Inova Flashlights: What's the Point?

It now seems that the majority of my Inova flashlights are now obsolete. The once-powerful LED beams of light now pale next to the latest Cree technology. A small one-cell flashlight now has multiple modes and is brighter and more efficient, yet the Invoa offerings remain the same. The prices are the same, yet who would buy a T3 or T4 nowadays? The T3 now takes three cells and comes in just short of 100 lumens. Rechargeable batteries keep them from being totally obsolete, but those same rechargeable batteries will power newer, smaller, more powerful and less expensive Cree lights. As for the T4, the proprietary rechargeable battery now almost is a dinosaur.

Surefire seemingly is turning on a dime and producing good LED lights, but I see none of the new technology in the Inova line. Anyway, I was mystified by Inova's decision to go to a 3-cell light with its old technology.

I won't get rid of my Inovas, but I may put them in a drawer with my old Mini-Mag Lites.

Will Cree technology be replaced anytime soon and, if so, by what?

:shakehead

Not another "since Cree everything is obsolete and has no function anymore" threads. Yeah, Inova will use a Cree in a year or two from now... there is no rush.

There's a significant improvement vs. the older T-series lights in terms of what you get when you hit the switch. Lumen numbers aren't everything..... While things such as styling are less important to others, Inova = durability. These things are built like tanks, at better prices than what you'll generally find from Surefire.

I am going to venture a guess that you're the type of guy who trades in his car every year for the new model. Inova isn't in the same league as Surefire, and has to keep costs down to remain in the lower middle class flashlight market. When they can build the same flashlight with a Cree for the same price as what they are now, they'll put one in.

Inova Lights are great lights, bright output and very durable.
I'm pretty sure, If a total 'noob' buys a Inova, he would be dazzled by the brightness, looks, and durabilty of It.

Inova Isn't worried about selling flashlights that seem bright to us (Flashaholics).


I like to think so.

I love Inova lights. They're built very well and are a bargain for the price, but I hate seeing the company lagging behind more efficent technology. I recently purchased a couple of their XOs and I was disappointed with the light output. I mean, it's not bad, but it just kind of pales next to these tiny 1-cell Cree lights. The Inova XO does give about five and a half hours of runtime, though, which is nice, but a Fenix P3D will give several modes that will give much longer runtimes at various light levels.

There's one Cree one-cell sold by DX that has a clip and dumps a lot of light. When I saw it, I thought, man, I wish I'd had one of these things when I was a Boy Scout! Those lights were dim when the batteries were fresh and they only got worse as it was used.

Surefire didn't take long to crank out Crees, but Inova may take awhile, I fear. I was going to use rechargeables in my T3, but that 1-cell Cree is so bright that it's just not worth the weight of hauling the larger light.

I really like my T3 - but the latest and greatest do leave it looking a little on the weak side......So I've been toying with the idea of bringing my T3 up to date with a Seoul P4 emitter swap for some time, but have held off because I didn't want to do it wrong and end up destroying a perfectly functional light.

In the end (in true flashaholic style) I took the plunge went for it.
The Freeze & Pop method worked really well without causing any damage whatsoever.

The upgrade was dead straightforward and was actually, really easy to do and in terms of output, the T3 is now comparabable to the latest Seoul / Cree offerings but in the good solid Inova form factor, which we all know and love for its rugged, solid build quality.

Was really tempted to retro-fit a McR27L-Seoul reflector in place of the TIROS. This would have been very do-able, but would have required some machining to the inside of the body....which I wasn't prepared to do on this light.
I'm surprised no-one else has done this yet.


Tim.

This light STILL has NO equal:

StainlessSteel said:

This light STILL has NO equal:

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Yyyeeaaahhhh, still a goodie. Second'd by me.

Inova = Durability at very reasonable prices. Plus, for those who believe in only buying American Made products; well, there you go.

Inova isn't outdated.

--Inova has true output numbers. I know of no overseas Cree based light that has true output numbers. They're all inflated or exaggerated. Comparing numbers on paper with B.S. lumen values is worthless.

--I wonder why it has taken SF so long to use a Cree? Is there something about a Cree that their engineers know of; possibly reliability or other issues? Inova also has engineers who may know more than an internet board.

--I can send an Inova in for repairs, if needed. Can't do that with an overseas light.

--Inovas are almost indestructable, purpose built lights without all those rarely used multi-modes. I wouldn't hesitate to use an Inova on duty. I'd NEVER use a multi-mode little Cree based light with a difficult user interface and questionable untested reliability while on duty.

--Inova didnt design their lights to use a hap hazard rechargeable set-up, so this is a mute point.

There's more to a light than how bright it is, or if it uses the "latest and greatest."

Monocrom said:

Inova = Durability at very reasonable prices. Plus, for those who believe in only buying American Made products; well, there you go.

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Those are the reasons why I use and enjoy Inova lights.

Marduke said:

When they can build the same flashlight with a Cree for the same price as what they are now, they'll put one in.

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they could now. its not like the cree or ssc is anymore expensive than a luxeon K2.

If my life depended on it, I would get a SureFire, an Inova, a Pelican or a Streamlight. But most of the time I am just dxcking around. So a cheap toy Cree from some brand I don't care much about is good enough.

ltiu said:

If my life depended on it, I would get a SureFire, an Inova, a Pelican or a Streamlight. But most of the time I am just dxcking around. So a cheap toy Cree from some brand I don't care much about is good enough.

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Some of us don't use our lights as "toys."

I depend upon my lights to some day perhaps save my hide, I would bet it on my Inovas, where I would never do so with the cheap other lights, Crees included I have picked up on whims.

Brightness is not everything, quality is much higher on my list than bright output. I bet your Inovas will be still running long after the cheaper lights have long since died. I can appreciate slower RD and making sure the Technology you use is the best.

dano at post #11 said it all.

Monocrom said:

Some of us don't use our lights as "toys."

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And what are the lights you DO NOT use as toys?

ltiu said:

And what are the lights you DO NOT use as toys?

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Sadly, I think you're actually being serious. So I'll answer your question. I mainly use my lights for work. I patrol darkened office floors. Since I work nights, my lights fill a need. A toy is something for amusement. Anything that fills an actual need, that's something that doesn't fall into the "toy" category. My main work-light is a 2-C cell Maglite w/ MagLED in it. Clipped to my pants pocket, you'll usually find a Surefire L4. A back-up light to the Mag, in case the batteries die while I'm patrolling.... The last time I used it was Thursday night, while waiting for the bus. Some moron in an SUV was driving around with his lights off! I lit up his grill with a couple of rapid presses of the L4's tailcap switch. Not sure if the Driver realized I was signaling to him, considering the dirty look he and his passenger gave me as they drove by. But yeah, signaling someone to warn them.... also not something you do with a toy.

The Inova Microlight on my Key-ring which I keep clipped to my belt is there for one, and only one, reason. I work only a handful of blocks from Ground Zero. I work in a large office building. I work at a, realistically, prime spot for another Terror attack. One of the two posts I work at on alternating weeks is on the 36th floor. In case the building comes down and I need to get downstairs, I can turn on the Microlight's strobe feature so that a Firefighter can find me in the dust and darkness or office workers can find me so that I can lead them to safety. In case my other lights get damaged, I'll probably still have the Microlight clipped to my pants....

You know, it's nice that you've found something that amuses you. But like I said before.... For some of us, our lights are not "toys."

dano said:

Inova isn't outdated.

--Inova has true output numbers. I know of no overseas Cree based light that has true output numbers. They're all inflated or exaggerated. Comparing numbers on paper with B.S. lumen values is worthless.

--I wonder why it has taken SF so long to use a Cree? Is there something about a Cree that their engineers know of; possibly reliability or other issues? Inova also has engineers who may know more than an internet board.

--I can send an Inova in for repairs, if needed. Can't do that with an overseas light.

--Inovas are almost indestructable, purpose built lights without all those rarely used multi-modes. I wouldn't hesitate to use an Inova on duty. I'd NEVER use a multi-mode little Cree based light with a difficult user interface and questionable untested reliability while on duty.

--Inova didnt design their lights to use a hap hazard rechargeable set-up, so this is a mute point.

There's more to a light than how bright it is, or if it uses the "latest and greatest."

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I agree,except for what is bolded; it's a "moot" point