AardvarkSagus
Flashlight Enthusiast
Blackshadow Terminator
“What is that, a coffee mug?” Initial comments and reactions to a new light are always interesting, to say the least. Especially when the light is such a drastic departure from the accepted norm.
Blackshadow Terminator
Meat and Potatoes
Those who know me are well aware of my appreciation of all gadgets illuminatory. While most others fail to achieve my level of enthusiasm, they still usually want to see whatever new toy is currently under scrutiny for this blog. Generally speaking, their simplistic interest is limited to “How bright is it?”. Without exception, this behemoth has not failed to impress even the most indifferent observer.
Sporting an inarguably impressive 3,500 lumens out of a quartet of Cree XM-L LEDs, the Blackshadow Terminator is absolutely not your average torch. Following in the footsteps of lights such as the Fenix TK40, the Terminator delegates each diode to it's own separate head, rather than relying on complex reflector geometry or multiple collimating lenses. This actually might be beneficial to the overall result as well since it could prevents the heat from each individual LED from affecting any of the others. Whatever the case, it is undeniably bright.
Business end
With 3 modes ranging from "Wow!" through "I think my face just melted!" this isn't the light to use to check on the baby in the middle of the night (thankfully I've never tried). There isn't anything even remotely resembling a moon mode on this light, but to be honest that doesn't bother me in the slightest. I am a firm believer of using the proper tool for the job, and that means I don't need my lights to be capable of being used in any and all conceivable applications. That is why I have more than one light. No fully multi-purpose flashlight could ever take the place of a torch that has built exclusively for a single task. The Terminator is an incredibly bright large area searchlight, and it performs admirably at that task.
Powered by 4 18650 lithium-ion rechargeable cells arranged in parallel (one per LED) the load on any individual cell is basically identical to what is experienced by an average single cell, single die flashlight. An interesting note, the completely parallel layout (with common contacts even) does allow for use of 3, 2, or even 1 cell while still powering the light to apparently full capacity. This knowledge should only be made use of in dire circumstances however since I am relatively certain the strain could prove very dangerous on a single 18650 with any type of prolonged use. I only tried it for a few seconds, just to see if it was possible. Please don't follow suit.
Fit and finish of the Terminator was actually surprisingly solid for a company that appears to be a newcomer to this field. It's not necessarily as polished as some of the more longstanding manufacturers, but this device wasn't uncomfortable to hold in the least. There are a few more edges that are unbeveled and therefor have a slightly sharper feel, but on the whole I thought it was a rather well thought out design. The entire thing is covered by a nice even coat of middle gray anodizing and didn't have a single flaw that I was able to spot. Even the laser engraving was clear and crisp like we all have come to expect in lights of this caliber. Mine even managed to survive an unintentional concrete drop test (including multiple bounces) that unfortunately took place before the photo shoot. Other than a few minor scars, the Terminator passed that test with flying colors. Nothing was broken in the slightest.
Blackshadow Terminator
Constructive Criticism
The Blackshadow Terminator is a very basic 3 mode light. Like I said, Low starts out at an already bright 400 lumens, and High tops out around 3,500. Thankfully there is no part of these numbers that have anything to do with preserving night vision, because the user interface is not conducive to that either. This light has a very basic 4 mode switch. Low-Med-High-Standby, and yes, you are required to cycle through all the modes to return the light to it's powered down state. This isn't just a lack of mode memory. Even if you are using Low mode for 2 hours you still are required to pass Med and High just to kill the light. I would prefer greatly if this had a UI that allowed a simple on-off operation and at least partially separated control from brightness.
I guess there is one other option that would allow you to turn the light off quicker if necessary. Partially unscrewing the body will immediately lock out the Terminator, fully cutting the power to the circuitry. This does have some advantages too, in spite of being less convenient. Blackshadow has included a battery-indicating backlit switch on this flashlight. This in and of itself is a pretty cool feature. The switch glows green when power is good and turns to red and flashes when power is low. Unfortunately, this switch LED is also quite bright and is still present even in standby mode. It's as if the Terminator only knows how to overpower the dark, not live in harmony with it. I don't know if the parasitic drain presented by this LED is of any concern in the long run, as I am not exactly sure how I could test it. I do know that the light of the switch alone is enough to easily navigate my house in the dark and is also enough to be an annoyance when trying to sleep if it's left by the bedside still activated. I generally keep the light in lockout mode if I plan on having it off more than a few minutes. I'm sure that much prevention isn't necessary, but I tend to be an extremist.
Something else I was rather surprised to find was that the Terminator uses PWM to regulate brightness rather than the constant current regulation that is quickly becoming ubiquitous in this industry. I don't know what the specific frequency is, but I do know it is just low enough to catch my eye uncomfortably occasionally when I use the light on lower modes. This hasn't yet been an issue in real-world use, but it still is a slight annoyance.
Conclusions
The Blackshadow Terminator is a whole lot of light, in a very unique package. It's not an EDC by any stretch of the imagination. Nor does it even fit in your average duty-carry category. This doesn't bother me in the least however. It isn't trying to be those things at all. This is designed to be bright, and it accomplishes that and more quite well. There are definitely some areas where it could use some improvement, but for such a specialized, purpose-built torch, these don't appear to be absolute deal-breakers to me.
Blackshadow Terminator
Provided for review by the kind folks at Blackshadow.
This review's power provided courtesy of PTS-Flashlights.
“What is that, a coffee mug?” Initial comments and reactions to a new light are always interesting, to say the least. Especially when the light is such a drastic departure from the accepted norm.
Blackshadow Terminator
Meat and Potatoes
Those who know me are well aware of my appreciation of all gadgets illuminatory. While most others fail to achieve my level of enthusiasm, they still usually want to see whatever new toy is currently under scrutiny for this blog. Generally speaking, their simplistic interest is limited to “How bright is it?”. Without exception, this behemoth has not failed to impress even the most indifferent observer.
Sporting an inarguably impressive 3,500 lumens out of a quartet of Cree XM-L LEDs, the Blackshadow Terminator is absolutely not your average torch. Following in the footsteps of lights such as the Fenix TK40, the Terminator delegates each diode to it's own separate head, rather than relying on complex reflector geometry or multiple collimating lenses. This actually might be beneficial to the overall result as well since it could prevents the heat from each individual LED from affecting any of the others. Whatever the case, it is undeniably bright.
Business end
Powered by 4 18650 lithium-ion rechargeable cells arranged in parallel (one per LED) the load on any individual cell is basically identical to what is experienced by an average single cell, single die flashlight. An interesting note, the completely parallel layout (with common contacts even) does allow for use of 3, 2, or even 1 cell while still powering the light to apparently full capacity. This knowledge should only be made use of in dire circumstances however since I am relatively certain the strain could prove very dangerous on a single 18650 with any type of prolonged use. I only tried it for a few seconds, just to see if it was possible. Please don't follow suit.
Fit and finish of the Terminator was actually surprisingly solid for a company that appears to be a newcomer to this field. It's not necessarily as polished as some of the more longstanding manufacturers, but this device wasn't uncomfortable to hold in the least. There are a few more edges that are unbeveled and therefor have a slightly sharper feel, but on the whole I thought it was a rather well thought out design. The entire thing is covered by a nice even coat of middle gray anodizing and didn't have a single flaw that I was able to spot. Even the laser engraving was clear and crisp like we all have come to expect in lights of this caliber. Mine even managed to survive an unintentional concrete drop test (including multiple bounces) that unfortunately took place before the photo shoot. Other than a few minor scars, the Terminator passed that test with flying colors. Nothing was broken in the slightest.
Blackshadow Terminator
Constructive Criticism
The Blackshadow Terminator is a very basic 3 mode light. Like I said, Low starts out at an already bright 400 lumens, and High tops out around 3,500. Thankfully there is no part of these numbers that have anything to do with preserving night vision, because the user interface is not conducive to that either. This light has a very basic 4 mode switch. Low-Med-High-Standby, and yes, you are required to cycle through all the modes to return the light to it's powered down state. This isn't just a lack of mode memory. Even if you are using Low mode for 2 hours you still are required to pass Med and High just to kill the light. I would prefer greatly if this had a UI that allowed a simple on-off operation and at least partially separated control from brightness.
I guess there is one other option that would allow you to turn the light off quicker if necessary. Partially unscrewing the body will immediately lock out the Terminator, fully cutting the power to the circuitry. This does have some advantages too, in spite of being less convenient. Blackshadow has included a battery-indicating backlit switch on this flashlight. This in and of itself is a pretty cool feature. The switch glows green when power is good and turns to red and flashes when power is low. Unfortunately, this switch LED is also quite bright and is still present even in standby mode. It's as if the Terminator only knows how to overpower the dark, not live in harmony with it. I don't know if the parasitic drain presented by this LED is of any concern in the long run, as I am not exactly sure how I could test it. I do know that the light of the switch alone is enough to easily navigate my house in the dark and is also enough to be an annoyance when trying to sleep if it's left by the bedside still activated. I generally keep the light in lockout mode if I plan on having it off more than a few minutes. I'm sure that much prevention isn't necessary, but I tend to be an extremist.
Something else I was rather surprised to find was that the Terminator uses PWM to regulate brightness rather than the constant current regulation that is quickly becoming ubiquitous in this industry. I don't know what the specific frequency is, but I do know it is just low enough to catch my eye uncomfortably occasionally when I use the light on lower modes. This hasn't yet been an issue in real-world use, but it still is a slight annoyance.
Conclusions
The Blackshadow Terminator is a whole lot of light, in a very unique package. It's not an EDC by any stretch of the imagination. Nor does it even fit in your average duty-carry category. This doesn't bother me in the least however. It isn't trying to be those things at all. This is designed to be bright, and it accomplishes that and more quite well. There are definitely some areas where it could use some improvement, but for such a specialized, purpose-built torch, these don't appear to be absolute deal-breakers to me.
Blackshadow Terminator
This review's power provided courtesy of PTS-Flashlights.
Last edited:
