Rayovac 1AA Sportsman Xtreme finally!

[f22shift]

so i finally got my rayovac sportsman xtreme. they had 4 at the monroe, ny Walmart Supercenter, open 24hrs. yeah 24hrs if you want to drive there now jk

first impressions, it's small, smaller than i thought. it comes with 1aa rayovac alkaline battery.

there is 2 red leds, 1 blue, and the 1 watt white(claimed 45 lumens).

it has the diffuser shield that works very well and has a nice 'click' when going into place.

the button has a nice feel, feels solid but i can imagine it being pressed accidently. someone had the smart tip of unscrewing the battery cap a little to prevent accidental starts. works like a charm.

the elastic is fairly thin in width but still feels comfortable on the head.

i loaded it with a nimh battery and it seems to work fine.

the battery cap screws into the battery holder and there is a rubber o-ring to add to the 'water resistant' nature. the battery cap is also attached to the back plate with a rubber string which is a nice touch to not lose it.

beam shots are coming

 

[f22shift]

okay beamshots are here.
it looks like to be 45 lumens bright.
the red function well for night vision
the blue functions to track blood i think. i'm not going to use real blood.

http://hamandcheese.smugmug.com/gallery/3380544#188787523

 

[f22shift]

oops i meant for this in the review section.

some things to add. when you have it on blue mode with the diffuser there is some glare if you have eyeglasses. that's because the blue led is so close to the bottom. i guess you could use a black sharpie on the edge of the diffusor.

 

[Lux Luthor]

Very nice beamshots!!!

Thanks.

I'm still liking this light (especially the form factor), but like so many others I'm waiting on the Zebralight.

 

[f22shift]

yeah so far i like it. i dont have any red or blue flashlight so it's fun to play with.

i'm not sure how well it lights up blood with the blue. i tried the blue tonight in the garage and everything was dull blue except the tennis balls i had. it seems to light up neon colors really well like neon yellow, neon orange.

i also noticed with the blue led that my camera couldnt autofocus. it focused with the red or white light.

i also noticed that the red led doesn't charge up my glow in the dark stickers. blue and white works.

when the zebra comes out, i'll probably retire this light to my camera bag for the night vision protection when i go out to do night photography.

 

[Oddjob]

Awesome pics! I just got one today. Bit of an impulse buy when I was shopping in the States. Overall I like it. I could do without the blue LED. I have also signed up for a Zebralight so when that comes this light will be relagated to back up/loaner.

 

[RonM]

Nice beam shots f22shift. Thanks.

It's a great light for the price and it's nice to see a name brand taking the lead in the 1AA headlamp arena. The choice of a 5mm blue instead of white is still a mystery so I wouldn't be surprised if Rayovac changes that at some point. I also wonder if this light would be getting a lot more attention on this forum if it had been put out by Fenix? :ironic:

 

[BlackDecker]

I bought one a few weeks ago, and I like it better than my Tikka XP (which cost 3x as much).

Like everyone else, I would rather have a 5mm white LED instead of the blue. The diffuser idea is purely genius! Great value for ~$19 at Wal-Mart.

 

[f22shift]

took my rov headlamp out for my night bike ride. it actually was fairly useful.
weird thing was that it seemed to be brighter than my dx xv on high. i guess the light is more focussed in comparison. any diffused light was useless. undiffused white and blue worked.
it was really nice to have. i was on a bike path that is closed at night but i thought what the hell i want to see how the flashlights fair. not really good i was outrunning the throw. no wonder ppl get hid bike lights.
i suppose these normal lights would be good for a casual bike ride but i was too spooked to ride slow :mecry:

summary: rov outthrew dx xv in real world comparison. location, pitch black bike path. diffused light is useless unless close up work.

 

[willrx]

I noticed my red leds are a bit ringy-not as smooth as the blue. Is this normal? Thanks.

 

[RonM]

I noticed my red leds are a bit ringy-not as smooth as the blue. Is this normal? Thanks.

Yes. Unfortunately.

 

[Mundele]

So how would this light compare in brightness and general usability to a (mostly) plain vanilla PT Eos?

--Matt

 

[willrx]

Yes. Unfortunately.

Any idea why this is? Thanks for your confirmation.

 

[RonM]

Willrx, my experience has been that most all red LEDs produce an uneven beam, but I don't know why.

 

[swxb12]

Isn't it also two red LED beams concentrated roughly into the same target spot? Contributes at least to a non-circular wallshot shape, compared to the blue single LED.

 

[BlackDecker]

So how would this light compare in brightness and general usability to a (mostly) plain vanilla PT Eos?

--Matt

With the flip over diffuser, the Rayovac would be good competition to the PT EOS. The 1AA format is a bonus. I think the Rayovac will become a shelf queen once I get my Zebralight with a Q5 CREE.

 

[Oddjob]

...I think the Rayovac will become a shelf queen once I get my Zebralight with a Q5 CREE.

I am thinking the same thing.:twothumbs

 

[RonM]

Don't shelve the Rayovac, just put it in your car's glove box.

 

[BlackDecker]

Don't shelve the Rayovac, just put it in your car's glove box.

Good point... I can shelve the Energizer 3AAA headlamp currently in my glove box and upgrade my car to the Rayovac

 

[kitelights]

I'm looking forward to the ZL, but I'm loving this little ROV. Last night I trimmed my entire yard w/ an Echo string trimmer using the the ROV spot (not diffused) and loaded a full load of downed limbs into the P/U. It was dark when I started - my night vision sucks (old age). I didn't make a mental note of the time, but the best that I can reconstruct was about 2 - 2 1/2 hours. The Energizer 2300 NiMH died about 10-15 minutes before I finished.

I'm sure I'll get plenty of use from the ZL, but I doubt that the ROV will get retired.

BTW, I chose the ROV last night over a PT EOS b/c it was smaller, lighter and used a single cell.