The SC64 is probably my favourite EDC light, I love how compact it is as I can forget that it’s in my pocket and the instant access to moon, medium or high modes. Unfortunately as Zebralight will now only sell to the US and supplies in Europe are pretty much dried up the thought occurred to me - what if I lost it? What would I replace it with? Not another Zebra as I can’t buy one.
So I throw it open to the room, what is the nearest alternative to the SC64?
Requirements:
18650 preferred but would go to 21700 in a pinch. This is intended to be something I can carry every day and forget that it’s there until I need it, but I want decent runtimes. As a guide, 50ish lumens for several hours should be an option. Also brighter for outside, say 300lumens ideally for a couple of hours. More is welcome but that’s probably all I need.
Instant access to moonlight mode. This is an essential, and moonlight should be no higher than 1 lumen.
Ability to go to low mode from moonlight. I can never remember which level I’ve left a light on, this way if I want low I can get there from moonlight without having to cycle through high. Basically I want to always be able to start at the lowest level and go up. No memory and starting on low would be fine.
Either customisable UI or should go from low to high, not the other way around. I want to move up to the level of light I need, not blow away my night vision.
No built-in batteries. I don’t mind whether it has onboard charging or not, but the battery must be replaceable. I’d lean toward no onboard charging as it saves room.
Strobe - ugh. Either none, or one that I’m not going to set off accidentally. Don’t need it, don’t like it.
LED - Unpopular opinion, but I like cool white. 5700 - 6000ish for preference but if that’s not available I’d go cooler rather than warmer. I don’t mind about tint. Mentioning this only because if I don’t I’ll get everyone recommending a 4000K Nichia 519. This is partly for practicality as cooler white seems to let me get away with fewer lumens.
Should be able to tail-stand for use as a candle.
Preferences:
Means of checking approximate battery level. This could be like Anduril, Zebra’s 1 - 4 flashes, or an LED. I don’t mind as long as I can tell if it needs charging without breaking out the meter.
Side switch ideally, but I’m not averse to a tail switch as long as the light will tail-stand.
Biased more towards flood than throw, bit of both would be good but I need it more for walking at night.
Efficient driver to maximise run-time.
Aux light or lit switch, I like this for finding it in the dark.
Anything else I’m flexible on. Budget’s not unlimited but not a lot more than a Zebra as I need to be comfortable carrying it. So, what do you suggest?
When I bought my first SC64 recently, I was very unhappy with the UI and resold it immediately.
Im a hard core Anduril user. The UI can do pretty much everything you asked for… voltage display, start on lowest mode, etc
so I bought an Anduril light with Regulated output and NoPWM, an Emisar D2… The range of LED options is very large, but the 14500 battery cannot compete with an 18650 light…
I suggest you look at some of the single LED 18650 Emisar lights with Boost Drivers… (not the ones with 4X LEDs, which imo are much too large in diameter for pocket EDC…)
or, since you already know you like the Zebra UI… bear in mind that you can buy a Zebra from Bob_McBob, he ships from Canada, and has the skills to upgrade the LED first
Thank you for all the replies. I am leaning towards Anduril because I really, really like it, and as I love my D1K I was pleased to see Hank being recommended. A Hank does also have the lit switch / aux lights that I would like.
Bob_McBob? To be honest I’d probably go for an Emisar right now, but would be interested to know more about Bob as, let’s face it, another Zebra is probably more a matter of when than if.
@wolfgirl42 I was looking at this exact combination but wasn’t aware that I could get the boost driver with the 519A, thank you. Would there be an advantage to getting de-domed emitters? I had D4 in my head as a front-runner but didn’t want to mention it in case I was missing a better option.
If Hank made a Noctigon SC64, I think it would be a best seller.
Since that doesn’t exist though, I’ve been using an Emisar D4K boost w/ 519A 5700K dedomed. The dedoming makes it less floody and changes the beam color. It works out to about 3900K to 4500K depending on the brightness level, and it gets a negative duv (pink tint), which makes it look a lot nicer than other ~4000K LEDs. But if you want cool white and floody, you’d probably be happier with the 5700K unmodified.
Or for a cool tint, you could try the Osram W2. It gets more throw and makes a significantly brighter beam, but it doesn’t render colors as accurately.
Another option might be the Wurkkos FC13. It’s a decent 1x18650 light with built-in charging and a RGB button. However, the driver is a simple FET+1 and the beam is quite a bit more throwy. So it’s less efficient and not great up-close, but the extra throw makes it more useful and more efficient at medium range or outdoors.
Thank you, definitely want the domes on the LEDs then, I’d be OK with more throw but going warmer would be a dealbreaker. I do have my D1K for a throwier outdoor light. I’ve just emailed Hank to query if the LEDs can be aligned so that they’re perpendicular when the light’s sitting on its switch as it would bother me if they were at a random angle.
I’ve been back and forth between the D4 and D4K, think I’m going to get the D4K as the head’s the same size either way and the body’s only slightly bigger which would be worth it for the extra battery capacity.
I do have an FC13, it’s fine but I don’t love it. That is however about the same head size as the D4K but longer, so it’s a good indication that a D4K will be comfortably pocketable.
Skylumen sells the SC65, 28$ shipping to France (I assume similar for EU) which isn’t cheap but still less than forwarders (to France they’re usually in the 60-90$ range).
Zebralight SC65c - make a friend with someone in the USA. Pay them to buy your light and ship it to you. Sure you’ll have to pay a premium, but it’s a great light.
Emisar D4v2 with boost driver and dedomed Nichia 519a - Beautiful high-CRI tint and meets all your other requirements. However, thermal management probably isn’t as good as the Zebra due to not having unibody construction. And the Emisar is bigger.
Emisar D4K with same selection of mods as the D4V2. It’s basically just a D4V2 with slightly larger battery tube to fit the bigger cell.
Note that the Zebralight UI isn’t acctually that bad. They come with 3 programmable mode groups. It is very easy to program one of them to work a lot like an Olight or Anduril in stepped mode, but without any frills.
Marvellous! I’ve been scouring the internet for images and videos and it seems that they are. It doesn’t matter functionally, but I’m autistic and I obsess over details like that.
I’ve just placed my order: D4K, black body, green backlit switch, 519A 5700K with dome. From the options menu: boost driver upgrade, SS bezel, pocket clip. I do love the level of customisation Hank offers.
Thank you everyone for all the help / enabling.
I do also appreciate the options for a Zebra, this is something to consider for a future purchase.
I have the e70 mini. It’s decent, but not great. The problem is it’s simply too big. It’s much longer than a Zebralight SC65c or Emisar D4. It’s more like a Convoy S2+ in size.
Having been thoroughly impressed with my E75 I was looking for another Acebeam but the E70 is big and the E70 Mini doesn’t have moonlight. They do look gorgeous though. After that you’re into their tactical range, and while I like the look of some of them I have no need for a tactical light, so they’re not must-haves at this point.
I did fancy the TAC AA, I love the way it looks especially in the coyote colour, and the 14500 / AA size may be handy as a backup but for actual carry I prefer a bigger cell and it looks like the driver’s not very efficient. Could that be because of its dual-fuel nature?
This is partly for practicality as cooler white seems to let me get away with fewer lumens.
