lol... yeah, this thread is bad for my wallet

... and it's not doing your wallet any favours either

This post has been edited by WingNut: Oct 22 2018, 05:27 PM

what's your planned "daily use"? size-wise its length fits nicely into my palm, but that's also why i don't find it an ideal everyday bring along. and it's not exactly lightweight. personally, my edc would ideally be something that's there when you need it but inconspicuous enough for everyday carry on. i reckon the thrunite ti3 would be my ideal edc but for the moment, the t01 takes her place. i guess the u12 works well if you're a heavy user (regular daily use), but its size and weight doesn't make it an ideal proposition for me. except for the clicky switch, it does feel solidly built. i wonder how many open and close cycles the usb port cover can withstand before it completely detaches also. initially the diagram kinda gave me the feeling that only nuclear physicists would be able to figure out how to work through the different sequential modes... but surprisingly the ui is easy to work through, although admittedly needs some getting used to. the multiple clicks to run through the modes will also put additional strain on the switch as compared to holding the button to run through the different modes. but the illumination is pretty awesome. will try to take some field pics over the weekend for you to decide whether it's worth getting as your edc. tbh, it feels more like something i'd have in my glovebox rather than on my person. but again, that's just me...

the u12 already comes with its holster. just feels weird carrying a torch of this size into a corporate office

the t01 is good as a general walkabout light, but it doesn't provide you with the low light function that the ti3 offers and which comes in handy for searching for stuff in your backpack without blinding yourself in the process. the single function on the t01 however means you won't have to fiddle with it to get to the max output. so here's my personal preference... the ti3 as an edc, and the t01 for the times when i'm away (but not too far) from my u12. and as you rightly put... one is never enough!

by the way, u got you ep01?

how much stuff u guys carry around la? torch, multitool, glass breaker...???

interesting selection. for my edc, i only have the ie3/t01 that doubles as my keychain. the victorinox classic is a nice add on... but knowing how forgetful i am, i'll probably forget that it's there and get it confiscated at the airport customs

did consider getting the swisslite sometime ago... but again, knowing how forgetful i am, that battery's gonna leak for sure. the super tinker is my gotto multitool at home, and i've got the huntsman for the great outdoors. have one of those door gift multitools at the office and it's been serving me well thus far. compared to the victorinox, the blade is crap... but the screwdrivers/bottle openers work well so I'm good

yeah, the penknives are pretty nifty tools... and they're extremely sharp! i once cut myself deeply without realising... until i saw the blood oozing out. and they maintain their sharpness very well too. the saw too short? what? you wanna saw down an entire tree? works pretty well on branches. patience, my man... patience. takes a while but u'll finally get to it. what's the rush?

lol... told you this thread was unadulterated poison. am thinking of getting the rambler as an edc, but weighing whether the extra tool is worth the rm46 premium over the classic

thanks for that bit of very useful info! you've definitely pushed me over the fence now

so anybody here has the swisslite/signature lite? i'm guessing you don't get much juice out of the button battery... and it ain't gonna be bright enough for walkabout purposes. looks more like something you'd use to find the keyhole... or keys in your bag?

This post has been edited by WingNut: Oct 24 2018, 11:40 AM

seeing as to how this is a thread for all things bright, just though i'd ask. why? because it's a two in one. if it gave out a decent light, then no need to be carrying a keychain light AND multitool. but yeah... seeing as to how nobody talks about it, kinda guess it's a pretty pathetic performer light-wise. never was a fan of the toothpick... but the tweezers do come in very handy removing prickly thorns, splinters and stingers

lol... guess that's why it's hardly mentioned

tech has developed quite substantially and the tini light is indeed a worthy performer. i'd agree with you on it being better having two smaller dedicated tools and light.

yeah... we got a glimpse of your wingman in your earlier post
curious... do the authorities allow the tactical pen onboard the plane? at least that doesn't look so out of place in the meeting room
back to the thread... think i'll just skip the la10/lr12. an opaque water container over my light works just as well

for sure, dude... for sure. me thinks the courier/postal service should open a counter at the customs for people to mail things back to themselves instead of having stuff that cannot be brought on as hand carry be confiscated simply because someone was absentminded enough not to have their penkives/nailclippers packed in their check-in. most times i just go without them simply because i wanna travel without the hassle of having check-in luggage...

it's an excellent campsite overnighter. haven't had the chance to bring her out for longer trips so can't comment much on her endurance. and again, the cool white/neutral white argument probably boils down to personal preference, but i like how my u12nw illuminates the surrounding without the harshness that i perceive with cool whites.
the grip is good and gives one the feel of industrial ruggedness rather than refined elegance as say the olight does. does feel that this fella can take the tumble and falls, although i've been very careful and hence can't really confirm that. it just feels robust. it comes with a lanyard that would fit one's wrist well and avoid that untoward fall altogether anyway. and yes, it comes with its own holster, but the holster does seem generic (i don't have other similar mankers so i'm making a guess here) rather than custom made as it's quite a tight squeeze with the clip on... and the velcro flap, whilst adequate, seems somewhat shorter than it should've been to cover the entire velcro loop strip on the body. for it to be practical, i guess you've gotto remove the torchclip to be able to just drop it in. it doesn't help when the rim is hot and you've gotto push the torch down into the holster. the clip is not reversible so any thoughts of clipping the torch within the holster wouldn't work... and even if if it did, because of the position of the clip ridge, the torch wouldn't be sitting flush against the bottom of the holster anyway. i actually left the holster at home this round and having an either holster or clip situation definitely isn't ideal. the clip works well and provides easy access but i guess if there's gonna be more movement about, then I'll probably ditch the clip and use the holster instead. just wished i could have both!
the beam is uniform and does the job pretty well for illuminating what i personally perceive to be the sweet spot of approx 10-50' upfront (at low 130lm -mid 390lm). i guess most torchlights do that anyway but the u12 has a much better field than my s1r... but that's probably because of the larger reflector also. and as i've mentioned, i have a preference for a broader beam than one with a further throw, and the u12 does this beautifully. the high 870lm also does the job pretty well in seeing what's further ahead (100' easily) and whilst the turbo at 2000lm does an awesome job to extend the reach even further, i have to admit i hardly used the turbo mode, except to test out its reach. wonder whether this function is more tactical than it is practical since the 870lm does the job pretty well as it is. but again, that's a personal preference. i know of others who just live for those high beam moments but it's like: them, "see... the beam goes all the way up the hill!" me, "so what's up the hill?" them, "no idea, we can't see that far away." i suppose the strobe/sos/beacon has its uses... but thankfully, i haven't had a need for them. hope i remember the switch sequence when i do have a need for them though. that brings me to my final point...
i think others have stated that the manker ui isn't as user friendly, and having used the u12 for the last couple of days, i have to agree. i can't remember how many times i ended up stepping up the brightness level (i'm usually between low-mid) when i actually intended to switch it off instead. not sure whether i'd ever get used to that. and yes, the constant clicking will wear out the switch in no time. so for all its robustness, its switch may be its archilles heel, methinks. and the ui sure doesn't help in that dept!
final words? it's a good performer, no doubt... but bear in mind that i do not have any similar torches to make a meaningful comparison. the s1r is, to me, a different performer altogether. as an edc, i'd have the s1r simply because of how compact it is. but in the field, the u12 definitely blows the s1r away, not because of the peak 2000lm... but because of its endurance, which was basically why i got the u12 anyway. oh, and did i mention that the neutral white is easier on the eye?

This post has been edited by WingNut: Oct 29 2018, 10:08 AM

the e11 goes direct to strobe simply because it does not have a turbo mode. the u12 DOES have a turbo mode so double-click from off brings you to the turbo setting. but u12 runs on the 20700mah battery so it's not as versatile as the mk41 if you need to replace the battery. the mk41 is very slightly shorter than the u12 (7mm) but much chunkier in diameter (+13mmØ). so again, it's a personal preference, but here's my comparison in terms of top trumps:

versatility: mk41 (can use aa batteries)
luminence: u12 (500lm more than mk41 hi which records 1500lm with 14500 batteries)
endurance: u12 (at high 870lm, the u12 lasts 3hr. the mk41 on the other hand lasts 2hrs at 520/780lm)
length: mk41 (but not by much. mk41's is 105mm compared to u12's 112mm)
diameter: u12 (physically, the u12 is 31mm... a good 13mmØ smaller than mk41s)
distance: mk41 (520m vs u12's meagre 164m)
weight: u12 (118gms vs mk41's 191gm without batteries. the u12 will trump the mk41 even more fully loaded)

the u12 is a nice carry-on and personally, ideally shaped. that said, the mk41 was actually my first choice to make use of my flashlight batteries that were laying around. and whilst the oos fiasco kinda put paid my plans of getting the mk41, i reckon the 1.2v of my powerex 2700mah wouldn't have done justice to the mk41, which would have ideally run on the 14500's 3.7v instead. so until i get the itch to buy something else, i'm happy with the u12

This post has been edited by WingNut: Oct 29 2018, 05:39 PM

ya, my bad... i was using the mk41hd as the benchmark. will go revise the figures to the hi version instead.

correct! correct! correct! soda can lights pretty much a toss between the mk41 and tn4a... but all things considered, the mk41 trumps the tn4a both in terms of looks and performance, methinks.

can see where you're going with the ea11, sc52w and e11... and yeah, the u12 is a pretty oddball in terms of batteries. then again, it's what i would categorise as the marathon runner among my collection.

This post has been edited by WingNut: Oct 29 2018, 05:56 PM

my bad. mk41nw was already oos, hence considered the tn4a instead. but yeah, the oos fiasco was the tn4a.

well, we have our itchy moments. the s1r turbo is in fact an excellent edc so the u12 is one of those itchy moments to quench my neutral white thirst.

if you need moonlight then use moonlight lor...

my personal preference for my primary neutral white light of approx 2k lumens was endurance, and the u12 ticked that box. hence i was willing to overlook the tricky ui. if the ui is your primary concern, perhaps you could consider olight's r18pro. that was something i considered also...

hahaha. true that. it's just that they're in reverse order (comparing my olight and manker). for one, long press=mode cycle while the other long press=off whereas with the single click, one's off whereas the other is mode cycle. so tricky in the sense one has to remember which is which. well at least double click brings you to turbo on both

didn't quite notice the memory thingy since my last mode was in moonlight anyway

well technically it does give you direct access to low and high... but in terms of moonlight and turbo, which i don't really mind, tbh. so if you wanna bypass that moonlight thingy, just go for the long press for the memory (which can be set at low/mid) and double click for turbo. tactically, direct access to turbo is a better option than high mode

11.11 sure makes me wanna get more stuff also... but i'm beginning to realise that my lights are being underutilized
i'm having the manker u12 with me at the moment, and it's a solid performer. the way i see it, the s1r turbo is really playing second fiddle these days. pity though... she's a solid performer also but the extra lumens do come in handy. may take advantage of 11.11 to get myself more swiss army knives instead!

nice... but still falls short of the u12 in terms of max lumens. simpler ui, and i really like olight's more refined design, though. hmm...

okay, here's where i'm scratching my head about olight's upgrades. first it was the s1rII... now it's the s2RII. brief comparison between the s2rII and s2rI:

distance (m): 135/153 (-18)
max lm: 1150/1020 (+130)
candela: 4600/5800 (-1200)
endurance:
@400lm/@500 lm: 4h0m/3h20m (+40m)
@120lm: 14h0m/13h0m (+1h0m)
@15lm/@12lm: 100h0m/120h0m (-20h)

weight: 98.5g/101.5g (-3g)
length: 100mm/105mm (-5mm)
diameter: 23mm/23mm (0mm)


methinks not much improvement, eh? hence, whilst v2 has nicer looks, and may be a tad bit shorter/lighter, for the price, the sr2 would be the one to get (sure got discount). same like the s1r...


This post has been edited by WingNut: Nov 7 2018, 03:27 PM