AnAppleSnail
Flashlight Enthusiast
Can this be moved to the Reviews section?
[This will soon be updated with pictures. My card reader will be back in town soon]
L-shaped lights. Why? SunwayLED (Now SunwayMan) sent me a free L10A recently, with the understanding that I would post a review of it. In the first few days of using it, I've found why L-shaped is a feature, not a gimmick. Consider the following:
Suppose I'm getting the groceries out of the car. With my Quark AA, I have to take the light off my belt, click it on, and put it in my mouth to see. Once my hands are full of groceries I have to walk around with an expensive tooth-chipper in my mouth (Hope it doesn't eat pavement if I stumble!), until I have a hand free. What if my belt light was already aimed for looking at things, hands-free?
[Going to add a picture of it on my belt, and a 'beamshot' showing the vision given by this setup]
Output:
Now I just reach down, click 'on,' and get about 100 OTF lumens of light for company, and I can see the groceries. The XR-E R2 LED is well-paired with the reflector to give a daily-use pattern with good spill and some throw. So far I've used the light in everything from a dark lawn (Medium), to looking around an office (Low), to a culvert with a few inches of water flowing over loose stones (High). With the L10A on my belt I have no trouble seeing what I need to for most work. Low is about right for waking up and fetching, and Medium is good for general use when you aren't fighting other light sources.
[beamshot]
There are Cree Rings, but you'll only ever see them whitewall-hunting, so stop that already. The hotspot has an extremely slight, barely-possible-to-see slightly darker zone around it. Getting to the light engine isn't very hard, but I'll leave that as an excercise for the reader. This has a cold white LED, so the first thing I would consider doing is putting some Neutral type its place.
[Comparison beamshot - L10A, Quark AA^2 R2, LEDLenser light]
For general use the beam pattern is excellent, and far better than lots of R2 lights manage in small reflectors. I'll have to get my calipers out, but the reflector seems to be about the same width as the Quark MiNi, though it's deeper. The hotspot is about the same size, though the deep and recessed reflector cuts some spill out compared to the MiNi.
[Picture showing the two light outputs side-by-side]
Interface:
Hold the button for momentary on.
Click to turn on in 'high.'
Double click to change modes (High, Low, Medium).
Hold the button while it's on for momentary strobe.
With the light on, click then click-hold for strobe to stay on. (Not in the manual).
A fraction of a turn of the tailcap locks this light out.
Medium takes 5 clicks to get to. Medium and Low are my favorite modes, although I understand that many peope want instant access to High. The interface is understandable and you'll never fight it or get results you didn't expect. It's sensible and well-thought-out for the uses SunwayMan was building for. For the hobbyist, I think it would be as close to perfect as possible if it came on in whatever mode it was in last. I'd push this light hard to anyone asking "What light should I buy" if this light had mode memory. It's a solidly built light with well-chosen output levels, sane and consistent operation, and uniquely good looks for an oddball angle-light.
Build quality:
I regret not having pictures up to show how solid and pretty this light is. The anodizing is somehow perfectly matched, and all corners and edges are smooth. The battery compartment knuring gives confident grip, and the light itself feels solid enough to drive a car over.
I expect it to be durable. The square-cut threads mate thick aluminum parts together. The window is recessed about 8mm into the head, and the clip is a wide piece of spring steel. It comes with a gap between the clip and body, so you'd want to tighten it for use with thin cloth. I'm confident that the light will outlast me in a falling/crushing/breaking contest.
Finishing is a lot of random things. The light is IPX-8, and the O-rings are smooth and the threads come cleaned and lubricated. The LED is perfectly centered, with the reflector landing on the board just outside the metal XR-E ring. Judging by the flashlight temperatures, the LED has good thermal connection with the light. The anodization is hard, smooth, and a perfectly matched deep olive. The painting and lettering is clean and crisp.
Using the thing:
Running the light on High for about ten minutes makes the head warm. The entire body heats up on High, while on Medium and Low you won't notice the heat. Ma_Sha1 has used his with 14500s, but this is not supported by the manufacturer. It seems to follow the "It can handle the current but not the heat" of these small boost-circuit lights on High.
The clip is easily adjusted and can be turned to make the light face left, right, or forwards. I currenty wear the flashlight on my right side with the body inside my belt and the clip outside, just to see if that works better. The flashlight slides out without undue trouble (besides what you'd expect being between my hip and belt). The clip can be removed. It is not meant to be put on either end of the battery tube, but it can be. You'd need further modification to ensure electrical connection. If I put the clip on the wrong end of the battery tube I get an intermittent and unusable connection. This would allow for EXTREMELY DEEP clip carry. I'm sure that the back O-ring does not engage like this. Reversing the clip allows for battery-up use. This functions as expected, but the clip is not fixed at a right angle to the body.
It's easy to use this with a headband, you can manage it with a baseball cap, and it works nicely with a belt or strap. I don't think it's practical on a tee-shirt neck, but a stiffer collar would stabilize it. It has a lot of metal in it, but isn't much larger than the Quark MiNi AA in absolute terms. The L10A is about the same length, and the angle head makes it about twice the thickness of the MiNi AA at its thickest.
Packaging[/url]
The box is attractive and simple - bold red and black angles with an L-shaped cutout for the light. The front has the High/Low output times and levels, and advertises the drop resistance (1m) and water resistance (rain, not swimming). It would be nice to have a picture of what you can do with the L-shape - A quick shot of it on a belt in the dark, perhaps.
Of these:
"Seahorse Shape Compact Flashlight"
"Angle head"
"L shaped"
Seahorse is the interesting one. I like it!
Final thoughts
You can buy lights with more modes or more lumens, but at $60, this is a good light. If it had mode memory and a neutral LED, I'd sing its praises far and wide.
In summary:
Good output levels: 130, 30, and 3 lumens.
Wonderful beam pattern for general use.
Good battery life at each level.
Consistent H-L-M interface.
The strobe is easy to avoid but easy to get to.
Excellent build quality. Many things were done to make it a better light.
The lockout is solid and I trust the clip to stay where I put it.
Things I would like in this light (Without shifting its target market)
Mode memory
[This will soon be updated with pictures. My card reader will be back in town soon]
L-shaped lights. Why? SunwayLED (Now SunwayMan) sent me a free L10A recently, with the understanding that I would post a review of it. In the first few days of using it, I've found why L-shaped is a feature, not a gimmick. Consider the following:
Suppose I'm getting the groceries out of the car. With my Quark AA, I have to take the light off my belt, click it on, and put it in my mouth to see. Once my hands are full of groceries I have to walk around with an expensive tooth-chipper in my mouth (Hope it doesn't eat pavement if I stumble!), until I have a hand free. What if my belt light was already aimed for looking at things, hands-free?
[Going to add a picture of it on my belt, and a 'beamshot' showing the vision given by this setup]
Output:
Now I just reach down, click 'on,' and get about 100 OTF lumens of light for company, and I can see the groceries. The XR-E R2 LED is well-paired with the reflector to give a daily-use pattern with good spill and some throw. So far I've used the light in everything from a dark lawn (Medium), to looking around an office (Low), to a culvert with a few inches of water flowing over loose stones (High). With the L10A on my belt I have no trouble seeing what I need to for most work. Low is about right for waking up and fetching, and Medium is good for general use when you aren't fighting other light sources.
[beamshot]
There are Cree Rings, but you'll only ever see them whitewall-hunting, so stop that already. The hotspot has an extremely slight, barely-possible-to-see slightly darker zone around it. Getting to the light engine isn't very hard, but I'll leave that as an excercise for the reader. This has a cold white LED, so the first thing I would consider doing is putting some Neutral type its place.
[Comparison beamshot - L10A, Quark AA^2 R2, LEDLenser light]
For general use the beam pattern is excellent, and far better than lots of R2 lights manage in small reflectors. I'll have to get my calipers out, but the reflector seems to be about the same width as the Quark MiNi, though it's deeper. The hotspot is about the same size, though the deep and recessed reflector cuts some spill out compared to the MiNi.
[Picture showing the two light outputs side-by-side]
Interface:
Hold the button for momentary on.
Click to turn on in 'high.'
Double click to change modes (High, Low, Medium).
Hold the button while it's on for momentary strobe.
With the light on, click then click-hold for strobe to stay on. (Not in the manual).
A fraction of a turn of the tailcap locks this light out.
Medium takes 5 clicks to get to. Medium and Low are my favorite modes, although I understand that many peope want instant access to High. The interface is understandable and you'll never fight it or get results you didn't expect. It's sensible and well-thought-out for the uses SunwayMan was building for. For the hobbyist, I think it would be as close to perfect as possible if it came on in whatever mode it was in last. I'd push this light hard to anyone asking "What light should I buy" if this light had mode memory. It's a solidly built light with well-chosen output levels, sane and consistent operation, and uniquely good looks for an oddball angle-light.
Build quality:
I regret not having pictures up to show how solid and pretty this light is. The anodizing is somehow perfectly matched, and all corners and edges are smooth. The battery compartment knuring gives confident grip, and the light itself feels solid enough to drive a car over.
I expect it to be durable. The square-cut threads mate thick aluminum parts together. The window is recessed about 8mm into the head, and the clip is a wide piece of spring steel. It comes with a gap between the clip and body, so you'd want to tighten it for use with thin cloth. I'm confident that the light will outlast me in a falling/crushing/breaking contest.
Finishing is a lot of random things. The light is IPX-8, and the O-rings are smooth and the threads come cleaned and lubricated. The LED is perfectly centered, with the reflector landing on the board just outside the metal XR-E ring. Judging by the flashlight temperatures, the LED has good thermal connection with the light. The anodization is hard, smooth, and a perfectly matched deep olive. The painting and lettering is clean and crisp.
Using the thing:
Running the light on High for about ten minutes makes the head warm. The entire body heats up on High, while on Medium and Low you won't notice the heat. Ma_Sha1 has used his with 14500s, but this is not supported by the manufacturer. It seems to follow the "It can handle the current but not the heat" of these small boost-circuit lights on High.
The clip is easily adjusted and can be turned to make the light face left, right, or forwards. I currenty wear the flashlight on my right side with the body inside my belt and the clip outside, just to see if that works better. The flashlight slides out without undue trouble (besides what you'd expect being between my hip and belt). The clip can be removed. It is not meant to be put on either end of the battery tube, but it can be. You'd need further modification to ensure electrical connection. If I put the clip on the wrong end of the battery tube I get an intermittent and unusable connection. This would allow for EXTREMELY DEEP clip carry. I'm sure that the back O-ring does not engage like this. Reversing the clip allows for battery-up use. This functions as expected, but the clip is not fixed at a right angle to the body.
It's easy to use this with a headband, you can manage it with a baseball cap, and it works nicely with a belt or strap. I don't think it's practical on a tee-shirt neck, but a stiffer collar would stabilize it. It has a lot of metal in it, but isn't much larger than the Quark MiNi AA in absolute terms. The L10A is about the same length, and the angle head makes it about twice the thickness of the MiNi AA at its thickest.
Packaging[/url]
The box is attractive and simple - bold red and black angles with an L-shaped cutout for the light. The front has the High/Low output times and levels, and advertises the drop resistance (1m) and water resistance (rain, not swimming). It would be nice to have a picture of what you can do with the L-shape - A quick shot of it on a belt in the dark, perhaps.
Of these:
"Seahorse Shape Compact Flashlight"
"Angle head"
"L shaped"
Seahorse is the interesting one. I like it!
Final thoughts
You can buy lights with more modes or more lumens, but at $60, this is a good light. If it had mode memory and a neutral LED, I'd sing its praises far and wide.
In summary:
Good output levels: 130, 30, and 3 lumens.
Wonderful beam pattern for general use.
Good battery life at each level.
Consistent H-L-M interface.
The strobe is easy to avoid but easy to get to.
Excellent build quality. Many things were done to make it a better light.
The lockout is solid and I trust the clip to stay where I put it.
Things I would like in this light (Without shifting its target market)
Mode memory
