EricMack
Flashlight Enthusiast
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2004
- Messages
- 1,128
The Gotham – Leef/Milkyspit Collaboration Project
I recently received a new light which is to be released soon to beta test and review. The light is called The Gotham, and one look at the pics below will easily explain its name. Its an 18650 based light, though 2x 123's can also be used. But its designed primarily for an 18650, which will provide around two hours of runtime on high. :thumbsup:
The body was designed by Milky and Leef, subsequently produced by Leef, and is electroless nickel plated. The machining is as good as anything I've ever seen, and overall the light is just gorgeous. The first thing I thought when opening the box and seeing the light for the first time was "dang, this is fresh!" I believe this light fills a void that's been left in the last six months as it seems every true custom light being produced is made out of Titanium. Not knocking that by any means, but its great to have an outstanding custom light again that's NOT Ti. The bezel ring IS Ti though.
The Gotham uses a new board sporting a U-binned Seoul, with all new custom circuitry Scott designed based upon the original Milky Candle. This board provides four levels of light from either of two distinct UI's, let's call them User and Tactical. One can choose which UI they want to use, which is dang handy. The production version will be driven roughly as follows: High – 867, Medium – 280, Low – 50, and Candle – 10. This is controlled by tapping the McClickie tailswitch, and given that the overall length of the light is 5.5 inches, this is extremely easy to do even one-handed. In a nutshell, the Tactical UI means the light will always come on at the High level, whether it's a momentary press and hold or a click to stay on. The User UI in contrast, will always come on at the last level used when the light was last shut off. The design of the UI's and the operation of the light has been exemplary for me over the time I've had it.
The Gotham utilizes a McR20 SMO reflector, and throws out a gorgeous beam. Scott individually hand tested over 250 U-binned Seouls for the optimal match of Vf and brightness for the new board. I have two beamshots below, and hopefully Scott will post better ones soon. The beam is great, nice hotspot with a gradual fade to spill, and the throw is very respectable. I will say that driven fairly hard on High, this is the brightest single LED light that I have (200+ Lumens). Its bright! It uses a UCL lens, and mine has a glow ring which is a cool touch. There are four holes from which to attach a lanyard, and I should mention the light is going to come with a cool box, lanyard, and a couple other goodies. Overall, it's a very impressive offering and IMO provides an overdue opportunity for those who would want a top shelf, cutting edge custom light, priced much more affordably than all the Ti offerings.
Overall, I'd rather the pics do the talking, but I have to say that I really feel Leef and Scott have combined to provide an outstanding performer, thats a beautiful blend of visually stunning aesthetics driven by cutting edge electronics and a great LED choice. This light has impressed me greatly, and my hat is off to these gents for creating what I think is a really strong performer. :twothumbs
Without further ado, The Gotham
He he, Spidey didn't want to give it back…
On High
On Candle
Edit I don't know if this matters to anyone, but I paid full price for my Gotham. This review IMO is pretty favorable, and that's because it deserved it. If there was something that was flawed about my light, I'd reveal it, you guys deserve no less.
No trees were cut down to produce this review.
I recently received a new light which is to be released soon to beta test and review. The light is called The Gotham, and one look at the pics below will easily explain its name. Its an 18650 based light, though 2x 123's can also be used. But its designed primarily for an 18650, which will provide around two hours of runtime on high. :thumbsup:
The body was designed by Milky and Leef, subsequently produced by Leef, and is electroless nickel plated. The machining is as good as anything I've ever seen, and overall the light is just gorgeous. The first thing I thought when opening the box and seeing the light for the first time was "dang, this is fresh!" I believe this light fills a void that's been left in the last six months as it seems every true custom light being produced is made out of Titanium. Not knocking that by any means, but its great to have an outstanding custom light again that's NOT Ti. The bezel ring IS Ti though.
The Gotham uses a new board sporting a U-binned Seoul, with all new custom circuitry Scott designed based upon the original Milky Candle. This board provides four levels of light from either of two distinct UI's, let's call them User and Tactical. One can choose which UI they want to use, which is dang handy. The production version will be driven roughly as follows: High – 867, Medium – 280, Low – 50, and Candle – 10. This is controlled by tapping the McClickie tailswitch, and given that the overall length of the light is 5.5 inches, this is extremely easy to do even one-handed. In a nutshell, the Tactical UI means the light will always come on at the High level, whether it's a momentary press and hold or a click to stay on. The User UI in contrast, will always come on at the last level used when the light was last shut off. The design of the UI's and the operation of the light has been exemplary for me over the time I've had it.
The Gotham utilizes a McR20 SMO reflector, and throws out a gorgeous beam. Scott individually hand tested over 250 U-binned Seouls for the optimal match of Vf and brightness for the new board. I have two beamshots below, and hopefully Scott will post better ones soon. The beam is great, nice hotspot with a gradual fade to spill, and the throw is very respectable. I will say that driven fairly hard on High, this is the brightest single LED light that I have (200+ Lumens). Its bright! It uses a UCL lens, and mine has a glow ring which is a cool touch. There are four holes from which to attach a lanyard, and I should mention the light is going to come with a cool box, lanyard, and a couple other goodies. Overall, it's a very impressive offering and IMO provides an overdue opportunity for those who would want a top shelf, cutting edge custom light, priced much more affordably than all the Ti offerings.
Overall, I'd rather the pics do the talking, but I have to say that I really feel Leef and Scott have combined to provide an outstanding performer, thats a beautiful blend of visually stunning aesthetics driven by cutting edge electronics and a great LED choice. This light has impressed me greatly, and my hat is off to these gents for creating what I think is a really strong performer. :twothumbs
Without further ado, The Gotham
He he, Spidey didn't want to give it back…
On High
On Candle
Edit I don't know if this matters to anyone, but I paid full price for my Gotham. This review IMO is pretty favorable, and that's because it deserved it. If there was something that was flawed about my light, I'd reveal it, you guys deserve no less.
No trees were cut down to produce this review.
Last edited:
:kewlpics:
