Cyba-Lite?

[RedForest UK]

Hi, cyba-light is a brand that has been around in the UK for a while now, they usually have been making pretty poor lights output wise, but the quality of manufacturing has seemed prety good. I have also recently noticed they are selling a couple of LED lights with updated emitters. One focusable 2 aa cell light with the luxeon rebel 90, and another single aa cell light, the 'orion' with a cree xr-e emitter that claims an 80 lumen output.

They are probably generally the best light you can find in 'outdoor' stores in the UK, on par with led lenser maybe, but with the benefit of being able to use nimh rechargeable batteries in them.

However, i had never considered them as a serious option due to the price tags of about £25, which for what they are isnt good enough value, but i have recently found a website selling them for almost half that price, so i was wondering if anyone had any experience or comments on this particular make or brand of light.

Thanks

 

[Moonshadow]

I used to have (well, still have actually - it's in the garage) a Cyba-Lite Auro: the single-AA one. Although totally outdated emitter-wise I agree with the previous comments - it's a really well made little light with a shape that I really like.

Nice-looking light as you can see. I'd be really pleased if they just updated it with a Cree or something.

 

[RedForest UK]

Yes, i have that light still, well, i gave it to my sister anyway.. I got it for £5 i think in the sale somewhere, it still baffles me how bright i used to think it was, when really its nothing compared to my newer high output cree lights :shrug:

But i was always very happy with it, the main problem being the lack of regulation, i remember i used it on the battery that it came with for almost 6 months though. It was my first real light and the one that started my now slightly obsessive love for good quality and bright torches :thumbsup:

 

[mcnair55]

Yes, i have that light still, well, i gave it to my sister anyway.. I got it for £5 i think in the sale somewhere, it still baffles me how bright i used to think it was, when really its nothing compared to my newer high output cree lights :shrug:

But i was always very happy with it, the main problem being the lack of regulation, i remember i used it on the battery that it came with for almost 6 months though. It was my first real light and the one that started my now slightly obsessive love for good quality and bright torches :thumbsup:

The Auro I bought had regulation as it said so on the blister pack it came in.

 

[RedForest UK]

Just to let you know that i was in millets today and noticed on sale a light that looked exactly the same as the old auro, but was labelled as 80lumens, it was down from £15 to £7.49 i think. I have no idea what the actual lumen rating is and the led looked like the old version, but it was clearly advertised as 80 lumens..

 

[mcnair55]

Just to let you know that i was in millets today and noticed on sale a light that looked exactly the same as the old auro, but was labelled as 80lumens, it was down from £15 to £7.49 i think. I have no idea what the actual lumen rating is and the led looked like the old version, but it was clearly advertised as 80 lumens..

The Auro never had that many lumens they were about 26 and it is not part of there new line up.The 80 lumens light is the Orion.
About a tenner is about the normal selling price in the motor trade for the Auro

 

[RedForest UK]

Yes i know, thats why i posted it, it is the auro but 'eurohike' branded as in the picture above, and the packaging clearly listed it as 80 lumens and '7 times brighter than a normal led' which is what caught my eye, it was new stock in the 'millets' shop in nottingham, but already reduced for some reason :thinking:

 

[LeifUK]

Yes i know, thats why i posted it, it is the auro but 'eurohike' branded as in the picture above, and the packaging clearly listed it as 80 lumens and '7 times brighter than a normal led' which is what caught my eye, it was new stock in the 'millets' shop in nottingham, but already reduced for some reason :thinking:

I've bought a number of Eurohike branded items and they were all s***e and broke not long after purchase. I once bought a Eurohike compass. The first was ****ie, so I exchanged it before paying. On getting outside the shop and opening the second I found it ****ie so took in back. The third one turned out to be ****ie too. So I bought a proper one instead. Maybe this light is okay, but the brand name does not correspond to good quality control. At least if you buy in the shop, you can try it before you leave the premises ...

 

[Moonshadow]

Sorry to hear about your experience with the compass, but it's perhaps a little harsh to judge the entire brand based on that one product. We're at the budget end of the market here so it's more than likely that 'Eurohike' is just a label - they probably buy from lots of different manufacturers and print that name on, so your compass is unlikely to have been made by the same mob as the lights.

The light in my picture isn't any great shakes output-wise but it does have a good solid quality feel and is still going strong after three years with only an occasional clean of the switch needed. Not bad for ten quid.

 

[mcnair55]

Sorry to hear about your experience with the compass, but it's perhaps a little harsh to judge the entire brand based on that one product. We're at the budget end of the market here so it's more than likely that 'Eurohike' is just a label - they probably buy from lots of different manufacturers and print that name on, so your compass is unlikely to have been made by the same mob as the lights.

The light in my picture isn't any great shakes output-wise but it does have a good solid quality feel and is still going strong after three years with only an occasional clean of the switch needed. Not bad for ten quid.

Your light in the pic is probably pushing about 26 lumens and I will agree with you has a good feel to it and trust worthy.Given to someone who has no interest in lights it is something really bright and special to them and super value for money compared to the out of Noahs Ark Mag Lites which we all thought were the bees knees years ago.

 

[kzb]

I've obtained a Cyba-lite Orion this weekend. Single-AA CREE XR-E LED with regulation.
It is just marginally shorter but a smidgin wider than my single-AA Inova X1 2W light. The bezel is exactly the same diameter as a Led Lenser P3 (single AAA) but the barrel is obviously wider to accommodate the AA cell. It has an end click button for on-off only, and you can unscrew the end a few turns to stop inadvertent activation in your pocket.

I am very pleased with the brightness level. It is considerably brighter than either the Inova X1 or LL P3, and is about the same to my perception as a Maglite 2AA 3W LED. The beam pattern is very similar in concept to the Inova X1, that is a central bright spot with considerable side-spread, the difference being the Cybalite has the output ("up to 80 Lumens output" is claimed) to make a success of this. It has an orange-peel reflector. On the downside, there is no focus adjustment.

You also get a lanyard (a bit long for the size of the light IMHO) and a little belt holster. All in all I can recommend this light, and finally I've found a light that is both bright and can be fit in my jeans pocket without causing unsightly bulges.

 

[Thrutchy]

I have also picked up the Cybalite Orion recently from a UK high street store. Nice, little light, with a reasonable quality anodized finish and a feeling of greater quailty than the usual cheapo lights I've been using previously. So far it has worked well, although it does get quite hot in the hand with a 1.5v lithium AA inside. (I've been trying to find out if this provides any meaningful boost in runtime over the alkalines, although there is clearly no discernable improvement on brightness.)
I'm not sure whether it actually is emmitting a true 80 lumens, because some of my old TESCO own brand LED torches subjectively appear to outshine it and were rated much less, if I remember correctly. However, it does have a much more pleasingly neutral beam tint than either of the cheapo torches or my LED Lenser P7 (broken) and P14 (mostly broken). Looks like there is a Cree R2 LED inside, but exactly what type, I don't really know.

The Cybalite Orion hasn't yet been punished to the same extent as the other torches that I own, or more accurately, once owned, having inadvertantly or deliberately destroyed most of them due to misuse, neglect and the rigours of my job.

Anyway it'll do at a pinch, until I get a proper torch, sorry, err, flashlight. There is simply so much opinion and information on these forums that it becomes too easy to stumble blindly in confused hesitation; but this seems a good benchmark, against which to measure any other small single AA torches, that I might pick up.

 

[RedForest UK]

I believe that the Orion uses a Cree XR-E led with a P4 rated flux bin, (not R2 sorry) But still outputs roughly 65 lumens of light.

 

[kzb]

I would rate the output as approximately equal to the Tesco 2AA "3W"LED that I own. The Cyba-lite may even be a touch brighter -it seemed that way to me last night when I was shining them both on the ceiling. But it is difficult to tell.

You are right Thrutchy, there is a noticeable difference in colour tint when you compare the two side by side, the Tesco light being a bit pinkish in comparison.

It does get warm in the hand, I noticed that too. I guess this is another indicator of advanced power to size ratio.

I would go along with the 65-80 lumen, it seems reasonable to me. As I said, it is definitely brighter than the 1AA Inova (25 lumen I seem to remember) or the 1AAA LL P3.

I've got a question: on another thread I seem to remember someone saying you can use NiMH rechargeables with Cybalite. However there is nothing on the (sparse) instruction card that says this. I believe there is little risk of damage anyway with a single-cell, but I would like to be sure. Anyone tried this?

 

[RedForest UK]

Yes, I see no reason why Ni-mh rechargeables should cause any damage to the light. Unless it is running Direct Drive like most LED lensers in which case it could technically cause a problem, but I really wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Moonshadow]

I've tried Eneloops in mine but unfortunately the bore isn't quite wide enough - they are a very tight fit, and as it isn't open at the head end, no way to get them out again if they get stuck.

 

[kzb]

OK Moonshadow I'l have to watch out for the tight fit problem. I've got Hybrio or Camelion cells. So how long have you operated the light with the Eneloops without damage?

Redforest UK -if you look at the Led Lenser P7 review on this forum you'll see plenty folk have used NiMH in LL's with no apparent problem. In fact some say the more constant output is a bonus in the unregulated LL's. I've got NiMH's in my P7 and it's not broke yet.

 

[RedForest UK]

Kzb: Yes, I agree that it is definately possible to use Ni-mh cells in LL direct drive lights, and the more even voltage of Ni-mh cells over their discharge is also a bonus yes. However you have to remember that if run Direct Drive many lights using lower voltage Ni-mh cells will not have the Vf of the led not being properly met, which can cause damage to the led itself.. That being said that should be less of a problem in the P7 with it being a 3 cell light as 3x 1.2v nominal voltage Ni-mh cells is actually very well matched to the Vf of it's XR-E led.

However in any single cell light, a low voltage cell (either Alkaline of Ni-mh) would be nowhere near meeting the required forward voltage of the led and so wouldnt work at all, so there must be some sort of boost circuit in there to make the light work at all. In that case if it can handle 1.5v alkalines I would be very surprised if it couldnt also handle 1.2v Ni-mh cells.

 

[kzb]

Redforest UK: Other people see the danger of NiMH as being too much current, not too little. These high power LED's suck a lot of current, and some manufacturers design-in the voltage drop this causes. The voltage drop for NiMH is said to be less than for alkaline cells, particularly at high current. There is a whole thread on this somewhere on here.

The LL P7 is a FOUR (not three) AAA light. Some people say it is brighter with NiMH than with alkalines, but somewhere on here there is a plot of output versus time with both NiMH and alkaline, and nowhere on the plot is the output with new alkaline exceeded with NiMH. (It does not take many run-time minutes for NiMH to perform better than alkaline at the same time though !).

So I am skeptical about some of these dangers but I like others to take the risk before me

 

[RedForest UK]

Kzb: Sorry, I guess I got it mixed up with their 3 cell light :shrug: I'm guessing if it accepts 4 cells then it would need a buck regulator anyway so it would offer no problem on either Ni-mh or alkalines as both would be reduced to the Vf of the led by the circuit.

However it isn't current that is causing the damage in the case I was mentioning, but voltage, which can be a problem in 2 cell lights. However, the point is that this light must have a boost circuit and so there should be no electrical problem in using Ni-mh cells in it. Whether you can get them to fit or not is a different matter!