Turbo DV8
Flashlight Enthusiast
I was playing with my P14, shining it on a wall on spot, rotating it, when I noticed the spot get slightly defocused on one side. Hmmm... I did it again. It popped into focus and slightly out as I rotated it. I shook the light, and could hear the prism reflector rattle around. I checked the head, and it was as tight as I could get it. A while later it seemed to lock into place, but later on became unlocked and rattled again. I picked up two more at Fry's. I have no reservation in tearing into multiple packages of these and returning them just as quickly, as for $80 I expect a perfect light, not a baby rattle. I have not opened the second two yet. Also, when going from flood to spot, the first one also overshot the optimum position for maximum throw, by just a small margin. It wasn't enough to detract from it's usefull throw at all, simply that the beam would noticeably enlarge just a tiny bit that last millimeter of head extension. Anyody else's P14 do this? None of the P7 did this. However, my P7's don't have as tight a spot as the 7438 Hokus Focus and the P14, so it is titilating to consider that perhaps the P7's are slightly out of whack the opposite way, meaning the heads don't move quite far enough outward, hence the relative lack of spot and more spill. But that can't be proved or disproved.
It's a shame, because I think right about the same time LED Lenser got the design and parts quality "right," they shifted production to China and may have partially negated, in poorer construction assembly, what they gained in design improvements. Two steps forward and one step back? "Designed in Germany" is only good to a certain point when the units are constructed by workers with guns pointed at their heads to meet a quota. OK, maybe that's not entirely fair these days, but you get my point. Politics may change, but work ethics and practices/habits engrained in laborer's minds don't erase overnight with the shift in political winds.
I had a chance to take the P14 and P7 out to Farwell railroad trestle in Niles Canyon last night for some fun comparisons. It seems the P14 does throw further, only due to it's tighter spot, but the increase in usefulness wasn't fully appreciated, as there was a high moisture content in the air which halted observation of throw differences beyond a certain distance. In drier air with less moisture for the beam to reflect off of, the P14 would have a clear advantage to the P7. I find the P14 fits my large-ish hand in the tactical (overhand) position better than the P7. The P7 is just a bit to small for me to grip and easily actuate the tail switch... too much of a thumb bend is required. As such, I was able to get repeated "failed" actuations of turbo mode on both P7's, which I was able to attribute to the more awkward angle the thumb must take to press the switch. The P14 switch falls right in my thumb's sweet spot for reliable actuation.
The P14 spill on wide angle is wider than the P7. However, the brightness at that level of flood is dimmer than the P7. The P14 also has a single ring in the middle of it's beam, which is absent on the P7. It is interesting to note that when the P14's flood is tightened up a bit to bring the angle down to that of the P7, the ring disappears into the periphery. Less surprisingly, when the P14 flood is reduced a little to the same angle as the P7, it's overall brightness increased slightly to the level equivalent to the P7. It seems the P14 allows the head to be adjusted for more flood, at the reasonable expense of brightness and a ring artifact.
Also want to note I dug up another DX holster, this time absolutely perfect for the P14. I don't know the P/N right off hand, but will post a link when I'm back on a high-speed connection and can do a search in under an hour! The holster has a Velcro lid flap, but with no snap closure. Again, dirt cheap but amazingly high quality. The selling point is, again, it is neither too big nor too small for the P14, and it slips right in with no disturbing the focus of the head.
Mention was made about the relative high price of the LL lights, and also that LL is "endorsed" (in use, anyway) by some law enforcement units in certain areas of the world. On those notes, I just want to point out that connecting any flashlight brand with use in any branch of law enforcement is a "Surefire" way to guarantee prices stay inflated, and that's all I have to say about that ...
It's a shame, because I think right about the same time LED Lenser got the design and parts quality "right," they shifted production to China and may have partially negated, in poorer construction assembly, what they gained in design improvements. Two steps forward and one step back? "Designed in Germany" is only good to a certain point when the units are constructed by workers with guns pointed at their heads to meet a quota. OK, maybe that's not entirely fair these days, but you get my point. Politics may change, but work ethics and practices/habits engrained in laborer's minds don't erase overnight with the shift in political winds.
I had a chance to take the P14 and P7 out to Farwell railroad trestle in Niles Canyon last night for some fun comparisons. It seems the P14 does throw further, only due to it's tighter spot, but the increase in usefulness wasn't fully appreciated, as there was a high moisture content in the air which halted observation of throw differences beyond a certain distance. In drier air with less moisture for the beam to reflect off of, the P14 would have a clear advantage to the P7. I find the P14 fits my large-ish hand in the tactical (overhand) position better than the P7. The P7 is just a bit to small for me to grip and easily actuate the tail switch... too much of a thumb bend is required. As such, I was able to get repeated "failed" actuations of turbo mode on both P7's, which I was able to attribute to the more awkward angle the thumb must take to press the switch. The P14 switch falls right in my thumb's sweet spot for reliable actuation.
The P14 spill on wide angle is wider than the P7. However, the brightness at that level of flood is dimmer than the P7. The P14 also has a single ring in the middle of it's beam, which is absent on the P7. It is interesting to note that when the P14's flood is tightened up a bit to bring the angle down to that of the P7, the ring disappears into the periphery. Less surprisingly, when the P14 flood is reduced a little to the same angle as the P7, it's overall brightness increased slightly to the level equivalent to the P7. It seems the P14 allows the head to be adjusted for more flood, at the reasonable expense of brightness and a ring artifact.
Also want to note I dug up another DX holster, this time absolutely perfect for the P14. I don't know the P/N right off hand, but will post a link when I'm back on a high-speed connection and can do a search in under an hour! The holster has a Velcro lid flap, but with no snap closure. Again, dirt cheap but amazingly high quality. The selling point is, again, it is neither too big nor too small for the P14, and it slips right in with no disturbing the focus of the head.
Mention was made about the relative high price of the LL lights, and also that LL is "endorsed" (in use, anyway) by some law enforcement units in certain areas of the world. On those notes, I just want to point out that connecting any flashlight brand with use in any branch of law enforcement is a "Surefire" way to guarantee prices stay inflated, and that's all I have to say about that ...
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