An evening walk with the Haiku XP-G

[cvx5832]

Hello All,

I got my Haiku XP-G yesterday, but had a few things going on so I didn't get to try it until tonight. There's a trail by my house that gets pretty dark, so off I went for a walk. I took an HDS Clicky 170cn with me too, which I also hadn't taken out for some "real world" use until tonight.

Old news by now, but I am happy to report that this light is worth every penny. It puts out a lot of light, at a really wide angle, and the distribution is very even. I don't have beamshots, but essentially your path lights up, with no concentration of light to reflect back at your face and ruin your night-adapted vision. Really impressed.

For comparison I switched out with the HDS a couple times (which I also used on high) during the walk. Granted this is a narrow variant, but compared to the McGizmo, it had a more pronounced hotspot that I had to be careful with. If I shone it towards the asphalt, I'd get blinded. If I pointed towards bushes to either side of the path, I'd get blinded. You get the picture. It also had a much narrower beam, and the presence of a significant hotspot gets annoying during a walk because it keeps jumping up and down as you take your strides. I had to keep it pointed out. With the Haiku I just had to keep it pointed forward. Amazing.

I'm new to the flashaholic world (didn't know they'd advanced this much since my 23-lumen dive light), but the advances have certainly come a long way for the better. You have all this light coming out of such small (single cell!) packages that it's a no-brainer to carry a light around.

So enough of my rambling. I usually just lurk, but I was so pleased it got me to post. Bottom line : Amazing beam, great choice of emitter and Don does know his reflectors. Oh, and design/construction/craftsmanship ain't that bad either (wink wink).

Sorry about the mess in the background. I had guests.

Regards,
Paolo

 

[kaichu dento]

Nice mini-review and nice shot!

 

[nfetterly]

Wonderful light to have after 5 posts !!

I've got the earlier XR-E version - more pronounced hot-spot due in great part to LED. I did have two older McGizmo lights retrofitted with XP-G LED - very nice.

 

[ninemm]

Great post! Always good to hear some feedback on real world use of these awesome lights.

 

[BigHonu]

Yes, the beam pattern out of the Haiku XP-G is without peer, especially for distances up to around 100 feet or so.

Great post by the OP!

 

[cvx5832]

Thanks

Thanks for the nice comments everyone. Now I have a question to all that have made a similar journey. Do I sell my Fenix's (LD10R4 and PD30R4) and Jetbeam RRT-2, or do I just keep them for the heck of it. Do you guys ever find yourself ever using those lights again? I suppose I can put one in each of the cars.

I'll probably keep the HDS, but I wonder of I'll ever get to use those other lights. My wife, after seeing the look on my face offered another McGizmo (which was originally a TV btw before CPF) for my birthday in August, but I'm sure the proceeds from selling the other lights can be put towards another. Yes I'm hooked. Yes the hunt is on for another of these Ti treasures, God-willing some of those (very sweet) piston drives.

Late to the game, but happy to be here anyway.

Regards,
Paolo

 

[ninemm]

Re: Thanks

Better late than never Paolo!

I've sold off my "starter lights" (some of which were fenix's), and don't regret the sales except for my Surefire E2D. My suggestion is keep what you perceive is quality and let go of what you feel isn't.

One can never have too many high quality lights. Whether they are custom or factory made. :)

 

[RSW]

My wallet isn't going to be happy reading your post about how great a light it is!

 

[BigHonu]

Keep the other lights around as loaners or gifts to others. You never know when you can spark some flasaholic interest!

 

[Chauncey Gardner]

Thread title alone says how the walk went:).

 

[Per-Sev]

I have the Haiku XP-G 2XAA version but I also find that my other lights will not see any pocket time again I just put them away just in case its not worth the trouble to me to sell them I only have two other lights and there not worth much. Since I got my Haiku its not left my side and like you find the beam very useful, the low setting is what I find I use the most and will probably never part with this light I have stop looking for anything better because I doubt I would have found anything anyway.

 

[cvx5832]

Ok, sounds like I'm keeping them.

Thanks for the suggestions. Makes sense. Like the above poster said, they're not much $-wise and wouldn't be the worst thing to keep them around.

I guess apart from working under the car or in the engine bay, loaners to friends who might be interested (thanks for the suggestion), or just anywhere I'd rather not 'trash' a light, I guess those other lights will come in handy.

Thanks for the welcome everyone.

Paolo

 

[fyrstormer]

Basically, if a light sits around completely unused for a couple of months, or if it does get used but you have to make a conscious effort to use it, and you don't even pick it up to admire it from time to time, sell it. There's always someone else out there who can use a good starter light at a discount.

I suppose you could keep the Jetbeam and the Fenix as "beater lights", but...well, frankly, you haven't had much experience with your Haiku yet; as pretty as it is, it's hobby is intimidating brick shithouses. I chucked mine against the pavement once (by accident of course, it's bad to operate machinery while drunk :green:), and it has a couple of the tiniest little nicks you ever saw along the edge of the tailcap -- that's all it got from a six-foot drop onto concrete. You don't need no "beater light", maybe just a spare Haiku that you keep clean for those formal occasions. :cool:

You've already got the best regular-power Cree light there is, I'd just sell the two other lights you've got unless you're in love with the RRT's selector ring. It's a cool idea, but I think you'll find the 100% one-handed operation of the Haiku to be more useful in the long run.

 

[Kiessling]

On the long run, quality is not more expensive than cheap stuff and it yields better and, most of all, more satisfying results.

I do not regret any one of the high quality lights, especially not McGizmo lights.

bernie

 

[scout24]

Welcome, and enjoy the Haiku! I am a mechanic by trade, and you have no need to worry about needing beater lights. I use my McGizmo's at work every day, Haiku and before that, a Lunasol 20. They have been dirty, dropped, bounced, pocketclips scraped on stuff, and are really not worse for wear. I sent my first Haiku XR-E to Run4jc (Dan) to test in his homemade integrating sphere, and he polished it quickly before sending it back looking like new. All I did before sending it to him was wipe it clean with windex and lube the threads. That was after about 6 months of daily carry and use. I worried more with aluminum lights, because once you ding the HAIII finish, all bets are off. I admit it was a bit of a leap of faith to really start carrying and using them, but McGizmos are built to take just about anything you can dish out. That said, I do have a few that are shelf queens... :D

 

[carrot]

McGizmo lights are about as tough as lights get. Don't worry about using them hard... I certainly don't.

(click the images for the full-sized version)

 

[cvx5832]

Thanks for the pictures, Carrot. That definitely looks like a tool that gets regular use.

I agree with everyone so far. These tools look like they're meant for the field.

Paolo

 

[fyrstormer]

Carrot, have you been using your PD-S to clean the garbage disposal again? Dammit, what did I tell you? They make special brushes for that sort of thing.

 

[ninemm]

Carrot, have you been using your PD-S to clean the garbage disposal again? Dammit, what did I tell you? They make special brushes for that sort of thing.

:laughing: Oh man. I needed a smile while at work today. Especially after I shed tears for that poor PD-S. ;) Awesome to see it gets used Carrot. I just don't know if I could do it myself.

 

[cvx5832]

:laughing: Oh man. I needed a smile while at work today. Especially after I shed tears for that poor PD-S. ;) Awesome to see it gets used Carrot. I just don't know if I could do it myself.

Agreed. Eating soup at my desk now almost went out my nose.

Paolo