Inova BullSpit

[Holepuncher]

My women came home the other day and announced "I have a surprise for you". Well looky here. Its a cute little Inova 2AAA Bolt 2.0 WATT. Nicely made, compact, nice color shade, nice beam but could have a better center spot. Brightness is not the least bit impressive. I measured the current draw with a fresh set of alkalines and get 250ma or approx .75W. Be lucky if the LED is even getting 1/2W. 2.0 Watt my A$$. Anyone know if the lithium bolts have this same marketing deception.

 

[PhantomPhoton]

The new 2008 Inova T-series give legit true lumen ratings. But the bolt line, and the 2007 X line are all pretty bad. They use terrible LEDs and make some marketing lies like you've just experienced. Oh well, thank your wife with a smile and write up Inova telling them how unsatisfied you are with their product.

 

[Bullzeyebill]

The new 2008 Inova T-series give legit true lumen ratings. But the bolt line, and the 2007 X line are all pretty bad. They use terrible LEDs and make some marketing lies like you've just experienced. Oh well, thank your wife with a smile and write up Inova telling them how unsatisfied you are with their product.

Right on. Inova advertises the 2008 T1 as 100 lumens. MrGman tested the Inova T1 in an IS and got 100 lumens. http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=211402

Scroll down to the Inova results.

Bill

 

[Holepuncher]

Well Actually I never said I was totally unsatisfied with it. My wife knows I am somewhat of a flashaholic and buys them for me. Just one more for the collection. Is it worth $20. I'd have to say yes but barely. Put it another way, for finding your way around the house in total darkness there are 1000's of worse flashlights you could have in your hand than the 2AAA Bolt. Calling it 2.0 watt just because it has an led rated for 2 watts means Inova wants to become a Target only brand.

 

[Xak]

I just got a 2AA Bolt for my Mom because she wanted a light for around her sewing machine when she drops stuff. I haven't taken it out of the package yet but you can press the button through the package to test it out. Well the color tint is nice and white (yet warm like my T4MP) and it is really bright. Brighter and smaller than my 2AA Inova Radiant. Does it seam like a 3.8 watt light? No. But, it IS plenty bright, perhaps the trade off is a longer runtime.

 

[jdong]

Well Actually I never said I was totally unsatisfied with it. My wife knows I am somewhat of a flashaholic and buys them for me. Just one more for the collection. Is it worth $20. I'd have to say yes but barely. Put it another way, for finding your way around the house in total darkness there are 1000's of worse flashlights you could have in your hand than the 2AAA Bolt.

And I think that's where you hit the nail on the head. At its price point and if you're looking around Target it's probably one of the better flashlights on the shelves. That's the market Inova is trying to capture with the Bolt and X-series; for us hardcores there's the T and military/INFORCE series.

 

[heckboy]

I had a Target gift card about a year ago and picked up a couple of Inovas (I don't remember models). They are the only lights that I've returned to the seller. I literally took them back because I thought they had just terrible output relative the size of the light.

Later,
HB

 

[jzmtl]

I had a Target gift card about a year ago and picked up a couple of Inovas (I don't remember models). They are the only lights that I've returned to the seller. I literally took them back because I thought they had just terrible output relative the size of the light.

Later,
HB

Spoiled brat, when I was in junior high I had to walk home almost everyday over some hill and field with an incan minimag, and I thought that was the most awsome light in the world. :laughing:

 

[heckboy]

Spoiled brat, when I was in junior high I had to walk home almost everyday over some hill and field with an incan minimag, and I thought that was the most awsome light in the world. :laughing:

Incan minimag? You were rich beyond my wildest dreams! I had to carry a carbide lantern and a gallon of water to keep it fed , uphill, in the ...

 

[Hellbore]

Spoiled brat, when I was in junior high I had to walk home almost everyday over some hill and field with an incan minimag, and I thought that was the most awsome light in the world. :laughing:

Haha, classic. I remember when I was a kid my Dad gave me a Minimag for Christmas and I thought that flashlight was the coolest thing I ever saw, and so did my friends. Funny how things change.

 

[PhantomPhoton]

Incan minimag? You were rich beyond my wildest dreams! I had to carry a carbide lantern and a gallon of water to keep it fed , uphill, in the ...

ROFL I've never heard that one before... carbide and a gallon of water...

 

[Photon Joe]

Incan minimag? You were rich beyond my wildest dreams! I had to carry a carbide lantern and a gallon of water to keep it fed , uphill, in the ...

In my day we didn't have no fancy carbide lamps, we had to carry a pig's head in a bucket with a wick stuck in it and burn the tallow.
And we liked it .

 

[heckboy]

ROTFLMAO!

 

[Hellbore]

In my day we didn't have no fancy carbide lamps, we had to carry a pig's head in a bucket with a wick stuck in it and burn the tallow.
And we liked it .

I bet you did, smells like bacon cooking I bet

BTW about the carbide lamps, shame on you, I didn't know they existed before I saw that post and now I have to get one

I don't care if they aren't as practical as LED's, they just look cool...

 

[Ilikeshinythings]

In my day we didn't have no fancy carbide lamps, we had to carry a pig's head in a bucket with a wick stuck in it and burn the tallow.
And we liked it .

LOL

BTW--2 watts is the LEDs rating, not the output. I bet you could put it close to that with the right type of batteries though! You might fry it but that's just an excuse to buy a better light..or return it to target.

 

[TITAN1833]

LOL guys

In my day we had to make do with the moon,and that was if we were lucky.

 

[Guy's Dropper]

I bet you did, smells like bacon cooking I bet

BTW about the carbide lamps, shame on you, I didn't know they existed before I saw that post and now I have to get one

I don't care if they aren't as practical as LED's, they just look cool...

They may not be state of the art, but neither are they impractical impractical. Carbide lamps had the best light to weight ratio of any hand held lighting source until being surpassed the recent advances in leds. Many hardcore cavers still use carbide lamps.

 

[qwertyydude]

I actually did try overdriving the Bolt 2 AA. With one lithium 14500 and a nimh rechargeable it pulls 2.5 amps, don't know how long the light will last as it'll get hot. But this is really dangerous as the nimh has higher capacity than the li-ion and will reverse charge it. A possibly safer solution to try this is a nicd AA and protected 14500, with lower capacity the nicd when it dies early won't reverse the li-ion

 

[Marduke]

I actually did try overdriving the Bolt 2 AA. With one lithium 14500 and a nimh rechargeable it pulls 2.5 amps, don't know how long the light will last as it'll get hot. But this is really dangerous as the nimh has higher capacity than the li-ion and will reverse charge it. A possibly safer solution to try this is a nicd AA and protected 14500, with lower capacity the nicd when it dies early won't reverse the li-ion

Um, you're going to blow off your hand there buddy. You NEVER, EVER mix and match different chemistries.

 

[Hellbore]

Um, you're going to blow off your hand there buddy. You NEVER, EVER mix and match different chemistries.

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