Armytek Doberman Pro

[selfbuilt]

My latest review:

Armytek Doberman Pro

This is a very "tactical" style 1x18650 light from Armytek. It would appear to be be suitable for a variety of law enforcement, military, security and hunting tasks, given its unique beam profile and rugged design (including potted electronics to withstand weapon recoil). It also has excellent regulation and output/runtime efficiency for its emitter class, as you can see in the teaser runtime below.

Please check out my full review of the light for more details.

 

[letschat7]

any professional users actually use this brand or have large amounts been ordered for any special reasons?

 

[vicv]

any professional users actually use this brand or have large amounts been ordered for any special reasons?

None that I know of. These are very well built light though. One of the best. I wish they were different though. It was be nice to have a high quality maker making lights without ridiculous lumen rating and 15 second turbo step down. These guys could be what we've been missing from surefire lately. But unfortunately they're all about more lumens. But still, very nice lights

 

[CelticCross74]

I have 7 Armyteks. None of them have failed me. My favorite is the Dobermann Pro. Easy to slide into a pocket and bright as HELL. The features that modern AT's come with are staggering. It literary takes a couple of DAYS to go through the manuals for them. The anodized bodies give you grip for days. Most impressive to me is that they now all have prescription grade glass that also have top notch glare coatings on that glass. If anything AT is undercharging for these lights. Am waiting patiently for the long range dedicated thrower.

 

[alpg88]

They had a barracuda thrower, but it is discontinued, maybe they will bring it back, maybe not, who knows.

 

[CelticCross74]

True. I actually had a Barracuda from them. YES it threw like Tom Brady but the beam was full of artifacts. I sent it back.

 

[Monocrom]

I nearly bought this light, but the proprietary magnetic charging killed it for me.

 

[vicv]

I nearly bought this light, but the proprietary magnetic charging killed it for me.

Why? It's very convenient. But if you don't want to use it, you can still take the cell out and charge it regularly. Magnetic charging as far superior than a USB port, and a rubber flap

 

[alpg88]

Yea, the crappy beam is not hard to fix, I think AT is perfectly capable to do it, I'm thinking times of long multicell lights is past, now with 21700 cells, or pop can form factor, there is little market for long multicell lights. they probably will make new thrower with clean beam and smaller in size.

 

[Monocrom]

Why? It's very convenient. But if you don't want to use it, you can still take the cell out and charge it regularly. Magnetic charging as far superior than a USB port, and a rubber flap

It's proprietary. I've had charging cables just simply quit working one day out of the blue. No reason. Of course I test everything. Adapter, battery, cable, etc. It's always the cable. Makes far from convenient. With a USB-C cable, I can easily buy a replacement from multiple brick & mortar stores in any neighborhood. Not the case with the magnetic charging cable that comes with this light. So, have to pack a charger; anyway. But now, since I always carry my main light clipped to my left-front pants pocket, that means I can't wear any of my mechanical watches since they'll get magnitized by the magnetic tailcap right next to my left wrist.

Personally would prefer a rechargeable battery that can be directly charged up with a USB-C cable. As for that rubber piece on the flashlight, useful for emergency charging if you don't have a charger on you, and no port on the battery itself.

 

[alpg88]

Noktigons has a great solution with some of their lights, entire battery tube unscrews and exposes usb c charging port, with a charge indicator.

 

[Monocrom]

Noktigons has a great solution with some of their lights, entire battery tube unscrews and exposes usb c charging port, with a charge indicator.

Unfortunately the best design is used in very few modern-day flashlights.

 

[selfbuilt]

They had a barracuda thrower, but it is discontinued, maybe they will bring it back, maybe not, who knows.

True. I actually had a Barracuda from them. YES it threw like Tom Brady but the beam was full of artifacts. I sent it back.

I remember that light, a helluva thrower. I gifted it away awhile back to an outdoorsy family. I should check in with them to see if they still use it. It had some artifacts for sure.

 

[fulee9999]

Noktigons has a great solution with some of their lights, entire battery tube unscrews and exposes usb c charging port, with a charge indicator.

streamlight does that too, it's a great solution I think! far better protection than the rubber flap you can dislodge while removing the light from your pocket

 

[Monocrom]

Fenix does that on a couple of their models. But they're too big for EDC purposes.

 

[aznsx]

streamlight does that too, it's a great solution I think!

Yeah, they're doing that more and more on cylindrical / tube lights. My ASP here also puts the connector inside an O-ringed threaded collar. That said, the magnetically retained charging interface / connector on my Fenix RC-09 works great too, but of of course it should, being a purpose-built piece for the specific job / environment rather than a connector borrowed from another product segment. It's also likely more expensive to do that though. USB connectors are cheap, especially if they're not the waterproof type.

 

[vicv]

It's proprietary. I've had charging cables just simply quit working one day out of the blue. No reason. Of course I test everything. Adapter, battery, cable, etc. It's always the cable. Makes far from convenient. With a USB-C cable, I can easily buy a replacement from multiple brick & mortar stores in any neighborhood. Not the case with the magnetic charging cable that comes with this light. So, have to pack a charger; anyway. But now, since I always carry my main light clipped to my left-front pants pocket, that means I can't wear any of my mechanical watches since they'll get magnitized by the magnetic tailcap right next to my left wrist.

Personally would prefer a rechargeable battery that can be directly charged up with a USB-C cable. As for that rubber piece on the flashlight, useful for emergency charging if you don't have a charger on you, and no port on the battery itself.

I get that but I still don't see that as a downside to a light if you everything else. Again, you don't have to use the proprietary charging. Get a cell with a usbc port on it and never use the magnetic

 

[Monocrom]

I get that but I still don't see that as a downside to a light if you everything else. Again, you don't have to use the proprietary charging. Get a cell with a usbc port on it and never use the magnetic

For me, the magnetic feature just gets in the way. It's going to be a headache. I wish they offered the Doberman with a non-magnetic tailcap, but I get it; not cost-effective for them to do so.

 

[aznsx]

I get that but I still don't see that as a downside to a light if you everything else. Again, you don't have to use the proprietary charging. Get a cell with a usbc port on it and never use the magnetic

True that...and I'd just add anecdotally that I can use and charge any 16340 cell I want to in that RC-09Ti (which also fully supports CR123A for powering the light). While that may be unusual, it points out the need to avoid over-generalizing. I'm certain there are things I've never seen / or are unaware of, so I've learned to avoid doing that;-)