I first heard of Wolf-Eyes while exploring a Canadian Airsoft weapons page on the Internet. Wolf-Eyes tactical flashlights are made in China and distributed from my neighbor north of the border. As an American, therefore, purchasing Wolf-Eyes products is less convenient for me than for our martialist friends in Canada. If the 6T Explorer and 9T Raider models are any indication, however, the products are worth dealing with Customs delays and currency conversions.
The 6T Explorer is fairly representative of the tactical Xenon-bulb flashlight as imported to meet increasing market demand. Shorter than the hefty 9T, the 6T is 5.625 inches long and has a bezel diameter of 1.25 inches. The body of the 6T is aircraft-grade aluminum. It is directly comparable to several no-name Chinese import Xenon-bulb lights on the market, such as those available from Cheaper than Dirt as of this writing. The Knurled body provides good traction and fits my hand well.
Like the 9T, the 6T has an interesting tailcap switch that is itself a 4-LED lamp. Protected by a plastic cover, the LEDs twist on one-half turn before the cap reaches the always-on setting. They produce 3.5 lumens for a total of 68 hours on a fully charged LRB-150A battery, ideal for reading or utility illumination. The tailcap also functions as the pressure switch for momentary-on lighting of the main lamp. Activating the main lamp deactivates the LEDs if they’re lighted. The tailcap can be twisted out to momentary-on and always-off settings.
The main lamp produces a healthy 80 lumens, which easily outshines its imported siblings and is more powerful than some baseline lights from domestic producers. This is a function of the lamp only, but cost is a factor in the choices of many martialists.
Wolf-Eyes offers both DC- and AC-compatible charging units. I actually used the battery charger that came with my 6T in trying to isolate a problem I believe I caused. When I first installed the batteries, I think I put them in backwards. Either because of this or because of a problem from the factory, my 6T lighted weakly and then burned out completely.
I contacted Wolf-Eyes and they rushed me a new 3.7V lamp assembly. The light worked perfectly thereafter. The instructions state only to orient the "anode towards the tailcap" when installing the battery, but I can never remember which end of a battery is the anode. (In this case, the positive terminal needs to be pointed towards the cap or the light does not work.)
My Wolf-Eyes 9T Raider tactical light came to me in the same substantial cardboard box as did the 6T. Inside, I found a standard 9T light, two LRB-150A batteries (cells of a type I’d not previously used), an optional push-button tailcap switch, and a battery charger.
No stranger to tactical torches by now, I pointed the light into my hand when I installed the batteries – only to find myself blinking away the afterimage of the reflected burst of light when the torch switched on. Small wonder, I discovered – for, as the product literature states, the 9T pumps out an impressive 130 lumens for a total burn time of 50 minutes.
The 9T Raider is not a small light by most industry standards, but it is still within acceptable limits for tactical purposes. It is 6.25 inches long and weighs 8.3 ounces, with a bezel diameter of 1.25 inches.
The push-button momentary-on tailcap switch is an optional accessory. The 9T comes standard with the same 4-LED tailcap assembly as is found on the 6T. When screwed all the way down, the 9V main lamp assembly is set to always-on. When turned back a half turn, the LED lamp assembly in the tailcap switch turns on and stays on. Backing off the tailcap switch further turns off the LEDs (but the 9V lamp will still switch on for momentary lighting when the face of the LED cap is pressed). Back off the switch still more and the light is in always-off mode for storage.
The LED assembly produces a relatively weak five-lumen circle of blue-white light for a total burn time of 60 hours, according to the supplied documentation. It’s a neat option to have as part of your tactical light – a less intense but longer-burning source of utility lighting for dealing with power outages, reading maps, or whatever. One assumes the surface of the LED assembly is strong enough to do double duty as a thumb switch. I actually prefer the tactical button switch with its lightly textured rubber tab, but the LED option should not be discarded casually.
The knurled aircraft aluminum body of the 9T provides fairly good traction. At half a pound, the light makes a decent striking tool, too (though your guess is as good as mine regarding whether it will still light after you bash in someone’s head with it).
Before I obtained the 9T, my 120-lumen Streamlight NF2 was my brightest tactical light. Both are blinding. Side by side, the 9T’s extra ten lumens are apparent to the naked eye (at least comparatively). The tradeoff for that extra power is more weight and length in this particular
case.
I had the same problem installing the batteries in the 9T that I had in the 6T, but I didn’t manage to burn anything out while getting it in order. Be careful when setting up your Wolf-Eyes lights, as there’s no point in burning out a lamp if you can avoid it.
he more product reviews I do, the more of an internationalist I become. The Chinese-made tactical lights shipped to me by way of Canada have impressed this American as solid and powerful. There are many alternatives on the market that are as good or better, but the cost and quality of the 9T and 6T are well matched and the lights perform their functions well. These are the first tactical lights I’ve owned that included low-power, long-duration secondary lights as well.
Wolf-Eyes has opened my eyes to yet another tactical lighting option.