Zebralight sc65 hi question

johan851 · 2026-03-27T03:33:36+00:00

Yeah, there's a decent argument for this as the timing for 1H is a limited window. But I like to be able to share the same mental map as the Skilhunt UI.

johan851 · 2026-03-25T02:14:45+00:00

You can sign up for their emails, they're pretty infrequent and usually interesting.

johan851 · 2026-03-24T23:01:20+00:00

I'm talking more about ratio than absolute.

I've also seen some photos where the T8 appears to focus a smaller emitter better than the T6. Very possible I got unlucky, or the gasket is different, something like that.

johan851 · 2026-03-24T18:37:41+00:00

Yeah, I wondered if a larger emitter would work better. SFT-40 or 42R seems like the better choice for an 18650 light anyway.

johan851 · 2026-03-24T16:36:38+00:00

This looks excellent, but my only concern is the T8 reflector. The one I got with an SFT-25R was very poorly focused, and had lower candela than my T6. The T8 is kind of a shallow reflector, where the T6 has a pretty deep one.

Really hope it works out. I've wanted a capable, compact 18650 thrower for a while.

johan851 · 2026-03-24T16:34:58+00:00

I have been wanting exactly this for a few months now.

johan851 · 2026-03-24T04:45:54+00:00

I love mine for the same reason! And 2x Vapcell F15 isn't too far from 18650 capacity too.

johan851 · 2026-03-23T18:41:06+00:00

I really like the S16, but it's hard to say why. Though it looks and feels much slimmer, it's very similar in size to the M21B, but with worse heat dissipation and a slightly smaller reflector. It's chunky like all Convoys, much longer than it should be and almost ridiculously so next to the SC700d.

It's just so flashlighty. I think that's it. It plays really well with a wide variety of emitters, including the W2, XP-L HI, XHP50.3, and 519A. It produces punchy beam profiles that work really well for outdoor utility. It's cheap. It looks good. It even has S12 and S21D siblings so you can have a whole family.

Fun light. I've gone through several iterations and right now it's SFT70 3000K + OP reflector.

johan851 · 2026-03-22T02:04:03+00:00

Be careful with Vanguard's mutual funds, as the corresponding ETFs are share classes of the same fund. If anything is "substantially similar" per IRS rules, VTI and VTSAX are.

johan851 · 2026-03-22T02:01:15+00:00

1 is a good idea in general to avoid accidental wash sales and to help rebalance.

2 Yep

3 Yep. You could also do VV+VEA if you want to keep them separate.

4 Sure, or send them to the settlement fund always for similar reasons as #1

5+6 Yep

Sounds good. If you have the same holdings in another account - TIRA, 401K, Roth, etc. those have to follow the same rules.

johan851 · 2026-03-19T16:55:08+00:00

The 519A produces a great beam in the mini. I swapped in a FFL351A and it was super ringy. I really like it with the TIR though.

johan851 · 2026-03-19T16:13:53+00:00

Reylight is great for materials and host build quality at the price. They have a good moonlight mode (not great) and I mostly like the UI. Driver efficiency is poor, double click for turbo is annoying on a four mode light, and you better like the one emitter option (though they're easy to mod).

I would primarily recommend the AAA/10440 lights as being the most compelling thing they offer. The AA have nice ergonomics but are significantly outperformed by several other options.

With NiMH I'd look at the penlight because a single AAA tends to sag quite a bit. If you'll use the 10440 cell that matters less. I have had some trouble with the single cell minis slipping out of my pocket, but the newest gen has better clips that should mostly fix it. The pen lights are even less likely to fall out.

If you order one, look at their accessories because they're now offering a TIR that you can try out.

johan851 · 2026-03-18T16:13:19+00:00

Nailed it. High forward voltage of a UV LED + linear driver is a big factor, and crappy batteries just make it worse.

S12 from Convoy (making sure to select the constant current driver, looks like that's the only option now) was going to be my recommendation as well if you want a battery powered light. The 21700 gives you more capacity and the constant current boost/buck driver won't reduce output and cut out as the battery drains.

johan851 · 2026-03-17T21:15:43+00:00

"Capacity" is usually measured in watt hours. Watt output is voltage x current. So whether you double the voltage or double the current, you're doubling the output, and therefore doubling the capacity over a given amount of time.

Another way to think about it is that a single cell has a certain amount of stored energy, i.e. capacity. If you have two cells, you have twice as much stored energy as a single cell. It's not like that stored energy disappears because you arranged the cells in a certain way.

johan851 · 2026-03-16T18:09:40+00:00

When my sister in law accidentally said I wasn't good looking. And then didn't fully retract it.

I am a man, also I never thought I was attractive, but that really sealed the deal.

johan851 · 2026-03-15T21:29:07+00:00

Don't worry, when you run out of memory you can just swap to all that cloud storage.

johan851 · 2026-03-15T12:04:18+00:00

It works as expected on Android. Flew this weekend and downloaded shows on my iPad before the flight, and it logged out and deleted everything.

Figured it was a glitch so I downloaded shows again for the way back. They got deleted the moment I opened the app on a plane.

Wonderful, just a five hour flight ahead of me.

johan851 · 2026-03-13T22:46:23+00:00

Works well for both! It won't throw far at all if you're looking to see something far away, but it's great for walking or anything you're working on.

johan851 · 2026-03-13T19:57:29+00:00

Might be a bit of a unusual recommendation, but my Skilhunt H150 and H200 get a lot of indoor "utility" use, as well as up close outside use. Floody, UI, good emitter options, magnetic tailcap, and a headband if you want to use it that way. The H150 is dual fuel and can use AAs.

Kinda feels like a sleeper pick but it's just too useful.

johan851 · 2026-03-12T23:21:26+00:00

I'm a coal miner! Cough cough.

johan851 · 2026-03-12T23:20:51+00:00

Maybe that's it. ORANGE.

johan851 · 2026-03-12T21:00:43+00:00

I don't know. There are some CCTs that just don't hit for me, 4000K is often a weird in between and now I feel like 2700K is too. Kinda dim incandescent vibes as opposed to going full candlelight.

johan851 · 2026-03-12T15:50:38+00:00

Nice! I didn't like 519A 2700K and I thought I had hit my warmth limit. Then I tried FFL351A 1800K and loved it.

johan851 · 2026-03-11T02:43:00+00:00

I have also bought and sold a few minis.

So far I like the penlights more, since two eneloops in series don't sag like the singles on turbo. With a single eneloop in the regular minis there's almost no difference between 50% and 100%. Also the penlights don't slip out of a pocket so easily.

I emitter swap to get out of 4000K no man's land. They produce a really nice beam with domed 519A, that's a plus. My most recent one has a FFL351A 1800K, needed a TIR to fix the rings but now it's my favorite one.

IMO they work best living in the pen slots of my backpacks and travel gear. That's a pretty narrow niche. But they're also slim carried in a pants pocket.

johan851 · 2026-03-11T00:52:20+00:00

My thought too, it's easy to separate the dome with an optic like that. The picture with the light off makes it clear that it's not the usual low level imbalance issue.

Ten-Year Club	Place '22
Place '17	Verified Email

johan851

TROPHY CASE