Opinions on a new flashlight

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alaskanativeson

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While I'm always wary of products that seem to be too good to be true, I'm also interested in the never-ending jumps in legitimate technology today. This flashlight seems to be more of the latter than the former, but I was wondering if any of you had any experience with it.

The light in question is a Light for Life from 5.11 Tactical. Here's some of the points that caught my attention:

- 3 LED lights put out up to 270 lumens (but I'd probably use the 90 lumen setting because the charge would last longer)
- 90 seconds to fully recharge from either AC or DC sources. Yes, 90 SECONDS.
- No batteries to wear out, it has ultracapacitors which they say can be recharged over 50,000 times with no memory loss on power.
- Impact resistant polymer so it could be used as a make-shift weapon if needed

The downsides? It's not cheap, at $170 it's more than I've ever paid ofr a flashlight, but not so much that I wouldn't consider it if its claims are true. It's also about the size of a Maglight 2D, and I've gotten quite spoiled with my VERY small lights such as my Proton Pro and my Zebralight headlight.

Thoughts?
 
The merits I see are:

You get a recharged light in 90 seconds. That's only a little longer than it's going to take you to change batteries for a regular flashlight. Add that to the fact that you're never going to have to buy batteries again and it's quite appealing to me. Of course it's not going to be the choice for backpacking, but for home use or anytime I'm camping with a vehicle it's going to serve well. Many of my flashlights these days use CR123 batteries. With as much as they cost, how long will it be before this flashlight has paid for itself?
 
*If* it actually can put out 270 lumens, and
*If* it's $170- with that many charging cycles-

I believe that's a bargain. I have several lights that cost more, and I think they were fair or even great values.

John
 
If you want detailed analysis, I hear there's a flashlight forum out there somewhere... otherwise, here's my .02

It's cool. Charging that fast and not having to deal with batteries... very nice. I'm not sure it'll every save you money though.

A little basic math... $170 at a very conservative 5% annual return is $8.50 per year. So if you save $20 is batteries every year, that's only $12.50 you earned back. Still more than 10 years to pay it back. Factor in rechargeable batteries, etc., might be longer.

And, if you're anything like me, you'll want a new and cooler light sometime in the next 10 years. Bottom line, it's like buying a hybrid car. Unless fuel (battery) prices go up, or you use it A LOT, it won't save you money. Buy it if you like it and you think it's useful.
 
Capaciters don't stay charged indefinately.

How long will it be ready to go in storage or non-use?

If it's a TAC light, do you call time-out in a gun fight to charge your light 90 seconds?

rc
 
Well, I bought like $40 of batteries for my surefire back in November 2008.

I'm about halfway through that pack of 20 batteries right now.
 
Well, I bought like $40 of batteries for my surefire back in November 2008.

I'm about halfway through that pack of 20 batteries right now.
Click to expand...

While I think you overpaid for your batteries, even at that price, you would make up the difference for the Light for Life is about 3 years, assuming the average high speed/low drag tacticool light costs about $100. However, in less than 3 years, there will be newer and better lights and probably for less money. So buying the Light for Life isn't going to save you any real money if you are a person who keeps up with the better flashlights. So then, it is an issue of recharging convenience. Is that really worthwhile.

As noted, I would be very interested in the real recharge times and real lumen output, not to mention run time. You get 15 minutes at full power. That isn't long. It also seems rather bulky.
 
you're welcome to your opinion, Double Not, but $2 per battery is pretty darn good for surefire brand batteries.


That said, I think that Light for life is a gimmick.
 
Id be worried most about run time. In my experience with AA batteries the rechargable ones dont last nearly as long as the disposable. Especially ones that charge in 90 seconds. I bought an 18v makita lithium ion drill, its supposed to be the fastest charging kind of battery. Takes about 15 mins to fully charge. But then it only lasts about 15 mins of constant use. Will this flashlight last 90 seconds between charges? Is it lithium ion? Well maybe it would last longer, looks like it uses LEDs. the dirll had about a minute charge= a minute of good use. But thats spinning a motor with a load to it.
 
you're welcome to your opinion, Double Not, but $2 per battery is pretty darn good for surefire brand batteries.


That said, I think that Light for life is a gimmick.
Click to expand...

Surefire brand isn't particularly special. They don't actually make their own batteries. They appear to be made by Energizer. http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=67078

Performance relative to value will go a lot further than brand name relative to value when it comes to batteries.
 
15 minutes of 270 lumen isn't bad and 60 minutes of 90 lumen is about right. I have a TL3 that is suppose to be 200 lumen on 3 123a's for 60 minutes...I always have spare batteries w/ me. I wonder -- can you carry a spare battery for the light?
Not a great deal, but not over priced either -- somewhere in between
 
Performance relative to value will go a lot further than brand name relative to value when it comes to batteries.
Click to expand...


I've tried out a few brands (surefire, two chinese, and streamlight) and the surefire batteries gave the best performance in my light.

Those streamlight batteries were piss poor, though.


I was looking at the EDC on the Elektro Lumens website, and that thing is AWESOME!
 
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15 minutes of 270 lumen isn't bad and 60 minutes of 90 lumen is about right.
Click to expand...

The Olight Warrior Premium claims 3 hours at 250 lumens, 12 hours at 90. It runs on 2 CR123 batteries. My experience has been that the runtimes are a bit exaggerated, with 250 lumens being more along the lines of 2-2.5 hours. That is still 8-10 times longer than the Light for Life. http://www.batteryjunction.com/premium-olight-m20-warrior.html

The Light for Life would be a fairly poor outdoor search light given the short run time at its max setting.

I wonder -- can you carry a spare battery for the light?
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Nope. The light doesn't use a battery. It uses a capacitor(s). I don't see where they sell spares. I don't see where the light give ready access to changing one out either.
Not a great deal, but not over priced either -- somewhere in between
 
I'd wait and let other people spend their money to see how it lasts under real user conditions.

USA company, probably manufactured in Taiwan or China, don't know if there is enough QC of the capacitors or what regulator chipset is used. I think that many of them will catch fire and burn before all the bugs can be worked-out.
 
If it's a TAC light, do you call time-out in a gun fight to charge your light 90 seconds?
Click to expand...
Use your handgun to get to your rifle...then...
Use your flashlight to get to your light switch.
 
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