Thank you!
For the warning about the cheap quality and taking one for the team ,that being said would you mind putting a link up on the Tmart torch that you paid 18.00$ for you have me seriously interested in it.
Thats a great comparison. Thanks for taking the time to take pics and post.
Great review and comparison. I consider myself a "best bang for the buck" buyer as you sound like too. I rarely buy the top brand expensive stuff because that performance to cost ratio just isn't there. I also stay away from the bottom end junk.
-Garry
It is hard to know what you will get as the stock changes from time to time. Right now this one is hot, and it is upgraded to an XM-L2 U3. It is being talked about in this link, started 12/03/13. This light ships from China though. U.S.
Christmas giveaway!! 
You paid half price, i wonder how much less the cheaper light actually cost to make
seems tmart has is in the US warehouse.
Yes, I see it ships from the US.
For the link
What’s the difference between the 105 series drivers and East 209 driver?
At-least you didn’t get a empty pill and the light work !
Only buy lights from reliable sources or can you have nasty surprises, I learn this the hard way too.
Try Convoy C8 its the best quality IMO.
This is why I've forever been preaching to noobs to stay off of Ebay . It seems the C-8 has become the ultra -fire 501 of the past .Welcome to the clone wars .
Convoy for the time being is a great idea if you're looking for this kind of light.
De-dome that purple emitter asap
So many people are interested in the C8
The 105C is a linear regulated driver - regulates the max amps. An East-092 driver (the good one) is unregulated. For me, I hate the 5 modes of the East-092 drivers, plus I've seen variations in the mode memory - some are a good short time, others act as next mode unless you wait long, etc. Also with an unregulated driver running an XML on alum star and a good battery, you can get crazy high amps causing heat sags and un-soldering of the LED because of the heat. All depends of course, but I prefer the 105C's moded up to 3.5A or 3.85A for a C8 and modes of your choice.
This cheapo C8 is moddable of course, but like many budget lights, requires more work, probably more parts - shame though to put $$$ into a poor quality, thin host.
This is all disappointing to hear. There are C8's now offered for $6 I was considering for modding. It's such a crap shoot out there. You do get surprised though now and then. I just modded a pair of these: fasttech ultrafire-c8-cree-q5, and for $13 to get a true SS bezel, it's unheard of. These lights actually had Omten switch's in them, and overall quality of the host was pretty good. The pill could have been better - not the standard size C8 threads, and all aluminum - no brass ring, so had to press fit a ring in myself.
Bought something similar from FT for $12 something…. In order for the reflector to compress the LED to the pill, the pill had to be unscrewn 3/4 way out from the body! And that is with the thick junk of an insulator… To remedy this, after chaning the insulator, I had to 1) add a piece of copper underneath the star 2) remove the lip of the reflector so it will fit inside the bezel and 3) grind away the bottom of the bezel ring (that holds down the window/reflector) so that the reflector is compressed enough… Deffinitely NOT worth the $3 savings. lol.
I appreciate you passing your knowledge on.
Uh… The bad one was from AMAZON!!
Not that you are wrong in any way, just that this isn’t that.
And here I thought “short-head C8” vs. “long-head C8” was weird enough! Now we have much more to worry about!
And that “insulator” looks almost identical to ones (black and white) I have found inside switches… NOT an XM-L insulator!!
All in all, I want to thank you sincerely for taking the hit on this!! I am surely not the only one who would tend to assume a higher level of Trust of Amazon — until now.
Thanks!
rofl! Thanks for the share!!