Kl3 Review

I just recieved this conversion head from my local PX for $48.98 in Black. The price will be slightly higher for civilians..(~$60)

This head is rather large and slightly heavy. Upon looking into the bezel, I am amazed at the precision of which the TIROS is built. The head is VERY ruged and looks really.. well... cool. I took it and immediately (10 feet outside the store) screwed her onto my G2 (which happens to be Olive drab) and compared her to my e1l.

You may think that this combo looks rather.. awkaward.. but the head fits and looks nicely on the body.(discounting coloration).

The G2/Kl3(new gen.) appears to have the same output as my e1l.. BUT the hotspot (which contain ALL of the light) is about a quarter the size of the e1l. The Kl3 also has very, very good throw.. (If you want a floodlight.. this is not your conversion head!)

This head is worth every penny, looks cool, has the throw I want, and appears to be really rugged. I LOVE IT!

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/happy14.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/happy14.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/happy14.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/happy14.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/happy14.gif

Easily 5/5 rating!!! Can't expect anything worse from SUREFIRE!

-tom

Oh yah.. pics wil be coming ASAP

-tom

Inova uses the term "TIROS"
SureFire uses the term "TIR" optic

Al

It is the same thing.. isnt it?

-tom

I believe the concept of TIR or TIROS optics are the same, but the designs of SFs and Inova's are different.

The "concept" of Total Internal Reflection is not new - the approach SureFire and SAIC are taking is very different from Inova. The result is a smaller optic.

Al

Nice info, looking forward to the pictures.

-Mike

Tiros and TIR optic are the same... Tiros means total internal reflecting optics system... and the TIR optics is total internal reflecting optics. So... same thing but different word usage. Surefire and Inova use different kinds... for some reason Inovas has lines on it, why?

-David

"TIROS" is a Trademark for the optics used by Inova. TIROS does not refer to the optics SureFire uses.

lines?
fresnel side perhaps?

Anyone knows which has better throw?? Inova T3 or the KL3??

I'll check later. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Just need to wait for it to get dark. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Mark

On 2 cells, the KL3 would probably win. Quickbeam's website shows that the KL3 throws about 2900 at one meter. Thats almost 3000 lux! Based on the runtime (3 SOLID hours), SureFire doesnt seem to be driving the luxeon that hard either. The Inova T3 throws about 2000 and has a runtime of about 2 hours.

Edit: Does anyone know how many mAs the LED is being driven?

[ QUOTE ]
vaism said:
Anyone knows which has better throw?? Inova T3 or the KL3??

[/ QUOTE ]

Just tried this out in the real world! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

It is very very close with the KL3 just having a slightly tighter beam than the T3.

At a distance you would be hard pushed to tell which one is which.

If the KL3 gives a better run time on two cells that's the one I would go for.

HTH

Mark