Newb with very specific wants (not needs)

Which Wurkkos please?

I’m a newb (you will be able to tell when reading this!). Searches were unsuccessful. These specs would be IDEAL, but I realize I might not be able to get them all in one package:

100% flood use. VERY smooth transition from center to outer edge (no hot spot? Good beam pattern?). Outer edge fades away (no harsh line between light & dark). Does not have to be ridiculously bright (around 1,000 lumens?). NEVER steps down on highest setting or gets too hot to hold (no need for turbo). Prefer simple UI and interface, but can handle Anduril if necessary. Neutral to cool white (6000k?). Nice CRI would be okay, but not a necessity. USB-C. For inside & very small yard use only. Under $35.

Thank you.

Maybe a Convoy s21a with the 2A 6V driver and an xhp70.3 HD? If you contact Convoy on Aliexpress they should be able to build it for you, or if not there may be a modder near you who will.

An xhp70 run at 2A gives just over 2000 lumens, so if this is too much you can choose the 50% mode group and it will run very cool. These emitters can handle 8A and more so it will be pretty efficient

Convoy M3 or M3C with xhp 70 or with GT-FC40

The reason I started my topic with “Which Wurkkos Please?” was because I can get one on Amazon fast with free S&H, and I have no experience with AliExpress. Also, I’d prefer nothing custom.
Also, I bought 2 Wurkkos’ and they seem to be very high quality for a low price. The only problem is One (FC12) is Tactical (VERY tight beam), the other (FC13S) has a “beam pattern” that is not very “smooth.” But if Wurkkos has nothing to meet my needs, I can check out the suggestions made so far.
Thank you.

I just read this on the Wurkkos site and it sounds pretty good:

The FC11 in this Nichia 519A 5000K version is about as solid an EDC candidate as one could find in a budget 18650 flashlight. The construction is well executed with a rich anodizing (black), and a unique scallop patterned body. My sample came with super clear and clean lens and reflector. The 519A 5000K is on the cooler side, but the CCT is pleasantly neutral with little perceptible tint shift and provides excellent color rendition. The beam is a medium sized hotspot that softly edges into a very difuse spill with no annoying artifacts. I like the no frills UI. Unlike a lot of other FET based non-Anduril drivers.

Not a specific light recommendation, but you can stick some DC FIX on the front of the light to help smooth the light output. Plenty of hits if you search DC FIX on here/Google.

Might help to make a “tolerable” light an excellent light.

Have a pleasant time at this friendly forum, blfunkb!

Thanks for the replies. I ordered the FC11 before reading the DC-Fix post. I can use the light even if it doesn’t have the “perfect” beam pattern for me. Besides, this flashlight thing is becoming addictive, and the last 3 I bought were under 30 dollars! (I’m not going to do the math, but I collect knives, guns, and guitars, and I could by at least 7 of the lights for the price of ONE of my knives!)
Thanks again.

If this is a photo of the admin, I’d like to have a face-to-face talk with her (even though I’m way old!)

I’m trying to get my reply about the photo where it belongs, but keep messing up!

FC11 is a solid choice. Good value light.

Nah, it’s not the admin.
The admin is “sb56637” and he’s a guy, though I have no idea what he looks like.
The woman is Milla Jovovich, the star of the Resident Evil movies.
My username used to be “raccoon city”, which is where R.E. starts out, so I sometimes post pics of M.J. on BLF. :grin:

Next time use Sofia Vergara, she is gorgeous.

Sherry Jackson. Perfection…


Youse might remember her from Star Track, among other things:

All the other wants are fine, but about the beam, only way you’re gonna get that is via diffusion film.

I like floody. Close-in, it’s the only useful beam. Aspherics give a nice blanket of light, but as you mention, it creates harsh shadows and has a sharp cutoff at the edge. TIR lenses are great, but I don’t know any Wurkkoses that use 'em.

So that leaves diffusion film. Like any lights that use hateful little G3s with their Cree Rainbow and create the worst-looking fried-egg beams, diffusion film fixes a multitude of sins.

Convoy S21D
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803593026491.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.1.4228f6fdSbeWPm&algo_pvid=117b00f3-90c1-41b5-ba42-1a69b6984f2e&algo_exp_id=117b00f3-90c1-41b5-ba42-1a69b6984f2e-0&pdp_npi=4%40dis!USD!31.69!31.69!!!224.92!!%402101d8b517013941294921006efa07!12000029191064974!sea!US!161805265!&curPageLogUid=Gk8rsiL6nWEK

You can get a selection of different optics for more or less beam angle for real cheap. My favorite for the kind of use you describe.
The TIR , especially the 60 degree gets close to what you describe. But it is hard to find no hotspot without diffusion film

Diffusion film is OK, but you lose quite a bit of light. It is something else to buy and have to screw around with. A triple or quad with TIR will be more useable… IMHO. There are a bunch out there, but for simplicity and price, I pick the S21D.

The light you ordered may already include one of these, but if you stick this on the end of the light, you will get the 100% smooth transition beam you’re after

Wurkkos 1PCS White Diffuser for FC11 FC12 Composite Materials Bright and Not Dazzling Indoor Reading Hiking Tent Lighting Amazon.com

Buncha people tested DF and said you lose something like 3%-4% or so, ie, not much.

Even 10% wouldn’t be that bad, as it’s almost a visually imperceptible difference.

But isn’t it better if you don’t need it to begin with?

Depends on the beam. My MH20 (reflector) has a pretty nice wide beam with no artifacts, but it also has spill, of course.

My TS10 has a nice wide beam because of the small diameter TIRs.

My S2+ that i swapped in a 60° TIR also has a nice clean beam, and that’s with my “warm sunlight” 4C XM-L in it.

I found that most wide-angle TIR lenses have artifacts. My 90° TIRs have a visible ring near the periphery.

Nothing beats diffusion film if you want a nice even clean flawless blanket of light. It’s brighter in the center and has a very even and smooth fade to the periphery, so there’s a natural “look here” factor, unlike aspherics where the beam’s so even it looks like ceiling bounce.

It’s a matter of “use the right tool for the job”. I got my Cometa right here, and tried it right now. Light up the wall, look at, say, the clock. Aim it high, low, left, right. The intensity of light at the clock hardly varies at all.

Repeat with a DFed light of any kind, and you’ll know what it is the light’s aimed at, even though it’s a nice smooth wall of light.

And DF fixed all my LuxPro lights with those hateful little G3s in 'em. Took each light from being a thrower with horrible fried-egg beam, to a really smooth area light whose beam is now pretty nice (albeit a bit chilly).

Best thing about it? If you stick it on the outside vs behind the glass like on my Tacklife and LuxPros, it’s 100% reversible. Don’t like it, just peel it off, vs, say, swapping out a 90° TIR lens for a 60° one by having to take apart the entire light.

And, oh, man, drawing a blank here… the lights that are practically mil-spec, the AA/14500 has the little finger-notches on the side, annoying MLH-nomem sequence? E3 or E03, I think. Bah. Well anyway, I didn’t have any stick-on film for that, and cut a circle of no-stick DF for it, and it just stuck to the lens by kinda wedging under the lip somewhat. Never fell off, so I left it. Anyhoo, that was a bit throwy for an AA light, but I left the DF and that too became a pretty kick-ass area light.

Ah! Xeno! Sumbich, they’re still available on amazon for <20bux. I thought they were long discontinued. Unless they’re NOS…

Anyhoo, a 2700K area-light in an AA form-factor? I’d love to know where I buried that light, because I know I didn’t give it away, and used to use that around the house all the time for precisely the beam I described.

Thinking about it now, it’s probably why I instantly took to my TS10 as my around-the-house light.

Anyway, the whole point if the above tome is that sometimes nothing beats some slapped-on DF for a nigh-perfect close-range beam, that beats aspherics, TIRs, and certainly reflectors.

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