As promised.....some REALLY poor shots taken with my cell phone camera. Actually worse than I expected since it's a 2 megapixel camera which is (I thought) better than average (1.2 or so MPs?)
Anyone with the patience (or interest) to read all this will see some lack of consistency. I mention more than a couple of times I've been having a problem not staying logged in. I hit the submit button and lose everything. I can't stay focused and sane after trying to re-write it all over and over. So please excuse the disjointed and possibly confusing parts....stuff that may seem out of context, whatever. I'm so dizzy from doing this I can't even effectively "proof read" it any more. So as I think I said or say later in this post....I'll be glad to address specific questions...if i can. Maybe I should have just taken my poor cell phone camera pics and left it at that instead of getting so carried away trying to compare the new RR to so many other lights. Some of which are probably good lights and fair to compare and some not. (It's not easy being a "newbie").
Thanks all for your patience and consideration! (In advance).
Anyway, the picture quality sucks but I think at least the size of the lights is demonstrated by scale....One pic taken alongside a Fenix P1D and the the (new? at least it's new to me) Coleman 2xC2 Cree. I also have a Coleman 3xAAA Cree...same advertised 115 lumens - with a red and a blue emitter. That light is quite a bit larger (about double I'd guess) than the 2xC2 as would be expected. The 2xC2 is a bit large for pocket carry (IMO),but possible...the 3XAAA is too large (but has an advertised run time of 6 hours as opposed to 2 hours on the 2xC2 Coleman.....not sure how that really figures (on the blue or red emitter they say 50 hours which seems realistic).
Other observations I made in the last post before losing it all.......I lost everything after doing a fairly comprehensive post giving my impressions of this light....for some reason I am not staying logged into CFP lately ..any suggestions would be very welcome...never had this problem before and now it's constant and very annoying. I post while logged in, then lose everything (I'll remember to "save" this if I need to paste it onto a "fresh" blank post)...you'd think I'd learn after once or twice but so far I'm impressed with my stupidity! LOL
I looked at the packaging I mentioned in the last post that was still in my car. Runtime says 20 hours at full brightness and then another 40 hours of "useable" light. Also says it has a DC-DC buck/boost regulation (which confuses me....I would have thought it would go full brightness and then stop. But the package says otherwise). Still in car, raining hard, so I'm doing this by memory.
As for the beam.....(no oportunity yet to try these outoors at night..all white wall "hunting" at about 15 feet)..
the 136 lumen rating would seem "fair" if we consider Fenix ratings "fair"...noticeably (not greatly) brighter than my P1 Q2 (one level) light which I believe is supposed to be about 95 lumens (Fenix lumens) - It's also about equal in output to my P1D Q5 on medium which IIRC is also about the same 90+ lumens. It seems quite close to my 6xAAA Dorcy (I am assuming the Dorcy seems brighter but isn't giving out as much light overall...it has a very tight hot spot and not much spill. The RR Cree has a very nice even and bright spill.
I compared this light to a bunch of other lights and was impressed down the line. Compared to my Inova XO3, the hot spot is very close, but the Inova again has less apparent spill (again....this is on a wall at about a dozen or 15 feet). I'll be interested to see real life throw outdoors at night. I believe the XO3 is quoted at 85 "Inova" type lumens. The XO3, like the Dorcy (unknown emitter) has a tighter hot spot and less bright spill on the wall. I am always impressed with the XO3's throw outdoors, so the comparison will be interesting (if it ever stops raining). I'm gonna borrow my son's or brother's camera if I can if no one gets beam shots posted here before I get a chance. Problem is both of their cameras are point and shoot so no control over shutter speed or aperture.
Other (white wall) comparisons:
Inova Bolt 2xC123.....the Bolt hotspot was VERY similar, but again the spill was dimmer (but about the same size on the wall) as the RR Cree. Another comparison I'd like to do in the real world (outdoors at night). I like the bolt a lot, but I'm sure (well, not "sure", but I'd guess that the RR should have a much greater run time on the 2xC as opposed to the primary C123s the Bolt uses. RR package says 20 hours full power and then another 40 hours of "usable" light....20 hours of full power seems amazing to me. Too good to be true? (You know what they say). Anyway, I'm visiting a friend otherwise I'd leave the light on and see...certainly C cell alkalines are WAY less expensive than the primary lithiums I use in all my other lights (except my D cell Mag). Wonder why they don't make lithiums in anything larger than AA? I'd think this RR Cree would be a perfect truck light, but I'd be afraid of dead cells when I'd need the light in an emergency. Rechargeables are again not ideal for an emergency light that might sit unused for a year or more. (So I keep only primary lithium lights in my car).
The Coleman (115 advertised lumens) with the 3xAAA carrier would seem to be a more reasonable light to compare to the RR than the Coleman 2xC2 due to the less expensive cells (and for whatever reason, Coleman claims greater run time than the 2 hours on the 2xC2...IIRC they claimi 6 hours....again, no idea what that really means. My guess is that it's gonna be about the same 2 hours then fade away for another 4 hours? (Certainly others here can give more educated guesses than me). 6 volts as opposed to 4.5 volts with resistors?
Running out of things to say. My 3xD maglight with the Mag drop in LED is quite a bit brighter than any other light I have at the moment as far as hot spot....but NO spill at all. (I have successfully mounted that Mag on a 165 yard par 3 at the tee (my backyard for a while last year) and it illluminated the green well enough to putt.....I know people knock Mag's "old tech" LEDs, but it certainly is a hard thrower IMO (the $18 or so emitter is quite expensive for an upgrade to a $20 light, so I EXPECT results and it certainly does deliver on pure throw.....as far as overall usefullness, that's another story. The focus is completey useless with the LED IMO, so it's all throw...
Not sure what else to say. So I'll be glad to answer questions if I can and post beam shots if (when) I get my hands on a useable digital camera. (I actually borrowed my brother's Sony without his memory card....forgot it's a different format). So no success there. My son has a Canon, but like everything else he owns, he doesn't know exactly where it is....LOL.....good to be 23 and have no cares or worries. Let dad worry about it!
Other comparisons that seemed appropriate on a rainy day with a white wall.... the lights I have that I considered reasonable to compare impressions and/or beamshots are All the inova X series (X1, X5, XO, XO3). Obviously the X1 and X5 didn't get turned on once I dug them up. Even the XO was out of it's league. The XO3 was certainly a worthwhile unit to compare....too bad I was limited to indoors. I'll get a chance though (but truthfully I hope someone with a good camera and more knowledge beats me to it).
Fenix P1 Q2, and P1D Q5
All inova bolts (2x123, 2xAA and 2xAAA) -I think....LOL
Actually couldn't find my 2xAAA, but I don't see that as a contender.
Rayovac Sportsman Extreme 1 and 3 "watt" 2xAA
Brinkman Maxfire incan.
the Dorcy 6xAAA
All sorts of Mags...none of which seem approprate to compare to a cree anything IMO,
Ultrafire C3 (seems better to use to compare to a little Fenix....My pocket EDCs are the C3 and the P1s.
Many 5mm multi LED lights....none worth comparing to any cree or more modern emitter.
I'd say the build quality on this RR is very good. Probably fair to compare it to a mag. Not quite as impressive as the X series Inovas, but close. Maybe more equal to the Bolt series (I don't own any T series, so can't say).
The Colemans seem on about a par with this RR....but something about the RR just "feels" more "right", but nothing I can put my finger on.
Knurling at the tail cap for ease of battery change (I assume) - not sure of what kind of anodizing is used....don't want to take a knife to it to find out.
knurling at bezel....not sure why the bezel/reflector/lens comes off (may be an advantage to modders). But it does. Has substantial O rings front and rear....so water resistance figures to be good.
Forward clicky works great! The Colemans also have forward clickies (I think these ...the Coleman and the RR are the only TRUE forward clicky lights I now own....and on the two cree Colemans I have they work perfectly. I could NOT find the 2xAA Coleman cree the other day when shopping for the Cree Colemans, so I picked up the (cheap on sale) Coleman 2xAA non cree (five emitters...15 advertised lumens...fair run time but not nearly as efficient as the crees. (I once had a gen 2 Inova X1 run for over 80 hours after it would not even light up a .5 watt Rock River 1xAA...battery was dead and should have been in a recycling facility yet went for 80 hours (maybe 60 hours actually useable to some extent).
The 15 lumen Coleman 2xAA has an advertised run time of 7 hours. So obviously it can serve a purpose, but as far as efficiency, no where near the 2 hours of 115 lumens in the 2xC2 or the 6 hours stated for the 115 lumen 3xAAA (no idea how much time at full power....hard to imagine more than the 2xC2. I think? (long post) that I mentioned the red and blue emitters on the Coleman 3xAAA claim 50 hours. (The red seems only suitable for a darkroom...virtually no usable light in my completely dark closet -I'd guess my eyes would eventually adjust...The blue however is more than bright enough to use in leiu of a dimmer setting (non of the Coleman Crees are multi-level lights....same with the RR cree...it's on or off. Very bright when on!
Oh, almost forgot....like the big mags, the reflector is plastic....but it is OP rather than smooth. (May be why I'm so impressed with the spill).
Only other lights I mentioned that have OP reflectors are the two Fenix P1s and the spill on the P1D Q5 is fairly similar to the RR (Fenix on high). All the Inovas and others have smooth reflectors.
Reflector is plastic (did I mention that already?) The bezel is crenelated just enough to let you know the light is ON if put down on a flat surface lens down. Not sharp , just practical (sort of like my Brinkman Maxfire Incan which is not metal).
Lens seems to be glass (has that "clink' sound when tapped. Not sure how it is mounted to the bezel. Cannot see an obviuos O ring, but my guess is the light is "dunkable"....says "water resistant" on package...(don't they all?).
Reflector is plastic and seems glued into the bezel/lens/reflector assembly. As I think I mentioned, I don't know why it unscrews....does not "focus". But again, may be desireable to modders. (losing my mind after having to re-write this entire post after it got deleted and told me I was not logged in...so sorry for not being able to remember what I wrote then and what I've written here. Sorry...I'm trying!
Glass on the RR Cree MAY be non-reflective...hard to tell....don't know if the slight "foggy" appearance is an anti-glare coating or just the way it looks due to looking at a plastic OP reflector. Too bad there seems to be no real info on this light that I can find (certainly would have saved me this effort and given better info to those looking for it.
So yeah... I wish I could do a better write up....this is (probably obviously) my first...I realize I went on some tangents - sorry....hopefully my "review" skills will improve. Give me a 1911 .45, and I'll give you concise review. Or a pair of skis or ski boots. This however is new to me.
Oh....the Rayovac "extreme sportsman" had quite a similar hot spot and virtually an identical size spill. It's advertised (IIRC) at 80 lumens but has always impressed me as a good light at a good price. Again, I'd need an outdoor comparison to really know much. The hot spot seems as bright but the spill...while being the same size (on the wall) was far dimmer. I went to turn on the one watt Rayovac, but it had no batteries. Didn't seem worth the effort to load it when I knew the result without needing to go through the effort. The one watt ROV is one of my favorite lights too,it lasts forever, but is quite noticeably less bright than the identical looking "3 watt" version. Both are a bit too large for pocket carry (I know many people EDC 2xAA lights, but for me, the P1 Fenix is the size I'm comfortabe with. My son, however used a 3 watt ROV every day on a submarine along with an Inova X5 - those two lights seemed to fill whatever voids he felt were needed on the job (ELT). He told me that half the "nukes" had Surefires, the other half had Inovas....guess that it's true to at least some degree when Inova advertises themselves as being used in "extreme" conditions, military, LE, etc....Certainly they seem bomb proof. I bring this up because this new Rock River Cree light gave me pretty much the same impression....solid as a rock. IMO what a M@G of the same configuration should be in these days. (I love my 3D with the drop in LED, but it's a different animal than the RR C cell with a Cree. Now when Inova gets around to putting 2008 (or '07 for that matter) emitters, I think they will be about as desireable a light as imaginable....with multi modes, even better still. (I'm a flashlight "newbie", but this seeming slow progress of Inova has been a mystery to me in my one year of interest and obsession on lights. (I'm sure I'm not alone). Rock River seems to have hit a home run with this 2xC cree light. And I'm sure that there will be more coming (as we've just seen happen with Coleman - the Coleman 2xC2 seems to have all the potential in the world IMO...seems that the resistor to bring the six volts down to three is strange to me....a single cell (C2) size light with a 115 lumen output at $30...? I'm happy as can be with the 2 cells...make it smaller than a P1 for half the price, and well...who'd be able to resist? My single mode P1 Q2 and my single mode Ultra fire C3 get PLENTY of carry time.
Pics: (as I remember to SAVE every word before risking losing it AGAIN)...paste to "notepad" or something other than the clipboard. Again...I implore anyone who may know why I can't stay logged onto CFP to give me a clue! (I was logged in for months and months and now I can't stay logged in at all!)
poor quality pics as promised (don't count on phone cams for those once in a lifetime "Kodac Moments"
Note...this is my THIRD effort to post this same thing after saving the text to notepad. I now have to add the pics and pray the thing does not kick me off again!!!!!
Any help with this issue greatly appreciated. I was logged on for about a year with no problems and now I can't stay logged on long enough to submit a post????
TIA
Pics
with other lights for scale)
Sorry about being so long winded. I couldn't remember what I had already written and got lost and what I had written for the third or forth time. Ran out of 'proofreading" patience entirely, so sorry for any repetition or out of context remarks, etc.
Fingers crossed this works!
Left to right...distorted Fenix P1, Coleman Cree 2xC2 and RR Cree 2xC
comparison of new RR 2xC cree with closest size light I could find (Dorcy 6xAAA - unsure of emitter. K2?
Both these lights have bezel/reflector/lens assemblies that unscrew easily for no apparent purpose (upside for modders? Do the manufacturers care about that?) These two lights seem to have near identical dimensions except OAL on Dorcy seems about 3/4 of an inch longer.
Dorcy reflector is smooth, RR is OP. Seems that the Dorcy reflector is metal, not sure about RR....seems like plastic, but I didn't want to try too hard to find out (by scratching, whatever).
Both will tail stand. I cant remember if I mentioned that the RR forward clicky is smooth as silk. Momentary on is effortless and smooth. The "click" itself is very quiet, but the tactile feedback is perfect. The "gold" ring doesn't show well in the pic, but it looks great in real life.
Sorry for being so long winded. After trying to re-write the same thing over and over I just lost my focus (and most likely my mind).
Hope this helps at least one person!!!! And I hope maybe somone can point out what might be causing me to get 'logged out" every time (so far) I try to submit a post.
TIA
Peace,
D.
