GATLIGHT OR TITAN??

[SaVaGe]

Hello Folks!
Hope that everyone had a good Thanksgiving At least here in USA CPFr's.

Maybe this question has been asked before but i dont see it.
Im thinking of buying myself a christmas present. Gatlight or Titan??

Its gonna be put to use slightly. Such as, Looking at PCB boards, hard drives and occasional dirty task. Its not going to be a shelf queen.
both are good lights but having a hard decision on which one to buy.
Youre inputs are appreciated.

 

[MikeLip]

Hello Folks!
Its gonna be put to use slightly. Such as, Looking at PCB boards, hard drives and occasional dirty task. Its not going to be a shelf queen.
both are good lights but having a hard decision on which one to buy.
Youre inputs are appreciated.

I don't own either, so I can give you completely unbiased and meaningless advice!

Sounds like you are looking for a pocket light, and the Titan would fill that role better since it is slimmer. For your applications stunning brightness doesn't sound like a priority, so either will be fine there. I have played briefly with a Titan. It's a sweet little light. I wish I could see a Gatlight in person!

But, I have to admit, the Gatlight looks very very cool. I do like their webpage -the heat simulations appeal to a geek like me, although I'm sure Surefire does the same thing.

You know, if you want an LED pocket light that is small, bright and with for all practical purposes nearly infinite brightness adjustment, you can buy 9 or 10 Photon Protons for the price of one Titan. Plus you get a variable red light too. Although admittedly it's not as cool as a Titan or a Gatlight!

I gather price is not an issue here though

 

[Alero]

I looked a the gat but figured it would always be full of pocket lint.

I couldn't spend 500 bucks so I got a Fenix LOD. My wife is still freaking out about spending 45 bucks. Man I'm glad she has no clue what I really spend per month on this hobby!

 

[Kilovolt]

My opinion is that at this level personal taste plays a major role in the choice, much more than a comparison of technical data. Design rules.

For what it's worth a Gatlight has a diameter of 1.25" and a Titan of just 0.75" while the length is similar.

I have a Titan....

 

[MikeLip]

I looked a the gat but figured it would always be full of pocket lint.

But but but.....

It looks like something that ought to be tripod mounted with an ammo can next to it! How cool is that?

 

[chakrawal]

My opinion is that at this level personal taste plays a major role in the choice, much more than a comparison of technical data. Design rules.

For what it's worth a Gatlight has a diameter of 1.25" and a Titan of just 0.75" while the length is similar.

I have a Titan....

Gatlight is brighter.
I have a Gatlight

 

[flashy bazook]

For the uses you mention (checking out inside computers and other honest work type of functions) why not consider a cheaper light?

I guess what attracted you to the Titan and the Gatlight, beyond their sheer beauty, must be the near-infinite output controllability.

But, as I predicted some time ago, this characteristic will migrate to cheaper and yet very functional flashlights.

And, voila, we now have the Nitecore Infinity Defender.

So I'm mentioning this possibility just in case you are not aware of it and thought you needed to get either the Gatlight or the Titan to get the output controllability you want.

 

[MSaxatilus]

Somebody with a Gatlight should step in and correct me if I'm way out of line here, but I had two Gatlights.... sold them both. I felt that the variable output control on the Gatlight was very flukey at best. The Titan on the other hand works exactly as advertised. Brilliantly smooth and consistant output throughout the entire switch mechanism. The Titan is also significanlty smaller.

The Gatlight looks very cool and is very unique, I'll give you that. And the two units I had were very early models. So hopefully they have that control issue worked out. But from my handling of both lights......

Titan is my recommendation, hands down.

MSax

 

[this_is_nascar]

I have a Titan, but never had a Gatlight. I can tell you the Titan is a great light as I use mine each day. As far the Gatlight, it doesn't have eye-appeal to me, so its introduction into my collection will probably never occur. I have heard good reports from those who do own the Gatlight.

 

[saeckereier]

I'm kind of unsure whether to write this as I have only started posting here a few days ago, but I was wondering why no one yet mentioned the standard response: If in doubt, buy them both! :laughing:

Actually I think I'd take the titan. I do not posess a single SureFire, but I s'ppose both are nice little light.
So why'd I choose the Titan? The only reason is that the Gatlight does not appeal to me, I don't know why, I'm just not too fond of the design.
Plus the titan has a tripod mount, which might come in handy with one of those tiny tripods for the work you described...
(It's been a while that I checked the Gatlight, but as I remember it, the knob is at the bottom, so I guess it doesn't have the tripod mount)

 

[gswitter]

Somebody with a Gatlight should step in and correct me if I'm way out of line here, but I had two Gatlights.... sold them both. I felt that the variable output control on the Gatlight was very flukey at best. The Titan on the other hand works exactly as advertised. Brilliantly smooth and consistant output throughout the entire switch mechanism.

That's not out of line at all, and I agree. The one advantage the Gatlight has is the momentary on, and I do like that, but its variably control implementation needs some work. Dialing the brightness down is generally smooth, but when dialing it up, the brightness dims slightly when you stop rotating. And the rotational directions for adjusting brightness are the reverse of every other potentiometer-based knob I've ever used.

The Gatlight is an odd size - shorter than the pictures suggest, but also wider, and feels very awkward in my hand. The Titan seems large for a CR2-based light (feels more like a CR123A-based light - too bad it isn't), but is a very comfortable size to carry. The Gatlight has the brighter maximum output, but the Titan has a much dimmer minimum output, and the latter really makes the Titan stand out IMO. The minimum output of the Titan makes a CMG Infinity (original even, not the Ultra) seem like an L4.

 

[Jaygnar]

If I were to choose, I would get the titan. The Gatlight has its own style but its a bit too over the top looking to me.

 

[yaesumofo]

As he owner of both....Gatlight.
The TITAN is delicate, talk about lottery?
With the TITAN the lottery is in full swing. there is the emitter lottery, the smooth action lottery and debris on the emitter lottery. The one handed operation lottery.
Mine lost on three of them..the emitter tint was fine.

The Gatlight on the other hand is an amazingly well designed flashlight with substance. the fact is that the gatlight's design is far more interesting (to me) than the TITAN which is over-sized (for it's battery size)

The dial action on the gatlight is SMOOTH and there doesn't seem to be any metal to metal contact which requires any BREAK IN ....Breaking which is a necessary evil with the TITAN.

I have owned and anticipated many flashlights. the Gatlight when I received it ( a first run in stainless and which runs a 17670 lion cell) has not and did not disappoint. It is a hell of a light.
The NEW GAT LIGHTS are even more impressive.
I was disappointed in the TITAN from the get go.

These opinions are mine please do not flame me for being totally honest about mt experience with my TITAN which broke after a 3 foot fall and had to be sent back to surefire after less than a week of ownership. Hell I have some Fenix flashlights which work better than my (pre repair) TITAN.

Yaesumofo

 

[jeffb]

I have had both and sold the Gatlight, some time ago. I like the Titan for pocket carry and the variable brightness works smoothly as can be used from barely on to very bright. ( I like the beam, as it is useful for my needs and the tint is very white)

My Gatlight was not nearly as smooth and the light was MUCH larger (newer versions may be better).

I would not trade my Titan for a Gatlight, for
every day use and or carry.

Note that this is just my experience and opinion.

Titan CR2 next to Nautilus CR123.

jeffb

 

[Phredd]

I also have both. I love both, but for much different reasons. The TITAN is my every day carry and my every night bedside light. It's small enough to fit in my coin pocket, has a perfectly smooth brightness adjustment, nice beam, looks great, etc., etc. The Gatlight V3 looks really cool. I admire the engineering that went into the unique design and the optics look cool with the side spill. But, I don't think it's nearly as practical as the TITAN. It's much larger than the TITAN and the brightness adjustment is harder to turn and, as someone mentioned, it dims after you stop turning the brightness up.

As far as I can see, the only reason for comparing the two lights is the continuous brightness adjustment.

Phredd

 

[flashy bazook]

I'm kind of unsure whether to write this as I have only started posting here a few days ago, but I was wondering why no one yet mentioned the standard response: If in doubt, buy them both! :laughing:

Once I sold a car and got less money for it than it would take to buy both of these two flashlights. So there is that to consider. Buying two relatively cheap but useable flashlights that are of different formfactors and which can be used by two people if need be is one thing. But buying the Titan plus the Gatlight is of a different order of magnitude altogether.

 

[Lobo]

I would wait until Gatlight has released their EOS-model. Read some thread where they where pretty PO:d about Surefire saying they made the only infinite variable output light in the world, so they where going to make something that would "beat" the Titan. If they succeeds remains to see, but I would at least wait until the light is out.

I can't find the Lumencraft forum anywhere on CPF anymore, but I found this thread in another forum.
Mods, if it's against the rules to post it, please remove the link.

http://flashlight-forums.com/index.php/topic,5208.0.html

 

[AndyTiedye]

I have a Gatlight 3 Ti, a Gatlight 2 Al, a Gatlight 2 SS (with TiN coating) and a Titan.
The variable brightness on the Gatlight 2 is much improved on the 3.
Still smoother on the Titan.
The Gatlight 3 is brighter.
The Gatlight 3 has a clickie.
The Gatlights are works of art.
The Gatlights run on a 123 and can take rechargeables.
Titans use a CR2 (more expensive, less capacity) and the jury is still out on whether or not rechargeables will damage it.

If I had to choose, I'd take the Gatlight 3.

 

[PhantomPhoton]

I love my Gatlight so I'll vote for that.
It isn't large or small, it's just right for me. Cr123's or RCR123's make it nice and bright, plus good runtimes. Forward clickie. I can't ask for much more (at least till SSC releases a new bin), and then I'll just send my Gatlight back in for an upgrade. Good luck upgrading the emitter on a Titan. If you don't like the Gatlight optic you can mod it with a reflector.
Gatlights are also less expensive. Definitely my favorite light.

 

[Telkin]

I vote for the Surefire Titan. I've only had a Gatlight II SS but the variable output did not work very well on my unit. It flickered a lot even after I stopped twisting.

The Titan fits in any pair of pants and does not feel bulky. Interface is very simple and can be activated with 1 hand easily. My Titan has been broken in after couple weeks and the action is amazing. I use 3.0V rechargeables in mine and the battery lasts a very long time. My 0.02 cents.