Tiresius
Enlightened
Okay, this is my first actual review ever done so please bear with me and my amateur skills. There will be no lumens or Lux readings and definitely no driver information. I do not have the tools or equipment to measure them.
Just a few days ago, I read up about a light from Home Depot claiming to be a huge thrower for a small price. It was the Defiant 3C thrower. To my disbelief, I checked their website and saw the light myself. I looked at the photos and saw that they look similar to today's 1x18650 reflector throwers. Based on the price, I knew that the lens and reflector is plastic but for this low amount of lumens, it wouldn't melt.
There were two lights at the store: 3D and 3C version. I picked the 3D version for two reasons. One, I wanted the XM-L emitter and the lumens it can pump out. The 3C held an XP-E/G? I'm not too sure since the package blocked me from being able to see the emitter clearly. Two, the bezel diameter is MUCH larger than the 3C by far and would make a much better thrower once an XP-G2 emitter is placed in.
The light utilizes a similar driver you would see from many of the budget lights from China. High>Low>Strobe. The driver itself looks very similar. However, with the increase in voltage, the driver managed to put out 2.85a on high and 0.76a on low.
Now lets let the photos speak for themselves...
Here's the light removed and laid next to the actual packaging:
The logo on the light:
Bezel. Noticed the fins machined on this light?
Here's one thing I'd like to mention about this light. As a amateur machinist, I noticed that the milling/lathe work and final finish before anodizing on the light is not smooth. As a result, you can see the machining marks clearly on the body of the light. For the price you pay for, the machine quality is better than what I'd expect.
Here's the massive tail-cap. This thing is huge and majority of the unit is solid aluminum.
Here's how big the light is when I am holding the it. Note that I weight 145lbs and am 5'7". Expect that I have a relatively smaller hand than the average male American.
The threadings are standard 60-degree, V-shaped throughout the whole light. I noticed that the pitch is different throughout the light but do not have tools with me right now to say which pattern belongs to which part of the light.
Here is the tailcap's threading:
Here's the inside of the tailcap: I thought this is unique how the tail-cap unit is covered with this plastic housing rather than an exposed retaining ring just for the rim of the tail-cap. Upon inspection of the inside, I've noticed that the design is a retaining ring keeping the switch onto the tail-cap.
Now onto the business end of the light. Looking at it, it's a standard cool white emitter--possibly a T6 emitter as they are commonly used in all B&M stores featuring an XM-L emitter:
Here is a close up of the emitter itself:
The beamshot on a white wall displays multiple rings outside of the hotspot. However, the hotspot itself is surprisingly round once past 10 yards of distance even with regards to the finished of the reflector:
With the bezel removed is the entire pill of the light and is quite common with many manufacturer lights.
For a $29.99 light, they did a very good job with machining the pill to seat the MPCB board. It is just slightly off from fitting snugly. I was surprised that a mass-produced light has this close of a fitment and is not a custom work.
Here is the contact side of the pill. It all has a plastic housing to thread and keep everything compressed:
With the plastic removed, there is something unique with this light that I have not seen in many production lights before: This is all the emptiness that you see in the pill. The rest of the pill (including the top 3/4) is a giant aluminum slug. This is how Defiant managed their heat. It is threaded onto the thick body. After running it for 15 minutes on high, I decided to stop because the pill did not get any warmer.
Here are the three lights I will be testing and currently have in my inventory: Preon 0 with an XP-G2 5000k on a 10400 cell (donated from tobrien), Eagletac D25LC2 XM-L NW, and the Defiant ArmorMax 3D. My Surefire 6P with triple 219 is out of commission.
[URL=http://s707.photobucket.com/user/zeron18/media/IMAG0731_zps90754e32.jpg.html][/URL]
Here's the business end of the 2 lights:
Please forgive the phone quality pictures. This is actually better at capturing light in the dark than my digital camera. Now for a little outdoor shoot at 9PM PST. All lights were set at their maximum brightness:
Control 1. The car is 40 yards away:
47's Preon 0 with XP-G2 5000k:
Eagletac D25LC2 XM-L NW:
Defiant ArmorMax 3D:
Control 2. The tree is roughly 150 yards:
47's Preon 0 XP-G2 5000k: It did not do a good job reaching the tree but did light up the nearby surroundings.
Eagletac D25LC2 XM-L NW: It did reach the tree but barely noticable in the photo and in person.
Defiant ArmorMax 3D: The light managed to hit the tree with no problems. It could reach out further but do not have a long enough distance nearby to take photos without arousing suspisions with the neighbors.
For a light at this price, I was surprised with its overall quality. The plastic lens and reflector will need a replacement for anyone that is interested in doing a modification to improve the throw and/or overall brightness of the light. I see that this light has the potential for increased throw with a light modification. If anyone plans on keeping it stock and running it on primaries, the plastic lens and reflector will suffice. Thank you for taking your time with putting up with my first time review
Just a few days ago, I read up about a light from Home Depot claiming to be a huge thrower for a small price. It was the Defiant 3C thrower. To my disbelief, I checked their website and saw the light myself. I looked at the photos and saw that they look similar to today's 1x18650 reflector throwers. Based on the price, I knew that the lens and reflector is plastic but for this low amount of lumens, it wouldn't melt.
There were two lights at the store: 3D and 3C version. I picked the 3D version for two reasons. One, I wanted the XM-L emitter and the lumens it can pump out. The 3C held an XP-E/G? I'm not too sure since the package blocked me from being able to see the emitter clearly. Two, the bezel diameter is MUCH larger than the 3C by far and would make a much better thrower once an XP-G2 emitter is placed in.
The light utilizes a similar driver you would see from many of the budget lights from China. High>Low>Strobe. The driver itself looks very similar. However, with the increase in voltage, the driver managed to put out 2.85a on high and 0.76a on low.
Now lets let the photos speak for themselves...
Here's the light removed and laid next to the actual packaging:
The logo on the light:
Bezel. Noticed the fins machined on this light?
Here's one thing I'd like to mention about this light. As a amateur machinist, I noticed that the milling/lathe work and final finish before anodizing on the light is not smooth. As a result, you can see the machining marks clearly on the body of the light. For the price you pay for, the machine quality is better than what I'd expect.
Here's the massive tail-cap. This thing is huge and majority of the unit is solid aluminum.
Here's how big the light is when I am holding the it. Note that I weight 145lbs and am 5'7". Expect that I have a relatively smaller hand than the average male American.
The threadings are standard 60-degree, V-shaped throughout the whole light. I noticed that the pitch is different throughout the light but do not have tools with me right now to say which pattern belongs to which part of the light.
Here is the tailcap's threading:
Here's the inside of the tailcap: I thought this is unique how the tail-cap unit is covered with this plastic housing rather than an exposed retaining ring just for the rim of the tail-cap. Upon inspection of the inside, I've noticed that the design is a retaining ring keeping the switch onto the tail-cap.
Now onto the business end of the light. Looking at it, it's a standard cool white emitter--possibly a T6 emitter as they are commonly used in all B&M stores featuring an XM-L emitter:
Here is a close up of the emitter itself:
The beamshot on a white wall displays multiple rings outside of the hotspot. However, the hotspot itself is surprisingly round once past 10 yards of distance even with regards to the finished of the reflector:
With the bezel removed is the entire pill of the light and is quite common with many manufacturer lights.
For a $29.99 light, they did a very good job with machining the pill to seat the MPCB board. It is just slightly off from fitting snugly. I was surprised that a mass-produced light has this close of a fitment and is not a custom work.
Here is the contact side of the pill. It all has a plastic housing to thread and keep everything compressed:
With the plastic removed, there is something unique with this light that I have not seen in many production lights before: This is all the emptiness that you see in the pill. The rest of the pill (including the top 3/4) is a giant aluminum slug. This is how Defiant managed their heat. It is threaded onto the thick body. After running it for 15 minutes on high, I decided to stop because the pill did not get any warmer.
Here are the three lights I will be testing and currently have in my inventory: Preon 0 with an XP-G2 5000k on a 10400 cell (donated from tobrien), Eagletac D25LC2 XM-L NW, and the Defiant ArmorMax 3D. My Surefire 6P with triple 219 is out of commission.
[URL=http://s707.photobucket.com/user/zeron18/media/IMAG0731_zps90754e32.jpg.html][/URL]
Here's the business end of the 2 lights:
Please forgive the phone quality pictures. This is actually better at capturing light in the dark than my digital camera. Now for a little outdoor shoot at 9PM PST. All lights were set at their maximum brightness:
Control 1. The car is 40 yards away:
47's Preon 0 with XP-G2 5000k:
Eagletac D25LC2 XM-L NW:
Defiant ArmorMax 3D:
Control 2. The tree is roughly 150 yards:
47's Preon 0 XP-G2 5000k: It did not do a good job reaching the tree but did light up the nearby surroundings.
Eagletac D25LC2 XM-L NW: It did reach the tree but barely noticable in the photo and in person.
Defiant ArmorMax 3D: The light managed to hit the tree with no problems. It could reach out further but do not have a long enough distance nearby to take photos without arousing suspisions with the neighbors.
For a light at this price, I was surprised with its overall quality. The plastic lens and reflector will need a replacement for anyone that is interested in doing a modification to improve the throw and/or overall brightness of the light. I see that this light has the potential for increased throw with a light modification. If anyone plans on keeping it stock and running it on primaries, the plastic lens and reflector will suffice. Thank you for taking your time with putting up with my first time review
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