Re: LionHeart And Filters
This morning, I picked up one of the Garrity Nichia LED Aluminum flashlights that Tweek mentioned. It was $12.77 at Walmart. The Model is K009G, UPC 074196004586. It comes with a wrist lanyard with a snap-on ring similar to Surefire’s lanyard clips, as well as the blue and red filters and nylon belt sheath that Tweek already mentioned. The filters are plastic of some type, which is to be expected on a cheap light. The light is 4.6” long with a 1.1” diameter body and a 1.2” diameter head. It uses a click tailcap. The switch requires more force that any of my Surefire’s, but it’s manageable. It doesn’t support momentary on, but it does support momentary off once you’ve turned it on – how’s that for a strange twist? The sheath, although of cheap quality, is perfectly sized to carry both the filters and the LH with the upcoming 168A body. The filters fit in a small, dedicated pouch on the side of the sheath. Velcro is used for the flaps. The light will tail stand on a flat surface, but it will lean and is easily tipped over. I bought a gun metal colored one, but they also had a black and a blue model.
Sorry for the sidetrack, but the Garrity is a nice enough $13 light that it deserves a few words. Okay, back to the filters...
Here are some measurements:
CPF SE LH head - 1.225” outer dia
Z3 head – 1.230” outer dia
Garrity filters – 1.2375” inner dia
Amazingly, the Garrity filters pop onto the LH head as if they were made for it. In fact, they stay on my LH better than the Garrity! The fit is snug due to three small ridges on the inner surface that goes around the LH. The ridges are spaced equally around the circumference of the filter. Each is about 0.25” in length and make the filter’s effective inner diameter about 1.21-1.22”. Initially, they definitely won’t fall off. Over time, I suspect they may become loose due to stresses and heat. If they do, a little dab of superglue on the filter’s “retaining ridges”, once dried, should tighten it up to fit snugly once again. Since HAIII is thinnest on edges, the filters may cause some wear over time.
Here are some meter readings for my CPF SE LH. I used a fully-charged (4.18V) and rested 150A for the tests. A Meterman LM-531 equivalent meter and a quickbeam lightbox (as used on flashlightreviews.com) were also used. The values in parentheses are adjusted values that can be used to roughly compare with quickbeam’s values.
No filter, spot @ 1m – 2370 lux (48.7)
Blue filter, spot @ 1m – 333 lux (18.2), an 86% reduction
Red filter, spot @ 1m – 147 lux (12.1), a 94% reduction
No filter, lightbox overall – 3350 lux (33.5)
Blue filter, lightbox overall – 683 lux (6.83), an 80% reduction
Red filter, lightbox overall – 241 lux (2.43), a 93% reduction
The meter doesn’t lie. These are huge reductions in transmitted light, just as those in the know said. But that doesn’t mean they’re useless – just inefficient. On high, both allow enough light for me to easily see details up to 20 ft or so. Of course, the lost light is being turned into heat by the filters, so I’m sure they will deform, maybe even melt, if used on high for extended periods. They do seem functional for short to medium run times on high, and longer run times on the LH’s lower levels.
Subjectively, the red filter on the LH UI1 level 2 is plenty of light to read by – I could clearly make out the print on a bottle of hydrogen peroxide at a distance of 3 feet. The blue filter on UI1 level 2 is sufficient to see a small drop of fresh blood on a dark blue t-shirt from 3 ft away (I’m diabetic, so this was easy to test). The filters have no obvious impact on the beam shape.
Chris, before you add the cost and bulk of a Surefire filter, you might want to pick up one of these Garrity lights and give its red filter on the LH a go in the cockpit. Even if you go up to level 3, I don’t think heat will be problem, even if it’s used continuously for a while. If you like it, you’ve got a small solution at a third the cost of the much larger SF filters, and you’ve got a really nice Nichia-based light to boot.
Thanks, Tweek, for mentioning the Garrity! I won’t use the filters much, so they’re a much better value to me than a SF filter. Functionally, these are almost exactly what I wanted.
