eyeeatingfish
Enlightened
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2007
- Messages
- 920
Moderator please post in the review forum if applicable, thanks
Got these two lights after waiting about a week. They only ship UPS which I thought would be faster but I told them to make it ground because air to Hawaii is expensive. Ironically you can ship ground to Hawaii, go figure.
Yes their website is bad and their ordering page is not much better but I had read so many good reviews I decided to buy from the anyway. Because I wanted a different battery tube than what was listed I had to call PEAK to place my order since the ordering page doesnt seem to list much in the way of options. Bob at peak is a nice enough guy but seemed a little slow with the computerized credit card system. But hey if the light is great then i think such an inconvenience is worth it. Also as Bob generally sells certain models more than others not all options are stocked and he did not seem to know all the stats on the various options that I had questions about. He was good enough to pull out his measuring tape and find out what I asked about though which I think is good service.
So they came in a small box wrapped in bubble wrap, nothing fancy. No receipt but oh well.
So first the FR400 because its the main expensive light I wanted. Using it to replace my MRV Q2 for a duty light.
I got the adjustable version for $220.00
http://www.em-mgt.com/LED/FR400.html
1. The body is different than pictured but I wanted one that is an 18650 body as the pictured one that has the option to run off of AA batteries too is too long for my holster. Its not a usual knurling, rather a spiral sort of design. Its not the same but it feels aggressive enough to not slip. Anodizing looks basic, ind of dull, but this is not meant to be a pretty light. Its not as heavy as my MRV which can bee good or bad. Maybe the thermal ability is not as great but the PEAK has cooling fins...
2. The adjustment knob is interesting. Its simple in operation and can be turned one handed. You have to sort of reposition the light depending on your grip to reach the knob but it works. It does not offer much resistance. It does not have any wiggle room or feel cheap but if the light were to rotate in my hand the knob could be turned my my stationary pinky. Maybe not a problem. In operation I found that the entire turn is not utilized. It reaches its highest level at about half way through the turn. Maybe with 2 cells which is supposed to have 30 percent more brightness or so utilizes more of the turn? EDIT: Upon using this light at work I found that depending on how it was positioned in my holster that when I grabbed the light my finger would rub against the dial and it would turn a little bit. Since it requires almost a half turn before it goes dimmer I am not to worried, I just made sure to reset the dial. A harder to turn dial would solve this problem but would also make single hand operation more difficult.
3. The tail cap works as you would expect. It has temporary on. It cannot stand because the button protrudes slightly but in my holster the weight of the flashlight does not make it come on. It cannot tail stand. Interesting thing is that the recessed button is not actually recessed but has a removable sleeve so it can act as a protected button or an unprotected button.
4. The reflector assembly and a protecting lens are held on by some sort of black plastic ring that threads onto the head of the light. Not sure what type but it might be delrin. Surprisingly there are no o rings to seal off the head of the light. It seems like it would need 2 for a proper seal. I will check with peak to see if this is right.
5. Output seems good. I don't have much current to compare it to other than my Q2 MRV. I will use 1 18650 batter for it. Side by side the PEAK is of course brighter whit a wider hotspot but a more narrow flood.
Low is very low, sort of moon mode low. High is well high. There are some artifacts in the beam but no weird rings, just sort of spots that are lightly darker. The beam is also squarish at close range. I don't think I would notice it unless I point it up close at a white wall. The transition from hot spot to flood is not smooth and gradual, rather there appears to be the bright hotspot, a slightly larger maybe medium brightness secondary hot spot and then the dimmer flood area. Its not ugly or anything its just that up close you can see the transition area. The overall beam is a good deal more narrow than my MRV which I figured was going to happen but I accept that. It seems comparable to the Pelican 7060 but Ill have to try that later at work. Its bright right now so I cant see how well it throws.
OVERALL: I used this light at work today a few times. It compared it to thePelican 7060 and the throw distance was comparable. The 7060 with its very narrow reflector does a pretty good job at throwing. The FR400 has a little bit wider flood which is better.
This light is not going to win any throw competitions but it will still reach out and light up a target. The important note, I think, is that the hotspot that does reach out is nice and large so you can see a wider area at distance than you might with some of thrower kings right now. I will compare it to my friends M30 later this week.
Now for the EL CAPITAN:
Got the aluminum version with a stainless steel switch in a #8 power with a narrow beam
1. The body is not much to look at, a tube with some knurling. With the button it is longer than my Nitecore D10 but a little bit skinnier which is nice for the pockets.
2. The switch is easy enough to install. It was my understanding that the switch would be for temporary on and if you wanted constant on you turn the head all the way down. I don't know if mine is broken but with the head fully tightened the light doesn't come on. I will ask PEAK about this. Also it seems that when I push the bottom the light sort of flickers even with a fresh charged nimh AA. Pushed all the way in it seems to generally stay at high but anything less and it kind of flickers randomly low to high. Maybe the contacts are dirty.
3. It has a rather wide hot spot with zero artifacts. The flood is very smooth but not real bright, haven't tried it out in the real dark to see yet though. The nitecore D10 appears like it will throw farther because it has a brighter and smaller hotspot whereas the El is wider but not as bright. Advantages depend on the application. I thin if you are working on a car engine the wider hotspot will be much more useful. It should fit in my zebralight head strap. The El Capitan also seems to have a slight greenish tint whereas my D10 seems a little warmer. Maybe this is just how the R5s are?Capitan
Tried a 14500 in the El Capitan and it is much brighter, even than the hot spot of the Nitecore D10's hotspot with a NiMH AA cell.
OVERALL I am not sure what to think of the light. It handmade in America but I am not all that impressed with the beam other than its perfect shape. Maybe a wide hotspot is something I will find more useful las I use the light. Unfortunately there is no pocket clip option or keychain option with the switch installed but I knew that was going to be like that. If there is no constant on option with the switch installed then I might have to run the keychain ring but I think I will end up sticking to my Nitecore D10 as my keychain light.
I think that if I had ordered this in a low level, maybe #2 or 3 it would have been a great camping and survival light with its smooth wide hotspot, low level and long runtime.
Got these two lights after waiting about a week. They only ship UPS which I thought would be faster but I told them to make it ground because air to Hawaii is expensive. Ironically you can ship ground to Hawaii, go figure.
Yes their website is bad and their ordering page is not much better but I had read so many good reviews I decided to buy from the anyway. Because I wanted a different battery tube than what was listed I had to call PEAK to place my order since the ordering page doesnt seem to list much in the way of options. Bob at peak is a nice enough guy but seemed a little slow with the computerized credit card system. But hey if the light is great then i think such an inconvenience is worth it. Also as Bob generally sells certain models more than others not all options are stocked and he did not seem to know all the stats on the various options that I had questions about. He was good enough to pull out his measuring tape and find out what I asked about though which I think is good service.
So they came in a small box wrapped in bubble wrap, nothing fancy. No receipt but oh well.
So first the FR400 because its the main expensive light I wanted. Using it to replace my MRV Q2 for a duty light.
I got the adjustable version for $220.00
http://www.em-mgt.com/LED/FR400.html
1. The body is different than pictured but I wanted one that is an 18650 body as the pictured one that has the option to run off of AA batteries too is too long for my holster. Its not a usual knurling, rather a spiral sort of design. Its not the same but it feels aggressive enough to not slip. Anodizing looks basic, ind of dull, but this is not meant to be a pretty light. Its not as heavy as my MRV which can bee good or bad. Maybe the thermal ability is not as great but the PEAK has cooling fins...
2. The adjustment knob is interesting. Its simple in operation and can be turned one handed. You have to sort of reposition the light depending on your grip to reach the knob but it works. It does not offer much resistance. It does not have any wiggle room or feel cheap but if the light were to rotate in my hand the knob could be turned my my stationary pinky. Maybe not a problem. In operation I found that the entire turn is not utilized. It reaches its highest level at about half way through the turn. Maybe with 2 cells which is supposed to have 30 percent more brightness or so utilizes more of the turn? EDIT: Upon using this light at work I found that depending on how it was positioned in my holster that when I grabbed the light my finger would rub against the dial and it would turn a little bit. Since it requires almost a half turn before it goes dimmer I am not to worried, I just made sure to reset the dial. A harder to turn dial would solve this problem but would also make single hand operation more difficult.
3. The tail cap works as you would expect. It has temporary on. It cannot stand because the button protrudes slightly but in my holster the weight of the flashlight does not make it come on. It cannot tail stand. Interesting thing is that the recessed button is not actually recessed but has a removable sleeve so it can act as a protected button or an unprotected button.
4. The reflector assembly and a protecting lens are held on by some sort of black plastic ring that threads onto the head of the light. Not sure what type but it might be delrin. Surprisingly there are no o rings to seal off the head of the light. It seems like it would need 2 for a proper seal. I will check with peak to see if this is right.
5. Output seems good. I don't have much current to compare it to other than my Q2 MRV. I will use 1 18650 batter for it. Side by side the PEAK is of course brighter whit a wider hotspot but a more narrow flood.
Low is very low, sort of moon mode low. High is well high. There are some artifacts in the beam but no weird rings, just sort of spots that are lightly darker. The beam is also squarish at close range. I don't think I would notice it unless I point it up close at a white wall. The transition from hot spot to flood is not smooth and gradual, rather there appears to be the bright hotspot, a slightly larger maybe medium brightness secondary hot spot and then the dimmer flood area. Its not ugly or anything its just that up close you can see the transition area. The overall beam is a good deal more narrow than my MRV which I figured was going to happen but I accept that. It seems comparable to the Pelican 7060 but Ill have to try that later at work. Its bright right now so I cant see how well it throws.
OVERALL: I used this light at work today a few times. It compared it to thePelican 7060 and the throw distance was comparable. The 7060 with its very narrow reflector does a pretty good job at throwing. The FR400 has a little bit wider flood which is better.
This light is not going to win any throw competitions but it will still reach out and light up a target. The important note, I think, is that the hotspot that does reach out is nice and large so you can see a wider area at distance than you might with some of thrower kings right now. I will compare it to my friends M30 later this week.
Now for the EL CAPITAN:
Got the aluminum version with a stainless steel switch in a #8 power with a narrow beam
1. The body is not much to look at, a tube with some knurling. With the button it is longer than my Nitecore D10 but a little bit skinnier which is nice for the pockets.
2. The switch is easy enough to install. It was my understanding that the switch would be for temporary on and if you wanted constant on you turn the head all the way down. I don't know if mine is broken but with the head fully tightened the light doesn't come on. I will ask PEAK about this. Also it seems that when I push the bottom the light sort of flickers even with a fresh charged nimh AA. Pushed all the way in it seems to generally stay at high but anything less and it kind of flickers randomly low to high. Maybe the contacts are dirty.
3. It has a rather wide hot spot with zero artifacts. The flood is very smooth but not real bright, haven't tried it out in the real dark to see yet though. The nitecore D10 appears like it will throw farther because it has a brighter and smaller hotspot whereas the El is wider but not as bright. Advantages depend on the application. I thin if you are working on a car engine the wider hotspot will be much more useful. It should fit in my zebralight head strap. The El Capitan also seems to have a slight greenish tint whereas my D10 seems a little warmer. Maybe this is just how the R5s are?Capitan
Tried a 14500 in the El Capitan and it is much brighter, even than the hot spot of the Nitecore D10's hotspot with a NiMH AA cell.
OVERALL I am not sure what to think of the light. It handmade in America but I am not all that impressed with the beam other than its perfect shape. Maybe a wide hotspot is something I will find more useful las I use the light. Unfortunately there is no pocket clip option or keychain option with the switch installed but I knew that was going to be like that. If there is no constant on option with the switch installed then I might have to run the keychain ring but I think I will end up sticking to my Nitecore D10 as my keychain light.
I think that if I had ordered this in a low level, maybe #2 or 3 it would have been a great camping and survival light with its smooth wide hotspot, low level and long runtime.
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