Jil clone -3W F&L J1 1xCR2 Flashlight

Jil clone

3W F&L J1 1xCR2 Flashlight - regulated $23.75

http://www.szwholesale.com/1xcr2-flashlight-regulated-p-740.html

Is it any good?

What's the shipping cost?

Are there afforable rechargeable CR2 batteries?

The bottom of the flashlight looks crude...very bad machining. There is no match in the quality..but as they same, imitation is the best form of flattery and JIL deserves it. =D

The wholesale site charges 30% fee on orders less than $200 so the price will be $30.88.

J1 <- Looks like JIL :naughty:

fifthunit.com is selling them for $ 20.25.

A lot of discussion on this light has taken place here as well: http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=129390

larryk said:

fifthunit.com is selling them for $ 20.25.

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link-- $23 shipped:

http://contents.fifthunit.com/html/products.5th/sku.900.html

goldserve said:

The bottom of the flashlight looks crude...very bad machining.

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Are you talking about the hole on the bottom ?? It's machined out so you can mount it onto a standard 'camera' tripod or anything else with a similar thread.
Good idea if you ask me. How many times did you want to fix a light onto the side of a helmet, skateboard, bike, etc.. but didn't have a way of attaching it properly ?

I haven't heard of fifthunit, are they reputable? Their prices are very good so I am suprised that I don't see them mentioned alot on here.

adirondackdestroyer said:

I haven't heard of fifthunit, are they reputable? Their prices are very good so I am suprised that I don't see them mentioned alot on here.

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SEARCH is your friend, too.

I sure hope they are... I ordered their K2 10w earlier today.


They take Paypal which was assuring

Anyone know if the F&L J1 has a glass or plastic lens?
How about the reflector?...aluminum or plastic?

Looks to be an almost exact replica of the Jil CR2 regulated (now JCR2 HI). It's only a quarter inch shorter than my small 1x123A lights tho (Jet1, P1, LR5A)...not sure I want one yet. Will wait for reviews.

Regarding fifthunit - I've read both good and bad reviews on them here on CPF. I've never ordered from them. I've read they can take a while to deliver items. Dae's always been great to me, so I'll continue to give him my return patronage.

I wanted one until i saw the rear machining..Ouch. Compare that to the pics of the real one and you can just tell which one is the quality product. I may still buy one, but once those Luxogen cr2 (where are they?) show up, i'll have to rethink it.

It certainly appears that the styling was 'inspired by' the JIL-CR2 series, the appearance is very similar to the JIL-CR2 1.3W (or JCR2-HI) version. They even named it the "F&L J1", which seems to be intentionally similar to JIL.

The construction quality and annodizing don't look anywhere near as good as the real JIL-CR2 or JCR2, but what do you expect for $20-30. If that is threading cut into the hole in the tail, it would be an interesting feature (borrowed from the JET-I) that the JIL does not have. However I don't think I'd have much use for the threading and the light isn't as pretty that way, especially due to the quality of the machining.

At that price, it is not going to have the premium McR-18 reflector or UCL lens that the JIL-Lite JCR2 has. They probably aren't using premium bin Luxeon-III LED's either, so you'll probably get the Luxeon (or clone equivalant) lottery for brightness, tint, and Vf. Hopefully the head will be unsealed so the LED can be accessed but it is hard to tell if the top of the bezel/head can be unscrewed like the JIL's can be. It will be interesting to learn more about its regulation.

I would be interested to see a review of this new light, but it is definitely not in the same class as the JIL-Lite JCR2. The JCR2 is a premium light with lots of high end features (McR-18, UCL lens, good tint LED's, very high quality matte gray HA3 annodizing, FLuPIC option) and a collection of available accessories like the JIL-Cab (1AA) and JIL-Bus (2AA) extended bodies that accept Kroll switches.

I am sure we will learn more about the pros and cons of the "F&L J1" once somebody on CPF receives one and reviews it.

How does it compare to a Fenix P1?

Are 1xCR2 flashlights weaker than most 1xCR123 flashlights?

I received my F&L J1 (JiL clone) in the mail yesterday and can say mine doesn't have the poor machining on the end threads. The tint is a warmish yellow, probably around 5k Kelvin. I haven't had a chance to check the lux output of it yet, but it doesn't appear as bright as my E2E with KL1 head. The lens I think is polycarbonate, as I've done the probably unscientific tap test with a coin, and it sounds different that glass. The anodizing is well applied and covers the threads and all surfaces well. The soldering on the electronics isn't as clean as I would have liked, but the light did work on the first try, so it is fully functional. I don't have a real JiL JCR2 (yet), so I can't do a side by side comparision. I tested the J1 using a standard CR2 battery and will have to wait to see how it does on rechargeables. The J1 also ships with a standard wrist lanyard, not the lobster claw clip like on the JiL. I think I like the lobster claw clip better, so will probably replace the lanyard.

As an inexpensive substitute for the JiL or possible mod candidate, the F&L J1 is a good buy. If you want the full functions of the JiL JCR2 with the FLuPIC goodness, head over to LITEmania's thread. Thanks go out to Dae for carrying the J1 on his wholesale and retail sites. The J1 is a nice little light that I wouldn't mind carrying around on my keychain or as a EDC.

RadarGreg said:

I received my F&L J1 (JiL clone) in the mail yesterday and can say mine doesn't have the poor machining on the end threads. The tint is a warmish yellow, probably around 5k Kelvin. I haven't had a chance to check the lux output of it yet, but it doesn't appear as bright as my E2E with KL1 head. The lens I think is polycarbonate, as I've done the probably unscientific tap test with a coin, and it sounds different that glass. The anodizing is well applied and covers the threads and all surfaces well. The soldering on the electronics isn't as clean as I would have liked, but the light did work on the first try, so it is fully functional. I don't have a real JiL JCR2 (yet), so I can't do a side by side comparision. I tested the J1 using a standard CR2 battery and will have to wait to see how it does on rechargeables. The J1 also ships with a standard wrist lanyard, not the lobster claw clip like on the JiL. I think I like the lobster claw clip better, so will probably replace the lanyard.

As an inexpensive substitute for the JiL or possible mod candidate, the F&L J1 is a good buy. If you want the full functions of the JiL JCR2 with the FLuPIC goodness, head over to LITEmania's thread. Thanks go out to Dae for carrying the J1 on his wholesale and retail sites. The J1 is a nice little light that I wouldn't mind carrying around on my keychain or as a EDC.

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RadarGreg,

Thanks for the mini-review of the F&L J1. If you can post pictures of the disassembled light, that would be great. I'd like to see inside of the head and the electronics. If you happen to have the equipment to do a runtime test on it, I'd be curious to see the results since that would give us an idea of how efficient the boost circuit is and how it drops off. Note that the boost circuit may not be designed for Li-Ion cells, so proceed with caution when using RCR2 Li-Ion cells in the light. I will be very interested to know if it can withstand the use of Li-Ion cells on a regular basis. If you have time to do a quick test of the J1 with some other battery combinations (like 1xAA NiMH, 1xAA Alkaline, 2xAA NiMH, 2xAA Alkaline) using a jumper wire, I would like to know how well the boost circuit performs at lower input voltages.

Of course, now you need to get a real JIL to compare it to.

I noticed the following question and response on fifthunit's website about using RCR2 Li-Ion cells in the F&L J1:
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rmzlb asks:
Is a rechargeable 3.6v CR2 cell appropriate for this light?

Kyle (FifthUnit) responds:
The manufacturer stated that this flashlight will take a maximum of 3V power. It will burn out when voltage exceeds 3V.

This means that 3.6V are not suitable but in the meantime there are 3V CR2 rechargeables available on the market which you can use. Even if you got the 3V CR2's, be sure to use a multimeter to test the voltage out before deploying since in our experience a lot of rechargeables go way over the stated voltage when fully charged.

I wanted to breathe a little life back into this thread. I received a RCR2 unprotected battery today from LightHound and promptly charged it and put in in the F&L JiL clone. It didn't burn out the LED and did seem somewhat brighter. I'll get a fresh CR2 battery and my luxmeter and see if there is a difference in the RCR2 and CR2 battery output.

Do you think it'll act up if driven hard all the time ? (in theory)

RadarGreg said:

I wanted to breathe a little life back into this thread. I received a RCR2 unprotected battery today from LightHound and promptly charged it and put in in the F&L JiL clone. It didn't burn out the LED and did seem somewhat brighter. I'll get a fresh CR2 battery and my luxmeter and see if there is a difference in the RCR2 and CR2 battery output.

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