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My experience with Peak and the Matterhorn 3-LED

Lumenz

Enlightened
Joined
Nov 24, 2005
Messages
344
Location
Bay Area, CA
I would really like to purchase a Matterhorn AAA 3-LED (Ultra-Power). I used to have one but it jumped off my belt one day, never to be found again. I thought it was a great light for my application (working on computers) since it gives a nice, even flood.

However, the light is so hard to turn on! The body is so smooth that it is hard to grip it well and the head is so tight (due to the large O-ring) that it requires a bit of force to get the thing to turn on and off. Without the O-ring it turns just find, but then it seems as if the head will fall off.
:awman:
So then I thought, "Why don't I just get one of those momentary switches for the light and not even worry about turning the head?" So I went to the website to get a switch for the HAIII light and... there isn't one. I see one for brass and one for stainless steel, but none for the HAIII.
:wtf:
Then I read srvctec's thread about putting Plasti-Dip on his Matterhorn to improve the grip, which seems to have worked well for him. And then I thought to myself, "Self... why would you pay extra money to add some grip to a light which should have had grip to begin with?" Not only would it be an extra cost, but it would add some girth to a light which would be purchased for its small size.

It looks like I will be using my Fenix L0P instead of the Matterhorn. The L0P is a little brighter than I would like but at least I can easily turn it on and off without any modifications.
 
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Lebkuecher

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 5, 2003
Messages
1,654
Location
Nashville TN
Re: Why I am not buying a Matterhorn AAA...

I got great news for you. I just got a Matterhorn AAA 3-LED today and the head turns perfectly. So my guess is if you order tonight you will get one out of the same batch and you will be a happy camper. Now you want be stuck with a poorly regulated over sized light that only last an hour on a battery.
 

paulr

Flashaholic
Joined
Mar 29, 2003
Messages
10,832
Re: Why I am not buying a Matterhorn AAA...

I've never had any trouble turning any of mine (1 brass, 1 stainless, 2 HA). Maybe you had a bad one and should have returned it for servicing.
 

BentHeadTX

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Sep 29, 2002
Messages
3,892
Location
A very strange dark place
Re: Why I am not buying a Matterhorn AAA...

Never had any problem with my two HA-III Matterhorns. The guys at work have them (white/red/UV) and no complaints either. The Pacific AAA should have a very easy to grip head, the head is much larger to aid in grip.

Instead of plastic dip, try a piece of heat shrink it will do the same thing.
 

randyo

Enlightened
Joined
Sep 15, 2005
Messages
398
Location
Hayward (Bay Area) CA, USA
Re: Why I am not buying a Matterhorn AAA...

Victim of the O-ring lottery perhaps.
I had a tight Matterhorn single head and replaced the O-ring with an older ARC AAA O-ring, and changed the lube to Krytox 50-50. Now it turns nice and EZ. Of course, if you are dead set on the L0P, keep an eye on the For Sale forum. Mine is going to post there sometime this week - slightly used - and probably around the $38 shipped range.
 

lumitoid

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jun 18, 2002
Messages
110
Re: Why I am not buying a Matterhorn AAA...

I got a 3 led Matterhorn about a month ago and it turned very tight. Put a little silicon grease on the o ring and it is perfect. The 3 led matterhorn pocket has one big advantage over the pacfic, my pocket version is about half the size. I really like this light.
 

Lumenz

Enlightened
Joined
Nov 24, 2005
Messages
344
Location
Bay Area, CA
Re: Why I am not buying a Matterhorn AAA...

I hear a lot about the L0P having a low runtime on an alkaline battery, but rarely any mention of the Matterhorn runtime.

On FlashlightReviews, the L0P ran for 32 minutes to 50% output. The Matterhorn ran for 45 minutes to 50% output.

Therefore, the Matterhorn has ~50% more runtime than the Fenix has. However, if you look at the output, the Fenix has ~100% more output than the Matterhorn.

So I guess the question is: What is more important, runtime or output?

Note: The runtime and output are based on the Ultra LED for the Matterhorn.

FlashlightReviews info on the Fenix L0P: http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/fenix_l0p.htm

FlashlightReviews info on the Peak Matterhorn 3-LED: http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/peakled_matterhorn_3.htm
 

paulr

Flashaholic
Joined
Mar 29, 2003
Messages
10,832
Re: Why I am not buying a Matterhorn AAA...

I'd say alkalines are "emergency use only" for both these lights. Use nimh or lithium when you can.

Also, the Matterhorn has a very short (5 min) initial spike, but if you don't count that (i.e. say it starts out at about 70% brightness) then the runtime to half of the 70% is well over 2 hours. And it's still doing something useful at 4+ hours.
 
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Lumenz

Enlightened
Joined
Nov 24, 2005
Messages
344
Location
Bay Area, CA
Re: Why I am not buying a Matterhorn AAA...

I don't use alkalines in any of my flashlights; I just mentioned alkalines since that is what most of the runtime tests use.

After looking at the Matterhorn again and ignoring that first 5-minute drop in brightness, it is actually quite an impressive runtime.

:sold:

I think I'll buy another Matterhorn 3-LED. If I have any problems with turning the head on this one, I'll contact MJ to see what can be done.
 

CroMAGnet

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Sep 4, 2004
Messages
2,540
Location
Los Gatos, CA
Re: I have been talked into buying the Matterhorn...again

I just got my new matterhorn today and was surprised how hard it is to turn on. I have some krydex lube inbound so I'll see if that helps :shrug: My new L0P rawks though!!
 

Hans

Enlightened
Joined
Jan 4, 2005
Messages
361
Re: I have been talked into buying the Matterhorn...again

CroMAGnet said:
I just got my new matterhorn today and was surprised how hard it is to turn on.

I actually prefer lights that are not easy to turn on, especially when it comes to small lights that live somewhere in my pockets. Having a guarantee the light doesn't come on by accident draining the battery is well worth the little extra effort it takes to turn it on, I feel.

YMMV, as usual.
 

NoShadow

Enlightened
Joined
Jan 4, 2004
Messages
208
Re: I have been talked into buying the Matterhorn...again

Hans said:
I actually prefer lights that are not easy to turn on, especially when it comes to small lights that live somewhere in my pockets. Having a guarantee the light doesn't come on by accident draining the battery is well worth the little extra effort it takes to turn it on, I feel.

YMMV, as usual.


I agree. Besides, it's good exercise.
 

lumitoid

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jun 18, 2002
Messages
110
Re: I have been talked into buying the Matterhorn...again

CroMAGnet said:
I just got my new matterhorn today and was surprised how hard it is to turn on. I have some krydex lube inbound so I'll see if that helps :shrug: My new L0P rawks though!!
The lube will help a lot.
 

Lumenz

Enlightened
Joined
Nov 24, 2005
Messages
344
Location
Bay Area, CA
Re: I have been talked into buying the Matterhorn...again

CroMAGnet said:
I just got my new matterhorn today and was surprised how hard it is to turn on. I have some krydex lube inbound so I'll see if that helps :shrug: My new L0P rawks though!!
I am hoping my incoming one isn't as hard to turn as my last one. I tried some lube but that did not help at all. The O-ring was definitely too thick--my Matterhorn 1-LED (which I gave away) had the exact same problem, although it wasn't nearly as hard to turn as the 3-LED.
 

CroMAGnet

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Sep 4, 2004
Messages
2,540
Location
Los Gatos, CA
Re: I have been talked into buying the Matterhorn...again

I got the Krytol and put it on the Matterhorn. The stuff is sliiiiiiiipeerrry! Anyway, the light is easier to turn on and off but definately could use a tiny bit more grip in my medium to large size hand.
 

Lumenz

Enlightened
Joined
Nov 24, 2005
Messages
344
Location
Bay Area, CA
Re: I have been talked into buying the Matterhorn...again

I got my Matterhorn 3-LED today. I was not impressed. When I sent my PayPal order, I wrote a note asking for them to make sure the head turned easily before sending it to me. Apparently that note was ignored because the head was so tight that I could barely move it. Then I removed the O-ring entirely and it was still a little difficult to turn. A little lube and it is now almost as easy to turn as my Arc-P.

Yes, that is without the O-ring. Fortunately, I was able to take the O-ring off one of my "Chinese E-Bay clone" lights to stick on the Matterhorn. I don't know how well it seals, but it is better than nothing and only adds a little extra effort to turn it.

I can assure you that I will never be doing business with Peak again. I am not going to bother returning it in order to get a "better" 3-LED because I do not think one exists. I will stick with companies with a QA department that make quality lights.
 

lumitoid

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jun 18, 2002
Messages
110
Re: Why I regret buying a Matterhorn 3-LED

Lumenz. Why don't you send it back and get a refund mabey they will start listening if everyone quits buying them. I must have lucked up and got a good one. Another reason the good flahlights are coming from China. The US mfg are doing it to themselves.
 

NoShadow

Enlightened
Joined
Jan 4, 2004
Messages
208
Re: I have been talked into buying the Matterhorn...again

Lumenz said:
I got my Matterhorn 3-LED today. I was not impressed. When I sent my PayPal order, I wrote a note asking for them to make sure the head turned easily before sending it to me. Apparently that note was ignored because the head was so tight that I could barely move it. Then I removed the O-ring entirely and it was still a little difficult to turn. A little lube and it is now almost as easy to turn as my Arc-P.

Yes, that is without the O-ring. Fortunately, I was able to take the O-ring off one of my "Chinese E-Bay clone" lights to stick on the Matterhorn. I don't know how well it seals, but it is better than nothing and only adds a little extra effort to turn it.

I can assure you that I will never be doing business with Peak again. I am not going to bother returning it in order to get a "better" 3-LED because I do not think one exists. I will stick with companies with a QA department that make quality lights.

How nice. With you and lumitoid not buying Peak lights there will more for the rest of us to buy. So long now. You probably won't be missed.
 

lumitoid

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jun 18, 2002
Messages
110
Re: Why I regret buying a Matterhorn 3-LED

NoShadow, I did not mean to hit a sour spot. It just gets to me how some American mfg do buisness. You know peak reads these threads and I have read a lot of threads about how the Matterhorn's are hard to turn, why not fix it instead of ingnoring it. Better yet fix it before you put it on the market. I like Peak light's, I carry one all the time. I will probally buy a pacifc. When Peter of Arc found a problem he would let every one know and do his best to take care of it, not ignore it. I just have never had an arc aaa that I was satisified with the tint with. Thats why I went with the snow matterhorn. If we did not have any constructive criticism on this board it would be a boring place. Everyone have a good weekend.
 
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