Did I get a good price for it?
That’s about as cheap as you can get, XM-L lights usually go from $16 on up. Personally I stay away from XM-L aspherics. The XM-L led just doesn’t work very well with an aspheric lens as most of the light is wasted inside the flashlight head. The XR-E is really the only one that works really well with aspheric lenses.
Besides the obvious bezel "defense" ware. What is the difference?
Any way of improving this issue? Know of any mods for this light specifically?
Assuming it’s built like a typical budget aspheric lights, the following mods should be possible. I’ve tried them all with good results:
1. Heatsinking - budget lights are notorious for lack of heatsinking. You could open up the light and check under the star to see if there is any thermal grease. If not, you could apply some. If the light has one of those hollow stars you might try cutting a piece of metal and fitting it below the star to serve as additional thermal mass. Without sufficient heatsinking, brightness will rapidly decline when the light is left on at max power.
2. Driver swap - If the stock driver isn’t pulling 3 amps, you could replace it with a higher current driver such as the 3.04 amp driver from Illumination supply. Higher current drivers will generate more light and also more heat. A good driver will also typically offer multiple modes, so you can run the light at lower power to prolong battery life and for extended running without overheating.
3. Emitter dedome - Removing the little lens on the top of the emitter will produce a smaller, brighter hotspot in throw mode. This is better for when you want to illuminate something far away. However, overall lumens in flood mode will drop significantly so it won’t be as good close up. Dedoming is permanent and may take a few tries. If you want to try this, check the forums for the thread on dedoming XM-Ls.
4. Emitter swap for more throw - you can substantially increase throw by switching to a smaller emitter with higher surface brightness. The smaller emitter won’t emit as much light so the light won’t be as bright in close up flood mode. However, what light it does emit will be more concentrated and less of it will get absorbed into the bezel in spot mode so the light will throw further. The current emitter I’d choose to upgrade to for increased throw is the Cree XP-G2.
5. Emitter swap for more flood - if you want additional flood you could replace the stock XM-L emitter with an XM-L2 U2 emitter. This new emitter would be approximately 25% brighter than the stock emitter.
6. Emitter swap for better tint - instead of going for max brightness you could try replacing the emitter with a neutral tint one. Neutral tint emitters give better color definition outdoors for a less washed out look, but maximum brightness will be less.
7. pill/body adjustments - for the widest possible spill in flood mode, the emitter should be as close as possible to the back of the aspheric lens. Many budget zoom flashlights don’t allow the lens to retract far enough and as a result give a very poor flood mode. There are a number of modifications that can be made to allow the LED to sit closer and give wider flood.
8. Add a small reflector around the emitter - this is one I like doing with my zoom flashlights. Adding a small reflector can dramatically increase the brightness of flood mode and get rid of any annoying rings. The downside is that when you cycle to spot mode you’ll have an ugly halo around the spot.
Looks like a Sipik SK73 (or other way around). My SK73's are hollow pill and basically direct drive - nasty combo but they are bright on decent cells 
, and do get awfully hot. In flood mode, less chance for your hand to get toasty because of extra alum layer at the hot spot. I probable didn't look much at doing a driver mod - single sided 7135 driver maybe would be the best, and you could do the solder trick on the edge of the driver to press fit it in (aluminum, no brass there).
I'm sure there are various variants, maybe better/worse drivers, etc. The SK73 is $11 at manafont but doesn't have a "strike" bezel.
Update - keep in mind this looks like it ships from US and free shipping - worth a little more $$$ for most of us, rather than waiting 3-4 weeks. Also, the strike bezel looks like the silvery finished aluminum (cheaper), not S.S. -- you typically won't find SS at that price.
I loaned one of these (very similar generic zoomie) out to a buddy during a recent camping trip in upstate NY…this guy just raved and raved about this light, how bright, the modes, it zoomed, it flooded, long lasting (good batteries).
I used it the following weekend for a boy scout trip and was reminded a second time of how useful it is for that type of activity and purpose.
Let us know how it turns out after you mod it.
These little lights are really handy - I got 2 and keep them accessible around the house. Firelight2 has some really good recommendations - I should revisit these lights for mods - adding a copper disc for the star mount would be great for these, rather than the star hanging on the edges they way they are now. Could also figure what the best driver replacement would be.
That other, 2nd link for the one without the strike bezel is basically the SK73, but the SK73 is in black. This form factor is sold all over the place, maybe as cheap as 9$, as high as $16 or so.
All your info is excellent thank you for sharing
What do you think of those Trustfire and Ultrafire multi-emitter lights that you own?
Those are 26650 x 2 or x 3 right? I haven’t seen one of those yet in person, but hoping to before I step up beyond my biggest thrower and my biggest flood (SRK)…and haven’t had a chance to search for a thread on anything beyond 5 XML…plenty to choose from and I have to upgrade my batteries…again.
I got a J18 - monster of a light, really really bright on 26650's - I'm using the 3 TF 5000's 26650's in it. Puts the SRK to shame.
Trustfire - I have the Tr12 (five emitters) its a decent step over the SRK that I have and been keeping an eye on the Black Shadow and others that have that same form.
I need to step up and invest in more batteries to do it justice, now and in the future.
I appreciate all your responses thanks.
I actually like them. I can use them in 2 or 3 26650 configs. And if I want a short fatty flashlight I can use only two cells by removing extension. LOTS of light and heat if you use on high for some time.
Thanks. I am seeing so many new lights in this category, think I will just wait a few weeks and see if anything really grabs me - and reading some of the other threads is dangerous - the wish list grows and grows!
I wonder if this is how a crack addict feels? - you can never have enough, the buzz is over so quick, but so much more candy on the shelf?