Anybody heard of the Mechtorch?

Random Dan · Feb 4, 2019

I just came across this one recently. It's from a Firearms company called Mechforce.

Seems to tick all of the trendy boxes: 219c triple, H17f, titanium, over the top styling, tritium slots, etc.
The website says "Designed and assembled in USA", so presumably the machining is done in China, which makes sense at the price point.

Anyway it's not really my cup of tea, but I was surprised to have never seen anything about it on here.

Rasher · Feb 4, 2019

Yes. I bought the pimp-my-ride version on preorder, and I was impressed enough on reception that after half a day playing with it, I ordered two more in the other available (stonewash Ti) finish, one as a gift. Recipient loves it.

When the copper version was made available (after first batch was accidentally wrecked by the machinist tripping and knocking them all off the shelves), I ordered it, and it's really nice (heavy of course, it's copper): the finish details give it a diffraction-like rainbow shimmer over the copper under bright light.

Serious bang for the buck, in my opinion, compares favorably in design, execution, and performance to my much more pricey customs.

Ozythemandias · Feb 5, 2019

Yeah, Zeroair reviewed it https://zeroair.org/2019/01/04/mechforce-mechtorch-edc-titanium-turbo-flashlight-review/

Looks pretty neat

pol77 · Feb 5, 2019

I have ordered one (stonewashed version) and I am waiting for it to be cleared by customs. The review indicates it is well worth its cost, but I am disappointed it will not tailstand.

Do you see a way to possibly mod it to do that? A flatter rubber boot, perhaps?

Thetasigma · Feb 5, 2019

Yet another in the brutal flood of overdone triples. From the few reviews/owners I've seen around they seem to be well received for build quality and finish.

My personal thoughts on the light, first look is an immediate turnoff as it is way too busy and clunky in appearance, the clip is too narrow for the large diameter of the light and the pen style mounting holes mean you're largely stuck with it, the boot stands very proud of the tail, and more of a niggle the internal design of the head really doesn't lend it to being anything but a triple. Another mixed complaint is it is a Chinese machined light though that helps to lower the price.

Positive points, it is uh... different-ish, H17F remains a solid driver choice for this semi-custom, finish and build quality appear to be good.

the0dore3524 · Feb 5, 2019

Here's my video review on it:
https://youtu.be/49glLkAzDFw

It's nothing special spec-wise for sure. But the price point is the real allure of it. Your getting comparable performance and quality of many custom torches for less than half the price.

I was turned off by the busy design at first, but in hand it's not bad at all.

Random Dan · Feb 5, 2019

Thetasigma said:
Yet another in the brutal flood of overdone triples. From the few reviews/owners I've seen around they seem to be well received for build quality and finish.

My personal thoughts on the light, first look is an immediate turnoff as it is way too busy and clunky in appearance, the clip is too narrow for the large diameter of the light and the pen style mounting holes mean you're largely stuck with it, the boot stands very proud of the tail, and more of a niggle the internal design of the head really doesn't lend it to being anything but a triple. Another mixed complaint is it is a Chinese machined light though that helps to lower the price.

Positive points, it is uh... different-ish, H17F remains a solid driver choice for this semi-custom, finish and build quality appear to be good.

So many triples in the last few years, and IMO the original Mac's tri design hasn't been topped. BOSS comes close though.

I actually think the dust collector gap might look good if the rest of the design was less busy, but to each his own.

Thetasigma · Feb 5, 2019

Random Dan said:
So many triples in the last few years, and IMO the original Mac's tri design hasn't been topped. BOSS comes close though.
I actually think the dust collector gap might look good if the rest of the design was less busy, but to each his own.

Quite right on the Mac EDC/Tri-EDC design, an excellent example of less is more in aesthetic design. Far as I'm concerned most of the custom triples that have arisen are basically re-skinned Macs. The Boss and more importantly the 371D Lux-RC driver is probably about as much development as you can really get out of the triple format, and represents the peak of sophistication for the triple format functionally.

LightObsession · Feb 6, 2019

I like the looks of it, but it's waaay out of my budget 🙁

pol77 · Feb 7, 2019

Mine is out for delivery by Parcelforce, right now! I am excited to see the quality and compare it to the FidgetHQ AONIC which is the only other limited production flashlight I own.

Rstype · Feb 7, 2019

Got one in titanium stonewashed. Been good so far , haven't abused it much yet but feels great and sturdy in hand. Haven't gotten around to filling it with tritium.

Thinking for the price it's a good starter triple emitter light.

tint is very white in case anyone wondered

At work so less than great pictures

LightObsession · Feb 7, 2019

Rstype said:
"Thinking for the price it's a good starter triple emitter light."

$180 is the lowest price in the zeroair review - is that considered a good price for a starter triple emitter light?

badtziscool · Feb 7, 2019

Random Dan said:
Anyway it's not really my cup of tea, but I was surprised to have never seen anything about it on here.

To be honest, I think a lot of the attention for custom/semi-custom lights have gone over to social media, and thus probably why you (nor I) have never seen or heard about this light here. And actually, there are quite a few custom makers out there and none of them have a presence here on CPF. I distinctly recall Kevin Shirley posting his Barrel flashlight prototype here, and for whatever reason it wasn't well received. In fact, he probably got a few snide remarks and that most likely pushed him over to social media. Now his lights are one of the hottest customs out there commanding a premium on the secondary market. I'm sure that encouraged other makers to follow suit.

It's unfortunate, but it's the way information is consumed these days. I'll admit. I do like browsing for photos and quick comments on social media because it's so easy and quick, but it really lacks the thoughtful, detailed, and historical information that the forum format provides. I often times mention and refer to CPF on the various social media flashlight and edc groups and a surprising number of people ask, "What's CPF?"

xevious · Feb 7, 2019

badtziscool said:
To be honest, I think a lot of the attention for custom/semi-custom lights have gone over to social media, and thus probably why you (nor I) have never seen or heard about this light here. And actually, there are quite a few custom makers out there and none of them have a presence here on CPF. I distinctly recall Kevin Shirley posting his Barrel flashlight prototype here, and for whatever reason it wasn't well received. In fact, he probably got a few snide remarks and that most likely pushed him over to social media. Now his lights are one of the hottest customs out there commanding a premium on the secondary market. I'm sure that encouraged other makers to follow suit.

It's unfortunate, but it's the way information is consumed these days. I'll admit. I do like browsing for photos and quick comments on social media because it's so easy and quick, but it really lacks the thoughtful, detailed, and historical information that the forum format provides. I often times mention and refer to CPF on the various social media flashlight and edc groups and a surprising number of people ask, "What's CPF?"

What I marked in bold. That's why I haven't gotten into social media surfing. First of all, most of them require you to be logged into your account to see what's going on, and definitely to post or like. Secondly, they're always like "Instagram" in content--quick and fleeting, little substance. I think the forum format is terrific for serious hobbyists.

Social media sales for items like this are probably made mostly to yuppies with loads of extra cash, who will plunk down $200 for something cool without even hesitating. We definitely saw that happen during the fidget spinner craze. Some makers really milked it well, while others weren't so lucky and now have loads of stuff on serious discount. These people who aren't seriously into flashlights, and just want something "cool" in the moment, are not the kind of customers to sustain a business. You also get little value from what they post -- "Look at my cool thing-a-ma-jig!". They probably don't even know what kind of emitters are in their light, let alone the battery type.

xevious · Feb 7, 2019

LightObsession said:
Rstype said:

"Thinking for the price it's a good starter triple emitter light."

Click to expand...

$180 is the lowest price in the zeroair review - is that considered a good price for a starter triple emitter light?

No. You can get a starter Quad Emitter light by Astrolux off of Banggood for under $35 shipped. A light such as an Astrolux S43 offers Nichia 219 emitters and a NarsilM programmable interface. Functionally it blows a light such as this Mechtorch out of the water, in terms of output and functionality. Build quality on the Astrolux is very good... but the Mechtorch looks like it may have better materials and ruggedness, as well as trendy styling.

Rstype · Feb 7, 2019

Well I re-read my post and it was a little subjective ( sorry working a lot so tired)

anywho I have spent much more on torches and well the 180$ tag seemed normal to me. But Xevious is correct that a multi emitter light can be had for less.

so yeah take my post with a grain of salt. :twothumbs

archimedes · Feb 7, 2019

And, in titanium, I think that the Emisar D4Ti ran about ~ $70

xevious · Feb 7, 2019

Just to add one thing about lower priced Chinese brand (owned and operated) flashlights... despite their recent surge in higher quality emitters and leading edge UI's, as well as machining, fitment, and anodizing, there's the matter of metal alloy quality. Especially considering the low price points. If a flashlight is treated like a baby, you'll never test the durability. I've not seen recent drop tests, but remembering one some years ago showed surfaces where anodizing scraped off without too much trouble and dents in the body and bezel... that I'm pretty sure would have not happened on something like a Surefire (some nicks/scratches yes, but no dents). I have no idea if the metal alloy rigidity and dent/crack resistance has improved, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's not a strong suit. Hard to imagine it would be at such low price points. But I wouldn't mind being disproved. :kiss:

EDIT:
Just saw a video review that seemed to be pretty well balanced. It pointed out a few nitpick things that would annoy me.

Cannot tail stand. This was unnecessary. The rubber boot has a bulge to it that extends just about 2mm above the tail cap rim, making it nearly impossible to tail stand as-is This isn't a huge issue, but Mechtorch could've easily covered this by making the switch just a little less tall or seated a little deeper. There's no advantage to having it where it currently is. Such an issue can be easily rectified if you keep a wide enough plastic bottle top with you. Just set the light down on it so the bulge is taken up.
Reverse clicky switch. Not many lights made these days are reverse clicky. There's a good reason why, mainly because of momentary on and ability to select programmed options. With reverse clicky you must fully click on before you then do any UI navigation.
Ridiculous tritium slots. There's 16 of them, positioned at an angle. I had thought those were cooling fins, in the segment just behind the front bezel. But these cutouts are apparently designated for fitting tritium vials, which means it's very likely not used for any heat dissipation. But... what a terrible location, because that's where a lot of heat would build up. That might soften up the adhesive used to secure the trit vials. Then there's the count -- 16. If you do every other slot, that's 8. Not as bad on the wallet, but now you've got these gaps. And that's another thing--the gaps look like excellent debris traps. Imagine the lint buildup... or sand stuck in it.
Clip screws. They're in a vertical orientation, which automatically rules out ever changing your clip to something else. The review mentions that the company is planning to change that, though, and provide horizontal arrangement of the screws.
Bezel indents. There are some evenly cut indents in the bezel, but they terminate back behind the bezel edge... which means when head standing, there's no gap and thus you cannot see if the light is on. Not a huge issue, but a bit annoying...

the0dore3524 · Feb 7, 2019

xevious said:
EDIT:
Just saw a video review that seemed to be pretty well balanced. It pointed out a few nitpick things that would annoy me.

Cannot tail stand. This was unnecessary. The rubber boot has a bulge to it that extends just about 2mm above the tail cap rim, making it nearly impossible to tail stand as-is This isn't a huge issue, but Mechtorch could've easily covered this by making the switch just a little less tall or seated a little deeper. There's no advantage to having it where it currently is. Such an issue can be easily rectified if you keep a wide enough plastic bottle top with you. Just set the light down on it so the bulge is taken up.

Reverse clicky switch. Not many lights made these days are reverse clicky. There's a good reason why, mainly because of momentary on and ability to select programmed options. With reverse clicky you must fully click on before you then do any UI navigation.

Ridiculous tritium slots. There's 16 of them, positioned at an angle. I had thought those were cooling fins, in the segment just behind the front bezel. But these cutouts are apparently designated for fitting tritium vials, which means it's very likely not used for any heat dissipation. But... what a terrible location, because that's where a lot of heat would build up. That might soften up the adhesive used to secure the trit vials. Then there's the count -- 16. If you do every other slot, that's 8. Not as bad on the wallet, but now you've got these gaps. And that's another thing--the gaps look like excellent debris traps. Imagine the lint buildup... or sand stuck in it.

Clip screws. They're in a vertical orientation, which automatically rules out ever changing your clip to something else. The review mentions that the company is planning to change that, though, and provide horizontal arrangement of the screws.

Bezel indents. There are some evenly cut indents in the bezel, but they terminate back behind the bezel edge... which means when head standing, there's no gap and thus you cannot see if the light is on. Not a huge issue, but a bit annoying...

Thanks for watching my vid! I try to be as objective as possible. There's definitely a few pitfalls with this flashlight, but the price point isn't one of them. I stand behind my sentiment that this is a bargain of a flashlight for what you're getting.

@xevious Functionally, there's really not much distinction between even the highest-end custom flashlights and budget flashlights. The premise of budget flashlights is that they bring functionality at a low price point. You can put together a Convoy triple-LED setup for like $50 that will match or outperform a lot of custom flashlights. Most custom flashlights aren't focused on functionality so much as they are on build quality, material, and aesthetics. So the two aren't very comparable in this respect.

There's definitely a lot of custom makers out there that aren't on CPF. The hobby has transitioned somewhat from the forum platform to social media. I think it's a bit of an overgeneralization to suggest that most people who buy this type of flashlight don't know what they're purchasing. I've found that while these people certainly do exist on the aforementioned latter platform, the vast majority of people who are willing to plonk this much on a flashlight have a good idea of what they're getting.

xevious · Feb 7, 2019

the0dore3524 said:
Thanks for watching my vid! I try to be as objective as possible. There's definitely a few pitfalls with this flashlight, but the price point isn't one of them. I stand behind my sentiment that this is a bargain of a flashlight for what you're getting.

@xevious Functionally, there's really not much distinction between even the highest-end custom flashlights and budget flashlights. The premise of budget flashlights is that they bring functionality at a low price point. You can put together a Convoy triple-LED setup for like $50 that will match or outperform a lot of custom flashlights. Most custom flashlights aren't focused on functionality so much as they are on build quality, material, and aesthetics. So the two aren't very comparable in this respect.

There's definitely a lot of custom makers out there that aren't on CPF. The hobby has transitioned somewhat from the forum platform to social media. I think it's a bit of an overgeneralization to suggest that most people who buy this type of flashlight don't know what they're purchasing. I've found that while these people certainly do exist on the aforementioned latter platform, the vast majority of people who are willing to plonk this much on a flashlight have a good idea of what they're getting.

Thanks Theodore -- I did make a presumption based on other things I've witnessed, so it's interesting to hear what you've discovered. Yeah, somewhat faulty logic on my end; some serious flashaholics may simply not have the time to frequent a forum and take advantage of the faster pace of social media.

About the comparable aspects, I would agree there are budget lights that can match or even exceed functionality of a high end custom light. Even at times offering similar kinds of aesthetics. It didn't used to be this way (you'd find a triple emitter only in a special custom light or pay to have a light modified--now they're frequently offered in budget lights). Technology improvements have changed the game significantly. And designs are becoming more appealing. But I think it's easy to agree that budget lights can't compete in the quality of materials... at least for now.

Anybody heard of the Mechtorch?

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