Dorcy K2 Comparison Review

[UnknownVT]

Seems to me that both contacts in the tailcap would have to be negative. I'll guess that there's a negative contact at the top of the battery holder as well as the positive. That's the only way I can see for this circuit to work, since there don't appear to be any unanodized body parts to complete the circuit.

No, sorry the center is positive.

This photo of the battery holder shows there is a center metal post.

The electrical contact is made by the body tube end, and the part of the tailcap that meets it - which are both bare metal and unanodized.

 

[UnknownVT]

I bought five Dorcy 41-4297 as wedding presents and I took them out of the packages to play with them a bit... Three of them put out the same color light, one put out a very distinct white light and one other put out a quite yellow light. I'd speculate quality control at Dorcy at this point with such a variation of five lights. I have a few pictures that I can post up showing the difference.

Cool!

Be VERY grateful if you could post photos of variation of the tints
- perhaps all 5 lights in a single photo?
- or comparisons with a "control" light with a tint that you really like?

When you say "yellow" is it as "yellow" as my sample?

Many thanks,

 

[Conrad_Turbo]

Cool!

Be VERY grateful if you could post photos of variation of the tints
- perhaps all 5 lights in a single photo?
- or comparisons with a "control" light with a tint that you really like?

When you say "yellow" is it as "yellow" as my sample?

Many thanks,

Here we go:

The three in the middle have nearly identical color output, the one on the left has a very distinct blue hue and teh one on the right is more amber than the middle three.

Just a minor correction/clarification, these are a 1 Watt LED with 45 Lumen output and the Dorcy PN is 41-4290 (not the same as the one that began this thread). The pictures don't show how amber the one flashlight on the end is (opposite from the blue~ish output flashlight), but the variance in light output is very random... If only the packages weren't in sealed plastic I would buy 10 of them and choose the best and return the other 9...

As for a control light...I am either a fan of an LED putting out a crisp white/blueish light or else the complete opposite of a high output red, green or amber. I would choose the whitest flashlight in this case.

Even though this is a totally different flashlight I'd question Dorcy's quality control.

 

[UnknownVT]

The three in the middle have nearly identical color output, the one on the left has a very distinct blue hue and teh one on the right is more amber than the middle three.
Just a minor correction/clarification, these are a 1 Watt LED with 45 Lumen output and the Dorcy PN is 41-4290 (not the same as the one that began this thread).
Even though this is a totally different flashlight I'd question Dorcy's quality control.

Many thanks for your sterling efforts Conrad.

Although I'd agree about the varience in tint - however most tint variation is due to the LED manufacturer's binning.

Although it would be nice to think a flashlight maker would test every light - I think it's more likely that the tests, if any, are probably just to make sure the light is actually working -
I doubt very much that any mass manufacturer would check for tint variations.

We become much more critical when comparing lights side-by-side (hence my comparisons) -
however any tint difference (even when fairly large side-by-side) would not be that significant in real practical use.

 

[droeun]

The new 41-4297 is now rated at 160 lumens, would there be a significant decrease in battery life? I just picked up one of these 120 versions from Target and would consider returning it for the 160 version from dorcy direct.

 

[UnknownVT]

The new 41-4297 is now rated at 160 lumens, would there be a significant decrease in battery life?

My speculation is that Dorcy may now be using a brighter LED emitter -
so the battery life is probably similar.

 

[M@elstrom]

Even though this is a totally different flashlight I'd question Dorcy's quality control.

Dorcy lights are built to a price-to-performance ratio hence the use of a 'limiting resistor' in most (if not all) of their designs, I can unequivocally confirm this with their Metal Gear 'Tactical' 1w Luxeon Gen 1.

Thanks to UnknownVT for going to the trouble of conducting a review on this interesting little light, I must say a glowing battery indicator tailcap is quite a novel feature! :thumbsup:

BTW Conrad_Turbo I like the case design (anti-roll low sheen) of those Dorcy's you posted too!

 

[squareone]

all i know is i have this light and it kicked on in my pocket one night without me knowing....man does this likght get hot!!!

 

[spd4lifess/sc07]

looks alot like the element k2 that was/is available from sams club in a dual pack for about the same price. wonder in anything is interchangeable. like the tail cap, i like it.

 

[daloosh]

Thanks for the pictures and reviews, I just picked one up at Target for ten bucks. I think it was mislabeled, and actually the 45 lumen 3xAAAs were on clearance, not the 120 lumen ones.

At any rate, it's a great little light. Very nice tint and great throw for what it is. Currently running it on regular AAAs, and it's bright, but outpit hasn't dropped yet.

daloosh

 

[Lightingguy321]

I was at my local sporting goods store earlier today and I saw the same dorcy light (120lumens rated) they are using K2-TFFC emitters now.

 

[daloosh]

Stopped at another Target yesterday for some cleaning supplies, but had to wander past flashlights, this one was selling the new version of the torch, advertising 160 lumens instead of 120.
They kept the 41-4297 item number, however.

daloosh

 

[MS3]

I just picked up one of these today - target had them on clearance at $15 and change. I've no way of doing any measurements. With alkalines that came with the Dorcy and a fresh 18650 in my L-mini, the spill beam size is about the same with a brightness edge to the L-mini. The hotspots are about the same intensity, but the Dorcy with the K2 isn't as cool as the Q5 for color. If it it wasn't for the goofy tailswitch, I'd mod it to take an 18650....... Oh well, it's still an ok light for a $15 K2....

 

[Advil]

can this light be modded to take an 18650? i got it for 15 bucks at target and it's actually pretty great but I know the AAA's will give me crappy runtime.

 

[groutboy_1]

My dad still has this light! Received as an X mas present some many years ago! Still works very well...200Lm broad luxeon beam 25 m at best.