Wondering what everyone’s experience has been with the D4V2? So far its really just been a play around the house light for me but I do love the feel of it as well as the 219B SW45 color. Has anybody had issues? How would it stand up to the Zebralight SC63W in the field? How well would it do with 2xCR123 as a back up “in a pinch”?
1. Reliability issues aren’t really a thing overall, especially as Emisar has been improving QC and general build quality.
2. Not as well because of different build priorities.
3. It wouldn’t really play all that well. I don’t recommend it.
I didn’t have any issues during the short time I owned one, although I did pick up some spare switches when I ordered since that seems to be a weak point. I’d definitely have more confidence in my Zebralights. D4V2 with the boost driver may work with 2x CR123A input, no official support though.
> How well would it do with 2xCR123 as a back up “in a pinch”?
I would expect the D4V2 driver would get fried
because
LiIon maxes out at 4.2v
2xCR123 max out at 6.4v
> How would it stand up to the Zebralight SC63W in the field?
The D4V2 offers LEDs with Higher CRI R9 than any Zebra
Any reports of reliability issues will be anecdotal, but I can’t say I’ve heard of any major issues that could point to a larger trend like the issues many people have with the FW3 series of lights.
I’ve got 5 Emisar/ Noctigon lights, and I’ve been daily carrying either a D4V2 or DT8 since the D4V2 came out. None of them have had a hiccup.
For comparison purposes, I’ve had at least 10 Surefire lights (I forget exactly how many). They used to be held up as a bastion of reliability, but 4 of those lights have failures. 3 of them were switch related and resulted in the lights not working properly or at all, and the 4th is an E2D LED Defender that appears to have a dying LED. None of those lights had more than a few sets of batteries through them when the failures occurred, and I’m not very hard on my lights.
I agree, reliability is a very vague term.
fwiw, I often hear of people burning themselves with Anduril lights. I never hear that about Zebras. Zebra has a recessed switch that is not prone to false activation, plus Zebras are not bright enough to cause burns.
with Anduril lights the operator needs to exercise caution to prevent accidental activation at burning output levels. That includes using Lockout, and or lowering the output to Zebra levels, that do not cause burns.
I also recommend choosing the raised bezel option for the D4V2, to reduce how easily the button gets pressed in pocket.
I have several D4v2s that I use daily around my home but when I go out I always carry a Zebra. Mostly it’s the size (SC64 is smaller than most of my AA lights despite the fact that it uses an 18650) but I also appreciate the extremely rugged build and very efficient driver.
To me the Emisar/Noctigon lights are more of a novelty. That said, I have had zero reliability issues with them and I wouldn’t worry about banging one around outside.
Its a bulky, fat, gimicky 4 emitter light that was never meant to be of any real use. Its purpose was equivalent of putting 4 turbo’s on a lawn mower.
I use it for candle mode, for my computer desk. And even that is super inneficient because it has 4 emitters.
For this use, it does the job. For about 8 hours if im lucky, even at low output.
As much as I hate olight and their user base, and 6000k tint…i have to save the s2r baton 2 is the slimmest and nicest edc light to have and use…and edc. But if you only need to light up 20’ in front of you for a short amount of time, go for it.
Never had a single reliability issue with Emisar or Noctigon lights. Whilst they are gimmicky enthusiast lights, they can still be quite good workhorses.
1 Thank
I would not use Emisars for tough every day use, they are too good for that. I would use Convoy. Would probably hold up better and they are so cheap you can replace it if needed.
Don’t own D4V2, but my D4 lens got broken in my backpack once, not sure how, bought a replacement lens from intl-outdoor.
ZL H600w MKII has held up well over the years too. Have had a D1 for a while, it’s a pretty solid light.
Not much in it between them, I use the ZL more because it’s more useful beam, and it’s a headlamp.
Have the D4V1 and D4V2 (w/muggle glitch) and had both the D1 and D1S (sold both to Archie) and all have worked fine.
I’ve used both the D4s under harsh conditions and don’t hesitate to recommend them.
My SC600 has been going strong since May of 2012 and I even helped build a 2-car garage with it in my pocket and it turned out to be a godsend at times.
Chris