1000 Lumen RaidFire Spear: With lots of pics

[mvyrmnd]

This is my Spear...

Notice something different?

Nailbender very kindly just installed a WJ-Bin SST-50 in it for me. On a 2900mAh 18650, the emitter is getting ~3.6A, meaning ~1000 Lumens!

Nailbender's fine work:

I'll post some beamshots later once it gets dark. This is going to be awesome! I can't thank nailbender enough for his work.

Now with beamshot goodness!

First, a white wall (well it's actually blue) The beam pattern on this light is just gorgeous:

Now for some comparisons... All photos are at the same exposure and f-stop.

My back fence of 15m away. First photo is a Jetbeam Jet III-M Q5

And now the Spear

And now, just for fun, my Elektrolumens 3xMC-E Mag

In these, the back of the treehouse is 5m away

Jet III-M

Spear

3xMC-E Mag

Enjoy!

 

[saabluster]

Re: 1000 Lumen RaidFire Spear

Very nice. I am not normally into all these posts about the latest LED someone swapped into their light but I am really curious about this one. I absolutely love my Spear and always thought it had more room to push the boundaries from a thermal perspective. How quickly does it heat up to the point you can't touch it?

 

[mvyrmnd]

Re: 1000 Lumen RaidFire Spear

Very nice. I am not normally into all these posts about the latest LED someone swapped into their light but I am really curious about this one. I absolutely love my Spear and always thought it had more room to push the boundaries from a thermal perspective. How quickly does it heat up to the point you can't touch it?

After 5 mins, the body is at 45C at its hottest point.
EDIT: I ran a full battery charge through it and left it sitting on a table. The body segment the pill is screwed into made it to 58C.

I'm going for a walk with it tonight, so I'll see how far I get before it burns me

It does seem to stabilise at that point though. It gets to 40C within 2 mins, and then is only creeping up after that.

EDIT: I just got back from that walk... It would seem that the design of this light is not just for looks. It's about 25C ambient here (at 9pm) with a nice cool breeze blowing. I had the light on for about 20 mins following my dogs around a football oval (this thing is great! my dogs are black, and I never lost sight of them while they were running free on the oval, from where I was standing, the were usually within 150m from me) and it stayed cooler than my earlier test. I swear I felt it cool in my hand as the breeze blew through it.

 

[glockboy]

Re: 1000 Lumen RaidFire Spear

Is he used the same driver or ?

Nailbender very kindly just installed a WJ-Bin SST-50 in it for me. On a 2900mAh 18650, the emitter is getting ~3.6A, meaning ~1000 Lumens!

 

[sledhead]

Re: 1000 Lumen RaidFire Spear

Very happy to see this thread. I also love my spear, still one of my favorite lights.
If a beamshot is possible we'd all be looking forward to it!:thumbsup:

 

[Fusion_m8]

Re: 1000 Lumen RaidFire Spear

mvyrmnd: the modded RQ Q4 5A/B you sold me is still one of my favourite lights!

I'd love to see your SST-50 SPEAR's beamshots!

 

[nailbender]

Re: 1000 Lumen RaidFire Spear

Is he used the same driver or ?

Hi

It is a 3 level direct drive board I used.

Dave

 

[YourTime]

Re: 1000 Lumen RaidFire Spear

How does it throw compare to the stock Q5?

Im keen to find out

 

[mvyrmnd]

Re: 1000 Lumen RaidFire Spear

The throw is not as far as I'd hoped/expected... It's good for 200m or so, but because of the large die size, the hotspot is quite large (although beautiful) and it spreads rapidly.

I've found it the perfect companion for my Elektrolumens 3xMCE Mag. To my eye, at least, the spear puts as many lux @ 100m as the mag does at 10m (the mag is pure flood, 2100 Lumens) Incidentally, I can't tell them apart by tint.

I promise beamshots soon. A 4 month old boy keeps distracting me...
EDIT: They're up!

 

[CampingLED]

Nice light. :wave:

I am waiting for the "ultimate" LED to upgrade my RQ (Spear clone). Do you think this upgrade is worth it if I have a Catapult?

 

[moviles]

nice reflector , it fit perfectly with the ssr-50

dropin pictures please

 

[mvyrmnd]

nice reflector , it fit perfectly with the ssr-50

dropin pictures please

Done! added to first post.

 

[divine]

This looks pretty interesting, especially since an AW 2600mAh 18650 killed my spear.

I really have no idea why it would do that, and I emailed Nitecore and they think I put the battery in backwards and didn't know what I was talking about when I told them the battery I used.

 

[saabluster]

Thanks for the beam shots. Wish I could have seen a before and after. Do you like the new Spear better?

BTW your sig makes me giggle ever time I see it.

 

[mvyrmnd]

Well, a before shot was impossible for 2 reasons... first, I bought it from the MP, and it was modded with a warm tint Q4. Second, while trying to put the original LED (the seller supplied it as well) I blew up the driver. It was only then I thought about upgrading it.

I love this light. I know some have complained about cool tint LED's and their inability to see through rain and whatnot. We got an inch of rain in the space of a couple of hours last night, and with this I could see though it like it wasn't there. I know this is the reason why so many folks are here, but there's something magical about having this much light in your hand

All I need now are some IMR 18650's to see if I can push for the 6A the driver will let though :thumbsup:

 

[saabluster]

No problem. When I changed out the LED in mine to an R2 I thought for sure I'd ruin it. I couldn't get the MCPCB out of the light to save my light. I finally decided to try and reflow the LED in the light and let the cards fall where they may. It ended up working out OK but I have no plans on ever upgrading that light again. Too difficult.

Well, a before shot was impossible for 2 reasons... first, I bought it from the MP, and it was modded with a warm tint Q4. Second, while trying to put the original LED (the seller supplied it as well) I blew up the driver. It was only then I thought about upgrading it.

I love this light. I know some have complained about cool tint LED's and their inability to see through rain and whatnot. We got an inch of rain in the space of a couple of hours last night, and with this I could see though it like it wasn't there. I know this is the reason why so many folks are here, but there's something magical about having this much light in your hand

All I need now are some IMR 18650's to see if I can push for the 6A the driver will let though :thumbsup:

 

[mvyrmnd]

No problem. When I changed out the LED in mine to an R2 I thought for sure I'd ruin it. I couldn't get the MCPCB out of the light to save my light. I finally decided to try and reflow the LED in the light and let the cards fall where they may. It ended up working out OK but I have no plans on ever upgrading that light again. Too difficult.

Which is exactly why I then stripped the pill, and shipped the whole thing to a pro :twothumbs

 

[rickypanecatyl]

Any chance we could get some beamshots at 100meters more or less?

 

[mvyrmnd]

I just tried to do this, but my camera wouldn't oblige.

I'll try again another night.

 

[Shrigg]

I have an RQ Spear arriving from KD "any day now" and want to use my Nailbender 2.5A SST-50 to create a versatile 3 mode thrower. Is swapping the pill part of my Nailbender P60 drop in to the Spear feasible?