EagleTac T20C2 (Tactical RGB) Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS, and more!

[Lightcrazycanuck]

Great review as always.Keep up the good work.:twothumbs

 

[jirik_cz]

So the strobe is activated by double clicking the switch... What do you think is going to happen when you fire a weapon with mounted T20C2?

 

[maxilux]

So the strobe is activated by double clicking the switch... What do you think is going to happen when you fire a weapon with mounted T20C2?

Yes for Weapon mount it is unusable.
Better take an T100C2 MK II, thats great for this application.

 

[CGD08]

Great review man!
I hope my reviews will be anything close haha :laughing:


I've had my T20C2 for 6 days and counting. A great light. A small light with an amazing throw! A+

 

[Mjolnir]

I think that they should have left out the strobe, or at least made it much harder to activate unintentionally. In my opinion, having a strobe mode that prevents momentary signaling completely misses the point of having a forward clicky. They might as well have put a reverse clicky and made had the modes changed from the switch, since there is no momentary on at all. At the lleast they should have made the interval MUCH shorter. If the light had to be switched on and off within about 1/4 of a second, then it would make more sense, since the only reason that someone would be turning the light off and on this quickly would be for a strobe. 3 seconds is WAY too long.
The filters and diffuser seem very nice, but to me the strobe seems very crippling for a "tactical" light, and makes it more of an EDC type light.

 

[JKL]

Great review as always,
an excellent confirmation of my personal opinion on this flashlight.

 

[jirik_cz]

Yes for Weapon mount it is unusable.

Why do they offer weapon RGB kit then? Did they ever tested this light with a weapon?

 

[litetube]

Yep , as I mentioned in another thread, I think you would have a problem with recoil and using this light. Mine switches to strobe with the lightest of taps on the tail. I would think shotgunrecoil would produce the same problem.

I like this light alot but wouldnt mount it on a rifle or shotgun. Another one of those "make it and call it tactical but dont really test it in realworld scenarios first"

 

[selfbuilt]

UPDATE:

The question of using the new higher capacity flat-top 18650s (i.e. protected 2600mAh) has been surfacing a lot lately.

Like a number of recently released 18650-class lights, the T20C2 features physical reverse polarity protection in the head (i.e. requires the use of button-top cells). As such, some of the newer flat-top 18650s may not work in this light without modification.

I have added this point to the Potential Issues section of all my recent reviews (where applicable), and will be commenting on it all future reviews of this class of light.

 

[crazigee]

Like all maximally-driven, multi-power lights, the T20C2 is direct-drive on Max on 18650.

What does "direct drive on Max on 18650" mean exactly?

What rechargeable would you recommend for this light?

Thanks,
CG

 

[selfbuilt]

What does "direct drive on Max on 18650" mean exactly?
What rechargeable would you recommend for this light?

It means there is no circuit regulation on 18650 batteries on the highest setting. Instead, the light relies on the internal resistance of the battery to limit the decay in light output (i.e. slow drop-off over time). This is known as "direct-drive", since the battery is directly running the LED (i.e. as if there was no circuit in the way).

If you look at the graphs, you will see what I mean - compare the 18650 Max run to the max runs on other batteries. The other batteries are flat light output (i.e. circuit regulated) until nearly exhausted. The 18650 slowly decays until it eventually "falls off the ski slope" and rapidly depletes.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this pattern - it is in fact more efficient to simply rely on the internal resistance of the 18650. But many users like the idea of constant light output provided by circuity. The problem is that for various electrical reasons, it is very difficult to design a circuit that can be fully regulated at max output across the voltages ranges of all battery types. The lights that typically manage this feat do so by reducing max output on 1x18650.

Personally, I consider this pattern to be a more than acceptable trade-off. As for batteries. I typically recommend single-sources whenever possible, such as 1x18650 (i.e. removes the risk of potentially mismatched dual-cells). It also has the greatest overall storage capacity this way. AW protected batteries are by far the most popular here, and what I use.

 

[crazigee]

So would I be better off going with a rechargeable RCR123 than with and 18650?

Eagletec make an 18650, whichI assume would be compatable...

I will be using this light a lot when on night patrole. It could get pretty expensive if I go with single use CR123 Lithiums.

Thanks,
CG

 

[selfbuilt]

So would I be better off going with a rechargeable RCR123 than with and 18650?

Eagletec make an 18650, whichI assume would be compatable...

As for RCR - well, only if you want a quarter the runtime for a frankly neglible increase in output. It's a much better idea all around to stick with 1x18650.

The Eagletac batteries will work fine, and have slightly higher capacity than the older generation AW 18650 shown here (i.e. will have a slightly longer runtime).

 

[palomino77]

Thanks for the great review.

What about the throw and brightness compared to the M20.

:thanks:

 

[selfbuilt]

Thanks for the great review.

What about the throw and brightness compared to the M20.

The table in the review has detailed throw and overall output values (measured by a lightbox and ceiling bounce) for both lights, on all battery types.

Simply put, there is not a big difference between the two lights on 18650 (each with the same type of reflector). On 2xCR123A/RCR, throw and output are slightly higher on the T20C2, but not enough to be significant in actual use.

 

[Doctor]

Nice review! :wave:

But I have still a question: How scratch resistant is the body?

Regards,
Doctor
http://dict.leo.org/ende?lp=ende&p=thMx..&search=scratch-resistant

 

[csshih]

the body itself seems rather scratch resistant, but the knurling seems to go flakey as selfbuilt noted.

nice review!

 

[selfbuilt]

the body itself seems rather scratch resistant, but the knurling seems to go flakey as selfbuilt noted.

I think Craig summed that up well. It is not uncommon to find the occasional chip on the agressive knurling of EagleTac lights (not to mention little bits of the plastic packaging ). But I haven't seen any signs of damage to the anodizing during routine testing and handling so far.

 

[MichaelRose]

I will own this flashlight one day

 

[Rod911]

I've had this light for about a week and during that time, played around with its UI.

I found that the strobe doesn't trip if you were to quickly turn it off and then turn it back on if the previous on position was set at "low". For example, if the light is currently set to low and you quickly turn it off and back on again, it will not strobe.