UV LED flashlights currently on the market

[ebuchner]

In the 0.5 and up wattage range, what lights/manufacturers seem to offer good quality and performance? The last time I bought a UV flashlight it was closer to 2005, so I'm hoping I can get a quick brush up on the state of the market here. Thank you!

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Things have gotten far better since 2005, especially since it's easy to find true UVA 365nm LEDs now. The Convoy S3 is legendary around here, and I have a Tattu UV LED that is very similar to the Convoy. My main advice is to avoid the 395nm "almost UV" lights that are common in brick & mortar stores.

 

[iacchus]

I picked up a Sofirn SF16 on the cheap the other day. Not the brightest thing in the world, but a handy size and not too much dosh. Build quality seems decent.built in charging, which I'll never actually use, but some people like that

 

[Ocelot808]

Jlhawaii808.com has a selection high output Emisar UV mules based on the D4v2, with output reaching 40W using 8 high quality pure 365nm Seoul 5W LEDs. Not cheap, but quality built and compact.

 

[letschat7]

Malkoff, Streamight, LRI

 

[alpg88]

Noctigon kr4, emisar d4k are available with 8 uv 365nm leds with zwb2 filter, it is pure flood, 2 options 24w and 40w
Noctigion 9.3 with 3 uv leds with zwb2 filter, and 9 other leds, your choice of colors. I just got one myself, 15 watts for UV.

LED Flashlight-INTL Outdoor Store

intl-outdoor.com

 

[LEDite]

This is a 120W AC powered commercial model I build:

 

[scottk2112]

Olight Seeker 4 Mini has UV

 

[GadgetGeek]

I have an Olight i5UV & Arkfeld Pro. Fun lights. I'd like to get another more powerful.

 

[PaladinNO]

I recently picked up a Sofirn SF15 (2x AA) UV-pen light. Being happy with that - though not so happy when it actually something in the house - I put in another order for the larger SF16 (18650). Both are UV-A, 365 Nm. And both was a major step up from my previous Streamlight TwinTask 3C, which had both 365 and 395 Nm 5mm diodes (not the SMD LED-chips that are used today). Plus a halogen bulb for regular light.

I am currently looking at the Fenix LD32 UVC. If my understanding is correct, then UV-A (365 Nm) only finds bacterial stains, whereas UV-C (255 Nm) kills the bacteria. And as such, the UV-feature of the LD32 UVC is not a toy in any way, and requires protective gear for skin and eyes.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

I recently picked up a Sofirn SF15 (2x AA) UV-pen light. Being happy with that - though not so happy when it actually something in the house - I put in another order for the larger SF16 (18650). Both are UV-A, 365 Nm. And both was a major step up from my previous Streamlight TwinTask 3C, which had both 365 and 395 Nm 5mm diodes (not the SMD LED-chips that are used today). Plus a halogen bulb for regular light.

I am currently looking at the Fenix LD32 UVC. If my understanding is correct, then UV-A (365 Nm) only finds bacterial stains, whereas UV-C (255 Nm) kills the bacteria. And as such, the UV-feature of the LD32 UVC is not a toy in any way, and requires protective gear for skin and eyes.

You are correct. UVA can kill a small subset of bacteria, but UVC can kill pretty much all bacteria and deactivate viruses. Currently the radiant energy from UVC LEDs is fairly weak compared to germicidal fluorescent lamps, so it's mostly useful for close-up spot disinfection as well as identifying certain minerals that only glow under UVC.

 

[wjv]

If you can find a Wurkkos WK30, it's a very good light. High quality with a 365nm led.

 

[alpg88]

Oh yea, those are great, the uvc bulbs, they kill everything. My aunt has a small shed where she puts garbage, yard tools, ..etc. trash gets picked up once a week, so it often stinks there, I installed 2x 30w uvc bulbs, they are always on when door is closed, once you open the door the light goes out, so you can safely walk in, now it always smells like chlorine, due to ozone, no garbage smell anymore, no flies ether.

 

[roguegeek]

I just did this dance a couple weeks ago. My son is getting into rockhounding and I decided to finally test out dozens of UV lights. The goal was to find one for each of the following fuel sources: 10440, 14500, 18650, 21700, multi-cell device.

A couple things I learned real quick when I started. If it isn't 365nm and properly filtered for visible light, you might as well throw them away. Filtering out visible light is an absolute requirement if you're going to get a good contrasting image. Also, it was painfully obvious any UV light that was integrated with another light was just nothing more than a second thought.

The following are some of the lights I tested with a very quick summary. Some were ones I already owned. Some I bought specifically to test.

Light​	UV​	Filtered​	Watts​	Summary​
Alonefire SV62 Mini	365nm	yes	3W	best 10440
Alonefire SV70 Mini	365nm	yes	3W	good performance, Tool AA UV performed better
Alonefire SV003	365nm	yes	10W	good performance, SV005 performed better
Alonefire SV005	365nm	yes	10W	best 18650
Alonefire SV13	365nm	yes	15W	good performance, SV005 performed better
Alonefire SV43	365nm	yes	36W	best 21700
Alonefire SV52	365nm	yes	25W	on par with SV43, but with a bit more throw
Alonefire H42UV	365nm	yes	36W	good performance, SV74 performed better
Alonefire SV84	365nm	yes	45W	good performance, SV74 performed better
Alonefire SV74	365nm	yes	48W	best multi-cell
Anker Bolder UV	365nm	no		unfiltered
Convoy S2+	365nm	no		unfiltered
Lumenshooter S3	365nm	yes		good performance, SV005 performed better
LUMINTOP Tool AA UV	365nm	yes	3W	best 14500
LUXNOVAQ UV Flashlight	365nm	yes	30W	good performance, SV005 performed better
Malkoff MD2	365nm	no		unfiltered
Olight i5UV	365nm	no		unfiltered
Olight Arkfeld Pro	365nm	no		unfiltered and integrated
Olight Seeker 4 Mini	365nm	no		unfiltered and integrated
Rovyvon (so many various ones)	365nm	no		unfiltered
Sofirn SF15	365nm	no		unfiltered
Sofirn SF16	365nm	yes		poor filtering, SV005 performed better
Streamlight Stylus Pro UV	365nm	no		unfiltered
uvBeast V3 365nm Mini	365nm	yes		good performance, SV005 performed better
uvBeast V3 365nm	365nm	yes	30W	good performance, SV005 performed better
Weltool M2-BF	365nm	yes	1.8W	nicest built light, way underperformed, SV005 performed better
Wurkkos WK30	365nm	no		unfiltered and integrated

I'd never heard of this Alonefire brand before running these tests, but they were extremely easy to acquire through Amazon, so I threw them in there. I'm glad I did. I'm guessing they're just another one of the many Chinese brands out there. The quality of the physical light is definitely not on par with something like a Weltool, but they're cheap enough to justify a purchase and they objectively performed better than most.

Anyway, I hope this helped.

 

[letschat7]

Thanks for covering uvBeast. That is an uncommon brand apparently in some trade circles with UK designers.

 

[roguegeek]

Thanks for covering uvBeast. That is an uncommon brand apparently in some trade circles with UK designers.

I had no idea. When I started looking, their name came up quite a bit. Their products were real good and I'd have been content if they were my final purchase.

 

[Dave_H]

I just did this dance a couple weeks ago. My son is getting into rock hounding and I decided to finally test out dozens of UV lights. The goal was to find one for each of the following fuel sources: 10440, 14500, 18650, 21700, multi-cell device.

A couple things I learned real quick when I started. If it isn't 365nm and properly filtered for visible light, you might as well throw them away. Filtering out visible light is an absolute requirement if you're going to get a good contrasting image. Also any UV light that were integrated within another light

For "rock hounding" you will probably want to get a "short" wavelength like 254nm. In the old days they used a mercury vapour tube. I could not take mine out, as it was 120vac and at the time had no portable power source, and night excursions were not feasible.

Some battery-powered short UV lights exist for sterilization including COVID. I have seen LED ones at least down to 280nm, not sure how that works vs. 254nm on rocks and minerals.

Dave

 

[letschat7]

I had no idea. When I started looking, their name came up quite a bit. Their products were real good and I'd have been content if they were my final purchase.

In 2022 I had been out of the flashlights for quite a while. I would look up all these strange brands that were on Amazon and try to learn something about them. That was one of the few that seemed worthwhile.

 

[roguegeek]

For "rock hounding" you will probably want to get a "short" wavelength like 254nm. In the old days they used a mercury vapour tube. I could not take mine out, as it was 120vac and at the time had no portable power source, and night excursions were not feasible.

Some battery-powered short UV lights exist for sterilization including COVID. I have seen LED ones at least down to 280nm, not sure how that works vs. 254nm on rocks and minerals.

Dave

Oh that's a whole different set of tools I'm looking at right now too. I should have probably clarified my test ultimately turned into looking for the best 365nm filtered lights for my purpose.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Oh that's a whole different set of tools I'm looking at right now too. I should have probably clarified my test ultimately turned into looking for the best 365nm filtered lights for my purpose.

I'm hoping to find a shortwave UVC flashlight with at least a little bit of throw. UVC LEDs are still fairly new and not terribly powerful though. Then there's the challenge of 'throw' where the atmosphere absorbs a good bit of the UVC energy, so there's probably a physical limit to how far they can throw. If I find a good one I'll post it here.