Hi Guys.
I have owned the Klarus XT11 since it first hit the market.
It is still the main flashlight that I take everywhere.
The XT11 still has pride of place in my leather man bag along side my 2500 lumen rated Black Skyray King (SRK) when I only need a smaller and less intrusive amount of light that the SRK always delivers at the touch of a single button.
There are those users that don't like the UI for some reason or another but to me it is just a great little light that is still available and probably still being made by Klarus.
And why not?
The Klarus XT11 is so well designed and looks very sleek and elegant IMHO.
It has a very generous light output for the size of it that produces a nice wide spot beam as well as a good amount of spill with a good looking tint in my book.
I have always used two Soshine Li-ion 16340 700mah batteries in my XT11 since day one.
Lately I have been running two EagleTac 16340 (RCR123) 750mah Li-ion batteries in my XT11 and it puts out about 750 lumens OTF.
When using one Blazar Li-ion 18650 3400mah battery or two CR123 (750mah) Lithium batteries my XT11 produces about 600 lumens OTF.
The increase in lumen output is quite noticeable.
The higher lumen output was noted by Selfbuilt in his review of the Klarus XT11.
The Selfbuilt XT11 review link dated 8th March 2012 is available below.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?334884-Klarus-XT11-%28XM-L-U2-1x18650-2xCR123A-RCR%29-Review-RUNTIMES-BEAMSHOTS-VIDEO
The XT11 always defaults to the HIGH mode after switching it off as it has no memory function.
This appeals to a lot of users who always want the highest amount of lumens to be available every time they hit the higher raised button in the case of the XT11.
Some users want an instantly available high amount of light and others want to have their light start at LOW or MOONLIGHT level to preserve their night vision especially when using their flashlight around the house late at night so as not to disturb other occupants of the house like babies, children or their wife etc.
There is always much debate over many things to do with any flashlight design.
Designing every flashlight with a programming feature so that the user can change things like the "MODE" sequence etc would probably make them more expensive and this could possibly put a lot of flashlights just out of the reach of many buyers who have a maximum price in their mind that would normally be allowed for in their budget.
When any flashlight has a user interface (UI) that can change the default settings of a flashlight there is always a possibility that the user may not realise it.
Any flashlight user could change the default settings themselves without remembering doing so.
Another possibility is that someone else could accidentally change the user settings when simply using it, playing with it or just for fun to upset the user with their their little prank.
This possibly puts the user at risk in an emergency situation when the HIGH mode was expected to be available at the first button push.
I am sure nowadays that everyone can't be pleased with just one flashlight design or it would be a very boring flashlight world.
The XM-L U2 LED used in the XT11 is pretty good to me seeing as how the XT11 was designed a while back before the latest generation of more efficient LEDs were readily available.
I am wondering whether Klarus is thinking of upgrading the XT11 U2 LED to a more efficient LED as many other brands have done lately.
Who would
"try to improve on perfection" just like
Leonardo's "Mona Lisa" and other great works of all kinds in this world except maybe to shine a brighter light on it as is the case of the Klarus XT11 by upgrading the XM-L U2 LED to something more efficient and a little brighter?
There is some interesting discussion on the Internet regarding the
"Mona Lisa" painting and others involving Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo.
Most of this discussion seems to still point to Leonardo being the authentic artist but with some of Michelangelo's influence at that time.
The Klarus XT11 just rocks IMHO!!!
Well done Klarus!!!:wow:
CHEERS :twothumbs
