My RPL- 260 review. Pictures and videos!

[Aseras]

Yikes man don't flip out on me. I'm just trying to help everyone out and get some info. The more we know, the better.

I did get verification that my RPL is official. http://208.219.69.31/rpl.pdf I have the original cert, and I verified that Jack originally sold the laser to the guy I bought it from etc,etc.

Jack was more than helpful and gave me my lasers life history when I asked. He's provided numerous technical details to myself and others. He's helped identify the circuitry inside and lots of other things for those of us who just have to take things apart and tinker

We all know that China has a large copying and counterfeit market, they excell at duplicating products, and there's little recourse for the buyers who get duped since it's another country, and they fact that they are so good at it.

What I want to know is if the techlaser stuff is just diverted products from the original oem or if they are just cheap knock offs with inferior internals and such. The question on whether or not they are rejected/repaired items or not is beyond the scope of this, it would be very hard to tell without very expensive equipment, power meters, beam analyzers etc..

The real question is, is techlasers competing with quality kit from the same source as everyone else or are they just abusing the brand names we know and trust and selling garbage?

 

[Rubycon]

Wow that techlasers unit is identical to an RPL.

BTW the laser aperture has nothing to do with beam size. If you remove that last element with the tiny hole you will find there are two beams coming out! Apparently it's a crude form of filter to only allow the on axis beam to come out. But that's a HUGE waste in power.

I agree, however more testing is needed. There are some mighty close looking clones from the far east that go perhaps a level or two below skin deep. I'd love to see what's inside.

It would be nice if these units were HAIII coated instead of painted. The CNI PGLIII has a much better finish than the PPL but that could be nit picking. The one I had for use didn't even have any finish on it at all!

 

[Aseras]

Wow that techlasers unit is identical to an RPL.

BTW the laser aperture has nothing to do with beam size. If you remove that last element with the tiny hole you will find there are two beams coming out! Apparently it's a crude form of filter to only allow the on axis beam to come out. But that's a HUGE waste in power.

I agree, however more testing is needed. There are some mighty close looking clones from the far east that go perhaps a level or two below skin deep. I'd love to see what's inside.

It would be nice if these units were HAIII coated instead of painted. The CNI PGLIII has a much better finish than the PPL but that could be nit picking. The one I had for use didn't even have any finish on it at all!

I have a PGL-III based laser. it feels cheap. the aluminum is very soft. The coatings on that and the herc are nice. The rpl scratches easy, but I like the smooth finish better. The aluminum on the rpl is much harder. The rpl in hand feels very solid it weighs 4 times what the pgl III does. The pgl III feels like a toy.

 

[marianne]

i for one would love to know how the Skybolt's internals and weight compared to an RPL, given the allegations of it being a clone it'd be great to know one way or the other, you know? and Aseras, i'm very jealous i've decided an RPL-300 will be my next laser, but that'll take a huge long time of saving! hehe

 

[Rubycon]

I have a PGL-III based laser. it feels cheap. the aluminum is very soft. The coatings on that and the herc are nice. The rpl scratches easy, but I like the smooth finish better. The aluminum on the rpl is much harder. The rpl in hand feels very solid it weighs 4 times what the pgl III does. The pgl III feels like a toy.

That does not look like the PGL I've seen (and held).

The shutter was a dial you turn not a slide lever like the one pictured above. Of course the C powered lasers are going to feel lighter than the 18650! The battery tube is much thinner! The finish on the PGL again was much better than the RPL. The RPL finish had fingerprints (!) and appeared similar to if it were sprayed on from a can of krylon!

Of course all these cheap chinese lasers are junk compared to a real laser of MG or Coherent. Of course the price reflects this. It's like comparing DX/Kai to a real Surefire or Lumencraft. No comparison. (in price either)

Then again not too many customers are using $90k lasers to pop balloons and burn holes in credit cards. (well the latter MAY be true if you use said card to BUY one; hopefully you get those points!)

 

[Aseras]

that one is a 1.1 watt 808 unit. it has a larger aperture than a normal PGL, so it has a slide cover rather than the normal twist open kind CNI does.

All the 18650 units are converted double C cell units. They just add a spacer. The new 18650 pgl-III split in the middle to load the cell. it looks like the rpl battery compartment though, there's a tube inside.

 

[Rubycon]

Ok so now that makes sense. (the danger label)

They've got a pump diode in there with a collimator pointing class IV radiation right out the front?

Sounds sweet but those diodes have beam quality issues requiring lots of optical correction. Even with said correction, it's possible to have a low diverging circular beam of 650mW with that diode. Hmmm

That thing would look like a light saber at night with night vision binocs!

My main gripe about the finish - think about it! If Fenix can make a cheap light with decent HAIII so can the others.