Gerber Reactor 3 "ultrabright" - POS

[howl of the yeti]

Got two Gerber Reactor 3 "ultrabright" on sale a while back from Sierra Trading Post. 3AA, 1WLED, aluminum body. GLB 22-107515

Wow...I thought I'd be liking these lights but all I can think about is what a POS it is.

I guess they light well enough, but it has the WORST on/off I've ever had the misfortune to use. Neither clicks solid...you have to jockey the head back and forth until the light turns off...sometimes it will pop back on. What a disappointment. Anyone ever mod these to get better on/off?

 

[jch79]

http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/cmg_reactor3.htm

FLR gave it 2 1/2 stars... no big surprise!

 

[howl of the yeti]

that's a much better review than I'd have given it.

Turn the bezel relative to the body of the light in either direction for on/off. The system has detents that lock it in place in the on or off position with a very positive tactile feedback.

I don't find there to be any locking into place and especially confusing tactile feedback. It isn't as if they click into place. I won't even be leaving these in the cars for emergencies as I'm convined with the bouncing around they would turn on accidently.

 

[TORCH_BOY]

I gave mine away,

 

[BionicSniper]

There knives are incredible. Guess there lights are not

 

[LED_Thrift]

The 2AA Reactor is the only light I ever returned, even though it cost me a "restocking fee". I just couldn't live with a light like that around. I was very disappointed.

 

[Vickers]

I also have the 2AA Reactor...it's awful.

Dim, unwieldy, and "is it there?" power positions.

 

[SEMIJim]

There knives are incredible.

Not really.

 

[zapper]

Not great but really really good inexpensive working knives that I don't worry about at all. The light however is easy to fix. Send it in to Gerber after e-mail contact and they return it quick. I had a similar problem and shipped it off and about 2-3 weeks later I received a perfectly working model. Better tint and smoother operation that hasn't gone bad after 2 years of use. Still not a great amount of light output but solid. If you want to bump the output and don't care how long it may live heres what you do. Look in the tail cap and pull out the spring with some needle nose pliers. There will be a little resistor and circuit board. You can rip these out with a pair of pliers. Reinstall the spring and fire it up. MUCH brighter, almost double!! Mine still hasn't burned out after all this time. Good luck !!

 

[BruiseLee]

I read the reviews on these, and it sounded like the early production models had a detent for "on", but not for "off". I believe later production models had a detent incorporated into the design for both the "on" and "off" positions. I believe I read this on the review at the LedMuseum.

I actually just ordered one, so when I get it I can give you a first hand report.

 

[SEMIJim]

There knives are incredible. Guess there lights are not

Not really. There may be a few capable models but, for the most part, Gerber knives are no longer highly regarded amongst knife aficionados. Haven't been for several years, I understand.

 

[riffraff]

Not really. There may be a few capable models but, for the most part, Gerber knives are no longer highly regarded amongst knife aficionados. Haven't been for several years, I understand.

They are pretty much resting on their laurels since they were acquired by Fiskars (Finland). There's only a handful of knives with the quality of old.

 

[Outdoors Fanatic]

Gerber went to the crapper, since they decided to stop making fixed blade survival-type knives.

 

[vic2367]

i find only there small lst knife models worth anything,,,

 

[MacTech]

Well, seeing as the Reactor 3 was one of the lights in my Quickbeam "Mystery Box", i can verify that the FLR review is perfectly appropriate, the Reactor series (especially the Reactor 3) are horrible lights, i think Doug was generous in rating it 2.5 stars, i would've deducted a whole star for the horrible tint alone

the fact that it can't be dissasembled without destroying it is another point against it

however, my co-worker likes it, as he's not as fussy as we Flashaholics are

 

[WNG]

The Reactor series SUCK!
They were an acquired light when they bought CMG.
I have a CMG R-3, and the beam is a poor yellow blob. The head switch worked intermittently, sometimes while on, it goes off. or dims badly and flickers.
OFF is somewhere in between 2 ONs.
Eventually the switch wears out like mine. It no longer lights up, and you can disassemble them.
A $35 waste. It was only a few LED Lux-1 lights on the market back then.
I wouldn't buy it for $5 today.

 

[greenlight]

glad I searched for this thread before I bought one of these. They're available for 5.99 now.

 

[cave dave]

http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/cmg_reactor3.htm

FLR gave it 2 1/2 stars... no big surprise!

And that was back in early 2003, when it was basically the first Luxeon available in retail outlets after the truly horrible Reactor 2.

 

[wintermute]

There knives are incredible. Guess there lights are not

Yeah, ya know - when CMG made the Infinity Ultra-G :
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?p=752885#post752885

Excellent - Gerber Infinity...poop, IMHO.

I've used my CMG for the last 4 years everyday. Only replacing batteries.

 

[mmmflashlights]

glad I searched for this thread before I bought one of these. They're available for 5.99 now.

Where?...