Like many others, I received my copper SC13 a couple days ago. I'm a sucker for copper lights, even though I don't own that many, so this was the first one I've ordered in a while. The SFT40 3000K emitter is great, and I really like the soft yet throwy beam profile. The switch/button kind of sucks, as many others have pointed out. You can see that the aux light bleeds through around the edges, and is also visible within the lens (which I am okay with).
It has a really nice heft to it - and mine also came pre-scratched, quite significantly so, I think. They're micro-scratches, but still. I've seen other reports of the magnet not being strong enough, not so in my case - it's plenty strong and holds sideways fine. The USB port - I think this light would've been better without the onboard charging. I feel this way about many lights, unfortunately.
And lastly, the pocket clip. I don't really know what they were thinking here. I don't think anyone actually tested this, or maybe they don't wear jeans like we do in the states...but it's mostly unusable for me with the third screw in the middle. It completely blocks the clip from going over my pocket. Overall, I want to like it, but will probably sell it at some point.
Edit: forgot to mention that the illumination for these photos was provided by my trusty Tool AA 2.0 w/ Nichia 219b 2700k emitter.
My biggest complaint about it is the moonlight level is way too high. I have most of my Hank light headlamps highest ceiling on Anduril set to about the same amount of lumens as the lowest setting on the copper SC13A. I didn't have them side by side to compare, but when I turned on my regular black SC13 on the lowest setting, it actually seemed lower than the Anduril and buck combo in the copper SC13A. I know they have different LED's and the tints were way different I can't remember what was in the original SC13 but I'm pretty sure I got the highest 5000k or 5700k version and I am comparing that to my one working copper SC13A which I'd SFT40 3000k which is apples and oranges here.0
Yes!!!! The moonlight is GARBAGE. I still love the light though and somewhat expected a terribly high moonlight after my experience with Wurkkos/Sofirn buck drivers. I also agree with those who say the middle screw in the clip was an asinine move. Luckily, removing it seemingly hasn’t affected the security of its mounting.
This was the same problem with Hank’s initial boost drivers and other efficient drivers before the Lume setups. Trade off for efficiency used to be lack of sublumen output. We got spoiled with the latest drivers.
Yeah but we do have to pay the extra $12 for those sub lumen levels
Mine came pretty scratched up too. Instantly removed that middle screw, everything seems solid so far. If there’s any movement I’ll loctite the other two screws.
The switch action can be improved quite a bit by opening the light up and poking a strip of clear plastic down the tube between the back of the button and the switch. Somebody on another post mentioned that, and it really works. It would be much better though if the switch surround was threaded and not a press fit, then the issue could be sorted properly.
Yeah no idea why they would use press fittings when screw in threading can't be more expensive to manufacture.
Can you post a photo of that? What kind of plastic do you mean?
https://preview.redd.it/5w3zxxb6rn6g1.jpeg?width=3472&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=da3d35c43b6a69a536ca1839e68fafe6f1381a5f
https://preview.redd.it/6awxc5uftn6g1.jpeg?width=3472&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2090b2e3fcf66b03f5d2c7d16e561084f27ca31d
Plastic strip cut from a blister pack, like this. And poked down the tube in between the button and switch. A bodge job but the proper way would involve removing the button assembly without marring/damaging anything to get behind it and stick something in place. It's basically acting as a transparent piece of packing material behind the button. Ideally you'd want a small round sticker of specific thickness, like Rey provides for the backs of the buttons on some of his Reylights to get a better action.
Thank you very much. I‘ll try that!
https://preview.redd.it/ciye0v48rn6g1.jpeg?width=3472&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2aa0ca2a5cc46926b3be97603115c460c728a61b
Nice and straightforward! I might have to try this.
Yeah it's definitely worth it, I used a bit of plastic from a blister pack.
There’s a lot of criticism of the copper SC13 but, for my money, the standard SC13 is goated for EDC.
The form factor is awesome. The quality is tangible. The beam profile is pretty good unless you are focused on wall hunting. You get 1k lumens initially in turbo and it sustains 400 lumens for 1.5 hours. The 519a works for high cri snobs if you don’t mind losing a bit of luminance. To get an edc that will sustain twice as much brightness for even 10 minutes requires a much larger and more expensive alternative.
The copper SC13 improves on the original in basically no ways that matter to me. Buck driver isn’t that compelling in this type of EDC and significantly increases the size. The button is worse. The copper finish is more luxurious but it’s fragile. The belt clip is luxury but functions poorly. It’s also way heavier. And I’m not sure the beam profile is any better. It’s a light that caters to enthusiasts qua enthusiasts but it goes away a lot of what made the original so great.
I feel bad for Sofirn bec they tried to do the right thing by listening to the community but ended up with this fan service compromised light. Sometimes the customers are wrong.
The one change I would make to the original sc13 andur version would be to add rgb aux lights but even that wouldn’t really make it a better light.
I don't have anything against choice. I have both but I didn't like the original as much as I like this copper version so I'm not moaning about my new light.
I completely agree with what you said about this light not having onboard charging. It’s an enthusiast light, right? I’m pretty sure that if they offered it without onboard charging, more of those units would be sold, than ones with it. That’s just my opinion though. I also prefer for most of my “enthusiast” lights to not have onboard charging unless it’s some cheapie that I have in the car or a go-bag, for convenience and practicality. The middle screw on the clip is also slightly annoying to me, glad someone else mentioned that. I appreciate your post very much by the way. Maybe Sofirn will do something to rectify these repetitive issues that people are having with their units. I made a post yesterday about the issues that I’ve had with mine so far. What upsets me the most, is that I ordered a 3000k unit, but got a 5000k unit. Said 5000k unit came in a 3000k marked box. Makes no sense. Lastly, the moonlight mode sucks ass man. I was so excited for this release too. Sorry to hear that you’ve had issues with your unit as well brother, hopefully Sofirn helps us out somehow. I sent them an email today that was polite, while still expressing how immensely disappointed I was with my unit.
Sorry that happened to you dude! What's crazy is that I thought I also got a 5000k one by mistake. I first turned it on at the bright flourescent office at work, and thought I got the wrong emitter but when I got it home, it's definitely the right one.
I’m glad that you got the correct CCT. I’m wondering if someone out there ordered a 5000k unit and received a 3000k unit instead lmao
Swiping past this post quickly, and I had first thought it was a coffee mug 😆👍