[candle lamp]

Skilhunt has first come on the scene with 4 Defier models with XM-L emitter.
The protagonist of this review is Defier X3.


The exclusive plastic carrying case was already delivered when I arrived at home.
.

The light and all accessories are carefully packaged and firmly secured in thick cutout foam
which prevent impact or damage.
.

The light comes with extended tube, spare o-rings, spare tailcap rubber boot, removable grip-
ring, holster, hand-made paracord lanyard, silicone grease, and manual. Everything is very
nice, and it feels like someone laid on a huge spread on the table for me.

Main specifications
1) LED : XM-L T6
2) Max. output : 700 OTF lumens (High level)
3) Operating voltage : 3~14V
4) Length(227mm with extended tube) x Head diameter(44mm) x Tube diameter(25mm)
5) Dustproof and Waterproof : IP-68 standard
.





- Side view without an extended tube

You can use 3 x CR123A 3.0V Litium cells or 3 x RCR123A 3.7V Li-ion cells or 2 x 3.7V Li-ion 18500
cells without an extended tube.
The light comes with black finish type III anodizing. Lettering is clear and bright white. The clip is
attached on the light and it's not reversible.

The gold-plated copper cooling fins showing through the cut-out of the head arrest my eyes.
There are two switches at both head and tailcap respectively.
Knurling is not so aggressive, but there are three body ridges & a clip to help with nice grip.
Also grip-ring help enhance grip.

You can turn the light on & off by pressing or clicking the tailcap switch. Output control is possible
by clicking the small side button switch at the head.
.





- Side view with an extended tube

You can use 4 x CR123A 3.0V Litium cells or 2 x 3.7V Li-ion 18650 cells with an extended tube.
But neither 4 x RCR123A 3.7V Li-ion cells nor 2 x extended tubes or more are banned due to excess
input voltage.

I feel the balance in total weight of the light with an extened tube is better than without it because
of a bit heavy weight of the head.
.

There is a removable mild crenulated stainless steel bezel and gold-plated copper cooling fins on
the head. I can't open the head seems to be bonded with strong adhesive, but it's easy to open
the bezel.
.

- Without an grip-ring
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- With an grip-ring

The tailcap switch is a forward clicky and allows perfect tailstanding without a split-ring & lanyard.
But if you want tailstading with them, the grip-ring should be installed on the light to insert a split-
ring to a tiny hole on it.
.

The light has three parts. (i.e, head, battery tube, and tailcap).

For momentary light on, gently press (no click) the tailcap switch.
Fully press (click) the tailcap switch for constant light on.

Output selection is controlled by side switch. A click on it can transfer in the order of High ->
Med. -> Low -> Cycle. The light has a memory for the last setting used.
When you press and hold the side switch for more than 2 seconds, you can access strobe.
Clicking it again returns to the high level.
.

- A picture of the extended tube and grip-ring together

The side switch is very comfortably placed there where the thumb should rest.
Activation and level changing is smooth and easy.
.

The diameter(37mm) of the smooth reflector is not so large, but looks quite deep, with a well-
centered XM-L emitter on mine.
There is neither spring at the positive contact surface nor reverse polarity protection function in
the head. My light has a smooth reflector, and the light is also available with an optional orange
peel reflector if you want.
.

Screw threads on the both ends of the battery tube are square-cut and anodized. They are
quite smooth with no cross-threading or squeaking.
You can see o-ring is a bit thick.
.

The attached clip can be removed by unscrewing the retaining ring and pulling the clip off.
But it's a shame that the clip is not sturdy but rather weak.
.

There is a flat contact disc at the tailcap and it prevents batteries from scratching.
Threads are anodized at the tailcap, so you can unscrew it a little for lock out.
I notice that there is very little buzzing sound on the low & med. level when holding the light
close to my ear to hear it.

The current draws on each mode at the tailcap are as follows :
- Using 2 x 18650 : High(1.25A), Med.(0.66A), Low(0.26A)
- Using 3 x 16340(RCR123A) : High(0.82A), Med.(0.44A), Low(0.18A)
.

There is no spring on the positive contact in the head, I can't turn the light on with my flat-
top unprotected 18650 cells. (The protected cells have no problem.)
.

So I use a circular battery connector between batteries and the negative contact in the
tailcap. Then it works fine.
.

The weight is 251g(268g) without(with) an extended tube. It's 361g including two unprotected
18650 cells.
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The hand-made paracord lanyard and the light are a good match.
.

It was tied a knot one by one with care.

Overall build quality of mine is as very good as major flashlight companies.
I think the gold-plated copper heat sink & cooling fins offer good performance between heat and
output, providing remarkable cooling.
I decided to measure the surface temperature at 3 points on the light.

My multimeter has only one channel to check temperature, I did measure 4 times over 3 days.

Technical features of the multimeter(VICHY VC99)
1) Range : (-)40 ~(+)1,000 ℃
2) Displaying value : ≺400℃±(0.8%+4d), ≥400℃±(1.5%+15d)

Test conditions
1) Measuring points :
- Copper fin
- Side switch
- Battery tube
2) Used batteries : Fully charged LG unprotected 18650(2600mAh) cells
3) Temperature of the room :
- 27.5℃ at measuring the copper fin
- 28.0℃ at measuring the side switch
- 28.0℃ at measuring the battery tube
4) I just left the light untouched except in the case of turning the light on,
off, and brightness level change.
5) The time spent on measurement
- Copper fin (4:40 pm~5:11 pm, July 10) --> 31minutes
- Copper fin (5:41 pm~6:49 pm, July 10) --> 68minutes
- Side switch (5:49 pm~6:57 pm, July 11) --> 68minutes
- Battery tube (5:39 pm~6:47 pm, July 15) --> 68minutes
6) Detailed time range & brightness level
- 00min. 00sec.~23min. 59sec. (High)
- 24min. 00sec.~39min. 59sec. (Med.)
- 40min. 00sec.~51min. 59sec. (Low)
- 52min. 00sec.~68min. 00sec. (Turn off)
.

When measuring the copper fin on high level at 4:40 pm~5:11 pm, July 10, there was no temperature
change from 21 to 31 minutes since the max. value was 50℃. The above graph tells the result.
Therefore I stopped and restarted to measure the temperature in the same way as the above 5)
after not only cooling the light but changing the batteries.
.

The max. surface temperatures of the copper fin, side switch, and battery tube are 50℃,
46℃, and 42℃ respectively.
Head is faster than battery tube in the speed of the temperature descent.
I think it means the copper heat sink & fins provide nice cooling performance.

Edit : PWM is added(2011.07.11).
I knew X3 is a PWM controlled flashlight through the excellent Selfbuilt's review.
But I've wanted to check it for myself in the easiest way of waving the light.
It's good and simple way to detect your light. It's well described in this thread by Cataract.





Yes, X3 is a PWM controlled light exactly.
But I can't see any flickering on low & med. level with mine in real life.

The followings are white door beamshots.
- About 60cm from the white door
- Brightness : High level
- With 2 x Unprotected LG 18650(2600mAh)


The light shows a bright hotspot with a soft corona which fade into gradually towards the
spill beam. I think beam tint on mine is very close to pure white, not showing greenish tint,
closing just slightly to cool white.
.
The conditions of the following indoor beamshot are
- Distance : about 7m
- Brightness : High level
- ISO100, F2.8, 1/4sec., Auto white balance


- Control shot
.

- High level

The conditions of the following outdoor beamshot are
- Distance : about 20m
- Brightness : High level
- ISO100, F2.8, 1/5sec., Auto white balance


- Control shot
.

- High level

The conditions of the following outdoor beamshot are
- Distance : about 60~65m
- Brightness : High level
- ISO100, F2.8, 1sec., Auto white balance


- Control shot
.

- High level

Edit : Beamshot is added(2011.08.05).
The conditions of the following indoor beamshot are
- Distance : about 45~50m
- Brightness : High level
- ISO100, F2.8, 1sec., Auto white balance

- Control shot
.

- High level

Edit : Beamshot is added(2011.08.14).
The conditions of the following outdoor beamshot are
- Distance : about 55m
- Brightness : High level
- ISO100, F2.8, 1sec., Auto white balance

- Control shot
.

- High level

Edit : Beamshot is added(2011.08.31).
The conditions of the following outdoor beamshot are
- Distance : about 130m
- Brightness : High level
- ISO100, F2.8, 1sec., Auto white balance

- Control shot
.

- High level

Thanks for watching!