River Rock .5w 2AAA at Target

One of the Target stores in my area FINALLY got the new River Rock and Inova flashlights in. After spending an inordinate amount of time inspecting each type, I finally settled on the River Rock .5w as a tryout.

Got it home, extracted it from it's plastic hell, put the batteries in, started to screw the endcap back on and zzzziiiiinnnnnggggg! Dang, this thing is SLIPPERY!! It went flying out of my hand more than once in the past 20 minutes.

It has grooves it in but they're so shallow and closely spaced together that it almost makes the problem worse than it would have been with a plain, ungrooved body. How in the world did they miss this during the design phase?

It seems pretty bright for it's size so I'm sur eit'll come in handy... IF I can keep it in my hand! :laughing:

I just got home with my new River Rock 0.5 watt light.

Not bad at all, a useable amount of light, mine is a bit bluish (beats green).
It has a fairly tight beam, but still has appx. 90 degrees of moderate spill light.

I rummaged around in my Danco O-ring kit (Lowes), and found a large one that fits perfectly in the groove at the base of the head. A smaller one went on the body ahead of the tail cap. Much better, don't think I'll drop it now.

The tail cap, and O-ring, is lubed, and nicely threaded. No problem there.

The paper work states it is regulated, with 7 hours of bright light. If this is true, I'll give it (considering the $ 9.95 price, a high 8 out of 10.

The Xnova 1 AA 7LED bright version is probably a better deal (about $ 6), is brighter with a larger flood beam,but I don't think the run time will match the River Rock, and of course, the 0.5 watt is regulated.

It's good to see some of these lights hit the mainstream of retailing. Brings the price down too.

Imagine what we would have paid for either of the mentioned lights 3-4 years ago.

I agree - those would've been $70-$100 lights a few years ago. Especially having the term "regulated" in the specs would've given them an excuse to charge a high premium for a circcuit that's built around an IC that contains only a handful of transistors.

I think I'm going to wrap a couple of bands of friction tape around mine. It won't be pretty but it'll keep it from flying out of my hands.

BTW, my spouse sez those faint grooves in the .5w River Rock are the normal result from the machining process and were probably not put there deliberately. That explains why they don't contribute anything to the gripping surface.

Hi, can you provide a link or a picture of what the lights look like?

Just picked up one of these today, too. The Target near me (Apex) now appears to have a full compliment of the new lights, or nearly so. In a dark room there's a nice hotspot with minimal artifacts. Maybe not a lot of flood. The tint seems to be leaning slightly towards purple, but still mostly white. The tail switch works like our Dorcys, but feels more precise. On looks alone it's got the new Inova 2AAAs beat. Once again, I look forward for the night.

Geoff

I agree that the light is slippery. I think it is a nice light but I really wish they had put "witness marks" on the tailcap and body (like Surefire) so you more easily set it to "tactical on" and Lockout.

Guys, would you say the River Rock 0.5W is brighter then a Arc AAA or other light running one of the new Nichia CS Leds? I'm looking for a work light with a broad beam to supplement my Arc AAA (currently still old style LED) when I want something with a little more oomph but won't get mad if I lose it which is always a good possiblity. Would that light or any of the other new Target lights fit the bill?

I've never had (or actually seen with my own eyes) any of the Arc lights. I would say that the River Rock 0.5 is a surprisingly powerful little light though.

Top, Nuwai TM311H, Bottom, River Rock



Left, River Rock. Right, Nuwai TM311H at 7"




Thanks to ImageShack for Free Image Hosting

Well, thanks to you guys I headed to Target and picked up 2 River Rock lights (AAA and 2C cell) and an Inova X5. Unfortunately, they were sold out of the new plastic bodied Inovas, but I'll sure keep an eye out for them.

First I will say a quick hi...I was here a few years ago under another account
that I couldn't remember...
I have been viewing again for a few weeks and figured I would rejoin.

Just bought the River Rock at my local Target and love it for the 10 bux!

They have just brought in there whole new Inova line up.

hey guys,
any easy fix on the slippery part is to take one of the smaller size Bic 4x4 Grip markers (like a sharpie) and pull the rubber boot off and put it on the river rock. works great and fits perfect!! - Todd
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-12/920524/lightfix.jpg

PhotonWrangler said:

One of the Target stores in my area FINALLY got the new River Rock and Inova flashlights in. After spending an inordinate amount of time inspecting each type, I finally settled on the River Rock .5w as a tryout.

Got it home, extracted it from it's plastic hell, put the batteries in, started to screw the endcap back on and zzzziiiiinnnnnggggg! Dang, this thing is SLIPPERY!! It went flying out of my hand more than once in the past 20 minutes.

It has grooves it in but they're so shallow and closely spaced together that it almost makes the problem worse than it would have been with a plain, ungrooved body. How in the world did they miss this during the design phase?

It seems pretty bright for it's size so I'm sur eit'll come in handy... IF I can keep it in my hand! :laughing:

Click to expand...

Perhaps wrapping a few rubber bands around it will allow you to hang onto it.

I've just put a few wraps of electrical tape around the body and it's generally better. I like Todd's idea of the rubber grip from the Bic marker - much more professional looking and it probably works better also!

I just noticed that the model number on the River Rock .5w is a TM311X. The Nuwai is a TM311H. I think it's safe to say that it's the same light (or a really good knock-off).

Great idea on the BIC piece.

Now if only they would get them in stock at a local Target! :sigh:

I copied this from one of my replies regarding this same light in another thread titled something like "My new EDC from Target": http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=92186

Here's a link to Quickbeam's review of the Nuwai version: http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/nuwai_tm-311h_2aaa.htm

I picked up a couple of the Rock Rivers in silver color a couple hours ago for my step son and son in law who never seem to have a flashlight handy. I got silver so they could find them more easily than the black (they have young children). I already have four of original Nuwai versions.

The Nuwai versions are NOT regulated, so it will be ineresting to see if these River Rock really are regulated, or just repackaged Nuwai. Someone did some runtime graphs a while back, but I'm not sure where to locate it.

The tail cap on the River Rock is slightly different than my Nuwais which were purchased last spring from Amondotech.com for $14.95 each. The River Rock tail cap is just a little longer and the black button is smaller. This results in the River Rock light being a little longer by the same amount. I don't have a preference for either version of the tail switch. All of the other physical/mechanical characteristics of the River Rock appear to be identical to the Nuwai.

The beam patterns appear to be nearly identical. The tint on both of the River Rocks are nearly identical to each other and both are more bluish than all four of my Nuwai, but not blue enough to be annoying to me.
The hot spot of the Nuwai appears a little larger and maybe a little bit brighter, but relative brightness is a little difficult for me to determine with my naked eye because of the difference in tint. I don't have a light meter.

In the above beam shot comparisons, the Nuwai appears to be dimmer than the Rock River. With my Rock River and Nuwai 2AAA lights, that does not appear to be the case.

I also EDC my Nuwai versions and also turned the clip around for bezel down carry. I've been very pleased with them so far.

ALSO CHECK OUT THE RIVER ROCK 2AAA .5W TWO POWER LEVEL HEADLAMP! it was located in my Target next to the Rock River 2AAA pen light! I also picked up one of these also and am please with it so far. The beam characteristics are similar to the 2xAAA pen lights described above, but it has a slightly larger and noticibly brighter hot spot and more throw and fewer artifacts in the beam. The head lamp reflector is about twice the diameter and a little deeper. The head strap has the top strap as well as the regular strap. The switch is reverse clicky with momentary off, but no momentary on. First click is low, second click is high and third click is off. This is a very nice feature. The low is lower than the pen light and the high is brighter than the pen light. Great throw for such a small light. The battery compartment has an odd cap mechanism and putting the cap back on in the light was challenging, replacing it in the dark might prove near impossible. The switch gives good tactile feeback and is loud, as is the angle adjustment, which is hinged on the bottom and adjusts from straight ahead to past 90 degrees down. I may post a separate review for the headlamp.

I didn't mean to hijack the thread, but if you like the pen light, you just may like the headlamp. It may even be a decent bike helmet light.

I was in error stating that this light appeared to be more of a spot than a flood. When darkness arrived last night I was very pleased to see that there was a very usable amount of spill. Overall, this seems an excellent little light for the money. This one may take over the title from the Dorcy AAA as the most popular gift light for non-flashaholics. Also, from looking at Roy's graphs, it looks like the old Nuwai is at least semi-regulated. So, the River Rock may really be exactly the same light as the Nuwai.

Geoff

yes i would very much like to see and hear more of the headlamp. thnx!