EagleTac P10C Review (1xCR123A/RCR) - RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS, and more!

[Monocrom]

:devil::devil: Oh how true, couldn't have said it better myself.:thumbsup:

Wow, the fan boys are out in force.

As far as eating crow.... Sure, just as soon as Eagletac passes the barbeque sauce. But I guess it's easy to forget that Eagletac brought most of the negative comments on themselves.....

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/206394

I think my favorite one was when Eagletac listed their American-based Authorized Dealers. Four in total.... And three of them came forward to say that nothing was finalized.... Ooops!

Now I just recently learned from another CPFer that the pocket carry clips on the 2xCR123 models, designed for bezel-up carry, are useless since the light hangs off to the side when clipped inside a pants pocket. That CPFer saved me some money.

 

[wacbzz]

Wow, the fan boys are out in force.

As far as eating crow.... Sure, just as soon as Eagletac passes the barbeque sauce. But I guess it's easy to forget that Eagletac brought most of the negative comments on themselves.....

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/206394

I think my favorite one was when Eagletac listed their American-based Authorized Dealers. Four in total.... And three of them came forward to say that nothing was finalized.... Ooops!

No, EagleTac didn't bring anything upon themselves. It was the people here that took something and ran with it, hereby serving as the all too often "CPF welcome society." You guys knew nothing about the lights...

Now, about that crow...you questioned then and now rehashed about the "Authorized Dealers" thing...and those three dealers ended up selling the lights-because they realized that the lights are that good.

Funny, I wonder what those same dealers have to say now that they are selling those lights...:ironic:

Anyway, have you bought your light(s)yet??

How about the fact that even though I really want to try out a couple of Eagletac models for myself, I can't!

I live in America. Three of Eagletac's four Dealers currently don't carry their lights because no agreement to do so has been finalized. As for the fourth dealer, Lighthound has a very well-deserved reputation. I've made several multiple orders with the Hound over the past few months. I'd be more than happy to give John more of my money, by ordering a P10C, T10C2, and a P10A2. (The 3 Eagletac models I'm most interested in).

OR...are you still letting the "integrity" thing get in your way?

 

[Monocrom]

OR...are you still letting the "integrity" thing get in your way?

Well, for some folks "integrity" actually is important. While others have no clue what that word means or even laugh at it, thus showing their ignorance.

As for those Authorized Dealers, you might want to look on Eagletac's own site again. None of the original three U.S.-based Dealers I mentioned are listed as carrying Eagletac models. Lighthound was the fourth Dealer on the original list of Authorized Dealers. Pacific Tactical Solutions was added later. 7777s changed his mind, but the other two haven't.

Just thought I should clarify that point.

 

[cheetokhan]

Wow, the fan boys are out in force.

I realize you meant that to be an insult, but I'll happily admit to being a fan of well built, high quality lights with bright, wide, absolutely flawless beams.

Now, If EagleTac would come out with a 2XCR123 or a 18650 model that used the Piston Drive from my Nitecore EX10, I would be a full fledged fanboy instead of just a fan.

What comes after fanboy? I'm still new at all these childish internet slang insults.

 

[Monocrom]

I realize you meant that to be an insult, but I'll happily admit to being a fan of well built, high quality lights with bright, wide, absolutely flawless beams.

Now, If EagleTac would come out with a 2XCR123 or a 18650 model that used the Piston Drive from my Nitecore EX10, I would be a full fledged fanboy instead of just a fan.

What comes after fanboy? I'm still new at all these childish internet slang insults.

Nope! Meant it as sarcasm, since the company is so new; it would be pink if it were a living creature. Curious that Eagletac has already started to develop a blind following. Actually, I'm a fan of the same things you are. But I also look for long-term durability from my lights. That comes with time. I guess we'll see if Eagletac becomes more than just the Flavor of the Month, and perhaps earns the type of reputation enjoyed by Fenix lights.... Still, there's no short-cut to such a reputation. A handful of positive reviews is what it is. But it's no short-cut.

I think fan-fanatic comes next. :huh:

 

[wacbzz]

As for those Authorized Dealers, you might want to look on Eagletac's own site again. None of the original three U.S.-based Dealers I mentioned are carrying Eagletac models. Lighthound was the fourth Dealer on the original list of Authorized Dealers. Pacific Tactical Solutions was added later. The Three respected Dealers I mentioned, still don't carry Eagletac lights.

Just thought I should clarify that point.

I cannot get back to the original site that listed four US dealers so going back through that thread that you linked to, I count 4sevens, BatteryJunction, Lighthound, and Liotec as those that were listed as "Authorized Dealers". I get this from the posts in that thread(#6 [4sevens, BJ], #18 [Lighthound], and #30[Liotec]).

You are correct in saying that BatteryJunction and Liotec.com do not carry the EagleTac lights. However, both Lighthound and 4sevens - through eagletac-store.com - DO carry the line. When I got my P10A2 from the eagletac-store, everything was return addressed as Fenix-store.com with a huge Fenix Store sticker as well.

If you were talking about some other vendors however, I am not sure who they would be...:thinking:

So have you ordered these great lights yet?? You can get in on the "ground floor" and find out for yourself about their "long-term durability."

 

[Monocrom]

So have you ordered these great lights yet?? You can get in on the "ground floor" and find out for yourself about their "long-term durability."

I had already edited my above post to show that 7777s carries Eaglteac lights, despite not being listed an an Authorized Dealer on the Eagletac site itself.

The original list is gone, but it did include Lighthound, 7777s, Battery Junction, and Liotec. All but Lighthound came forward in the other thread to report that they weren't Authorized Dealers, and (at the time) weren't happy to be listed as such. Those are the 3 vendors from the original list that I mentioned.

Actually, I do plan on getting a P10A. I don't have a high-ouput AA light in my collection. I had wanted to add the T10C2, but the bezel-up clips are useless. (Found that out from a CPFer who owns a P10C2). So it looks like only 1 Eagletac model for me.... I had really want to like Eagletac when I first heard of the company, I guess we'll see how the P10A works as an EDC light.

 

[selfbuilt]

Well, I had no idea these lights were contentious. I guess I need to poke my head up outside the Reviews forum more often. :tinfoil:

Regardless of any business practice issues, the build quality on my sample is very high. The beam is particularly impressive. FYI EngrPaul, both my o-rings look completely normal - and I agree that the lanyard attachment points are pretty thin.

Given the discrepancy surrounding the low mode output on primaries, I've been playing with the light this evening, and much to my surprise have been able to obtain 2 different levels on primaries on low!, as well as that mysterious extremely low output mode I mentioned earlier. :thinking:

I'm not able to predict which of these modes I stumble upon, but it seems to stay consistent for awhile and then is different next time I come back to it. Here's an example of a sequence of events I just experienced:

1. Load a fresh Duracell on low: ~50 output on my scale (like before)
2. Load a fresh Energizer on low: extremely low reading (<3 on my scale), doesn't change even if I switch to Hi
3. Replace with same Duracell from #1 - still extremely low reading on both Low and Hi (oh-oh!)
4. Replace with AW RCR on Hi - full brightness (what a relief!)
5. Replace with Energizer from #2 on low: ~30 on my output scale (aha, I'm thinking - it's the Duracells that are brighter)
6. Replace with Duracell from #1 on low: ~30 on my output scale (hmm, guess not - maybe its "fixed?")
7. Replace with Energizer from #2 on low: ~50 on my output scale (sigh .. back to the beginning ...)

Anyone got any ideas as to what is going on? Seems like there is some sort of circuit anomaly that is picking up 2 different defined outputs levels on low on primaries (~50 or ~30), plus some unusual extremely low output that doesn't respond to the head twist. That last one is particular concerning, since the light won't reset to a normal state until I load a RCR in there.

I'm doing a runtime right now on a Duracell at the ~30 output value to compare ... but this is frankly not very useful if I can't predict what state its going to be in. :shakehead

I'll keep you posted ...

 

[Monocrom]

I'll keep you posted ...

So you still sometimes lose high-mode? And the only way to get it back is to toss in an RCR123 cell?

Is it possible you got a defective light? I've seen one other review of this light, and that situation didn't seem to crop up.

 

[selfbuilt]

Ok, I think I've figured out what is going on with the Lo mode on primaries (main post updated).

Initially, I was getting inconsistent results - sometimes Lo mode was ~60% of max output, sometimes it was ~40% of max output. I was also getting a strange unexplained extremely low mode (<3%) a couple of times after switching primaries - something that was only cured by swapping in a RCR.

After a thorough cleaning of the light with deoxit on all contact surfaces, I am now only getting the ~40% output level consistently. Based on the RCR results and the reports of others, this seems to be the appropriate Low level:

The "proper" low mode is identified as the 2nd run above - as you can see, I get the expected output and runtime (just under 8 hours).

I am not sure where the ~60% output level was coming from, but I was able to reliably produce it half a dozen times at first. Note that I never got an intermediate value - it was either ~60% or ~40% each time I tried (except for the strange <3% mode that occurred twice). I'm just guessing here, but I wonder if the circuit doesn't have a few extra disabled modes that were somehow accidentally triggered by a contact problem (e.g. like the mysterious SOS mode on the Lumapower Incendio)? :thinking:

A second point is that I was commonly changing the battery by removing the head, since the tailcap is difficult to tighten fully with the protruding clip in the way. I'm wondering if that wasn't contributing to "confusing" the circuit somewhat when switching batteries (i.e. somewhat like the Novatac 120P - most of the time I can switch between RCR and primaries without problem, sometimes I need to do the battery mode reset once or twice to get it working properly). I am now switching the battery only at the tailcap, and have not experienced any more mysterious modes.

I will let you know if it stays this way - but I'm curious is anyone else has experience these issues?

 

[The Sun]

Well, I had no idea these lights were contentious. I guess I need to poke my head up outside the Reviews forum more often. :tinfoil:

Regardless of any business practice issues, the build quality on my sample is very high. The beam is particularly impressive. FYI EngrPaul, both my o-rings look completely normal - and I agree that the lanyard attachment points are pretty thin.

Given the discrepancy surrounding the low mode output on primaries, I've been playing with the light this evening, and much to my surprise have been able to obtain 2 different levels on primaries on low!, as well as that mysterious extremely low output mode I mentioned earlier. :thinking:

I'm not able to predict which of these modes I stumble upon, but it seems to stay consistent for awhile and then is different next time I come back to it. Here's an example of a sequence of events I just experienced:

1. Load a fresh Duracell on low: ~50 output on my scale (like before)
2. Load a fresh Energizer on low: extremely low reading (<3 on my scale), doesn't change even if I switch to Hi
3. Replace with same Duracell from #1 - still extremely low reading on both Low and Hi (oh-oh!)
4. Replace with AW RCR on Hi - full brightness (what a relief!)
5. Replace with Energizer from #2 on low: ~30 on my output scale (aha, I'm thinking - it's the Duracells that are brighter)
6. Replace with Duracell from #1 on low: ~30 on my output scale (hmm, guess not - maybe its "fixed?")
7. Replace with Energizer from #2 on low: ~50 on my output scale (sigh .. back to the beginning ...)

Anyone got any ideas as to what is going on? Seems like there is some sort of circuit anomaly that is picking up 2 different defined outputs levels on low on primaries (~50 or ~30), plus some unusual extremely low output that doesn't respond to the head twist. That last one is particular concerning, since the light won't reset to a normal state until I load a RCR in there.

I'm doing a runtime right now on a Duracell at the ~30 output value to compare ... but this is frankly not very useful if I can't predict what state its going to be in. :shakehead

I'll keep you posted ...

i have had some problems with mine as well (T10C), it was solved with a good cleaning. i didn't have the mysterious modes i just had complete shutdown!!! remove batteries, then replace and it would work fine. the contact between the backside of the module, and the body was a bit greasy and dirty, i cleaned it up and it seams to be working fine, i won't be carrying it though until i know for sure. another stange event; i get a longer runtime on high (about an hour), and my "low" mode on RCR is brighter than on primaries, you are right with the "QC" comment. i hope it works out because i love the beam, and the build quality, shape, usefulness, etc. if my fix doesn't solve the problem i'll tear it apart and check the guts.

 

[toby_pra]

very nice review!

thx very much...:twothumbs

 

[gallonoffuel]

Agreed, wonderful review.

My P10C has been at my buddy's house while he's doing his bathroom. He is not a flashaholic, but carries a light for work every day. He's been using my P10C exclusively since it's been there.

My T10C has been clipped to my pocket since I got it 2 weeks ago. I love the little thing. The tint on my T10C is noticably green when hunting for white walls, and everyone notices that. However, using it outside is much easier on the eyes than my lights with blue or pure white tints. I'm color blind, so that might be a contributing factor.

The anodizing is wearing off in a number of spots on my T10C, but it happens to every light I carry. They all ride right next to my stainless-bodied Kershaw, and I wouldn't expect any light to hold up to that abuse. I love the bezel-down carry, but for today I tried inverting the clip. It does work, and yes the light spins a bit, but I'm not concerned about the finish at all.

I guess my only wish would have been that the P10C and T10C used a compatible head so you could Lego this things. The slimmer P10C head with the body of the T10C (for cigar-style hold) would have really made my day. I don't know why all manufacturers don't do this.

 

[selfbuilt]

I guess my only wish would have been that the P10C and T10C used a compatible head so you could Lego this things. The slimmer P10C head with the body of the T10C (for cigar-style hold) would have really made my day. I don't know why all manufacturers don't do this.

Thanks for the input ... I was wondering if the heads were interchangeable. A pity they are not, but its true few manufacturers offer this feature. Fewer still offer the body/head portions for sale separately (Fenix, and ITP come to mind, and of course Surefire).

 

[gallonoffuel]

Thanks for the input ... I was wondering if the heads were interchangeable. A pity they are not, but its true few manufacturers offer this feature. Fewer still offer the body/head portions for sale separately (Fenix, and ITP come to mind, and of course Surefire).

Even the tailcaps are different. The P10C tailcap comes off as a one-piece assembly, and so does the head, leaving the typical tube as you have shown. The T10C has a really thin fastening portion, I'd call it a bezel ring for lack of a better term, that comes off, then the switch and boot fall out from the body. The body is oddly shaped. None of the parts are in any way interchangeable.

This is best illustrated here:

Notice the scalloped retaining ring on the T10C. That comes off, and the switch falls out of the body. The P10C is build more like the Nuwai Q3.

 

[Outdoors Fanatic]

Post some outdoor beamshots please!!

 

[smflorkey]

gallonoffuel, since you have both a P10C and a T10C, how do they compare?

Are the beams similar?

The lanyard attachment looks more substantial on the T10C in your picture (thanks for the nice comparison shot). EngrPaul pointed out that the lanyard holes on the P10C tail are pretty thin. Is the T10C significantly better?

 

[f22shift]

anyone attempt to take the head apart?

 

[bigfish5]

first thoughts on eagletac t10c2

I recieved my eagletac t10c2 today, my first thought is that is smaller than i was thinking it would be. Take everything i say with a grain of salt because i am new to this flashlight thing. The light is also lighter than i would have thought, even with the batteries in it , it is light. I can drop it in my pockent no problem, It leaves a bigger signature than my d10 "only a couple of weeks old itself" but it is not to uncomfortable. The light is very bright, i do not have alot of lights to compare it to , but it is definitely bright.

The threads are super smooth, and the clicky button works very well, you can also use it as a momentary on, just apply light pressure on the button.

If i had to give you any negatives i would complain about the clip, it is close to useless for me. You cannot attatch it to anything without using both hands. I will probably take it off. The light does have a slight green tint to it, it makes it very cold, especially when next to my d10 golden dragon, but you will only notice this when it is against another light on a white wall. The u.i. could not be any easier, with just hi and medium. The beam set at the 60 lumen is very useful, for normal flashlight stuff i think its just about where you would want it. I am so far pretty happy with my purchase.

 

[Monocrom]

After some consideration, I've decided to take a chance on the P10A model. I love clip-carried lights. Normally not a fan of single-cell lights, but I keep hearing that the clips on the longer Eagletac models are useless. (For me, that's a deal-breaker). Not enough material protrudes above the clip on the P10C or T10C models to grab them quickly from a pocket, if needed. So P10A was the remaining choice. I really hope Eagletac improves the clip (and its placement) on their future 2-cell and 18650 models.

I'll post my thoughts on the P10A after I get a chance to put it through its paces, after it arrives from lighthound.