I just got my first Dereelight drop-in today and wasted no time dropping it into my C3 for some comparisons against a Surefire P60L. This is only a 10 minute review so I'll just note the obvious. I don't have a lightbox, just my two integrated optical spheres so no exact lumen or runtime figures will be given.
About the drop-in's physical characteristics: It is relatively heavy and appears to be well built. I tried it in two Surefires and both had a gap between the bezel and body. That was without the removeable outer spring on the drop-in. It is a slight gap and I would have prefered no gap but its not a deal breaker for me. The reflector unscrews and a mirror one or OP can be used. I chose the OP reflector. It is noticably deeper than the P60L and should throw better (I'll get to that soon). The outer shell of the drop in is longer than the P60L and definitely has more metal and may make a better contact on the body of the light.
White-wall test: This might not be a white-wall hunter's dream. There is an obvious donut around the hotspot with the reflector screwed down all the way onto the pill. There is a corona around the donut that is brighter than the rest of the spill, but otherwise, beyond the corona, the beam is pretty smooth. In contrast, the P60L has a hotspot and transitions smoothly and quickly into uniform sidespill. The color is the closest to an incan as I've even seen from an LED. I compared it to one of my "whitest" P60Ls and now the P60L looks purple. Of the three levels, the middle seems very close to the same brightness as the P60L but the Dereelight seems to just be a little brighter. The brightest level is clearly a lot brighter than the P60L. I tried 5 different positions of the reflector by screwing it out a little to see if the beam would smooth a little and I saw a big difference with the LED deepest down the reflector. The problem is that the more its screwed out, the looser the reflector is and the bigger the bezel/body gap is. With the LED down low the donut is very minimized and almost gone, as is the corona. I am going to play around a little more with that for a happy compromise.
Outdoor test: Outside is where this drop-in really shines. It just blows the P60L away at more than about 10 feet away. Scanning my small back yard (about 40 feet wide and 35-40 long) the P60L does a decent job of lighting it up using a sweeping motion. The high beam on the Dereelight really throws a lot of light and would light someone up at the furthest spot like it was daylight. The hotspot on the wood fence 35-40 feet away is just amazing as compared to the ho-hum, now dim looking, hot spot from the P60L. It is like comparing purple haze to an incan spot light. There is a tall oak tree (actually several) that is about 50 feet away and 40-50 feet tall. The P60L lights it up fine, until the Dereelight drop-in is shined on it. The depth becomes several feet into the tree instead of just the superficial surface foot or so that the P60L lights up. The color rendition is close to incan and the brightness is significantly higher than the P60L. Big difference. On medium, the drop-in is similar in brightness to the P60L on the tree but the color rendition is still better as is the depth of light penetration.
I haven't experimented with the low much but it does seem to be a very usable low. It may be too bright to save night vision but it is enough to do many tasks and will probably run forever. One note on the medium and low levels is that the light seems to blink at the brightest level for a split second when entering the two lower levels.
Pluses:
About the drop-in's physical characteristics: It is relatively heavy and appears to be well built. I tried it in two Surefires and both had a gap between the bezel and body. That was without the removeable outer spring on the drop-in. It is a slight gap and I would have prefered no gap but its not a deal breaker for me. The reflector unscrews and a mirror one or OP can be used. I chose the OP reflector. It is noticably deeper than the P60L and should throw better (I'll get to that soon). The outer shell of the drop in is longer than the P60L and definitely has more metal and may make a better contact on the body of the light.
White-wall test: This might not be a white-wall hunter's dream. There is an obvious donut around the hotspot with the reflector screwed down all the way onto the pill. There is a corona around the donut that is brighter than the rest of the spill, but otherwise, beyond the corona, the beam is pretty smooth. In contrast, the P60L has a hotspot and transitions smoothly and quickly into uniform sidespill. The color is the closest to an incan as I've even seen from an LED. I compared it to one of my "whitest" P60Ls and now the P60L looks purple. Of the three levels, the middle seems very close to the same brightness as the P60L but the Dereelight seems to just be a little brighter. The brightest level is clearly a lot brighter than the P60L. I tried 5 different positions of the reflector by screwing it out a little to see if the beam would smooth a little and I saw a big difference with the LED deepest down the reflector. The problem is that the more its screwed out, the looser the reflector is and the bigger the bezel/body gap is. With the LED down low the donut is very minimized and almost gone, as is the corona. I am going to play around a little more with that for a happy compromise.
Outdoor test: Outside is where this drop-in really shines. It just blows the P60L away at more than about 10 feet away. Scanning my small back yard (about 40 feet wide and 35-40 long) the P60L does a decent job of lighting it up using a sweeping motion. The high beam on the Dereelight really throws a lot of light and would light someone up at the furthest spot like it was daylight. The hotspot on the wood fence 35-40 feet away is just amazing as compared to the ho-hum, now dim looking, hot spot from the P60L. It is like comparing purple haze to an incan spot light. There is a tall oak tree (actually several) that is about 50 feet away and 40-50 feet tall. The P60L lights it up fine, until the Dereelight drop-in is shined on it. The depth becomes several feet into the tree instead of just the superficial surface foot or so that the P60L lights up. The color rendition is close to incan and the brightness is significantly higher than the P60L. Big difference. On medium, the drop-in is similar in brightness to the P60L on the tree but the color rendition is still better as is the depth of light penetration.
I haven't experimented with the low much but it does seem to be a very usable low. It may be too bright to save night vision but it is enough to do many tasks and will probably run forever. One note on the medium and low levels is that the light seems to blink at the brightest level for a split second when entering the two lower levels.
Pluses:
- Build quality (weight, expected heat transfer, general finish)
- Removeable/Replaceable/Adjustable reflector
- Mode levels seem to be well thought out - Bright high, 80-90 lumen medium, usable low
- Beam color (if you like incan)
- Color rendition and depth
- Voltage range from 3V-9V
- Good throw for a D26
- Intuitive cycling, press and release to switch levels
- Have to choose between smooth beam or small bezel gap
- Flash when going into lower modes (minimal but thought I'd mention it)
- Price is good if comparing against a P60L or Malkoff but is more expensive than DX or Kia, etc. drop-ins. IMHO, it is worth the price.
- Has a memory mode. I did not put this as a plus or minus since for some people it is a plus, for others a minus. You decide.
