the tube this way. I know I have crushed plumbing pipes with pipe wrenches
BTW, in post #29 of this thread, scaru claimed there were no threads in common between the 5C and the DST. HERE
I did see that post, but becasue it was vague I wanted someone else to try again. You’re right about crushing thin tubes with pipe wrenches. Ive kinked several in the past. Thanks for trying so hard. I might need to come up with an alternative or move on to something else.
else it would’ve been included. 
The 5C wasn’t Lego-friendly at all back in the day. Had it mated with a DST I could’ve had a ’gasm. lol
Personally and not trying to be biased I think my Legoing thread should be bookmarked. Really a classic. 
Notta
A quick look at their site says that 550 degrees F will break it down, 250 will reduce it to half strength as long as that temp is maintained; it goes back to full strength once cooled. Methylene Chloride will work given time but of course it’s not good for plastics; even the fumes may be enough to destroy that. They haven’t tried Nitromethane but you get the same problem. It is a urethane compound if that helps you find a chemical solution.
Has anyone tried using an ultrasonic water bath for this? I know that it works excellently to disassemble things safely where dissimilar metal corrosion caused all other methods tried to fail. And it doesn’t damage plastics or rubber. It might work, it might not- I don’t have the equipment to try.
Phil