Rothrandir
Flashaholic
i was fortunate enough to secure the first spot on the pila g3 passaround being offered by jon, and would like to make a mini-review /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
basic information
*runs on: 2-150a batteries, or 3-123's
*beam: pleasing beam, with bright wide spill, and a semi-diffuse hotspot. nice white beam (whiter than the stock e2e lamp assembly, though i'm sure the e2e batteries are a little dead)
*brightness: closest thing i have is a 5w pr, bb900. it's a little brighter than that. a lot brighter than the stock e2e bulb (again, my e2e batteries aren't 100% fresh)
*reflector: very agressive texturizing. the reflector and lamp are one piece.
size: not too big, but a bit bulky. walls are very thick.
weight: quite heavy, as a result of the thick walls. feels very sturdy though /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif
machining: machining appears to be top notch. threads are smooth, no cosmetic defects, orings engage perfectly.
fit and finish: black matt finish. very sexy looking. stylish designing. only ha2 though /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
tailswitch: option of led taillights (4 leds, available in several colors, red and green among them), momentary on. or a clicky.
first impression
solid, great output, sturdy, and a bit heavy.
clicky tailswitch has a lot of travel, making it sort of difficult to click in the on position.
tailswitches
the tailswitch options on the pila light are both a help and a hinderance.
first, lets discuss the clicky tailcap:
it's a nice solid tailcap, nice rubber boot, seems solid, but the button is fairly short, and requres a bit of travel to click the light in the on position. this can be annoying when holding the light further down, and trying to curve your thumb over. i'm not allowed to take it apart to see if i could fix the problem, so that's something you might want to do if you buy one /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
it's not a dealbreaker, but it's somethign that needs to be worked on i think. it works, but is an annoyance.
led tailcaps:
there are several led tailcap options. syd was kind enough to include the red, white, and green ones, so i'm not sure if there are other options or not.
they are 4 leds each, and are quite bright. it works like this:
twist on to the point that the leds are constant on, then back it up a hair. then, you can press the tailbutton softly for the leds to glow, or harder for the incandescant to glow.
to lock the leds in place, just screw the tailcap a bit more. when in this mode, you can still press the tailcap and have the incan fire.
to lock in incan mode, simply screw the tailcap in all the way.
these work quite well if you don't mind non-clickes. reqires a little more work than the z52 e2e switch does, but it's not too bad.
both tailcaps can be locked out /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
moddability
this light really doesn't seem all that moddable /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
the way it's designed, is that the lamp assembly goes almost inside the body, with just the top hanging out. this means that it might be possible to use the existing reflector or an optic in the mod, but not a pelican reflector.
it's possible, but there isn't a lot of room to work with. a special pill would need to be machined.
misc. thoughts
*nice size/performance ratio /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
*ha2 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsdown.gif
*smooth beam /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
*nice finish /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
*very solid /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
*heavy /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsdown.gif
*rechargable /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
*syd's a great guy /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
overall, i'd say it's a good light. i dont' have a 3cell surefire to compare it to, so i can't comment on the output similarities (or lack thereof), but for an approx. price of around $100 or lower, i think it should be a pretty good deal! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
wow, writting reviews is not my thing /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
hopefully somone down the passaround line will be able to write a better one than i.
basic information
*runs on: 2-150a batteries, or 3-123's
*beam: pleasing beam, with bright wide spill, and a semi-diffuse hotspot. nice white beam (whiter than the stock e2e lamp assembly, though i'm sure the e2e batteries are a little dead)
*brightness: closest thing i have is a 5w pr, bb900. it's a little brighter than that. a lot brighter than the stock e2e bulb (again, my e2e batteries aren't 100% fresh)
*reflector: very agressive texturizing. the reflector and lamp are one piece.
size: not too big, but a bit bulky. walls are very thick.
weight: quite heavy, as a result of the thick walls. feels very sturdy though /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif
machining: machining appears to be top notch. threads are smooth, no cosmetic defects, orings engage perfectly.
fit and finish: black matt finish. very sexy looking. stylish designing. only ha2 though /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
tailswitch: option of led taillights (4 leds, available in several colors, red and green among them), momentary on. or a clicky.
first impression
solid, great output, sturdy, and a bit heavy.
clicky tailswitch has a lot of travel, making it sort of difficult to click in the on position.
tailswitches
the tailswitch options on the pila light are both a help and a hinderance.
first, lets discuss the clicky tailcap:
it's a nice solid tailcap, nice rubber boot, seems solid, but the button is fairly short, and requres a bit of travel to click the light in the on position. this can be annoying when holding the light further down, and trying to curve your thumb over. i'm not allowed to take it apart to see if i could fix the problem, so that's something you might want to do if you buy one /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
it's not a dealbreaker, but it's somethign that needs to be worked on i think. it works, but is an annoyance.
led tailcaps:
there are several led tailcap options. syd was kind enough to include the red, white, and green ones, so i'm not sure if there are other options or not.
they are 4 leds each, and are quite bright. it works like this:
twist on to the point that the leds are constant on, then back it up a hair. then, you can press the tailbutton softly for the leds to glow, or harder for the incandescant to glow.
to lock the leds in place, just screw the tailcap a bit more. when in this mode, you can still press the tailcap and have the incan fire.
to lock in incan mode, simply screw the tailcap in all the way.
these work quite well if you don't mind non-clickes. reqires a little more work than the z52 e2e switch does, but it's not too bad.
both tailcaps can be locked out /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
moddability
this light really doesn't seem all that moddable /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
the way it's designed, is that the lamp assembly goes almost inside the body, with just the top hanging out. this means that it might be possible to use the existing reflector or an optic in the mod, but not a pelican reflector.
it's possible, but there isn't a lot of room to work with. a special pill would need to be machined.
misc. thoughts
*nice size/performance ratio /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
*ha2 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsdown.gif
*smooth beam /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
*nice finish /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
*very solid /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
*heavy /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsdown.gif
*rechargable /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
*syd's a great guy /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
overall, i'd say it's a good light. i dont' have a 3cell surefire to compare it to, so i can't comment on the output similarities (or lack thereof), but for an approx. price of around $100 or lower, i think it should be a pretty good deal! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
wow, writting reviews is not my thing /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
hopefully somone down the passaround line will be able to write a better one than i.
