Is Novatac really HAIII?

[Buffalohump]

hey,

I just received my first Novatac light - a 85P in the standard pewter finish - and while the light is great in most respects, I'm a little concerned about the anodising.

First off, its not an even battleship gray across the whole light, the middle section is darker than the top and tail.

Secondly the coating seems so lightly applied that I get glinting off the high points off the knurling, from exposed metal.

What exactly constitutes HAIII? I was expecting something of the order of Surefire and HDS standards but its far from that.

How does this anodising hold up with use? Surely they have to comply with a certain industry standard before they can state that its HA III?

 

[scottaw]

I can't tell you any specifics of HAIII, but I can tell you i've owned a nova since right after they came out, and mine looks great, It even has a few dents in it from dropping, the metal underneath dented, the finish is still there.

 

[climberkid]

i really hope its true HAIII cuz i just bought a novatac for that reason....

 

[Yoda4561]

The difference in color is normal for type-III anodizing. Folks used to complain about surefire's and how the parts didn't match, it's normal. Don't know what to say about the knurling, may just be a bit thin around there.

 

[Oddjob]

As Yoda4561 said the colour variation is normal. The tail on my HDS is slighly off from the head. The HA on my Novatac is the same as yours. I have not had any problems with it scrathing easliy or anything like that.

 

[climberkid]

:twothumbsthat makes me feel better about spending the money. lol

 

[Thujone]

not only is it HAIII it is likely the best you will ever see.. IMO it is as good as it gets, right there with arc and SF..

 

[Buffalohump]

OK, so this is a common thing, not sure if that makes me feel better or not.

I guess I struck it lucky with my Surefire... its a very even coat throughout.

Compared to the HDS, the Novatac is much lighter.

Ah well, so long as it lasts a few months until I can grab the new Ra Clicky. :naughty:

 

[Cuso]

I dropped mine from 5 feet high and it rolled over smooth concrete floor for another 30 something feet ( don't ask) Its still looking like new.

 

[BabyDoc]

In my opinion the anodizing on the Novatac is very disappointing. My black body light shows exactly what the original poster has metioned. Bare metal shows especially around the knurling and around the transitions from knurling to the flat areas for the Novatac logo and serial numbers. The problem may because the knurling and transitions are so sharp and the anodizing does not get deposited well on those surfaces. On top of that, another problem with the Novatac is the clip which rubs on the body of the light when you unscrew the tailcap. It is very easy to damage the finish if you aren't careful to put a business card under the clip while you change the battery.

The best anodizing and most durable anodizing I found is on my NiteCore NDI. That light also has knurling and flat logo planes, but there the knurling is less sharp with the NDI.

 

[Crenshaw]

OK, so this is a common thing, not sure if that makes me feel better or not.

I guess I struck it lucky with my Surefire... its a very even coat throughout.

Compared to the HDS, the Novatac is much lighter.

Ah well, so long as it lasts a few months until I can grab the new Ra Clicky. :naughty:

all kinds of natrual HA will have natrual colour differences. In fact, you can almost be sure its HA because it has colour differnces, as it shows that no colours have been added in. out of all my HANAT lights, almost none of them are perfect if you look closely, my NDI's head is a smidge lighter then the rest of it. The tailcap on my SF C2 is a smidge darker then the reast. My arc AAA head is grey while the body looks more olive.The Tailcap of my Tiablo A9 is slightly darker then the rest of it.The only perfects i have so far are my Jet-u and LF2X....as perfect as my eye can detect so far. YMWV (your mileage WILL vary)

the absolute worst matching i had ever seen was on an E1E in a B&M store i was at. The bezel looked nat-grayish, the head jsut below looked olive, and then the rest was the same nat-gray as the bezel.

Crenshaw

 

[climberkid]

i think someone told me that the black isnt true HA. i could be wrong....:thinking:

In my opinion the anodizing on the Novatac is very disappointing. My black body light shows exactly what the original poster has metioned. Bare metal shows especially around the knurling and around the transitions from knurling to the flat areas for the Novatac logo and serial numbers. The problem may because the knurling and transitions are so sharp and the anodizing does not get deposited well on those surfaces. On top of that, another problem with the Novatac is the clip which rubs on the body of the light when you unscrew the tailcap. It is very easy to damage the finish if you aren't careful to put a business card under the clip while you change the battery.

The best anodizing and most durable anodizing I found is on my NiteCore NDI. That light also has knurling and flat logo planes, but there the knurling is less sharp with the NDI.

 

[Crenshaw]

blank can be HA, its just that adding any color to natrual HA makes it inherently weaker.

Crenshaw

 

[luminata]

I know exactly what you speak of Buffalo.

On many Novatacs the HA is so light, not just on the knurling but on the smooth sections especially the head section that it almost appears that it was "painted" on with a brush because there are "striations" or "lines" in the finish similar to paintbrush strokes. The tint of these areas is definitely more of a silver with just a hint of olive. The middle section is always the darkest, I think they did that section at a different time than the rest.

Out of 5 Novatacs that have passed thru my hands only 1 had a well matched HA overall. I actually like mismatched sections like on Surefires and such , makes the light more interesting to look at to me but on many of the Novatacs it isnt like that, it really does appear to be a lack of coating and sorta "cheap" looking with the paint brush effect and the mismatch with that middle section is so pronounced it is more towards an eyesore and ugly. Just my opinion though. Doesnt seem to affect the performance of the light just the looks. As such Novatac doesnt support exchanges or anything based on finish "imperfections"

 

[Aluminous]

On top of that, another problem with the Novatac is the clip which rubs on the body of the light when you unscrew the tailcap. It is very easy to damage the finish if you aren't careful to put a business card under the clip while you change the battery.

I've heard of other flashlights having problems like that too, that even with good Type III anodizing, metal clips gradually scrape away at it.

Does anybody make flashlights with the clips coated in something softer (rubber, felt, etc) to reduce this problem? Seems like they ought to. Has anyone ever tried doing that themselves?

(Heck, the other thing non-coated clips like to damage is your belt. I use belt cases for a couple of things, and when I switched to ones with leather-covered clips, my belts started lasting much better. Tight uncoated hard plastic clips were problematic too, not just metal.)

 

[Buffalohump]

I guess I've just been spoilt by my HDS which is truly the most impressive anodising I have ever seen - a dark, lustrous battleship gray that is perfectly matched throughout.

I got mine just before they went off the market and it still looks good as new. Only the original clip showed wear marks but I have since replaced that with the aftermarket Arc 4 style clip. Now that is what I expect from HAIII!

I'm sure people get tired of hearing HDS fans warble on about these lights but they are really quite special.

I don't mind the imperfections of the Novatac too much, as I see it as a 'tool' light and I've learned to accept these little things as very few things in life are perfect, but I must take my hat off to Henry for his amazingly high standards of workmanship.

 

[jzmtl]

My nature finish novatac has three different color for three parts, 4 if you count in the bezel ring. Guess that makes it brown rainbow light lol. But it's pretty tough, the clip rotates around the body all the time but there's no wear mark on body at all.

 

[:)>]

I was not happy with the appearance of the pewter HAIII annodizing either. I am happy with my black ones but I don't know how tough it will turn out.

I am very satisfied witht he Novatac lights!

 

[yaesumofo]

The finish on the Novatac is a good quality type III finish.
Thujone, Have you ever seen a MofoClicky?
IMHO the type III finish on those is better than the above mentioned brands. It was designed to match the arc LS finish and it infact exceeds this my quite a margine.
The thing that makes the ARC LS finish so nice is that it is actually somewhat THICKER than a "Normal" Type III finish by as much as 50% BY thickness measurement made by the annodizer that I use...
Vary fun and interesting stuff.
There is no doubt that the Novatac has a quality finish designed to last a very long time. Enjoy it.
Yaesumofo

not only is it HAIII it is likely the best you will ever see.. IMO it is as good as it gets, right there with arc and SF..

 

[Supernam]

Are you serious? What batch of Novatac did you get (I have SN 11021)? The olive colored ones have terrible finishes. I heard the black ones are much better including their knurling, but the olive ones I can almost see bare metal in addition to their shallow knurling. I have no doubt that it's HAIII, but that does not mean that it's up to Mil-Spec like SF. Especially with my HDS 17670 body attached, it makes the Novatac body look pewter. Not only is it way lighter, but it is inconsistent. It is way lighter on the edges near ends where there is more wear.