firelord777
Enlightened
Hello guys,
I received the Apex ST6 for review from RIC, over at CNqualitygoods, and I’ve had it for like a week. It was shipped via air mail, and it took around 10 days to arrive to the east coast here in Florida.
Here are the official specifications:
Specifications:
Material: 304 Stainless Steel
Emitter: CREE XM-L T6 1A
Battery: 1x 18650
Reflector: Aluminum Alloy SMO Reflector (has a very nice throw)
Switch: GITD Tail cap Switch
Mode: 3 ( Low > Mid > High) without memory; Start On Low Mode
Lumens: 600 Lumen on High mode
Current: 2A on high;0.8A on Mid;0.1A on Low
Water Proof: IPX6
Dimension: 39mm(Head)*153mm(Length)*22mm(Body
Netweight: 206g
Before-than-the-first-impression-impressions:
When I saw the pictures of the ST6 on RiIC’s thread, I thought, “wow, that’s one funky looking light”. I mean, the shiny finish and the gold accents, you know, the whole deal. So, in short, I thought it was funky.
The Real First Impressions:
When I got the light in the mail, I opened up the bag and saw inside a solid cocoon made of 30 pounds of bubble wrap. Not really 30 pounds, I didn’t officially weigh it. Sorry for not taking a picture of it guys, I got lost in the excitement. Anyways, it took me like five minutes just to get through all the bubble wrap. So, when the great war between humanity and bubble wrap concluded, I finally had the light in my battle worn hands. Sure, I could’ve just used a pair of scissors, but oh well.
The light was heavier than I expected, to put it bluntly. I unscrewed the tailcap and tipped the light expecting some batteries to fall out.
Construction:
ST6, I assume, stands for Stainless sTeel. The 6 means, and this is strictly what I think, represents the four points on a compass, plus one pointing up and one pointing down. Might seem absurd, but hey, I couldn’t figure out anything else. It would be funny if it doesn’t stand for anything at all though hehe.
Anyways, the light can be disassembled into three parts relatively easy. The head, the body, and the tailcap.
Here are pictures to show you the components in detail:
The XM-L is well centered in my sample.
Finish:
The finish of the flashlight is obviously of great importance, and I am sure most of my fellow CPFers would love to know more about it. Basically, it is stainless steel, like the one used in your silver ware. The tailcap and the lower part of the head that contain contacts, seem to be made out of either brass or copper. Below I give you guys a few pictures of the light compared to the other types of finishes on my lights. First is the ArmyTek Viking X, which apparently is HAIII, the toughest anodization for flashlights out there. However, it has a distinct finish that is only known to be used by ArmyTek. Next is the ST6, then the Cree flashlight, which goes by the nickname of “China” in my household. The china has a HAII finish, which is inferior to HAIII, apparently. Then is the Fenix TK41, which is a standard HAIII you will find on most or all high end flashlights. Surprisingly, the stainless steel finish withstood scratches very well. On the other hand, this type of finish is vulnerable to fingerprints. However, you only see it when you really look for it, so it may or may not bother you.
The lanyard is very tiny and flimsy from the bottom, as in, it has very thin diameter, and the lanyard hole on the flashlight was very small as well, and it takes a good five minutes trying to put on the lanyard. On the upside, there is no play with the lanyard, and at least at the moment, it doesn’t look like it will break anytime soon.
Below are different lanyard systems. Note, for example, you may see that the nitefighter F30C has a Fenix lanyard, don’t pay attention to that. I almost always experiment with lanyards by seeing if this lanyard is better suited for this light, or for holster lights and things like that. You will see that the lanyard for the ST6, while it has a nice little compass (that’s a first), it has a small hole, so maybe if you have even normal sized hands, you may only be able to fit a few fingers in there tightly. I only kept the lanyard there because it had a compass, but it was practically useless for me, unless you clip on a karabiner on there or something to actually fulfill its purpose of preventing loss.
Reflector size comparisons:
Vs ArmyTek Viking X
Vs Fenix LD41
Vs Nitefighter F30C
Vs Klarus XT20
Vs Fenix TK41
Beamshots:
Let’s-see-what-this-baby-can-do-blast-mode
Reduced exposures:
The ST6 has a reverse clicky. Now, what that means in English, is that it is a button that must be fully pressed and depressed to turn on the light, and again to turn it off. Some people do in fact prefer reverse clickies, but a drawback to those types of systems is that you do not have momentary on. With a forward clicky, you do not have to fully press and depress to turn the light on. You can actually partially press the light, and it will turn on. This is good for tactical situations where you only need brief periods of light. In the pictures you will see how a reverse clicky is like. I press until there is a click, however, the light does not turn on until I depress the button.
Spill Comparison (ST6 is always on the right):
Vs ArmyTek Viking X
Vs Fenix LD41
Reduced Exposure
Vs Nitefighter F30C
Reduced Exposure
Just a really dark picture of the light
Water-Proofing Test
The sink of doom:
Will it be thirsty? Or will it resist the temptation?
Aww man, it survived, that’s not news! Come on Bob, let’s go break real news stories!
Conclusion:
The flashlight basically is meant to be a EDC XM-L thrower. EDC means Every Day Carry. I am not trying to bash that intent, but there are a few things that you should be aware of. For one, it packs a hefty weight for the size. That might not bother you if you’re a hardcore EDCer, or if you have a holster for it. Another thing that I recently found out, is that is has PWM on the two dimmest modes. Pulse Wave Modulation just means in common English that it turns on and off very fast at frequencies not readily noticed. The human eye perceives 30 FPS (frames per second) as a continuous image. PWM frequencies can vary from light to light, some are as fast as 800 PWPS (I just invented this – Pulse Waves Per Second).
BTW, I only was able to find this out when I was painting the bathroom ceiling, and shined the light in the fan thing inside most bathrooms. I saw the blades, but when I switched it to turbo, the blades were invisible. The blades spin SUPER fast, so I immediately knew, aha! PWM!
The light, in terms of mode memory, both has, and doesn’t. For example, there are a total of three modes, low, mid and high. If I turn it off in mid, the next time I turn it on; it will turn on in high.
Here’s a better way to sum it all up:
The good:
• Bright (not surprisingly these days hehe)
• Small
• Throwy
• Shiny (note – I put this in both the good and the bad, because everyone is different)
• Glow in the Dark Tail boot
• Good compass incorporated into the lanyard
• Solid head – good heatsinking
• Centered LED
• Clean reflector
• Waterproof
• Resist scratches
The bad:
• Mid and High modes seem too closely spaced
• Shiny
• Small lanyard
• Heavy in general
• PWM in low and high modes
• Clumsy UI (User Interface)
• Mode “Memory” is weird
Tactical Potential
The potential that tactical fellers would like a light like this is, in my opinion, 0%. Its shiny, it even has tail boot that glows, the UI is confusing in tactical “situations”, no strobe (unless you count PWM as strobe), and has a reverse clicky.
Nevertheless, the potential that others will like the light is, also in my opinion, is better. For those that like classy looking lights will like this. Maybe even women as a purse light?
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask anytime,
Cheers, Alain
I received the Apex ST6 for review from RIC, over at CNqualitygoods, and I’ve had it for like a week. It was shipped via air mail, and it took around 10 days to arrive to the east coast here in Florida.
Here are the official specifications:
Specifications:
Material: 304 Stainless Steel
Emitter: CREE XM-L T6 1A
Battery: 1x 18650
Reflector: Aluminum Alloy SMO Reflector (has a very nice throw)
Switch: GITD Tail cap Switch
Mode: 3 ( Low > Mid > High) without memory; Start On Low Mode
Lumens: 600 Lumen on High mode
Current: 2A on high;0.8A on Mid;0.1A on Low
Water Proof: IPX6
Dimension: 39mm(Head)*153mm(Length)*22mm(Body
Netweight: 206g
Before-than-the-first-impression-impressions:
When I saw the pictures of the ST6 on RiIC’s thread, I thought, “wow, that’s one funky looking light”. I mean, the shiny finish and the gold accents, you know, the whole deal. So, in short, I thought it was funky.
The Real First Impressions:
When I got the light in the mail, I opened up the bag and saw inside a solid cocoon made of 30 pounds of bubble wrap. Not really 30 pounds, I didn’t officially weigh it. Sorry for not taking a picture of it guys, I got lost in the excitement. Anyways, it took me like five minutes just to get through all the bubble wrap. So, when the great war between humanity and bubble wrap concluded, I finally had the light in my battle worn hands. Sure, I could’ve just used a pair of scissors, but oh well.
The light was heavier than I expected, to put it bluntly. I unscrewed the tailcap and tipped the light expecting some batteries to fall out.
Construction:
ST6, I assume, stands for Stainless sTeel. The 6 means, and this is strictly what I think, represents the four points on a compass, plus one pointing up and one pointing down. Might seem absurd, but hey, I couldn’t figure out anything else. It would be funny if it doesn’t stand for anything at all though hehe.
Anyways, the light can be disassembled into three parts relatively easy. The head, the body, and the tailcap.
Here are pictures to show you the components in detail:
The XM-L is well centered in my sample.
Finish:
The finish of the flashlight is obviously of great importance, and I am sure most of my fellow CPFers would love to know more about it. Basically, it is stainless steel, like the one used in your silver ware. The tailcap and the lower part of the head that contain contacts, seem to be made out of either brass or copper. Below I give you guys a few pictures of the light compared to the other types of finishes on my lights. First is the ArmyTek Viking X, which apparently is HAIII, the toughest anodization for flashlights out there. However, it has a distinct finish that is only known to be used by ArmyTek. Next is the ST6, then the Cree flashlight, which goes by the nickname of “China” in my household. The china has a HAII finish, which is inferior to HAIII, apparently. Then is the Fenix TK41, which is a standard HAIII you will find on most or all high end flashlights. Surprisingly, the stainless steel finish withstood scratches very well. On the other hand, this type of finish is vulnerable to fingerprints. However, you only see it when you really look for it, so it may or may not bother you.
The lanyard is very tiny and flimsy from the bottom, as in, it has very thin diameter, and the lanyard hole on the flashlight was very small as well, and it takes a good five minutes trying to put on the lanyard. On the upside, there is no play with the lanyard, and at least at the moment, it doesn’t look like it will break anytime soon.
Below are different lanyard systems. Note, for example, you may see that the nitefighter F30C has a Fenix lanyard, don’t pay attention to that. I almost always experiment with lanyards by seeing if this lanyard is better suited for this light, or for holster lights and things like that. You will see that the lanyard for the ST6, while it has a nice little compass (that’s a first), it has a small hole, so maybe if you have even normal sized hands, you may only be able to fit a few fingers in there tightly. I only kept the lanyard there because it had a compass, but it was practically useless for me, unless you clip on a karabiner on there or something to actually fulfill its purpose of preventing loss.
Reflector size comparisons:
Vs ArmyTek Viking X
Vs Fenix LD41
Vs Nitefighter F30C
Vs Klarus XT20
Vs Fenix TK41
Beamshots:
Let’s-see-what-this-baby-can-do-blast-mode
Reduced exposures:
The ST6 has a reverse clicky. Now, what that means in English, is that it is a button that must be fully pressed and depressed to turn on the light, and again to turn it off. Some people do in fact prefer reverse clickies, but a drawback to those types of systems is that you do not have momentary on. With a forward clicky, you do not have to fully press and depress to turn the light on. You can actually partially press the light, and it will turn on. This is good for tactical situations where you only need brief periods of light. In the pictures you will see how a reverse clicky is like. I press until there is a click, however, the light does not turn on until I depress the button.
Spill Comparison (ST6 is always on the right):
Vs ArmyTek Viking X
Vs Fenix LD41
Reduced Exposure
Vs Nitefighter F30C
Reduced Exposure
Just a really dark picture of the light
Water-Proofing Test
The sink of doom:
Will it be thirsty? Or will it resist the temptation?
Aww man, it survived, that’s not news! Come on Bob, let’s go break real news stories!
Conclusion:
The flashlight basically is meant to be a EDC XM-L thrower. EDC means Every Day Carry. I am not trying to bash that intent, but there are a few things that you should be aware of. For one, it packs a hefty weight for the size. That might not bother you if you’re a hardcore EDCer, or if you have a holster for it. Another thing that I recently found out, is that is has PWM on the two dimmest modes. Pulse Wave Modulation just means in common English that it turns on and off very fast at frequencies not readily noticed. The human eye perceives 30 FPS (frames per second) as a continuous image. PWM frequencies can vary from light to light, some are as fast as 800 PWPS (I just invented this – Pulse Waves Per Second).
BTW, I only was able to find this out when I was painting the bathroom ceiling, and shined the light in the fan thing inside most bathrooms. I saw the blades, but when I switched it to turbo, the blades were invisible. The blades spin SUPER fast, so I immediately knew, aha! PWM!
The light, in terms of mode memory, both has, and doesn’t. For example, there are a total of three modes, low, mid and high. If I turn it off in mid, the next time I turn it on; it will turn on in high.
Here’s a better way to sum it all up:
The good:
• Bright (not surprisingly these days hehe)
• Small
• Throwy
• Shiny (note – I put this in both the good and the bad, because everyone is different)
• Glow in the Dark Tail boot
• Good compass incorporated into the lanyard
• Solid head – good heatsinking
• Centered LED
• Clean reflector
• Waterproof
• Resist scratches
The bad:
• Mid and High modes seem too closely spaced
• Shiny
• Small lanyard
• Heavy in general
• PWM in low and high modes
• Clumsy UI (User Interface)
• Mode “Memory” is weird
Tactical Potential
The potential that tactical fellers would like a light like this is, in my opinion, 0%. Its shiny, it even has tail boot that glows, the UI is confusing in tactical “situations”, no strobe (unless you count PWM as strobe), and has a reverse clicky.
Nevertheless, the potential that others will like the light is, also in my opinion, is better. For those that like classy looking lights will like this. Maybe even women as a purse light?
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask anytime,
Cheers, Alain
