Ultrafire C1 @ Kaidomain $29.99

Looks like Kai stepped up to plate with the Ultrafire C1, pre-order delays anyone?

http://www.kaidomain.com/WEBUI/ProductDetail.aspx?TranID=1553



I can see alotta people putting this thing on their keychains, I'm in for 1!
(Of course after my paypal bank withdraw clears on Tuesday) Save me a spot please Kai!

Looks pretty nice. Does anyone know if it is direct drive or not?

adirondackdestroyer said:

Looks pretty nice. Does anyone know if it is direct drive or not?

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Don't the Crees run in the 3.2-3.3v range? If so, it's probably not direct drive, because it says it'll run off of a 3v CR123. It may run direct drive with a Li-ion, though.

Looks like chromed P1, doesn't it?

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot! I got one of those from QCG a few days ago for the princely sum of $46 including shipping.

But, I can tell you that I do not feel ripped off even when I see it cheaper at Kai's.

This is a hefty piece of work!, but not too heavy. I would give it a 4/5 rating. It is not totally flawless in its finish. But the polishing is indeed nice. Threads and knurling are perfect. Battery rattle with 123 primary battery. As I recall this was the case with the original Fenix P1. This was cured with a foam ring cut out of a furniture pad. Furthermore I had to give it a good cleaning with acetone and toothpicks to get out dirt from the machining.

It has a good beam, tiny bit of cree ring visible. Better looking than the L2D I had for a while. The C1 is easily as bright as my SSC P4 modded Fenix L2T. As for runtimes, sorry, I will leave that to the proffesionals

All in all, at 30 bucks it is a damn good deal. But waiting time can almost certainly be expected

Norm

humm pocket size and heavy steel don't mix well together
also steel isn't the best heat conductor
Also $30 it is rather expensive for such a simple and rough flashlight

I swear, these check-out systems are just too well done! After reading that it was SS, I thought, "neat;" I clicked the link on the post, added it to my cart, clicked to pay, it hopped me over to paypal, two more clicks, and it was bought. I didn't even have to enter a single piece of information. At least, I still have to manually click the mouse. Can you imagine what could happen when computers are controlled by our thoughts? It'll be like--"Wow, cool light!!!! ...oops, dangit, I just bought it!

Is it regulated?

Upplyst said:

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot! I got one of those from QCG a few days ago for the princely sum of $46 including shipping.

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I ordered one from QCG as well but didn´t get it (got refunded). They told me Ultrafire stopped it´s production. Let´s see if I have luck this time.


Eric

kanarie said:

humm pocket size and heavy steel don't mix well together
also steel isn't the best heat conductor
Also $30 it is rather expensive for such a simple and rough flashlight

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I am not quite following you now. Simple it may be, to use. Rough? No, I would say that craftsmanship is rather high on my sample. It is not the terrible piece of junk that some cpf:er got on ebay, which was crudely machined and not even properly heatsinked.

One could have some concern for the P1-clone/ripoff factor. Well. It is a P1, in stainless.

kanarie said:

humm pocket size and heavy steel don't mix well together
also steel isn't the best heat conductor
Also $30 it is rather expensive for such a simple and rough flashlight

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If the price is a problem, how about half as much for the same light in black:

http://www.kaidomain.com/WEBUI/ProductDetail.aspx?TranID=1485

I am not quite following you now. Simple it may be, to use. Rough? No, I would say that craftsmanship is rather high on my sample. It is not the terrible piece of junk that some cpf:er got on ebay, which was crudely machined and not even properly heatsinked.

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Ok, If you have a sample and it is fine than it probably is. I thought I saw some lines coming through the chrome on the pictures .

"Lines?" I see fingerprints, but no "lines."

Marcus Aurelius said:

If the price is a problem, how about half as much for the same light in black:

http://www.kaidomain.com/WEBUI/ProductDetail.aspx?TranID=1485

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I had wondered why I didn't see this one anywhere on the forum OR the list of cree lights on the sticky.... I just ordered 2 plus batteries for keychain lights. (though he shows it with a lanyard I could not see where the lanyard/keyring will attach?)
Figured I can live with the HAII finish, I have a bead blaster and when it gets scratched by the keys I'll blast and polish it.

Marcus Aurelius said:

If the price is a problem, how about half as much for the same light in black:

http://www.kaidomain.com/WEBUI/ProductDetail.aspx?TranID=1485

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Going by the numbers :

SuperBright, $14.99 P1 ripoff
- Lab test: 4100 lux at 1 meter, overall: 10210 lux, 142 Lumens
http://www.kaidomain.com/WEBUI/ProductDetail.aspx?TranID=1485

UltraFire, $29.99 P1 ripoff
- Lab test: 4000 lux at 1 meter, overall: 8010 lux, 111 Lumens
http://www.kaidomain.com/WEBUI/ProductDetail.aspx?TranID=1553

They just look alike.

Also, the SuperBright CREE is selling for less than the Luxeon version (http://www.kaidomain.com/WEBUI/ProductDetail.aspx?TranID=1331); which is a direct drive. So I'm guessing that the $14.99 P1 ripoff is a Direct Drive as well.

BTW Kai says it's stainless steel and highly polished, only an idiot manufacturer would further add chrome plating to such a monster. It'd be an unecessary expense and a quality liability, so I highly doubt it's chrome, unlike that $9.99 light that apparantly is.
As for weight I think you're looking at the equation in a rather short sighted way. Chrome moly tubing is still the material of choice for the vast majority of race cars, and there's plenty of steel in modern aircraft, it beats aluminum hands down in flexion cyclical stress durability. Look at Kai's pictures of the thin walls of the cylinder that forms the body of that-the Nuwai 352 I have has aluminum walls at least 1/8-3/16" thick, by making it steel you use less material overall.
And if it's polished stainless it has an inherent hardness to it that renewing its appearance is as easy as hitting it wth a cloth wheel on a bench grinder for a few seconds, whereas aluminum will collect deep scratches and gouges the steel would resist.
Even though I just ordered 2 of the black ones, I will still probably get a couple of the SS ones when they arrive.

I noticed the C1 comes with a textured aluminum reflecter, but it doesn't mention if the lens is glass or plastic. Does anyone know?

by the pictures, id say glass

This unit is not direct driven. I am currently using a somewhat depleted surefire 123 battery @ 2.9 Volts. Was it direct drive, the output should be rather moderate at this low voltage. The amount of light i get well matches my definitively regulated ssc p4 tweaked Fenix L2T on high with a similarily depleted battery.