maybe my searching sucks since i figured there’d be lots of threads about this.
looking for a review. they’ve been out a long time now but i haven’t seen much interest. i personally was super excited before they came out, but once they hit and i saw the size, i was less interested and decided to wait to see if any more models would be forthcoming.
one thing i’m particularly interested in is if anyone has tried charging it with portable/solar or cigarette-lighter-based chargers
I don’t have any experience with it, but I’m glad you brought this up. I remember hearing about these lights when they first came out, but I completely forgot about them until now. Even though they are too big for an “EDC” type of light, I think they would excel as a car/household-based light.
There was a quiet recall of some 7000 units recently due to a manufacture problem causing a short.
The light is large and incompatible with mounts, carriers, and the like for other large-cell lights.
Large-cell lights are quirky to use with weapons, if you don’t have a weapon-mounted light or smaller backup light to use. Large diameter limits available techniques, especially with long guns. The larger than standard UC light makes it worse.
Feedback from IBOs and others with small hands isn’t favorable.
The output is nice, and the recharge time could be handy for some. Neither are so nice, or so handy, that they’re worth the other compromises though.
The light is new and unproven, and isn’t blowing the doors off as predicted. It’s a poster child for “Keep Trying”.
There are better, proven lights for the same or less money.
Good summary. The quick recharge time might be great for some uses, but I don’t see many of those being tactical. Otherwise the size and unproven design are major stumbling blocks for me.
They’ve come out with 2 versions now, the 2nd one is a bit smaller. Unfortunately they are way too expensive for me. I’ll stick with my LED Strion with the 2 hr quick charge.
If anything, my complaint about the size is that they’re too small and too light. I really like the “blunt weapon” aspect of my 6D Maglites. Even the bigger Light for Life is 8 inches shorter and about a third of the weight of one of my Maglites…
One more minus: they self-discharge as fast as other rechargeables, so if it’s a car/house light, then it has to be plugged in all the time.
It comes with a 12v charger, but the 110v charger for the big one is another $40, and there doesn’t seem to be any provision for charging the little one using 110v. Argh.
One of our Duty Commander’s is T&E one. As I got to handle it, it was on the HUGE side. Also, he stated that it runs thru a full battery quick. Last thing I noticed, I shot the beam across the parking lot at night and wasn’t really impressed with the lumens/throw/strength that it gave. So, to add insult to injury, I pulled out my much smaller LED dual switch Streamlight poly stinger and it was as equal if not better than his tractor trailer size light.
My 2 favorite duty lights would be the Pelican 7060 LED (LAPD model) and the streamlight Polystinger LED. For such a small package, the LUMENS are up well over 150 if I remember correctly. To wrap this up, I was not impressed with the 511 light. Too many other’s out there that do the job better in a smaller package. Plus, brightguy.com sold me my stinger for $90 pesos. Not bad.
thanks for the responses. i didn’t know exactly what was wrong with it but i assumed something had to be. can’t wait for the 3rd or 4th generation… still very promising technology
Bimmer, I hate to say it but I have no clue what buttons I was hitting. He was showing me all the bells and whistles and I wasn’t really impressed. For some reason I thought my little LED stinger with the dual switch was considerably brighter. Just my opinion.
They have the right idea but I think it will be a work in progress. Every one of our cruisers comes equipped with a hard wired stinger and big steamlight (cant think of its name) charger so it would be a hard change for me.
well, i bought one of the “medium sized” ones and love it so far. had it about a week.
it’s surprisingly lightweight. output is ok, not fantastic. “200 lumens” from a cree bulb just doesn’t seem as bright as my surefires
i like the charger though, and the fact that it has side and tailcap mounted switches, and you can change the output or do strobes from the single switch.
I’ve seen it discussed on the CPF site. Apparently the time that they claim it can go without a recharge is not at the turbo setting. Word on that site is that turbo only lasts 12-15 min tops.
