Flashlight frustration - searching "the one"

[hacklordsniper]

Hello,

in my hobby and work i always needed and wanted a flashlight. On my work i have 12 trucks on care, i do interventions in night, lightservicing, repairs electrical and mechanical, often even body work,reading out VDO data, meet the drivers and give them assistance,documents (so basically everything). And to be more fun i live under a dark forest so flashlight is essential.

My first flashlight was a mini maglite with LED upgrade. It was a great littleflashlight but weak for my work so i bought my first single 18650 flashlight and charger combo (eBay special from China). The runtime was quite short, light was ok, battery vented quite fast on bad quality charger.

After that i bought 5-6 otherflashlights (mostly 1X18650 or 2X18650), some had problems with bad electrical connections on aluminum, other overheated or had bad switches. I had not found reliable flashlight. Last one i bought had a car charger with it (great, i wanted a flashlight can be charged anywhere simply) and almost caused a fire after i found out car charger is nothing except a resistor inside the plug. I was tired of low quality chargers, flashlight and batteries. Ok i admit i never bought a brand model, except ultrafire flashlight

For fun i ordered 85 W hid that came with defective battery, so i run it only shortly from my LAB supply. But that was definitely not what i needed

I decided i need a good quality flashlight,easily rechargeable anywhere, has good runtime, adjustable power levels and can be charged easy in car or house without dragging bagfull of cables and chargers. It should also be quite small, and not let me down every time i need it.

I searched quite long until i have seen Nitecore TM26 and fell in love at first sight.It seems to have everything i ever wanted, and despite talking myself out of it i ordered it in friday with car charger and Nitecore batteries. The DHL guy just came here to work and i put it on charge without anyone seeing it. I cant play with it now, but surely this night will not be for sleep. I guess i found my flashlight because i get chills when patting it under my table


Sorry for lengthy post, here is a Nitecore TM26 charging

 

[mcnair55]

I hope you enjoy your new light,you deserve it.

 

[caleb_v]

Good job on ordering some quality products I'm sure it will blow your socks off.


Sent from my iPhone using Candlepowerforums

 

[hacklordsniper]

Ok, im simply amazed with my flashlight. However im not amazed by its acessories.

I really dont understand how should i assemble this lanyard, it seems broken or am i stupid?



Second the car charger is definately not original Nitecore, from inside there is hair thin wires, quite lousy soldering... There is no electronics inside, the wires are connected directly to the plug. The lanyard and car charger are definately not original Nitecore, but just cheap toys. I even cant find car charger on Nitecore website? Can someone confirm the contents of Nitecore car charger, i dont want to burn my flashlight



But no mather what, light is awesome.

 

[GordoJones88]

Ok i admit i never bought a brand model, except ultrafire flashlight.

Indeed, it is better to spend extra money on a good flashlight, batteries, and charger
than a box full of malfunctioning and even dangerous crap.
You chose well.

 

[EsthetiX]

Would recommend the Zebralight SC62W or SC600 for your purposes.

 

[Fireclaw18]

For me "The One" would have the following features:

1. Fully adjustable brightness: Moonlight to 20,000 lumens
2. Zoomable: Wide flood mode (120 degrees) and able to zoom to a tight spot with at least 3 million lux. Should also have an optional hotspot in flood mode.
3. Fully adjustable tint: 2500k to 7000k. I want to be able to adjust the tint on the fly.
4. Light weight: No more than 50 grams empty. Runs on 1x18650. Dimensions not to exceed 100mm x 25mm
5. Electronic smart sideswitch: The switch should be "smart" in that it would be able to detect whether pressure is applied from a finger or just from being crushed in the pocket. Don't want any accidental activations in the pocket.
6. Runs cool: External body shouldn't ever exceed 110 degrees F.
7. Long runtime: 4 hours at max power, 4 years at moonlight.

I'm still waiting for someone to build "The One". While I wait, I'll use my new SC62W or modded Aleto N8.

 

[NoNotAgain]

You need to thread the small portion of the lanyard thru the hole in the tail of the light. The lanyard isn't much to write home about. Just use the provided holster or have someone make one for you out of para cord.

You'll love the TM26 and the OLED display. After owning this light, you'll wonder why more companies don't display the same information provided by Nitecore.

I've got a TM15, TM26 and TM36.

 

[Norm]

I really dont understand how should i assemble this lanyard, it seems broken or am i stupid?

Your not stupid, it is broken.

Norm

 

[Fireclaw18]

Your not stupid, it is broken.

Norm

Agreed. I think the thin part of the lanyard is supposed to come pre-attached to the plastic thingie. Yours is loose.

 

[NoNotAgain]

The end of the plastic fog is missing. The end retains the cord inside. The small thread is so that you can thread the thimble like a sewing needle then thread the fatter cord thru.

 

[Brasso]

Now go get yourself a Surefire. It will come in handy after that Nitecore stops working.

 

[BIGLOU]

+1 on the SF. Have it bored out to accept an 18650. Add a McClicky to the stock SF tailcap. Get a Vinh or Nailbender drop-in. I dont buy new lights anymore I found perfection. This is the way to go all you have to do is unscrew the head and put in what ever new drop-in comes out.

 

[derfyled]

Now go get yourself a Surefire. It will come in handy after that Nitecore stops working.

Follow Brasso's advice, it's full of wisdom... Nitecore are not known for being overly reliable... They are impressive, nice specs, nice design but rather unpredictable.

 

[hacklordsniper]

Thank you for nice comments. I have seen some issues with this particular flashlight and decided to buy it anyway. At this moment i left it to work overnight and everything is fine. I checked everything and the build quality seems perfect. There is no green tint in the LED-s, the button works and feels like a good quality one, it does not miss any half or full press. All machining seems to be perfect, i could not find even a little scratch. To be honest some negative comments did not seem like a problem (connecting the carger and no batteries inside, pushing the button from side...)

If it stays this way, i will be happy.

 

[oKtosiTe]

Unless you didn't include the little plastic bit that is supposed to hold the rest of the thick cord in place inside the plastic bit in the picture, you may have an incomplete lanyard there. If you did receive it, just thread the thin cord through the lanyard attachment point, loop it around the non-plastic end of the lanyard, and pull the thick wire through the hole. Then loop the lanyard around itself to secure it.
In the end though, the included lanyard is of questionable quality, and I replaced mine with a piece of paracord (with a zipper pull at the end for safety).

 

[f22shift]

Ok, im simply amazed with my flashlight. However im not amazed by its acessories.

I really dont understand how should i assemble this lanyard, it seems broken or am i stupid?



Second the car charger is definately not original Nitecore, from inside there is hair thin wires, quite lousy soldering... There is no electronics inside, the wires are connected directly to the plug. The lanyard and car charger are definately not original Nitecore, but just cheap toys. I even cant find car charger on Nitecore website? Can someone confirm the contents of Nitecore car charger, i dont want to burn my flashlight



But no mather what, light is awesome.

i can't be for sure but maybe it's supposed to be that way. the left end maybe ties into a knot? you use the thin string and put it into the right side of the lanyard. then you use the thin string to go into the flashlight hole i'm assuming(like the string is a needle). pull the thin string which will pull the thick lanyard through the hole. and then you loop the lanyard in itself.
haha does that even make sense? the thin string is to help the lanyard go into a tight hole.

 

[blah9]

Enjoy your light! I always thought that was a cool one!