Solarforce Skyline 2
Incredibly poor output, even by yesteryear’s standards. It’s a Li-Ion 18650 light, but many decent 1xAA lights put it to shame. Additionally, the PWM is so bad on lower output levels that some have described it as a “random flicker”. It was a huge disappointment.
PM sent 
Although it’s generally a good host, I must admit I almost never use one of my two Convoy S3 lights.
I got a XP-G2 light in gold/orange, with a 2B tint (IIRC). Max of 1.4A, 3/5-mode driver. It was my first XP-G2, and I ordered a a black-anodized 2.8A one with XM-L (1A tint) at the same time. It’s honestly a decent light overall, but it sits there unused.
Why? Mostly because it’s awkwardly in-between any of my practical use cases and it’s an icky color.
- I don’t like the orangey gold ano color. I’d be embarrassed to EDC it even though my purse has a clip ring I could attach it to.
- The hotspot is a bit too narrow for biking, so the floodier XM-L model works better. Or, even better, my Convoy S7 has an even nicer beam pattern for biking (I mostly just use the S3 XM-L if two of us are biking at the same time though).
- Compared to my CNQG brass light, it’s bigger (yet less throwy), has less useful output levels (100/40/5 vs 100/25/2), shorter runtimes, and a less useful beam tint. So I use the brass one instead.
- For sheer lumens, a light half its size (SC52 or RRT01) can do the same job. And a bunch of other jobs too, since the S3’s low mode just isn’t low enough.
I guess I could use it as a backup for my backup biking light, if three of us went out at night and everyone needed lights, but that has never happened. Or if a group of us went night hiking… no, who am I kidding? I have plenty of lights for the whole group with or without the golden S3. So it just sits here, next to my HD2011, waiting for me to figure out what to do with it.
Meanwhile, I find myself contemplating the idea of a new Convoy S3 modded to use a triple nichia 219 with floody TIR optics and 4-mode qlite driver… same basic host, massively more useful configuration. But not orangey gold, please.
—
Update: I got some DC-Fix (sand) today, and put it on my too-narrow Convoy S3. It now shines in a great pattern for biking, and the medium (~40% of 1.4A) mode is just about right for the task (with ~200 lumens or so for ~5.5 hours). Now my only real complaint is the ugly ano color, which isn’t such a big issue at night anyway.
Unknown Ultrafire - Avoid
<1A and worse of all… “Floating” Alu star has <10% contact with the pill (more like a through tube).
Amen.......
don't forget the fact it runs on 14500 only
or
the fact it's terribly difficut to use ...even with two hands
Would those Z8's not be customizable?
Triple A contacted me first . 
Yes quite easily, i put an old sipik driver and an xre in one before i gave it away to a plumber mate of mine. Not a bad light after that. Now he won’t touch another light unless it’s a zoomie!
I tried to give him an L2T aswell but he wouldn’t have it. Zoomie convert.
The TF Z8 is a twist zoom, not a slide zoom. I had one so tight that it would not twist at all, and hence would not zoom. I gave it away as a non-zoom. Do not buy this awful light.
Personally never had a problem with my Z8. Stock it was way brighter than any of my SK68’s.
Ok it didn’t throw as far, but that’s because it’s an XM-L…… which you know before you buy.
PWM on it is no worse than many other budget and not so budget lights.
The only thing I didn’t really like with mine was the tint was ultra cool white.
But the zoom worked well and easy with one hand.
I swapped the XM-L for a Nichia 219. Made a nice little light, sadly I damaged the LED while messing about with it, so it now has a NW XB-D in it.
It’s a nicer light than an SK68 and I think only cost $11.
Ah yes, I also have an Olight S10 titanium I don’t like.
Not because of the greenish beam (easily changed by swapping in a different emitter and lens)… but rather because I chose the brushed titanium.
This was the first brushed titanium light I purchased and I was surprised at how much I didn’t like it.
(1) The texture felt like I was holding a piece of chalk. It really didn’t feel comfortable to me at all. I really hated the texture. This surprised me since I have a few polished titanium lights that feel great in the hand.
(2) The look of the finish was ok… but it didn’t really look classy like polished titanium. Instead it looks just like the natural HA finish on some Zebralights.
(3) Titanium may be “premium”, but in practice I find I prefer aluminum for my EDC lights because it’s lighter.
Bump
We got one from the same batch because mine was the exact same bad buy. Couldn't have expressed it better.
The others I'd add to this list are the standard under-driven C8s from various vendors and the usual DX TC500 Shadow knock off with next-mode memory. And there are others.
Yep, me too.
I cant say that I have lots of lights, but I have plenty of them and thus, not all of them have seen equal use, some duties have lights rotating through them.
Probably my least used light is Nitecore EA8W simply because its such a thrower and I live in the city :D!
But it will, I know :D!
Not a lot of lights here (yet!). I tend to ‘specialize’ with mine, each for a planned purpose. I don’t always carry my Gerber multi-tool, but with it goes a Tank 007 TK 703 fed with a 10440. I wanted a slender thrower and high lumens. I knew it would be ‘ringy’, and I got all that. But I also got a 30-45 second run-time before it gets extremely hot, and that doesn’t fit the intended purpose. Alki’s run cool enough but lose the exceptional lumens. Not sure if I can find a purpose for it, so it will become my first “mistake” when it’s replacement arrives.
Liking this thread, kind of makes you think about that next purchase doesn’t it?
Phil
It would be the Jacob A60 coz its a pure thrower and I have no use for it apart shining the beam to the sky at night.
I had a Fenix TK75 for a while. It was too big to carry around often, and too throwy to use in a city. Great light, but I gave it to someone who lives in the country where it will actually be useful.
OTOH, I’ve found a Noctigon Meteor to be a lot of fun. Three times the lumens of the TK75 but only a third as much throw. It’s much more useful here.