Emisar Flashlights

Every Emisar is assembled to order. The lights are sold direct from intl-outdoor.com, the store of Hank Wang's Nanjing YaoQi Photoelectric Technology, whose site carries a copyright line running from 2011. A product page there reads like a build sheet: host color, stainless finish, switch backlight, emitter and color temperature, driver, tube length, clip and magnetic tailcap are all chosen before checkout. The same shop also makes the Noctigon lights and sells its own NTG emitters, which is why the high-CRI NTG35 turns up as the default on so many of these models.

The D4 quads are the backbone: the D4V2 on an 18650, and the D4K and D4SV2 on a 21700. The DA1 and DA1K swap the four emitters for one larger Nichia NTG50, the D1 and D1K are pocket throwers, and the DT8K packs eight emitters into an oval head. For AA or 14500 cells there are the D3AA and the D2 Dual-Channel, and the right-angle lights come in three sizes, the DW3AA, DW4 and DW4K. The KC1 at $13.99 is the keychain light. The D4V2 and D3AA, both $36, are the cheapest of the full-size lights.

Owners describe the D4V2 as the light that turns people into flashlight people, and report years of trouble-free use. The interface, Anduril 2, gets the most mixed reviews: called the best available once learned and bewildering on first contact. D3AA owners value that it runs 14500 lithium cells and 1.5V AAs, and reviewers call it the best Eneloop light available, though its clip is tight on jeans pockets. DW4 owners who use it for caving and search and rescue call it flawless on a helmet. The small quads heat up fast on turbo and step down quickly, and the D1's tight hotspot makes it a poor light for walking.

Cells are the catch. The D4V2 and DW4 pages say they take unprotected flat-top 18650s only, and a protected cell will not work; none of the cells come in the box. The D4K has no built-in charger, so plan on a separate charger for most of these lights. The store's guarantee is one year, with replacement for defects and cost-price repair after that, and orders ship in one to three business days and reach most countries in two to four weeks.