I just tried the link to the AmazPlus Sipik Clone and the page appeared but they said they were out of stock. By the way, the price was $8.76
ANOTHER THEORY: If AmazPlus is trying to build a business under their own name (or is it really their name ???) at the same time that they are trying to build a business as a fulmillment house for lots of other companies, then their operating practices/standards may vary depenind on whom they are representing. In other words, contractional arrangements with the sellers they're working with may be more stringent (or less, or course) than their own (in house) standards.
By the way, they list a telephone number - 00852 8191 7058 My son (a frequent traveler to China) is in the process of getting me set up with a low cost telephone service to China and Hong Kong (and probably Singapore) so I'll try to give them a call after getting the new service/calling card.
Also, they don't seem to stress flashlights (and their site is not very well designed).
That's what I'm thinking. I wonder how many "semi-custom" $8 to $10 flashlights the original manufacturer would have to build to make it worthwhile for him to bother? Some of these produces seem rather small so we might get lucky (if we can get to the source for the "Clone of Clones").
How many do people think we can comfortably commit to as a group?
a confirmed 3-mode sellerhas been found according to the OP of that thread. i dont vouch nor confirm, i am only pointing you readers to this source of info.
on a side note, maybe one day in distant future i should get a Sipik 1-mode or 3-mode clone, too, purely out of community spirit and solidarity or just to remind me of the good ol' times we were having on BFL ...
... before i got my little green friend and myself outlawed by the seniors. I still dont like the Sipik's design (looks) and i find its best-selling status astounding and fascinating!!
I think you will be happy with the one mode. I have been pocket carrying a UltrFire Sipik clone for about a month and it is only one mode.
The ironic thing is that I have spent the last year buying lights without strobe because I hate strobe.
The only reason I am chasing the 3-mode, is that I am going to give a bunch away for Christmas presents. I will be giving them away to nonflashaholics of all ages and thought that they would like the three modes.
I need about 25 total and I am thinking by the time the holidays roll around, I will have a variety of different Sipik clones. Some will be three mode some one.
Yaay, I received two three-modes today. The circumstances are a bit odd. They were in seperate packages and I ordered three of them. They had Amazplus on the envelopes, but from what I have read, that is where all these 3-modes are being shipped from.
I have also ordered some from dayxmas a couple of weeks ago.
Here is my timeline.
03/23- I ordered three from Amazplus. http://www.amazplus.com/cree-q5-led-200-lumen-torch-flashlight-p-308514.html
04/11- I ordered three from dayxmas from ebay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/180852669695?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_4524wt_1154
04/15- I ordered three more from dayxmas.
I am going to assume that the two lights I recieved today are from the first order and another single will come straggling in.
Back to the lights I just recieved. I haven't had time to test them much but the UI appears to be that it comes on in high mode when light has been off for five seconds or more. Less than five seconds and it cycles through high/med/strobe
One question - is the tail cap interchangeable with single mode SK68's?
I mean, is this the same body or different one with loose lens and different tail cap and switch design. Also, are the finns as deep as on single mode ones?
I have only 1 mode ones from TomTop_W and all of them are the same, also one from T-Mart that was supposed to be 3 mode but turned out to be single mode is identical except for the body color.
My brother bought single mode one from Ebay and got with slightly different body proportions - smaller, almost tiny cooling fins, dotted switch cap that feels sturdier and not as mushy as on mine, different tail design that is not interchangeable with my SK68's, plastic lens that falls out when you unscrew lens cap, the spot is smaller and thus it throws little bit farther.
I want to order couple of 3-mode ones from Amazplus finally :D
Yes, the tailcaps interchange with the TomTop_W lights. I have two of the TTs. The tailcaps interchange between all of the different iterations of the Sipik SK68s I own. The bezels and lenses are all interchangeable too but the focus becomes unacceptable.
The 3-mode lights that I got today have a thinner bezel and wider lense. The beam is noticeably smaller and more intense than on the other clones I have.
Here is what I got
3-mode Ultrafire
1-mode Ultrafire
1-mode Sipik SK68 colors version
1-mode TomTop_W
Physically these lights are almost identical. The multicolored ones and the TomTop_W ones appear to be identical. The parts are interchangeable on all of them except that the focus of the lense changes when the bezels and lenses are swapped. I would have to give a slight edge to the Ultrafire branded lights. The zooming mechanism seems snugger and smoother and seems to focus a little better without having to twist it for the ultimate focus.
I do have a silver Smiling Shark clone that I got from Manafont that the parts won't swap. Its parts are a little different. This is the only clone that I don't like. The zooming sleeve is very sloppy, the beam is purple, and it won't taIlstand. It works good though, but I am going to give it away. It's also the most expensive clone I've bought.
I finally received my third Sipik clone yesterday. Weird how they sent all three separate even though they were ordered together.
Now to wait for the others from dayxmas. Here is a exerpt from an email I recieved from dayxmas that some might find interesting. The bolded text relates to the seperate shipping.
Due to the recent cancellation of flights to the European countries, there is insufficient air cargo space to meet with postal demand, air mail services (including Speedpost) from Hong Kong to European destinations may be subject to delay.
All items are sent separately,if you buy more than one item,they may not arrive at the same time.
I just received my last six 3-modes from dayxmas. Three in one package and three more shipped in three separate packages. The three that arrived in one package have no labeling, the others shipped separate are labeled Ultrafire.
All six are 3-mode and have the wider lense. I guess we wait for another production run to get the premo prices.
Anyone else ordered from Amazplus and still have their order status as packaging?
I paid for mine on 24.04.12., wrote them a message yesterday, still no response from them.
I've ordered 6 Sipik SK68 clones recently, all separately. 2 from Toptom.com and the rest via various eBay sellers. I've purposely avoided 3-mode because as much as I like having the Low mode, I was sure that I would hate the strobe.
My last order, which was supposed to be a single-mode like all of the others, turned out to be a 3-mode. (I thought the damn thing was defective at first - "Why the fxxx is it flickering?!") Much to my surprise, I don't mind the 3-mode. Since there's no memory, if I don't want the strobe, I just leave it off for a few seconds after the Low and it comes back High. The advantage of a High/Low outweighs the PITA flash mode.
Don't know if anyone's interested but I found some sellers on ebay selling the the Sipik SK68 clone 3-mode for $6.69. Probably the same person. I just bought one. Hope it's good quality and can replace my Sipik 1 mode flashlight.
