I have a Manker E05 Cu gen1 that I’ve been EDCing for the last 4 years. If they still made this flashlight, id order a handful more just to have as backups.
Recently, my flashlight started lighting up for about 3 seconds, then turning off. From what I can tell, the pads that make contact with the battery host are worn mostly off.
I’d like to modify this light with a new driver, perhaps one that has a moonlight mode, and possibly a new emitter if there are equally good thrower LEDs out there.
What I’m eyeing currently is a SFT-40, and a DrJones H17Fx
I really like the look of that light, like a lot. I have the Eo5 ii (I think? the newer one) and it’s just alright. it had a bad donut hole with the stock 519A 4000k, even after dedoming. to fix that I just put frosted tape on the lens. I didn’t like that the clip only has one screw, cause it can tilt.
If you don’t mind a little less efficient driver, I would recommend one of MTN Electronics’ 14-17mm (not sure what this light takes) MTNxxDDm drivers in the Bistro firmware. it is a very nice clicky fw.
although I do really like the H17FX as well, and it is more user programmable. the biggest draw to bistro fw is that you can long-half-press to go back a mode.
If you want a more throw emitter, I can recommend the SFT-25R. imo it’s a 3535 version of the SFT-40 but with a smaller hotspot. I’ve only tried the nasty green 5000K one yet, unfortunately.
