SureFire Saint review

[derangboy]

Great review Carrot! Would have liked to have seen some beam shots, but they might have proved to be more of a hassle than a benefit. Nice thing about this UI is it also has an SOS mode that is easily accessed but nearly impossible to accidentally switch on. Three quick cycles from off puts you into SOS with variable brightness. As an avid outdoorsman and a member of the local SAR, I feel it's a welcome feature.

 

[carrot]

To be honest I took a fair crack at taking outdoor real world beamshots on several occasions during hikes and I could never get a good photo that did the beam justice. What looks washed out on camera is altogether too much light to the eyes.

I did forget to mention the SOS beacon, it is just so easy to forget that it's there, but I should note that it is present in my review.

 

[csa]

Thanks for this, I've been interested in this light...

 

[JNewell]

Very helpful review - thanks. BTW, I also think that what we usually see for inside or even outside beam pix are really not all that representative of real world use of a headlamp in the woods/fields/etc.

 

[sjmack]

Awesome review, Carrot. I've been looking at headlamps for work.

One question, is the headband big enough to fit over a hard hat?

 

[paulr]

Here is another Saint review, by Doug Ritter: http://dsaweb.com/blog/index.php?s=surefire

The fullsized Saint seems a little weird to me. Why would anyone want it instead of the much lighter Minimus? Just to have 3x as many batteries up there for less frequent changes during military operations, caving, etc.?

That is interesting about the 2xAA parallel setup. I wonder if it might be possible to make a custom 1-cell battery cap like the 1x123 Minimus cap, that would give a Minimus-like configuration but with 1AA. Eneloops or L91 lithiums have good high-current capacity so should work almost as well as two parallel AA's.

 

[gerok]

Great review!

 

[red02]

Here is another Saint review, by Doug Ritter: http://dsaweb.com/blog/index.php?s=surefire

The fullsized Saint seems a little weird to me. Why would anyone want it instead of the much lighter Minimus? Just to have 3x as many batteries up there for less frequent changes during military operations, caving, etc.?

That is interesting about the 2xAA parallel setup. I wonder if it might be possible to make a custom 1-cell battery cap like the 1x123 Minimus cap, that would give a Minimus-like configuration but with 1AA. Eneloops or L91 lithiums have good high-current capacity so should work almost as well as two parallel AA's.

I've tried to use 1xAA and an Eneloop with no luck in the battery back.

I kinda like this aspect of the Saint. Do you know what the runtimes are for 2XAA LSD NiMH on high? Also wonder if yea tried any Lithium Energizer batteries in your headlamp? I am on the fence given the price but being able to use both AAs/CR123s, the beam (I like floody headlamps) plus use as a Minimus fits many of my wants.

I did an informal runtime test with Eneloops charged 2 weeks ago (I think). Using a dark room, ceiling bounce and my Quark to compare the levels. The Saint does 2hr15min+ on full power which is brighter than the 70lm level on the Quark. After 2hr40m the light dimmed to about 20lm as the light dimmed and brightened slightly, probably trying to find power to stay on.

 

[lyklyk616]

You should put some beamshot !

 

[gottawearshades]

Comrades,

I just picked up a Saint on ebay. I got it at a good price and it looks brand new, but, there's no manual!

I hadn't been paying attention before, but I've been trying to skim several threads for things I should know. SOS mode. I would never have known that was there, unless I knew. Same thing with being able to run it on one or two or three 123As in the power pack. Also neat, but I'd never have known.

Anything else I should know about?

Any other cool features, like does it shoot poison darts? Or any safety tips, like, does it shoot poison darts?