Thanks for clarifying, yes a 1mm longer head with original stock size S2+ reflector and pill would = 1mm extra length in the battery compartment.
A longer driver spring should offset the 1mm difference, for instance the spring that comes on a MTN-17DDm or FET17-SS (with spring option) is nearly twice as long as the stock convoy’s driver spring (about 4mm longer), although the convoy spring is twice as stiff the longer softer spring should keep better pressure on the battery to eliminate the mode changing when tail smacked.
I’d like to comment on both things mentioned here. Simon is getting things shipped and making things right where some bad orders went out. He’s already taken care of the messed up order to Mountain Electronics. I don’t talk regularly with many resellers other than Richard but I did what I could to make sure he was taken care of and and that Simon is focusing on QC issues. CNY was a time of chaos and Simon moved to a new factory right in the middle of it so things got a bit out of control. He shut down the store to address these things. Yes, I’m working with Simon on a few lights but right now I’m holding off on many new projects until things are running smoothly and Simon has found a good English speaking assistant. I do what I can to help from this end but I’m in the US and Convoy is China so my role is limited. There are plenty of good things in the future for Convoy but all the new color and design change requests are going on a list for future projects. I appreciate all the feedback and ideas as does Simon but I’m not passing them all on to him just yet. As has been said, Simon has more than enough irons in the fire. This and the L6 are moving forward because they were already in progress before CNY. The rest has to wait a bit. Patience my friends.
At some point I became a skeptic as to whether this Simon³ character who exists as a 3rd person reference actually manufactures some or any of the Convoy lights, since Manker, Thorfire, and other brands use the same parts.
Sure, this is how China manufacturing and distribution works, and Convoy/Simon³ could be the origin of at least some of these parts, but now that Thorfire is the new Convoy, I’ll just pretend that Thorfire makes them.
Huh? Simon is definitely a real person responsible for the Convoy brand. Many of the Convoy lights starting as existing, seemingly commonly available designs that he then had manufactured to a higher standard and branded as Convoy. Over time he has tweaked certain aspects of his lights that make them unique, and more recently started making a few new designs from scratch. Even though the quality of service has slipped a bit lately, he is still very very responsive to the desires of this forum and other buyers.
Thorfire is doing well and has high quality products, but they are very different from Convoy in how they operate, and so far I still like Convoy better.
I wasn’t sure myself when I first started looking for him but yes sir Simon Mao is very real and the owner and only manufacturer of Convoy flashlights. He’s a real man with a real wife and a real young daughter and a real flashlight company that he started. We’ve exchanged family photos, shared stories and carried on many lengthy conversations about the flashlight business. Convoy is Convoy and has no connection to or shared parts with Manker, Thorfire or any other brand aside from maybe an Omten switch. Simon also has a higher standard of ethics than most Chinese businesses have shown. Thorfire is making some decent lights but has no connection to Convoy. Convoy for many reasons stands apart from the other Chinese brands IMHO. He doesn’t post here anymore for a few reasons, lack of time and proper English skills topping the list. That’s why I’m doing what I’m doing and acting as his voice here on BLF. 8-|
Ostensibly lots of body components on Convoy lights are shared between many different brands. This would imply Simon³ is a distributor rather than a manufacturer. There seems to be a lack of distinction here.
Join me in not pretending that Simon³ makes them anymore?
I don’t think anyone is pretending that Simon physically operates the CNC machine that turns out Convoy lights. Simon orders designs to be manufactured to his spec and he chooses the fabs that create his products and that anodize and engrave them and assemble them. Perhaps other companies also use some of those same fabs or maybe those companies saw a good design and used it too. Who knows. But Simon really is the Convoy brand.
I’m not quite sure what you’re getting at but I disagree that “lots of body components on Convoy lights are shared”. I think PilotDog summed the situation up pretty well. Simon has one primary manufacturing site he uses to fab his hosts and most of his body components. These components are not shared with other brands that I am aware of. He specifies how everything is made and changes and approves designs and he and his workers assemble all the components into complete Convoy flashlights or host packages. He’s taken on a few more workers and is currently seeking a personal assistant as his company has grown in the last year which made the new factory necessary. During this rapid growth a few QC slips creeped in and CNY made controlling it all nearly impossible yet Simon stayed behind working through the holiday while all of his workers and even the people who were supposed to wire his new factory left. No, he is not making every part by hand but neither is he simply a distributor. He orchestrates the whole operation. If you want to go that route then GM, Ford and Chrysler are also simple distributors…
“Sharing” factories is a very common practice in China, and just because two or more brands have the same components doesn’t make them “copy” or fake.
When a person/company designs a product but hires a third party factory to manufacture the item, it’s called OEM.
But when that person/company can’t design and/or manufacture the product, he hires the factory to do all the work, this is called ODM
Convoy, Thorfire and Jaxman probably share the same factory and their working method is a mix of both. They create the overall concept of the flashlight but the factory refines it, often employing the same technique and dimensions to manufacture certain parts. This is why you can fit the Jax E2 head into a S2+ body.
Simon doesn’t actually own the factory, and same goes with most other manufacturers. Every time a new flashlight brand emerges and they tell you “we have factory”, assume it’s a lie.
Most of this is spot on though I am fairly certain Thorfire does not use the same factory. I do know that Convoy and Jaxman are indeed maufactured in the same facility as far as the machined host components. Simon himself told me this. Thorfire I think is a different animal at least in regard to business approach/methods.
I swear there was a guy that looked just like you that said he was done trolling… :-x
Pretty easy to tell the difference really. One says “Convoy”.
I’ve heard Thorfire makes quite a nice C8. That said, the C8 is not a Convoy design or a Thorfire design. It’s just a classic 18650 thrower made by many companies. Simon made a particularly nice version as have a few other companies with a slight variation here and there on the same basic design. The Convoy C8 was my very first Convoy light and it’s a beauty. The best C8s I’ve seen are XinTD and Convoy but it sounds like Thorfire is making a nice one too. Good for them. I’ll have to pick one up.
It seems only proper.