received my Convoy S2 today

LED Flashlights – General Info 18650 Flashlights
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I received a package from Fasttech today (rather, it had been dropped off at me door, waiting for me until I’ve just returned home from a seventeen-hours shift), with lots of tank007E09 inside (all but one intended to give to friends and coworkers), a couple of SK68s, and - the Convoy S2.

Indeed, what a swish 18650 torch it is, I have to say!

Machining, threads, O-rings, anodising, all is fine and dandy. The knurling of the battery tube could have been a wee bit more aggressive, but who am I to complain - I do have enough Solarforce L2Ps and $urefires, already.

That GITD rubber switch cap is SO ugly! Whoever wants a 16mm GITD one will get mine, for free, shipping included (*crosses fingers that nobody from Japan will stand up - shipping to Japan is ROYALLY expensive!).

Yet, what really blew me candles was the tint. I do not know anymore what exactly I ordered, six weeks ago, but I think it was a cool-white XM-L; probably a T6 or a U2, if those are available after all. I did receive an XM-L-light - but looking at the beam, it could be an indandescent $urefire P61 bulb, really. SOoo yellowish!

Either I am getting old and my eyes don’t adapt to certain tints as good, anymore - but reall, that yellowish tint is so comfortable to look at. Much less glaring, much easier to watch, much better to use; easier on the eyes.

planned modifications, so far: forward-clicky switch, black switch rubber cap, and of course the stainless belt clip (after I have deburred and smoothed its edges)

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Another forward clickie fan! Yay! :party:

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I just got the Convoy S2 host. I threw in a XMl2 and a 2.8 driver. Host seems well made but I have to agree with you on the switch cap. I also added the stainless clip but I’m not real happy with it.

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Actually, the Post has just lowered it’s international letter fees!
A 16mm rubber cap will go to Japan for 1.5€ if you can compress it to be no thicker than 1cm. :slight_smile:
click
I already shipped some stuff in a Großbrief and am quite happy with the fee. :wink:

I too like that warm tints. I have one of those 4c emitters from fasttech and absolutely adore it. :wink:

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… I spent a couple of minutes on the Convoy S2 today, with some interesting results.

- Swapping the reverse clicky for a solarforce forward clicky switch removed all the blinky modes alltogether, instantly. (Now, how does that make any sense at all?)

- In low, it now turns itself off for about a fraction of a second, then lights up again.

- Memory now seems to be erratic, at times.

That stainless belt clip is not a clip, really- it is just a flimsy coat hanger, at best. It does serve a purpose, though: it prevents the torch from disappearing deep into your trouser’s pocket, and after some proper deburring of the sharp edges with a Dremel tool, it won’t tear up the seams. It is nothing like the 4Sevens DeepCarry clip, though.

Alloy, ano and construction survived the first accidental drop very well - in comparison, my LD10 looked far worse after having been dropped on cobblestones for the first time.

To be honest, there are torches which feel more pleasing to hold in my hands - a lot more. This one seems to be slippery (isn’t, but feels like so), the cooling fins on the head are shallow and, in conclusion, have the appearance of a half-heartedly machined design gimmick, a poser. In fact, I’m going to call it the “boring little tit”, after the episode “The testing of Eric Olthwaite” from Michael Palin’s telly comedy series. Just like the naive protagonist this light seemingly appears to have a slight awkwardness to it - nothing I could point out, precisely; yet, it is something which makes me so indecisive whether to like or dislike this torch.

If you had been lucky enough to watch that said episode on the BBC, you too might have come to the conclusion to like Eric Olthwaite, despite his odd interests in coal shovels and rain gauge records (takes place in Yorkshire, what’d you expect?); and just like him, the Convoy S2 has bewitched me by its terrific yellow XM-L tint of Lord-knows-which binning and its solid construction.

Around midnight, it blew away the night watchman’s incandescent hand lamp (xenon bulb powered by twelve NiCd).
I’m going to keep it, and it is going to be used a lot.

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It has the '2-group/3-5 mode' driver in it. You somehow switched it to the 3-mode group. ;)

http://www.fasttech.com/product/1186301

Mode groups:
  • Unlike the 4-group 105c driver, the four stars on this 2-group 105c variant do not alter mode groups
  • To switch mode group: switch to Lo mode and count 5 seconds. When a quick blink occurs, briefly power cycle or half press on/off switch.
  • Group 1: Lo (5%) > Mid (50%) > Hi (100%)
  • Group 2: Lo (5%) > Mid (50%) > Hi (100%) > Strobe > SOS
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Oh, silly me! Thank you for pointing that out to me, comfychair.

The lack of proper knurling has been remedied today - easy and effective, with a strip of self-adhesive anti-skid tape. It’s like black and yellow striped 80-grit sandpaper. Slipperiness is a thing of the past, now.

I think me and my S2 will become good workmates in the future; I am still amazed by that wonderfully yellowish tint. Just like a generic incandescent bulb, yet, as bright as every XM-L driven past 2.5A at the same time. Crikey, a SRK fitted with three of those 3000K-4000K XM-L emitters would easily replace your average 500W halogen work light!