Since I joined up a few weeks back I've been mostly hovering - I think "lurking" is a term that should stay over on The Darkside - and trying to decide on my first LED torch. It made sense to go for an AA EDC type light to start with; I can get more adventurous later on, and I ended up finally pulling the trigger on a Saintfire K25 from Manafont. Had to really; since I last posted I must've scrutinized 100's of flashlight reviews and made a dozen different shortlists, and found myself going stark, staring mad. So now waiting on the slow boat from China...
Surprisingly little about these lights here at BLF - or anywhere else, for that matter - so it looks like I might just be the lab rat on this one. I'll keep you posted.
Know what you mean Tas62. Kinda hard to put your finger on it, but they somehow look, well, better than the money. As if the company want to build a reputation before gradually sneaking the price up. On the other hand these lights could be overpriced rubbish, in which case I've blown 20 quid and will feel like a true member of BLF!
"Surprisingly little about these lights here at BLF..."
Yup, quite a new ****FIRE brand. Looks not so bad, but... I think they are a little bit pricey, IMO. Hey, don't get me wrong, could be a very nice light, but I would buy ITP SA2 for a little bit more rather than that (if you want a 2xAA light, of course). Well, keep us informed.
I was about to pull the trigger on one of these friday! I've been chatting with Robert from SaintFire about these and Manafont. It is confirmed that it has an XP-E emitter by Manafont and the torch has mode memory as well. It does look like a very high quality host anyway! I hope they are very nice! Since you have one on the way I think I will wait to hear what you think of it befor buying one.
SashiX, I've had a good look at the ITP and Romisen lights. I especially like the ITP with it's dual switch - I'm not keen on multi-mode torches with Command Centre tail switches. "Click switch to turn on. Loosen and tighten bezel four times within a second, then soft press switch three times to begin cycling thru output modes. Loosen bezel again, press switch twice to access low output, take away the mode that you first thought of..." Just what you need on a dark night with icy fingers!
But neither of the above lights will tailstand. Not sure why I value this feature so highly, may not ever even use it, but it was a definite requirement for my first buy. Important enough to forego a sideswitch and wrestle with the K25's all in one tail switch, but at least the K25 UI seems more straightforward than many. Also important, to me anyway, the K25 bezel is the right diameter to take a glow-wand type diffuser. I could only find a very few of these accesories out there, and the sizes are limited. I know, skewed noob priorities. So may as well confess that I wanted SOS mode as well, even though I live in central London. Don't ask...
Fingers crossed. I'll of course post a review, but it's likely to be a bit amateurish to say the least, specially as I've so little to compare it with, although I actually bought a Mini Mag incan today. These are now available over here at ridiculously low prices, by UK standards anyway, and for seven quid it seemed daft not to get one. Although it is bright pink! Perhaps that's why the low price, silver and blue versions were a tenner.
Thanks for the link, I'll put it on my list. And you're right about the dimness of the Mag, I admit to being unpleasantly surprised when I powered it up (were they really always that feeble?) but what decided me was the tried and trusted reliability factor. From all I've read this is the main Achilles heel of the xxxxFires; extraordinary value for money if you get a good one, but a bit of a lottery on the dependability front. Maybe they should bring one out called HopeFire!
I'll be keeping the Maglite in the glovebox, it'll be a good peace of mind backup to a more exciting tube of Chinese lumens. As we all know, the best torch in the world is the one that stays working when you really need it.