NEW LumaPower MRV SideKick

[Sgt. LED]

NEW LumaPower MRV SideKick discussion

This cool light needs it's own thread!

I was expecting a big heavy light tha would not be very pocketable but boy was I wrong. It isn't heavy but it does feel quite solid.

Mine came with a bad clicky but while waiting for Matt's guys to get me a new one out I decided I could put in a McClicky. It works great now.

The throw is nuts and the hotspot is so focused it is pretty small with the smooth reflector. The super part of this light is the sidekick button!
I hate multi level lights. The light is on, off, in the wrong mode, I need high and it's in low, I want low and BAM I am blind. Well with this light it comes on in the same mode you left it in, and the sidekick will change modes even while the light is off. So if you know you left it on in high you just have to click the sidekick a couple of times and you are ready to activate it - no blindness!

The light comes with 2 reflectors a handfull of o-rings and an extra glow switch boot. It is driven to 1.2 so it is 280Lu with 6+ volts and with 1 18650 you will get about 225Lu. You can also buy the extra tube so it can run on 2 18650's but I thought it would be a bit too long. You would get some awesome runtimes though!

I need to play around with the OP reflector eventually, but this is a throw designed light and that's what I want it for.

Tell me your experiences if you have any, I want to get some fellow owners feedback! I can also answer some questions if you have them.

Sadly the clicky falure rate is high at this point but it is VERY early in the game so it's probably a fluke, but that's why you buy from Matt! Quick free replacement switches if need be!

 

[tx101]

Hey Sgt ... you havent answered the question everybody wants to know ....

Can it outthrow a DBS ????

PS .. Im still waiting for my one Guess it takes a little longer to ship it across the pond

PS2 ... was the McClicky a straight swap for the stock clicky

 

[Sgt. LED]

I don't have a DBS so I can't say. A DBS owner could measure the width of the hotspot at perhaps 12 feet from a wall and I could do the same. That might help? Or I might be having brain farts.


The McClicky will fit after you widen the hold in the Al inner switch holder by 1 1/2 mm and then make some sort of negitive path from the New clicky to the side of the Al switch holder. 3 minutes tops.
Very easy and tomorrow I will post a few pics to show the few steps needed. I am currently at work.

 

[tx101]

Thanks Sgt ..... cant stand reverse clickies

 

[phantom23]

I hate forward clickies - it's a matter of taste.

 

[tsask]

great thread, thanks. I've been eyeing the Sidekick since Matt released it.

Do you know how it compares with the Tiablo A-9?

 

[276]

i just ordered one of these hope to have by Monday but the switch issue i hope i luck out on!

 

[Fusion_m8]

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=205174I was going to purchase a DBS, but I'll wait to see if the MRV will outperform the DBS for throw and brightness.

 

[TDKKP]

Sgt. LED,

Looks like the switch is the problem with more people not only you, the first customer here got the light. You posted on the other thread about replacing it with pair of needle pliers and that would be my problem because I don't have one. My needle pliers is using to fix big thing like cars, trucks, ... so it won't fit in the tail cap. I wonder why they didn't exchange the whole tail cap so we don't have to do anything just unscrew it like replacing batteries. It's a defective light so we shouldn't have to fix it, replacing it is already a bad feeling from a brand new product just hit the market.

I've been thinking about DBS V2 and then I saw this MRV SideKick coming but with this problem I'm not sure about its quality anymore. Also no one can prove it throws better than DBS yet.

 

[Burgess]

Thank you, Sgt.LED, for starting this thread.

:thumbsup:
_

 

[Sgt. LED]

If you are going to be an early adopter of a new model you have to expect a few bugs. I don't like it but I am resigned to my fate.

Now they will let you exchange the tailcaps but I think you gotta pay to send the bad cap back.

I have to tell you that if you are going to go whole hog into the flashlight world you really need a set of long fine tipped needle nosed pliers.
I got a pair at sears for like 5 bucks.

At ths point they have been worth about 200 bucks, easy!

 

[Sgt. LED]

Thank you, Sgt.LED, for starting this thread.

:thumbsup:
_

And thank you for posting in it pal!

 

[mechBgon]

I got my MRV SK today, along with batteries and two chargers (one for work, one for home). Thanks to MattK and his evil minions at BatteryJunction


1) My MRV's switches work fine

2) I threw one of the batteries into it, with whatever charge level they arrive with, to check out the beam pattern. The hotspot is much smaller when using the smooth reflector, and the beam is somewhat ringy. The OP reflector produces a beautiful beam, but with a more spread-out hot spot (naturally).

3) I also put that battery into the Olight M20 Warrior Premium R2 (with OP reflector). The Olight's hotspot is larger and not as intense (which I doubt is a surprise to anyone).

4) The fit & finish of the MRV SK looks great.

5) I bought the MRV SK to serve as a "high beam" headlight for my commuting bicycles, in order to reach way down the road so I can see rocks, lumber, trash and other hazards with some time to react, instead of right as I'm about to run over them. It will be mounted to the frame of the bike so it steers with the bike as a whole, not with the handlebars.

I did a preliminary test run on one of my bicycles, using the partially-charged battery and the smooth reflector. It's an improvement over my DiNotte 600L alone, but (1) the MRV's beam is quite narrow, and (2) I still want more lumens, so... it's a good thing my M65 extender arrives on Monday, huh? :thumbsup: I can use the OP reflector with the M65 for more lumens and a little more beam width, not to mention double the runtime. With an assist from the M20 Warrior Premium R2 (intended as my helmet light), I should be able to spot the road-killed porcupine with time to spare, even at 30mph+


Sgt. LED, I took some photos. Would it be better to post them in your thread, or make a new thread?

 

[WadeF]

Can it out throw a DBS ????

Hopefully Selfbuilt or another reviewer will be able to take some lux readings and compare it to the DBS, but I think it's safe to say it will not out throw the DBS when running on 1x18650. The DBS runs the Q5 (or R2 for those of us lucky to have one of the limited R2 modules) at 1.2A from a single 18650. The MRV SK only powers the Q5 at 1.2A with 2xCR123A, or 2xR123. So it really comes down to the reflector when both lights are running at full potential. The MRV was trailing in the thrower battle behind the Tiablo, Raidfire, and DBS. I think it will now be closer to the Raidfire and DBS, but in the end I have a feeling the DBS will still be king, but in the real world it will probably be hard to see much difference between any of them in actual use.

Sorry to hear about the clicky switch failures a couple of you had off the bat.

 

[fieldops]

I got mine on Friday. I agree on the fit and finish being good. I also have to admit that I like the sidekick idea. I didn't think I would, but it is a nifty feature. It is definitely brighter than my MRV SE Q5. It is also brighter than my Tiablo A9. It appears to out throw the A9. At 100m, it's definitely noticeable. I did notice that the outer area of the hotspot was brighter than the others. Upon inspection of the reflector, it appears like there is some texturing on the flat surface surrounding the LED. I'm not sure if it was intended, or just a material defect. I'll ask Ricky and Matt in the Lumapower foum. It does not hurt the throw, it's just different from my other two MRV reflectors. All in all its a super light. Being just a bit longer, it feels more balanced in my hand than the others. Definitely a keeper.

 

[Sgt. LED]

Yo give us the pics here if you would be so kind. Since I'm stuck at work all night and can't!


I am actualy a little glad of the clicky failure! Without it I never would of thought to try to put in the McClicky. :shrug:

And my smooth reflector's flat ring around the bottom has 0 texture.
My op reflector is a light op. Which is cool for me!

 

[mechBgon]

Sure thing, hope these are reasonably fast-loading

The retail box

The flashlight's lens end is protected by a piece of foam

The box's contents, plus the free OP reflector that BatteryJunction gives you on the side. There's also a little baggie with spare O-rings and GITD button cover.

Smooth reflector installed

Size perspective shot

Thumb-on-tail-clickie hold

Thumb-on-SideKick-button hold

Is that an MRV in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me? :kiss:

Obligatory artsy shot #1

Obligatory artsy shot #2

Underexposed shot of MRV SK on partially-charged battery, next to the ubiquitous Fenix L2D Premium Q5 on fresh NiMH. Taken in black-&-white to eliminate color-temperature differences.

MRV SK with smooth reflector, see next pic for OP reflector at same camera settings.

MRV SK with OP reflector, see previous pic for smooth reflector at same camera settings.

 

[Sgt. LED]

Awesome! It doesn't look like much throw is lost with your OP reflector. Well at that range anyway....... Spill looks real nice.

Thanks for the pics, we need them.
I keep playing with this light here at work, actually I just blinded a nurse with it.
Sorry

 

[mechBgon]

Also, since I saw that people were curious about the SideKick button, I took a very short video clip for them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN0-yIod1No

And now perhaps a short bike ride to a dark sports field is in order, since the 18650s just finished charging

Update: I went on my short bike ride, and took along the Fenix L2D Q5, the Olight M20 Warrior Premium and the MRV SK, plus my DiNotte 600L base system. The Olight seems to outperform the MRV SK overall as a "high-beam" bicycle headlight. It'll be interesting to see if the MRV SK can edge out the M20 once it's got the M65 extension and the full 1.2 amps to play with. Hopefully I'll find out Monday night.

Naturally, I ended up cruising around with ALL the lights on

 

[MattK]

Great write up and pics!

Addressing the switches: We have 2 reported failures and over a 100 lights shipped. While we'd obviously prefer NO failures I don't think that 2 bad switches makes 'a high failure rate' or 'issue'. We stock spares for just this type of problem.

Remember LP doesn't make the switch internals (very few mfrs make their own switch internals) so while you could say maybe they should QC every switch it's not fair to say that it represents a quality problem with the light; I think the quality is evident when you handle the light.

If anyone wants a reverse clicky instead of a forward clicky I think we could accomodate a request. I'll have to check next week but I think the old style reverse clickies from one of the previous generations will fit.

In our casual testing the MRV SK easily out throws an A9 on 1x8650 and significantly overpowers it with 2 x CR123A 0r 2x18650.