Quality And Reputation Of "Wolf Eyes"?

A96Honda

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Sep 11, 2006
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I have never heard of this company til recently. I saw a small WE HID 10w for sale here on the forum and bought it on impulse.... without much knowledge about the company or light.

When i received it. I found out it's an awesome light! Very impressed with it. Found out there's a vendor here that sells their brand.

Anyways, I was interested in getting the WE 9DX or maybe even the li-ion version.

I saw that the 9DX claims an output of 200 lumens @ 60mins with CR123s.
Are the numbers accurate, or inflated? I mean, if it's that easy, why hasnt companys like surefire make a similar output with runtime.

If those #'s are accurate, seems like a perfect replacement for my Pentagonlight X3.

Also, their li-ions. How's the quality?
 

Somy Nex

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wolf eyes and pilas used to share the same vendors (although in their latest iterations pila has moved to a new manufacturer) and seem to be somewhat low-key / underrated here. however, the few reviews / feedback you find here are almost all positive. A few LEOs such as Robocop and Madecov use them for duty and they seem to have been pretty reliable.

pila & wolf-eyes both rate their lights in bulb lumens, and not torch lumens. multiply that number by about 0.66 and you will get what is actually coming out of the front end, and what you get will be more comparable to a surefire number.

what is also very attractive about pila/wolf-eyes lights is that they are usually built for both li-on and primary CR123 use. especially the 3xcr123 lights where you can swap for 2xli-ons with absolutely no difference in output, but an improvement in runtime (and the benefits of using rechargeables). Pacific Tactical Solutions also sells kits to use 3x18500 or 3x18650 batteries with a 13v lamp, giving both brightness and runtime.

in a sense, pila and wolf-eyes li-on batteries and chargers can be considered like "original" or "branded" parts. the batteries you buy from other vendors are sort of the non-branded parts, but not necessarily less good. the batteries sold by AW/Lighthound/JS Burlys, to name a few, are just as good, but are more OEM-ish.

i have an old Pila GL4, and i'd swear my life on it. :) it's also pretty impressive build and output wise. although AFAIK, these lights are mostly HAII, most have described lights from these manufacturers as being very well built, even to the point of overbuilt.
 

GreySave

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<< I was interested in getting the WE 9DX or maybe even the li-ion version. >>

I have the 9D Raider in the rechargeable version. It is my workhorse around the house to keep an eye on the hounds in the yard at night. It is used multiple times daily. I LOVE this light! It is a bit heavier than a SureFire. It is not really a pocket light due to the weight, but the WE belt sheaths are inexpensive and it carries well there. It projects a nice hot spot with very useable spill. I am still on my original lamp assembly after a lot of use. I also love the fact that I can switch directly from the li-ions to primaries if need be. No changing of the lamp required. That was the single item that influenced my decision to try this as my first WE light. Flexibility. The only slight drawback to the light is that the lens on the "turbohead" style bezel is likely to break if it is dropped on anything solid. I received that caution directly from one of their vendors. That aside, it is a terrific light that I definitely recommend. I like mine so well I am considering purchasing the 13 volt.
 

Paul_in_Maryland

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Mar 27, 2005
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I own three Wolf Eyes models: 3.7V, 9V, and 13V. Most of us Wolf-Eyes CPFers hang out in the Incandescents forum. While we love our Wolf-Eyes in stock form, you can now buy aftermarket lamps that are 50 to 130 percent brighter than the Wolf Eyes lamps. The lamps are made and sold by The Lumens Factory. See the Lumens Factory thread.

Many of us Wolf Eyes owners are upgrading to the Lumens Factory lamps as soon as we receive our paychecks.

There's a catch, however: The company's D36-size lamps are designed for Wolf Eyes' 45mm heads (Cobra and Rattlesnake); they're 0.5mm too wide and a shade too deep to fit the 42mm-bezel Raider. My advice, then, is to step up to a larger-headed Wolf Eyes or get the 36mm-bezel Raider, which can use Lumens Factory D26 lamps rated at 320 lumens (1.5 amps) and 380 lumens (2.0 amps).
 

A96Honda

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Somy Nex said:
pila & wolf-eyes both rate their lights in bulb lumens, and not torch lumens. multiply that number by about 0.66 and you will get what is actually coming out of the front end, and what you get will be more comparable to a surefire number.

Well that's lame. I guess there really isnt a need to upgrade from the Pentagon X3 then. :awman:
 

Somy Nex

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i'm not quite sure how that statement has led to the conclusion you have come up with, as it is merely stating the way pila & wolf-eyes measures their output.

there are only two manufacturers i know of that measure torch lumens, and that is surefire and HDS. and even then, things can get somewhat "complicated" within those measurements.

i don't really have any experience with pentagon lights, but do know that the wolf-eyes and pila lights have enough output to mix it with the brightest incandescents out there and are very well regarded by those who use them. there are also other nice aspects of these lights, such as the ability to use rechargeable li-ons which apart from being rechargeable, also have a relatively flat discharge rate (almost self-regulating). here're a couple places from which you could start your research on.

http://www.flashlightreviews.com
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/wolf_m90-13v.htm
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?mode=hybrid&t=111636
 

adirondackdestroyer

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Oct 31, 2005
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I had a WE 9DX and now have the 9TX. Both lights were great in build quality! A little on the heavy side but that's because the walls and everything are so thick and well made. I sold the 9DX because I wanted a light I could put in my pocket and the head on the 9DX was a little too large for this.
The 9DX had very VERY good throw! The output was fantastic as well. VERY smooth beam! The beam looked like a Surefire G2 (in terms of smoothness) but blew a G2 away in output. Not even close.
When I got my 9TX I expected the same type of beam with a little less throw and a larger hotspot. The beam on this one is not quite as nice when it comes to being pretty. It has a oval hotspot and two half circles surrounding each side of the beam. The throw also isn't as much as it should be because it isn't focused all that well. I still really like the light and for output use the beam is great! I turn the light so that the oval hotspot is horizontal and it gives much a very nice large hotspot that makes other lights look like they have a small laser like hotspot. The 9TX is the light that has the LED tailcap. This is the other reason why I picked up this specific model. I really liked the idea of having a very bright main beam and a long runtime option as well.


I would suggest the 9DX before the 9TX mainly because the beam is soooo much smoother and it also has quite a bit more throw!
 

A96Honda

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Somy Nex said:
i'm not quite sure how that statement has led to the conclusion you have come up with, as it is merely stating the way pila & wolf-eyes measures their output.

Well, the whole point for me was, to "upgrade" one of my current lights, the Pentagon X3. An upgrade to me is, brighter and/or longer/same runtime.

But since the Wolf Eyes has pretty much the same stats, there's no point in buying one, at the moment for me.
 

jclarksnakes

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Nov 29, 2005
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Savannah GA
..I own 4 different Wolf Eyes lights. A Sniper, two different Raiders and an extended 13 volt Rattlesnake. I really like these lights. They are built heavy and tough. The finish on them may not be type III hard anodized but it is a very tough finish. Mine get carried and used and none of them have any serious scratches. The beam quality is excellent on all four of them. I like that you can swap around lamp assemblies between many of them and use rechargeables. The little Sniper is pretty sweet with one of the D26 9 volt lamp assemblies powered by two rechargeable 123 cells. The same 9 volt lamp assembly in the smaller headed 9V Raider with two rechargeable 18500 cells gets very good runtime. The extended Rattlesnake is insanely bright for such a reasonably priced light. The way these light are rated may not be as honest as the ratings used by Surefire but it is just as honest as the way nearly all the other manufatureres rate their lights. Did I mention that these are just darned pretty and purposeful looking lights.
JC
 

Chawarito

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Feb 13, 2007
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i have a Wolf-Eye 6M and 90M 13V and love them both. Though truthfully the 6M is much brighter and throws a much farther beam that both the surefire P60 and P61 lamps. If you check out Flashlight reviews, you can see that he has found simular results. i believe that the 6M gives out a little less light than a Surefire M3 but has a farther throw. build quality, well not as good as surefire M series but still good enough. i think the the walls of the Wolf-Eye light is actually thicker, though the paint does rub off if subjected to anything rough. As for value, the Wolf-Eye is a great value giving you a huge amount of light for a good price. As for the 13V well its almost like a personal search light especially with the EO-13.
 
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