zespectre
Flashlight Enthusiast
Someone at Ray-O-Vac has a sense of humor and I LIKE it.
Presenting the "VN2D-B" which seems to be some sort of commemorative 100'th anniversary light.
Even the batteries got the "classic" treatment.
The whole thing feels EXACTLY like the old stamped-and-folded sheetmetal "Sportsman" series from the late 1950/60's which means you get, a "3 mode" switch (off, momentary button, on) that requires fussing and jiggling to get just the right contact, a sharp edge on the inside barrel that you could shave with, and a tailcap that is so tight as a result of the plating that you fear you are going to crush the light as you grip it tightly trying to unscrew the cap.
Get that tailcap off, dump the batteries in, (grease the threads) and put it back together and you you have a 30-ish lumen light, blue in tint with a surprisingly even beam, a nice hotspot and good spill. Except for the blue color, it "feels" like one of the old incandescent lights with brand new batteries in terms of illumination. Nothing too fancy, it's not waterproof, not even splashproof. No seals, no aircraft grade anything.
and yet
it's FUN!
Okay, pure nostalgia on my part but it takes me right back to backyard camping in an ancient canvas army pup tent, frying breakfast on an iron skillet that probably weighed 20lb all by itself, sunburns, chasing imaginary villains through the woods, you know, childhood.
and it's perfectly serviceable as an in the house light.
================3/31/2014 UPDATE======================
Some shots of the disassembled head.
The head disassembled
A view of the emitter still in the reflector
Side view
Gently pried apart
Front view (I have NO idea what this emitter is)
Rear view (I guess you could consider that a "heat sink"
Presenting the "VN2D-B" which seems to be some sort of commemorative 100'th anniversary light.
Even the batteries got the "classic" treatment.
The whole thing feels EXACTLY like the old stamped-and-folded sheetmetal "Sportsman" series from the late 1950/60's which means you get, a "3 mode" switch (off, momentary button, on) that requires fussing and jiggling to get just the right contact, a sharp edge on the inside barrel that you could shave with, and a tailcap that is so tight as a result of the plating that you fear you are going to crush the light as you grip it tightly trying to unscrew the cap.
Get that tailcap off, dump the batteries in, (grease the threads) and put it back together and you you have a 30-ish lumen light, blue in tint with a surprisingly even beam, a nice hotspot and good spill. Except for the blue color, it "feels" like one of the old incandescent lights with brand new batteries in terms of illumination. Nothing too fancy, it's not waterproof, not even splashproof. No seals, no aircraft grade anything.
and yet
it's FUN!
Okay, pure nostalgia on my part but it takes me right back to backyard camping in an ancient canvas army pup tent, frying breakfast on an iron skillet that probably weighed 20lb all by itself, sunburns, chasing imaginary villains through the woods, you know, childhood.
and it's perfectly serviceable as an in the house light.
================3/31/2014 UPDATE======================
Some shots of the disassembled head.
The head disassembled
A view of the emitter still in the reflector
Side view
Gently pried apart
Front view (I have NO idea what this emitter is)
Rear view (I guess you could consider that a "heat sink"
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