Haiku vs Lunasol??

[Kiessling]

Yepp, no selling there. :D

In the end, they all have great merits and no real flaws, they are just different. Great lights.

 

[AlecGold]

well, I was wondering today about this and thinking why you would combine the SD with a LS or Haiku. How much more reach does a Haiku has over a SD?
I can completly understand carrying Several McGizmos but if you want to carry just two lights max. a SD and a Haiku/LS just doesn't make that much sense to me. I would expect the second light to be an enormous thrower like the SF M6 or if you want to keep it smaller something like a 6P+KT1. These can really light up a treeline/tree 100 yards away.
So my question is besides formfactor (a M6 isn't pocketable) why combine a SD with a LS/Haiku?

 

[maxspeeds]

Another reason to carry these two lights can be for redundancy. It's always good to have two great quality lights even if they overlap :D

 

[Kiessling]

The SD has a) a high CRO lightsource and a perfectly even illumination which is perfect for close-up work and walking.
The Haiku offers great mid-range performance.

They compliment each other well I think.

IMHO enormous throwers need enormous lumens or you end up with a laser like beam, useless. So such a thrower would not be pocketable anyway. For 98% of my tasks, the throw of the Haiku is plenty.
Just IMHO of course.

bernie

 

[AlecGold]

Another reason to carry these two lights can be for redundancy. It's always good to have two great quality lights even if they overlap :D

Hehe, CPF-redundancy: buy them both....

@Kiessling, what is medium range? My SD does a few meters, but how much does the Haiku do?
The m6 lights up around 50 meters wide at 50 meters distance. But pocketable?? :D
And both inputs are much apreciated!

 

[litew8]

I'll put my 2 cents in, i love the clicky on the haiku, and the 3 levels. But on the other hand, has Don ever put a light on the market we didn't like.

If i could afford it i'd have a few of each. What a great era we live in, so many choices, and to little money. And always looking forward, to his next offering. Thanks, Don!

 

[Tim W]

... but how much does the Haiku do?...

The m6 lights up around 50 meters wide at 50 meters distance. But pocketable?? :D
...

The Haiku lights stuff up quite well out to about 30 yards, maybe a little more.

The M6 IS pocketable, as long as you wear VERY baggy cargo pants and don't plan on sitting down with it you pocket!!:lolsign: Is that a flashlight in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me? :crackup:

 

[AlecGold]

Sorry, I meant to say that it was as wide as it shines far. It can reach well over 150 yards on a not clear night from my own experience and IIRC SF says it can reach up to 400m. Which is a bit much, I think.
I can stuff it in the backpocket of my jeans as well, it's just that walking becomes an odd experience! :D :radar:

 

[brucec]

I joined the McGizmo camp about a year ago and have the Ti PD-S, LS20, Sundrop 3S, McClickie Mule, and Haiku. Out of all of these, the Haiku is probably the most useful due to its nice tint, good beam, and 3 well-spaced levels. It's great for camping or working outside at night and it's the light I bring if I know I'll be using a flashlight. You really should get one.

That said, it is also the most conventional off the McGizmo's that I own. It's more or less a standard XR-E Q5 CR123 forward clickie light, just done up in Ti with a simplified UI and smooth McClickie switch. It is a fine light to be sure, but it has nothing that brought me to McGizmo's lights in the first place, namely, PD, tritium, and the dual beams of the Lunasol series. And you might not like it if you are particularly sensitive to PWM which is visible in the 2 lower modes. The Haiku still oozes the quality and craftsmanship of the other McGizmos which is why I favor it over my other CR123 lights. However, those are the only major remaining differentiating factors in comparison to all of the other CR123 light options out there.

PS. I guess you asked for a comparison of the Haiku and the LS20...

Haiku wins in: tint, high output, very useable medium mode, ease of activation, modularity (I think it's compatible with the Aleph system)
LS20 wins in: PD, dual beam profiles, main beam's uniformity, tritium, aesthetics (for me anyway), perhaps robustness and coolness

 

[Kiessling]

Alec, it depends on light pollution. In total darkness I guess it can do quite a bit more range than it can for me. In urban areas about 20-30 m depending where you shine it is a good estimate.

However, the beam is equipped with a generous spot and a very bright concentrated spill giving you a very nice field of vision with no harsh dynamic changes in light intensity, making it a very useful tool. Like I said, the best reflectored beam I know. Not for a needle-like bright spot, but for the most useful beam in existance. Even better than the old LuxV U2 and L5.

bernie

 

[McGizmo]

I joined the McGizmo camp about a year ago and have the Ti PD-S, LS20, Sundrop 3S, McClickie Mule, and Haiku. Out of all of these, the Haiku is probably the most useful due to its nice tint, good beam, and 3 well-spaced levels. It's great for camping or working outside at night and it's the light I bring if I know I'll be using a flashlight. You really should get one.

That said, it is also the most conventional off the McGizmo's that I own. It's more or less a standard XR-E Q5 CR123 forward clickie light, just done up in Ti with a simplified UI and smooth McClickie switch. It is a fine light to be sure, but it has nothing that brought me to McGizmo's lights in the first place, namely, PD, tritium, and the dual beams of the Lunasol series. And you might not like it if you are particularly sensitive to PWM which is visible in the 2 lower modes. The Haiku still oozes the quality and craftsmanship of the other McGizmos which is why I favor it over my other CR123 lights. However, those are the only major remaining differentiating factors in comparison to all of the other CR123 light options out there.

PS. I guess you asked for a comparison of the Haiku and the LS20...

Haiku wins in: tint, high output, very useable medium mode, ease of activation
LS20 wins in: PD, dual beam profiles, main beam's uniformity, tritium, aesthetics (for me anyway), perhaps robustness and coolness

I appreciate the kind and favorable words and comments here! I read this a few days ago and felt inclined to comment but then opted not to. Unfortunately this post kept coming back to my thoughts though so I figure I can comment and be done with it! This sounds like I have issue with this post and that is not the case at all. I feel the desire to comment further on the Haiku and at risk of perception of blowing my own horn.

From a design and function standpoint, I value simple over complex and fewer components over more. In the use of the light, it's design and assembly don't come into the picture; only how well and dependable it is at doing the intended function. However if one considers the assembly and potential dis-assembly of the light, other considerations factor in. These are considerations I am familiar with and ones that motivate my design criteria. I think I could probably completely field strip and then rebuild either the Haiku or SunDrop (or SunDrop XR-U) in a short video for YouTube without running to the limit of time or file size allotted. This is not a big deal or of any concern to most of you but it is a consideration that I find quite satisfying and am pleased with.

As a modder and someone who likes to take things apart for different reasons, I am sensitive to how well or easy things can be dis-assembled and re-assembled. I think of the modularity and simplicity of the Hakiu and SunDrop as a success. The simple incandescent flashlights that most of us grew up with were quite simple in components and assembly. Unfortunately with many of them we would have to take them apart at times to fix a poor ground path, replace a broken window, change out the lamp and of course replace the battery. With today's LED flashlights, really the only thing the user should be involved with is battery exchange and possibly some O-ring maintenance on a sealed design. But, IMHO, it is still cool to be able to take the light completely apart should the need or desire come up. Playing with some of the new LED's I have found myself going back to some of the old Aleph lights as test platforms for new light engines and I have enjoyed the ease of taking them apart, modding the optics and then putting them back together to see what the results would be.

In parting, I think the Haiku is an honest and simple light with good utility by virtue of three levels and easy access to them. I don't think it has been oversimplified but it has been reduced to viable and functional fundamentals.

 

[brucec]

I appreciate the kind and favorable words and comments here! I read this a few days ago and felt inclined to comment but then opted not to. Unfortunately this post kept coming back to my thoughts though so I figure I can comment and be done with it! This sounds like I have issue with this post and that is not the case at all. I feel the desire to comment further on the Haiku and at risk of perception of blowing my own horn.

From a design and function standpoint, I value simple over complex and fewer components over more. In the use of the light, it's design and assembly don't come into the picture; only how well and dependable it is at doing the intended function. However if one considers the assembly and potential dis-assembly of the light, other considerations factor in. These are considerations I am familiar with and ones that motivate my design criteria. I think I could probably completely field strip and then rebuild either the Haiku or SunDrop (or SunDrop XR-U) in a short video for YouTube without running to the limit of time or file size allotted. This is not a big deal or of any concern to most of you but it is a consideration that I find quite satisfying and am pleased with.

As a modder and someone who likes to take things apart for different reasons, I am sensitive to how well or easy things can be dis-assembled and re-assembled. I think of the modularity and simplicity of the Hakiu and SunDrop as a success. The simple incandescent flashlights that most of us grew up with were quite simple in components and assembly. Unfortunately with many of them we would have to take them apart at times to fix a poor ground path, replace a broken window, change out the lamp and of course replace the battery. With today's LED flashlights, really the only thing the user should be involved with is battery exchange and possibly some O-ring maintenance on a sealed design. But, IMHO, it is still cool to be able to take the light completely apart should the need or desire come up. Playing with some of the new LED's I have found myself going back to some of the old Aleph lights as test platforms for new light engines and I have enjoyed the ease of taking them apart, modding the optics and then putting them back together to see what the results would be.

In parting, I think the Haiku is an honest and simple light with good utility by virtue of three levels and easy access to them. I don't think it has been oversimplified but it has been reduced to viable and functional fundamentals.

That's right, I missed a major advantage of the Haiku: modularity. :ohgeez: While not particularly important to me personally, there is a huge following on CPF for modular systems such as Aleph & Surefire lego mods. Lots of people love to swap head assemblies, light engines, tail assemblies, different sized body tubes, etc. Going modular with the Haiku is probably a good market strategy. I also seem to remember a lot of people making comments saying that they liked the Haiku going back to the Aleph system. And regarding modularity, I think the system you are using is even more differentiated than other mass production makers in that while it is common for other brands to have different battery tube configurations or switch options, it is quite uncommon to have a modular light engine system. In fact, the only other system that comes to my mind is Surefire's P60 compatible system.

But in the end, what I like about the Haiku is really how perfectly everything comes together. The LS20 is still my favorite, but the Haiku is the most useful of anything that I own. Functionally, this light is just so EASY to use even when compared to the PD lights. Just perfect in every smooth click.

 

[McGizmo]

We are off track of Yaesumofo's original question but he hasn't even been back to comment so while he is away........ :D

In terms of modularity, the XR-U head is even more modular in regards to Light Engines. Granted the optic behaves differently on the various LED's and essentially does nothing more than concentrate the flood into a tighter viewing angle.

I have had my personal use Haiku head on a prototype 2xAA pak now for a few weeks and although I prefer the smaller size of the CR123 McClickie pak in terms of carry, I believe the additional modularity and alternatives offered with a different battery pak does enhance the versatility if not utility, of the light.

 

[Kiessling]

2xAA? :faint:

Judgement day must be near. McDon falls from grace :nana:

 

[yaesumofo]

Yes the thread has wondered wildly.

Having been a lurker on the thread doesn't mean I haven't been paying attention.

I have learned that on a very basic level that if I need more light than the LS20 puts out then the Haiku MIGHT be a good choice. That the lunasol 20 on low has a different type of beam than the Haiku.

For me at this time the low diffused light produced by the LS20 is very nice.
The high on the LS20 is good and meets my current EDC needs.
I will get a Haiku one of these days.
I will say Don that I am interested in your personal EDC sapphire. Is it stock?
I seem to remember reading something about a sapphire with a stronger emitter installed....
Thank all of you for the input.
I haven't been moved much. I like the "idea" of the Haiku. But not enough to be strongly motivated to get one yet.
I am seeing new emitters like the CREE XP-G that I look forward to built into a McGizmo flashlight...

Yaesumofo

 

[McGizmo]

...
I will say Don that I am interested in your personal EDC sapphire. Is it stock?
.....
Yaesumofo

Actually it isn't. I have a new converter prototype in it which drives the 3 mm 310DS Nichia at 20 mA so it is not as bright as Sapphire's out there presently. I think you might be bringing to mind the few Sapphire Mule's I made using a High CRI 1/2 watt Nichia LED. I have one of those on my scooter key ring and do use it on occasion but the one clipped to my shorts that I wear around the house is as mentioned above.

 

[brucec]

2xAA? :faint:

Surely, he MUST have made a typo and meant 2xCR123! :p But seriously, I'd definitely be in for a 1xAA or 2xAA McGizmo, or both.

Regarding the sapphire, I remember Don showed us a reflectored high CRI Nichia version a while back. Any chance of a wave of that version?

 

[jblackwood]

The Hiaku or the Lunasol?
Titans both unique.
One's mine, I need the other.

:naughty::cool:

 

[Crash]

The Lunasol is very good if it is used in the dark or near dark. If you sometimes require additional hand-held light in an area with a bit more ambient "light pollution" as Kiessling mentioned, the Haiku is superior. It is also superior for people who don't like to use or usually can't use, two hands to change the output. Lastly, if hands are oily or sweaty, the clicky is better.

Crash

 

[fyrstormer]

I don't recall if it's been mentioned, but the Lunasol is much more effective when paired with a C-Pak, because that way you can click for direct on/off in whatever mode you were using last, and you can twist the head a little to change modes.