Wolf Eyes D2A (Cree HO) vs Tiablo A8

Greetings. I am a new LE officer in MD. I am searching for an EDC light for use on patrol.

I am considering the Wolf Eyes D2A (Cree HO) Defender and the Tiablo A8. Does anyone own both that could do a comparison between the beams? I guess I am looking for the perfect light, wide enough with usable spill for close work, but focused enough to illuminate a car on the other side of the parking lot.

Currently I own an Inova T4 (rechargeable ftw), 2 Inova T1s (new non-trios), and a Pelican M6 LED. The pelican is a great light, just wish it had a little more light output, and that my wife did not grab it first!

I am new to the LED world for patrol work. I bought the Defender about two weeks ago. It is great for close work like you are looking for. It may not fit the bill for lighting up a car across the lot. How big a lot are you talking about? I also bought the Raider and it appears to be just a tad bit brighter. Both will light up a car at 50 feet easily. HTH

Wolf Eyes no question.

Wolf-Eyes lights are top notch, no questions about it. But the only Wolf-Eyes models that will throw like the Tiablo A8 are the bigger incandescent models. The Cree-HO don't even comes close....

Hi guys,
I have both now since we just received a sample batch from Tiablo. The Tiablo is defiantly a thrower and out throws the Wolf Eyes hands down with the smooth reflector and with the textured reflector still out throws the Wolf Eyes considerably. The only draw back to the Tiablo is the small almost pinpoint hot spot. I think the Wolf Eyes is a better all around light that will throw at least 50 yards.

I wonder when WE will start using the Q4 or Q5 emitters, maybe just before Christmas if were lucky.

:thinking: Maybe you should get both?

Mike, are you going to carry the Tiablo or is it just for T&E?

nightprowler said:

Mike, are you going to carry the Tiablo or is it just for T&E?

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The units we have now are for T&E and I'm not sure if we are going to carry them yet. If you want to see one in person we'll be at the Monroe gun show 8 - 4&5 and at the Puyallup gun show 8 – 11&12.

Thanks for the guidance everyone. Maybe I should just get both

If you've ever seen or used a tight focused Magcharger, you'll know what the A8 beam is like.

Phaserburn said:

If you've ever seen or used a tight focused Magcharger, you'll know what the A8 beam is like.

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In that case this light is not for me, I find tight spot flashlights of little value for me personally, I need a good combination of flood and reach......

cernobila said:

In that case this light is not for me, I find tight spot flashlights of little value for me personally, I need a good combination of flood and reach......

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Then go with the WE. You'd also want to consider the WE comes on at high, while the A8 comes on low, I would think.

Phaserburn said:

Then go with the WE. You'd also want to consider the WE comes on at high, while the A8 comes on low, I would think.

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I have three WE lights including the WE Cree HO 3.7 - 13V lamp........but I am always on the lookout for the next light

cernobila said:

In that case this light is not for me, I find tight spot flashlights of little value for me personally, I need a good combination of flood and reach......

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The A8 has a lot of bright spill too.

Has anyone any indoor and backyard type beam pictures to compare to other popular lights?

The very first night I took my Tiablo A8 out for a hike with my friend in the woods, I wanted to cry. The thing throws like crazy, but I couldn't see what was right in front of me! On the last two hikes, I used my recently acquired Ultrafire C2, which has a very good balance of up-close goodness and throw. However, this light is not made to the same standards as Wolf-Eyes or Tiablo, and I would be nervous about using it in a LEO situation.

My Wolf-Eyes Explorer should be coming tomorrow, and I intend to compare it to my Tiablo A8 and Ultrafire C2. It is not the Defender model as originally asked about, but it may still prove helpful. If anyone is interested, I can post my impressions here.



LEDAdd1ct

Can someone point me in the direction of a link to Tiablo A8? Sounds quite interesting.

I have the Defender and certainly think it is a great light and i use it all the time when i am after a general purpose light. I do not use it at work though as i don't think it offers me enough light or throw for my purposes, instead i use a WE Raider with EO9 which i think is a perfect combination. In saying that i don't think it lacks in output, just not as much as the Raider. i know of some LEO who do use the Defender at work and think highly of it.

KeeperSD said:

Can someone point me in the direction of a link to Tiablo A8? Sounds quite interesting.

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They have a thread over in the manufacturers corner over in the Marketplace. You should also check out a couple threads by CPFer StefanFS in the Review section. He has some very nice beamshots of the Tiablo and other lights in action, like the Lumapower MRV, which the Tiablo seems to emulate.

The WE Explorer is supposed to throw better than the Defender, so perhaps consider that since it's essentially a Defender body with the larger dia Explorer head. I have an Explorer and the long throw was one of the biggest surprises for me. You don't have the hitting power of the Defender's crennelated edge, but I'd think a whack with this thing would get the message across...

One possible downside for your application is the rechargeable model like I have requires the battery be removed for charging. Other lights might be better setup for a duty application like yours by letting you just toss the entire light into a charger for easier regular charging. Dunno - maybe they're all this way but I'd think someone would think to make recharging a light as easy as recharging a radio - just drop it in the charger as you come in the door ya know?

Anyhow, the Explorer would light up a car well at 50 feet. Not blindingly well like a much larger light would but I don't want a 3lb light.

DougM

IdahoDoug said:

One possible downside for your application is the rechargeable model like I have requires the battery be removed for charging. Other lights might be better setup for a duty application like yours by letting you just toss the entire light into a charger for easier regular charging. Dunno - maybe they're all this way but I'd think someone would think to make recharging a light as easy as recharging a radio - just drop it in the charger as you come in the door ya know?

Anyhow, the Explorer would light up a car well at 50 feet. Not blindingly well like a much larger light would but I don't want a 3lb light.

DougM

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A friend of mine is a security guard that works mainly night shifts. He has a Surefire that runs on a single 17670 cell. He has a charger in his car and a spare 17670 cell. One battery is in the charger and the other is in his light in his pocket. When he needs to, he simply changes the batteries just like you would change a pistol magazine in a handgun......he likes this idea more than having to plug his light into a charger to charge it.......

i've been with the local SO for the past 8yrs and have carried everything from the stinger(sucks) to ultrastinger, T4, my previous duty light surefire U2. the Peak First Responder blows them all away!........ by a long shot, it's an amazing light with rcr123's. both in throw and flood. check it out. Only drawback is they don't offer a 2x18650 battery tube...out of fear that we'll throw 4 rcr123's in it.