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KFP wrote:I haven't had any personal experience with it, but they're (5.11) willing to put a limited lifetime warranty on it. How limited that is, I don't know, but I would give it a shot if I was looking for a light that size.

Every "limited" warranty I've ever seen on electronics considers power sources (batteries, usually even AC adapters) to be consumable items, and not covered unless DOA.

KFP wrote:I'd go this route http://www.511tactical.com/browse/Home/ ... 0000:50500" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; for the same price, and not worry about batteries.

I'd be really suspicious of their claims; if there's a battery that can charge fully in 90 seconds and handle daily recharging for over a hundred years with only 4% capacity loss and still be cheap enough to use in a $150 light, the laptop industry, among lots of others, would really like to know about it. Imagine the professional photographers who would pay good money for a camera battery that will never leave them needing more than a minute and a half to charge up when they realize they forgot to charge the spare before an all-day wedding shoot.

Grog wrote:Most flashaholics who would consider that light (didn't click the link, but it had to be the TK40)

TK45, actually; whole new design, with 3 heads and $5 cheaper than the 40.

would be using rechargeables.

Depends on the use; I hardly ever put rechargeables in flashlights these days unless I'm going camping. With my normal use, the batteries last long enough that it isn't a serious concern.

jimlongley wrote:And some Alkalines test at more than 2500 as well as some NiMHs, the problem is that the average user is not going to spend the kind of money necessary to get the quality cells necessary to achieve those outputs, and a typical AA is closer to 1100.

The average user isn't going to have a $160 flashlight to put them in anyway.

Also, one has to consider the actual drain supportable by the batteries in use. NiMHs have a great power curve, as do lithiums, but alkalines and particularly carbon zinc, have a tendency to lose output strength as they heat up from drain, and heat up more, etc. etc.

That would be why the Borealis comes with NiCd batteries, and recommends them exclusively. For the most part, I use E2s in my LD20, and they keep the "low" setting ridiculously bright for a couple months before it drops off to where it should be, which suggests they're sourcing more current than it needs. I think I still have a couple of NiCd AAs somewhere, but their self-discharge rate is higher than the rate I run through batteries with regular use in that light.

I do not know how many lumens it takes to blind someone permanently, but it happened back during WWII in Edgerton's lab.

It would almost certainly be a function of both luminous intensity and time; I would think staring into even a 50-60 lumen light from close range long enough would cause a problem, but most people aren't going to keep looking at it that long.

jimlongley wrote:Noted a couple of things reading the description. First, the output was tested using a 2500mAh NiMH battery. Second, the run times are based on the test and, Third 8 AAs will not give you anywhere near 2500mAh.

Not sure what gives 2500, but Sanyo Eneloops are at least 2000mAh, and Energizer e2s are 2300.

That "Turbo" mode would be too bright for anything useful except maybe a mauntaintop searchlight or signaling ships at sea over the horizon.

When an attacker needs to be blinded, there's no such thing as too bright. 760 lumens is, AFAIK, still a long way from "certain permanent damage from a brief flash." Afterall, the Borealis is over 900, and I haven't heard of any permanent blindings from it.

gigag04 wrote:I think that would disorient ME if I was trying to negotiate a house while clearing it.

Can't knock it till I try it though.

A strobe is really not that bad when you're behind it. It is that bad when you're in front of it, though, and a mirror you're not expecting can make you effectively in front of it pretty quickly.

IMO, strobe mode would be great on a weapon light, since you can just leave it on while clearing. It's still hard to aim at, but easy enough to aim by.

gigag04 wrote:Looks too busy IMO.

If you think it looks busy when it's turned off, just imagine how it would look to a person of interest looking down the bore of its strobe mode.

If it actually cycles through the heads in strobe mode, that would be far more disorienting than a single light flashing. Three independent strobes at slightly different frequencies could be even more effective, but probably a little tougher for the mode switching circuit to handle.

https://www.fenix-store.com/product_inf ... ts_id=2341" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

760 lumens off of 8 AA batteries, MSRP $152.95, strobe mode, and just generally tacticool looking flashlight. Perfect for the folks who can't afford Surefire's $400+ M6 Guardian or the 6 CR123s the Guardian can eat in 20 minutes. Looks to be not much bigger than a 3D Maglight, too.

With the low-power mode putting out enough to read by for 230+ hours on easy-to-find batteries, this could be the perfect light for the emergency kits.