Dereelight XSearcher Head Review (XR-E)

Hey guys,

Dereelight is known primarily for designing flashlights with high degrees of throw. Dereelight's aspheric models at first was composed only of the Night Master. However, they soon developed another model based on the Night Master, but with a bigger aspheric head and marketed as an XM-L thrower with nearly as much throw as the Night Master with an XR-E LED.
This flashlight, with the only main difference being a beefed up head to house a farther-throwing aspheric lens, was named the XSearcher.
Dereelight shipped me only the XSearcher head to review, but thankfully I already had the older Night Master setup. Basically all I had to do was swap heads.
So here is my brief comparison review:




When comparing diameter sizes, the XSearcher lens is noticeably larger, both in heft and in size.


The head arrived already lubed, a welcoming sight,



XR-E pill:




"White-Chair" Beamshots
I used a normal chair to better show the differences in beam sizes between the two heads. I figured since most people have chairs, they can better calculate the size of the beams from close range and estimate the difference at a distance.
Night Master:




XSearcher:





As one can observe, the XSearcher head certainly focuses the LED light into a much smaller size, allowing it to throw potentially farther than with the Night Master head. However, the trade off is that in close to mid ranges, it will be very hard to see around you, and with the Night Master, you can at least defocus it enough to be able to see with a wide enough spot at close ranges.
Size Comparisons
Olight SR95S-UT – Dereelight XSearcher – Fenix TK41

XSearcher compared to another 2 X 18650 flashlight (Nitefighter F30C)

XSearcher in 1 X 18650 format (to get max output you will need at least 2 X CR123s to drive the LED at 1.5 amps. However, if you choose the single output driver, you can keep the flashlight regulated with 1 X 18650 at 1.2 amps.)


Night Master in 1 X 18650 format


XSearcher Head Size

If you take a standard 18650, the head is roughly as high and as wide as that 18650 in your hand.


In-Hand Profile
Night Master

XSearcher


Outdoor Beamshots
Control:

Olight M21

ArmyTek Predator V1.2

Fenix TK41

Fenix TK76 – Spotlight Only

Dereelight Night Master

Dereelight XSearcher

Below are some more beamshots aimed at the soccer stadium lights at my local park. After taking a few beamshots I witnessed an explosion of law enforcement activity, I thought perhaps someone had called about an alien with a high powered flashlight lol at one point.
Control

Dereelight Night Master

XSearcher

Control

Night Master


XSearcher


Here I point it at nearby trees to compare beam sizes:
Night Master

XSearcher

And yet here I point it at an old couch I've set up (Note – even here in Miami it got really cold this week, and so that's why the grass and plants seem all shiny because of the dew)
Control

Olight M21

Night Master



XSearcher



If you guys have any questions or comments feel free to post them or send me a PM,
-Alain
-XSearcher Head provided by Dereelight for review-

Really useful set of pictures - thank you.

I have been using these Dereelight in both formats or about a year now and how fond the to be an extremely capable tool. The ease with which one can change not only between the heads, but between different LEDs (three different white, 2 IR,plus red,yellow and green) has revolutionised my approach to the use of light at night. The Nightmaster has the designation NM800 - the 800 referring to metres of throw. I'd just about go with this in perfect atmospheric conditions - more like 500 to make sense of the sight picture, so still more than respectable. The XSearcher variant claims around 1000 metres. Again, I'd go with around 750m - but how often are you really looking that far?

As an overall package, covering a multitude uses, I have found the modular system very flexible and hard to beat. It is a key tool in my lighting warchest.

Eric the Red said:

Really useful set of pictures - thank you.

I have been using these Dereelight in both formats or about a year now and how fond the to be an extremely capable tool. The ease with which one can change not only between the heads, but between different LEDs (three different white, 2 IR,plus red,yellow and green) has revolutionised my approach to the use of light at night. The Nightmaster has the designation NM800 - the 800 referring to metres of throw. I'd just about go with this in perfect atmospheric conditions - more like 500 to make sense of the sight picture, so still more than respectable. The XSearcher variant claims around 1000 metres. Again, I'd go with around 750m - but how often are you really looking that far?

As an overall package, covering a multitude uses, I have found the modular system very flexible and hard to beat. It is a key tool in my lighting warchest.

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Agreed!

+

Cool little review,, CPF is better with every thread like this

:thumbsup:

orbital said:

+

Cool little review,, CPF is better with every thread like this

:thumbsup:

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Thanks

Extremely useful review. I've been trying to find info comparing both lights and it's virtually nonexistent. Really comprehensive review. Thank you!

Seems to me the benefit of the XSearcher head is the ability to focus/throw an XML2 just as far as the NM800 can with the XRE, but with a much larger hotspot. The XSearcher w/ XRE just seems to have an unusably small hotspot.

The new xsearcher comes with xpg2. Should throw as far as xpe but with slightly larger spot and more lumens

stellar work again man! I love how the indoors photos all have the same background of that orange wall. That pic of the two lenses side by side is also pretty legit.

good work buddy!

tobrien said:

stellar work again man! I love how the indoors photos all have the same background of that orange wall. That pic of the two lenses side by side is also pretty legit.

good work buddy!

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Thank you my friend, always dropping by to say a few kind words

druidmars said:

Extremely useful review. I've been trying to find info comparing both lights and it's virtually nonexistent. Really comprehensive review. Thank you!

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Thanks! It was my pleasure (except freezing to death outside with all these cold fronts lol)

Nice review man! Keep working!! Maybe you can review some our product in the future?

coman said:

Nice review man! Keep working!! Maybe you can review some our product in the future?

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Thanks, PM coming your way

Awesome light, I think I want to get one. How would I go about eliminating the rings completely. These colliminating lights usually have some rings of light coming off of them at different angle between where the light is and the final "hotspot". Would I need to make an aluminium 'hood' that is then threaded for me at a certain length to prevent the rings? I want the square and absolutely -nothing- else.

Maybe close the end of the hood off partially, right at the edges?

Hi buddy,

Sorry for the late reply. As far as I know, in order to remove rings I've heard some people attempt to cover the shiny aluminum with dark color, I'll see if it's possible in the morning.

Cheers

I have heard this, if this is the cause the a light absorbing material between the led and the lens (so no light reflected from non-direct angles entering the aspheric). Thanks for the reply, I appreciate your assistance