Yeah, button indication would be a nice feature to have…I find it handy on many lights. I did confirm the low voltage cutoff yesterday…burned through a 40T and it does indeed shut off at 2.8v. I teased it to keep on going and when it finally refused, it measured 2.76v out of the light, bounced up to 2.88v after a half hour or so. The stepdowns are certainly there but it’s going to take a long time at low levels for them to appear. (side note, pleased to see that after a rest period and charging that 40T at 800mA (0.2C) the charger said it put in 4280mAh…go Samsung!)
As far as ruggedness, I think any of these would hold up just fine for her in the house and in the yard. Hardly any of our lights are truly durable when it comes to drops and “off-label abuse” but for ordinary use most do great and I don’t see anything in the WildTrail that would suggest caution. I don’t have that Sofirn but do have several of their lights and none of them have been questionable there…pretty decent build quality generally.
The FC11 does need a firmer press but it’s not terrible…hard to quantify by feel but maybe it takes twice as much pressure to activate than the WildTrail? The similar Sofirn SC31 Pro is just a tad easier to press than the FC11 but still more than the WildTrail. The firmware on the FC11 I think is the exact same as Sofirn’s ramping software that they use on lots of lights - it’s actually one of my favorites because of its functional simplicity although I do love many things about Anduril(s). It can go stepped or ramped, will blink when voltage is low, and the ramping is pretty good. Long press from off goes to the bottom of the ramp…not a true moonlight but probably in the area you say she’d like to be, and it’s not like a lonnnggg presss to do it. The button sits pretty far forward on the head, but she probably won’t be dealing with turbo heat…however the clip may need to be removed for comfort and the tailcap may fill her hand past the outside of her palm. All in all a nice light but 18650 run-time and diameter and a narrower beam/spot at low light levels. I got the 5000K in that one with the LH351D high CRI and the tint is still nice at low light levels although a tad to the green side as expected (wonderful at higher levels). The SST40 5000K in the WT3M is standard CRI but actually looks nicer at low levels, maybe because of the three emitters blending? I’ve had no problems at all with my WT3M, btw, but black and SST version…had some minor design quibbles but it’s a great light and it’s really grown on me. Amazon still has a few of those left at $31 right now (not sure if WildTrail is pulling out of Amazon or just out of stock on almost everything, but Amazon at least gives you quick shipping and easy returns if it doesn’t work out).
Whatever you get her, I’d love to hear what she thinks of it and how it works for her.
Missed some posts…looks like the IF25A is the one. On the Sofirn/Lishen batteries, I’d go with the 5000mAh one for this but either one would be fine. At low output the 4000mAh cell may give more than that anyway so it could be a washout (would have to look again at HJK’s test on it…he hasn’t done the 5000 yet). I have both but only a dozen cycles on the 5000 in a few lights…right now I can’t say that I notice much difference at all between it and the 4000, which I have several of. But if they give you the choice in their kits, may as well go 5000. It seems to compare very favorably with the Samsung 50E btw, and the only thing better might be the 50G if you can find it (so far I only see that in the EU countries…).
Hm… very good point. I admit I did not consider the tint-shift at low levels.
Thanks for the tip. I’ve checked out the Amazon listing. However, with shipping and VAT, the total becomes $53 which is not that sweet of a deal any more. (In comparison, I can get the IF25A for 40-42$ with battery and accessories included).
Will do Who knows, maybe the feedback will also help Bort with his project.
Yeah, I thought about that, too. It is indeed an important factor considering the ultralight usage.
I read basically all the reviews I could find on the potential candidates, but unfortunately I could only find idle drain measurements for the WT3M and not for the IF25A.
But maybe manithree can help us out with that
I think HJK’s 4000mAh Lishen review is a different cell, but likely comparable to whichever Sofirn is using. All of my Sofirn 4000s have the bottom disc vent whereas what he tested is a plain can end. Could be they just changed cans, could be a different cell altogether, but probably of no consequence here.
Interesting that Nick at 1lumen found only 17uA parasitic drain. Their light was the XHP50 with a 30T cell but I can’t see where that would make any difference if it’s the same driver…not sure if a well used cell that might have higher IR could affect that? I’m using a very good DMM, just probes with the tailcap removed. As my check showed, though, with the switch light off the drain should fluctuate every few seconds within a range (wide enough not to settle on a single number) as the chip wakes up to check & maintain.
Nah, the IR should play a negligible role at so low currents. BTW, I consider your results a lot more realistic than the one at 1lumen.
In theory the IF25A should be comparable: Sofirn states idle drain <50uA in the spec sheet. (I would be more relieved if I saw some actual measurements of it, but the fact that I came across no complaints when I googled “IF25A drain” makes me optimistic).
Well when you get the IF25A, pull out your meter. I just now noticed that you are in Hungary, too…sorry, was doing the US-centric perception thing here again.
Haha, don’t worry about it, I’ll take it as a compliment (that bad grammar did not give me away sooner)
Well, for now, I posted the question in the IF25A thread. Maybe someone over there already did so at some point. Or maybe manithree can find the time to test it on his unit. I’d prefer to be certain before pulling the trigger on the purchase… So I’ll give it a couple more days… there is no rush.
But of course I’ll make the measurements on my unit, too, no matter what. And I’ll make sure to share them.
Not exactly what you wanted, but I got my mother a Sofirn SD05 after trying several other lights. That's the only one she had the hand strength to work with.
My mother is 93: she still lives alone in her home in the forest and even still drives her car, does her own small shopping and I come around regularly to buy the bulk and heavier stuff.
That age doesn’t come without it’s problems and her hands are getting very weak and are loosing the fine movements. Some years ago I bought her an Olight S15R, she had seen my S15 and wanted one too but there’s no way she’s going to unscrew a light and charge a 14500 herself so the charging-station seemed an ideal solution. The S15’s have a very light and easy button but she still has trouble operating it so uses it as a single mode light, just on or off.
So we went to look for the ideal light for her and came to the Varta Lipstick Light, a 1AA light with one mode about 20lm, easy to find bright colors and a big soft easy to press knob at the back-end. She loves these lights, she has a bunch of them and when the battery is spent she lays them aside and I give them a fresh one the next visit.
Yeah, I was looking at the Vartas, too. They are pretty ubiquitous around here. I was most interested in the MultiLed F10 also a 1xAA light but has a chunkier form-factor, than the Lipstick.
I tried to get my hands on a demo unit to check out its button, but funnily enough all nearby stores seem to have run out of stock. However I was able to try an F20 (which I assume has the same button construction) and I was disappointed to see that it was very difficult to press. That was the point when I discarded the whole Varta project, and opened this thread
Thanks for mentioning the Lipstick, though! I admit I excluded it right at the start, because for some reason I thought it had a basic “twist on/off” switch mechanism. Knowing that it has an actual button makes it a viable candidate, although I am not sure how much she would like it, bc she’s never had a tailswitch light before. And I also have some reservations about its small size. (Her current unit is an ancient 2AA halogen with heavy rubberized grip, about 30mm tube diameter, and a button-style on-off sideswitch which she nowadays finds increasingly difficult to handle.)
On the Sofirn/Lishen batteries, I’d go with the 5000mAh one for this but either one would be fine. At low output the 4000mAh cell may give more than that anyway so it could be a washout (would have to look again at HJK’s test on it…he hasn’t done the 5000 yet). I have both but only a dozen cycles on the 5000 in a few lights…right now I can’t say that I notice much difference at all between it and the 4000, which I have several of. But if they give you the choice in their kits, may as well go 5000. It seems to compare very favorably with the Samsung 50E btw, and the only thing better might be the 50G if you can find it (so far I only see that in the EU countries…).
