Ultratac K18 Mini Brass Keychain Flashlight Review

The Ultratac K18 Mini is a keychain flashlight offering something rare: a side e-switch in 10180 format! This one’s brass. Read on for more!

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Official Specs and Features

Here’s a link to the Ultratac K18 Mini Brass Keychain Flashlight product page.

Versions

There are three bodies of this light.  Brass (seen here), black anodized aluminum, and stainless steel.
There’s also a 2017 version, which is an AAA light.

Price

The brass is currently $18.99, and the other two body metals are a dollar more at $19.99.  The 2017 model is strangely $49.99, for no good reason.

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Short Review

A clicky on a 10180 light?  Yes, please!  In brass!  Even more yes, please!  I really enjoy the simplicity of this light, and of course, I like brass.  It’s a very nice combo.  I do think brass should always be paired with Nichia, though. 🙂

Long Review

The Big Table

Ultratac K18 Mini Brass
Emitter:	Cree XP-G2
Price in USD at publication time:	$18.99 on amazon (referral link).
Cell:	1×10180
Runtime	–
LVP?	No
Switch Type:	E-Switch
Quiescent Current (A):	?
On-Board Charging?	Yes
Chargetime
Power off Charge Port with no Cell?	No
Claimed Lumens (lm)	130
Measured Lumens (at 30s)	125 (96.2% of claim)^
Claimed Throw (m)	–
Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s)	57lux @ 2.849m = 463cd
Throw (Calculated) (m)	43.0^
All my Ultratac reviews!

^ Measurement disclaimer: Testing flashlights is my hobby. I use hobbyist-level equipment for testing, including some I made myself. Try not to get buried in the details of manufacturer specifications versus measurements recorded here; A certain amount of difference (say, 10 or 15%) is perfectly reasonable.

What’s Included

• Ultratac K18 Mini Brass Keychain Flashlight
• 10180 Li-ion cell (not pictured)
• Charge cap for included cell
• Charge cable (USB to Micro-USB)
• Spare o-rings (2)
• Manual

Package and Manual

There’s a sleeve around a slip-fit box.  The sleeve has instructions printed, and runtimes, and the like.

There’s no foam, but the light doesn’t slip around because it’s vacuum-sealed.

The vacuum-sealed package is intended to protect the brass from tarnishing.  I’m not sure how important that is, because the brass seems to be coated anyway.  There are some fingerprint marks after use, but it doesn’t have the typical brass smell.

This piece of paper that looks like a manual is in fact not a manual.  The sleeve of the box covers most of the manual type information, except the actual UI.

Build Quality and Disassembly

The build quality of this tiny light is as good as most lights of this size.  Which is to say, acceptable.  Neither bad at all, or greatly fantastic.

There are very light fins in the head, but as cool as this light stays, those are fairly irrelevant.

Below are the contacts of the charging head.  The light head, which I seem to have no photos of, is very similar but with a black mcpcb, and a brass retaining ring.

There’s even a tritium slot in the tail!  It’s a standard tritium slot for flashlights – should fit the ‘standard’ 1.5x6mm tritium vial.

Size

Officially 41 mm long x 13mm head diameter, and weighing in at 17 gram without battery.

This light is small, but there are certainly smaller 10180 lights. I’ll ‘allow’ it because this light is unusually clicky!

Retention

The only thing this light includes for carry is the (already installed) split ring on the tail cap.  That’s removable.  The split ring does not prevent tailstanding!

Power

The K18 Mini is powered by a single unprotected 10180 lithium-ion cell.  This cell is included.
Here’s a runtime on High.  Thirty second output looks to be around 125 lumens, which is in line with the manufacturer’s claim of 130 lumens.  There’s no complex circuitry here – output tracks voltage all the way down.  There’s also no low voltage protection.

Charging

The K18 Mini (and for that matter, the 2017 edition too) includes a charge port that is screwed onto the body after the light head has been removed.  Once installed, the included cell may be charged.
It all worked great, and just like it should, but as is the case with all these tiny screw-on chargers, the build quality isn’t fantastic.  See how the port kind of swims in the opening on the charge head.

The charge profile looks great, though.  Stable charging at around 0.11A.  Capacity is around 70mAh, which is typical of these 10180 cells.

User Interface and Operation

In an unusual twist for 10180 lights, this is actually a clicky light!  There’s a side e-switch, labeled “MODE.”  I think the cover is actually metal, and the screen print is just a little off-centered on my sample.

The UI is extremely simple.  Here’s a table!

State	Action	Result
Off	Click	No action
Off	Hold	On (Mode Memory)
Off	Double Click	Switches between lockout (one flash) and Normal operation (two flashes)
On	Click	Mode advance (L>H)
On	Double Click	Strobe

Modes

Mode	Mode Claimed Output (lm)	Claimed Runtime	Measured Lumens	Tailcap Amps
High	130	25m	125	0.26
Low	10	3.8h	–	~

LED and Beam

Ultratac has put a Cree XP-G2 in this tiny light.  Surprisingly there’s an actual reflector, which is orange peel.  The beam has a good bit of spot, but plenty of spill too, making for a pretty good keychain light profile.

Tint vs BLF-348 (KillzoneFlashlights.com 219b version) (affiliate link)

I keep the test flashlight on the left, and the BLF-348 reference flashlight on the right.

Random Comparisons and Competitive Options….

Here’s a relevantly filtered page on parametrek.com. I don’t think you’ll find another clicky 10180 light.  If you don’t care about that, then there are tons of options!  I personally don’t like twisty lights, so this is a great entry for me.

Conclusion

What I like

• Clicky!
• Brass adds a nice heft, and the look is great
• Simple but surprisingly feature-rich UI
• Full package, including cell and charger
• Charge profile looks perfect
• Tritium slot

What I don’t like

• Overall the light could be shorter – a TIR would help with that.
• I think Brass lights should always have Nichia emitters

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Notes

• This light was provided by Ultratac for review. I was not paid to write this review.
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