Skilhunt E3A Flashlight Review

Skilhunt a new E3A flashlight available, with the Samsung LH351b emitter. It’s a nice twisty and available in many body colors. Read on!

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Official Specs and Features

Here’s a link to the Skilhunt E3A Flashlight product page.

Versions

There are four colors, all with the same emitter (but available in NW (seen here) or CW).  Blue, Red, Black, and Other Blue.

Technically the colors are (in order below):  Royal Blue, Carmine Red, Slate Blue, Carbon Black.  Great color options!

Price of the Skilhunt E3A Flashlight

The MSRP on these is around $11.  KillzoneFlashlights.com doesn’t actually stock these yet, but they might be coming.

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Short Review

There’s a lot to love about this little light!  Build quality is good, the emitter is good, size is good.  But it’s just one mode, and that mode isn’t really “low” – the light needs a lower mode (even if it’s the only mode).

Long Review

The Big Table

Skilhunt E3A Flashlight
Emitter:	Samsung LH351b Neutral White
Price in USD at publication time:	$11.00
Cell:	1xAAA
Runtime
LVP?	No
Switch Type:	Twisty
On-Board Charging?	No
Claimed Lumens (lm)	100
Measured Lumens (at 30s)	103 (103% of claim)^
Candela per Lumen	4.6
Claimed Throw (m)	37
Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s)	59lux @ 2.717m = 436cd
Throw (Calculated) (m)	41.7 (112.7% of claim)^
All my Skilhunt 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

• Skilhunt E3A Flashlight
• Primary AAA cell
• Split ring (large)
• Split ring (small)
• Spare o-rings (2)
• Manual

Package and Manual

Build Quality and Disassembly

Build quality is good.  Historically I have not been the biggest fan of the spirals such as are displayed here on the E3A but something about that and this being a twisty just seems to sort of work.  One nice thing that goes with the spirals is that they’re also very lightly textured.  This adds a bit of grip and also breaks up the ugly spiralness.

Here’s a better view of the spirals having some texture.

The threads are anodized and square-cut and appropriately long – it’s a twisty, so of course, you need some length in the threads.  They’re very smooth, too.

The tailcap has a broad not-very-stiff spring.  The head doesn’t have a spring.  There’s a little brass (?) button, and a plastic surround that should prevent flat-top cells (not that there are any flat top AAA cells, not sure about that one).

The internals unscrew easily, and the optic comes out too.

The driver/emitter is a one-piece affair.  Swapping the emitter would likely require a hot-air reflow since it’d be impossible to heat the underside of the board non-destructively.

Size and Comps

Length 59.5 mm / 2.34 inch
Head diameter 14.0 mm / 0.59 inch

Weight: 7.5 g / 0.26 oz (without battery)

This light is properly small.  You’d expect it out of an AAA light, but it’s small even in that category.  Here’s the test light with the venerable Convoy S2+.  Mine’s a custom “baked” edition Nichia 219b triple.  A very nice 18650 light.

And here’s the light beside my custom engraved TorchLAB BOSS 35, an 18350 light.  I reviewed the aluminum version of that light in both 35 and 70 formats.

Retention and Carry

There is no pocket clip included, though there does look to be a spot on the tail area for one to connect.  There is, however, a lanyard loop.  A lanyard is not included, so roll your own!

The light will technically tailstand, but it’s not a reliable way to use the light.

Power and Runtime

The E3A is powered by a single AAA-sized cell, and only up to the 1.5V range.  No 10440 support here.  But it does support NiMH, Primary, and “Lithium” (but not lithium-ion @3.7V nominal – this is the lithium 1.5V variety!!)

The cell goes into the light in the normal orientation – positive toward head.

Here’s a runtime.  There’s just one mode, so this is all in the runtime section.

Reliably 100 lumens for over an hour.  As I said in the intro, I’d rather there be two modes (at least) and one of them be much lower.  Even if there was just one mode, I would rather it be lower.  Unfortunately, discussions with Skilhunt indicate it’s very unlikely.

Modes and Currents

Mode	Mode Claimed Output (lm)	Claimed Runtime	Measured Lumens	Tailcap Amps
On	100	75m (NiMH, as tested)	103	0.52

Pulse Width Modulation

The one mode does not utilize PWM.

For reference, here’s a baseline shot, with all the room lights off and almost nothing hitting the sensor.  Also, here’s the light with the worst PWM I could find.  I’m adding multiple timescales, so it’ll be easier to compare to the test light.  Unfortunately, the PWM on this light is so bad that it doesn’t even work with my normal scale, which is 50 microseconds (50us). 10ms.  5ms.  2ms.  1ms.  0.5ms.  0.2ms.  In a display faster than 0.2ms or so, the on/off cycle is more than one screen, so it’d just (very incorrectly) look like a flat line.  I wrote more about this Ultrafire WF-602C flashlight and explained a little about PWM too.

User Interface and Operation

The E3A is a twisty.  The spirals on the body (specifically on the head) help with the action.  The twist is very smooth, too.

No UI table necessary:  tighten for on.  Loosen for off.  That’s it!

LED and Beam

The emitter in the E3A is a Samsung LH351b.  My review copy is the neutral white option.  The emitter is behind a TIR optic, which gives a nice beam profile.

It’s unclear to me why a manufacturer will use the “b” variant of the LH351 emitter instead of the “d” emitter, but it is what it is.

These beamshots are always with the following settings:  f8, ISO100, 0.3s shutter, and manual 5000K exposure.

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.

I compare everything to the KillzoneFlashlights.com 219b BLF-348 because it’s inexpensive and has the best tint!

Conclusion on the Skilhunt E3A Flashlight

What I like

• Simple UI
• Good twist action
• Very small
• Well regulated output
• No PWM
• Low cost

What I don’t like

• Only one mode
• Coolish
• Not High CRI

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Notes

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