or a knock off for $4.09
The BLF348 was my routine giveaway light last fall, bundling it with an Eneloop and a one-slot NiMH charger.
It introduced friends to the habit of using rechargeables instead of throwaway alkaleaks.
Then they improved it by adding a keyring hole!
https://www.gearbest.com/led-flashlights/pp_554387.html
Just ordered 1 of these... and contacted seller about the TG06 knockoff
these are really great as small edc lights. because they are great to clip on and easy to carry. I have a lot of better lights now, but the clip is awesome and sits super firm on the light, the shape of the body makes it easy to grab, won’t leave your pocket, carries deep… I found these from skywolfeye, model b13, with high-low-blink for 1.50.
But these are clones of clones of clones… the body shape is always the same, but switch boots and leds and drivers differ…
for the skywolfeye ones… sometimes with mode memory, but usually next mode memory (meh) sometimes it goes back to first mode fast and forgets NMM, sometimes it remembers after months… I usually test them how they behave and keep the last-mode-memory ones for myself and friends. The rest is to give away. I ordered a dozen of these for work with children groups or to just gift away. skywolfeye uses really nice switches.
I ordered a same looking light from another manufacturer after I could not find the b13 anymore on amazon. It had one mode only (which I prefer), but the switch cover was some stiffer material and felt slippery and was harder to use.
people are usually super impressed by the b13, because noone has a flashlight and they look very nice and feel quality. And the clip is super awesome on these. I originally bought one just for the clip to put on another light, and then bought 10 more. I also put the clip on the tail of my copper tool, because it carries deeper than the original clips and sits better. for an ultra cheap AAA, these are the best in terms of form.
People are more likely to keep and actually use an AAA probably than an AA… even if AA is better ofcourse.
Now if these were reliably available with a LED that is halfway decent, and only have one mode, I’d buy another dozen. usually these make 60 lumens or so… but usually they come with blueish LEDs
Else sofirn sf10 for 7 bucks seems to be the best sub 10 bucks decent light in AA with half decent LED other than the 2.50 zoomies with their gruesome shapes.
Also recommend SF10. I gifted an SF10 to family who likes no frills, simple on and off flashlights, the extra modes are just a bonus. though I made sure to tell them lower brightness = longer battery life. It’s regularly on sale for around $7, the extra $2 is worth it for a dependable and inexpensive light.
I once gave a 2xAAA like this one, and apparently it could get a bit too hot for kids, so beware.
Also they have weak threading, will be destroyed after a few battery changes
ok, the 2xAAA? - I only had the 1xAAA. Never had problems with these. The 1xAAA never get hot. - I would never spend the 2-3 extra bucks to buy a blue tinted 2xAAA penlight of these. But for give-away lights, the 1xAAA variety is awesome. No idea about the threading… I just keep them around, give away… I always unscrew these to check if they work, tighten everything, drop in a battery… So I unscrewed each light probably only 3-4 times… If you get these, they are assembled, but you need to fully tighten them here or there, and maybe drop some lube on them… 1,50 a pop doesn’t come from nothing. still I was kinda impressed. good switch, o-rings… on my skywolfeye ones the threading seems decent once you lube it.
still, tint is blue… but I gave 5 of these 1.50 lights away already to people who needed light. while I probably would not give an astrolux A01 for 7 bucks away randomly.
Kinda like the difference of buying a drink for someone you just met a beer at a bar vs. inviting a friend for the best late night pizza snack in town.
Sounds like the same problem I noticed with a 18650 SkyWolfEye light — very lightweight, thin soft aluminum tubing.
One mode, just on/off. Beam’s surprisingly clean for a reflector, think it’s a SMO reflector but has a beam similar to OP, as it’s a nice blur from hotspot to spill. Rather blue, but not angrily so. Yeah, single AA (alkaleak only, never tried LFP or Li-ion), typische boost circuit like for solar walkway lights.
The switch lasted a reeeeeeeeeally long time, but then got finicky after the knurling was already worn away at the points to make it look gray instead of black. It’s a rubberised side-clicky, nice firm click and lots of travel. But in my case it’s what went out first, and even that was after… yeesh, years of use.
The issue as far as replacing the switch is that there’s extra length in the tube between positive contact and head, where the switch sits, alone, like on a C/D Maglite. No idea how to nondestructively remove it for repair/replacement, but for 3bux, I went on to bobofett 2.
This is bobofett’s helmet, all beat to Hell, and kinda how my light looked after being “stone-washed” in my pockets with keys and loose change for ages.
The Thorfire CT01 manual states a max output of 150 lumens. The claim of 20K for this look-alike is an indication of a fake.
We'll see! I'm curious how much better it is than my old SK68..... which I don't own anymore!
Mmmm, not really. Don’t think it’s actually “Thorfire”, as quality is quite bad. More like a bad ’68 clone but with a different head.
Ask me how I know… :person_facepalming:
You should have warned me :p now it's too late :(
But might be good enough for gifting right?
ThorFire TG06S
$3.60
You're tha man!
Edit: just ordered 1 of these... we'll see how 'bad' this one is.
I guess we have a winner… or at least a contendor to the sf10, which is almost double price and above the 5$ limit. and this one claims it does the same. seems the best of the rest suggested so far.
I will order one. it can’t be that bad.
edit… haha, on european ebay they start at 11 euros from hongkong… so translated to $ that’s 10$ more than on ebay.com …and they are listed up to 30 euros… lol.
So these eBay prices for the “TG06S” are very tempting…
There are some flashlights labeled as ThorFire TG06S on Aliexpress for even less:
they TG06S or SF10 seems to be the new SK68.
whatever… cloners evolved.
I think the Sofirn was manufacture of ThorFire? SF12 looks exactly like the TG06S. And I’m guessing $2+ clones will never arrive to your door.