Princeton Tec Giga Blast

[mcjamison]

I was already making an order from REI-outlet.com, and couldn't resist tacking on one of these 4AAA lights for $9.93
(I presume that the Giga Rage, $9.97 in the Hot Deals section at campmor.com, and the Rage, $10.25 at brightguy.com, are the same thing).

This is a very tiny, impressive light. It's far brighter than the UK 2AAA, and very close in brightness the the UK 4AA and 2L. Compared to the UK 2L, which I thought would be the ideal small & lightweight emergency flashlight for carrying around in briefcase or jacket pocket, the Giga Blast is slightly longer, but much slimmer, due to the 2x2 AAA arrangement and the more compact head.

I wouldn't expect it to burn as long as these other lights (supposedly 2-3 hours as opposed to 4-5 hours), but it's sure a lot cheaper to buy and run than the 2L, and much smaller and lighter than a 4AA. I wasn't prepared for how small it would be, as my mental image from looking at the pictures assumed it would be closer in size to a 4AA light.

It's hard to judge relative brightness by eye, but in flashing these 4 lights around the house, the Blast was only slighly dimmer than the 2L and 4AA, and actually slightly whiter. If one weren't doing side-by-side or instant A-B comparisons, it would be hard to tell one from the other.

Overall, a very nice light, with a great balance of brightness, size, weight, and cost.

 

[Brock]

Sounds impressive. Do you have a Surefire E1 by chance? The 2L is brighter than the E1, so the Rage should be brighter than the E1 also. Now I will have to go and order one, but don't tell my wife

Brock - http://www.uwgb.edu/nevermab/flash.htm

<FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by Brock on 12-04-2000 at 04:33 PM</font>

 

[Joe Talmadge]

My Rage is not nearly as bright as a UKE 2L. In fact, I'd say the 2L is in a different class. On the other hand, there may be a problem with the reflector on my Rage -- there's not really a hot spot, but rather one huge bright spot, that's easily 2-3 times the size of what you'd expect.

 

[Brock]

I just got my rage and a second lamp for it. Both lamps have a much larger beam of light than I would have thought. Also as Joe mentioned neither of mine have a tight hotspot. It is about the same intensity as the blast, just a lot bigger of an area of light. I will stick with blast or surefire E1. It is 2.1 watt lamp, but since it is spread out it doesn't apper to bright. It would make a great light for walking at night though.

Brock - http://www.uwgb.edu/nevermab/flash.htm

 

[mcjamison]

Hmm, maybe I just got lucky on my lamp assembly? While my giga blast's center isn't as bright as the _very_ center of my 2L, the remainder of the (wider) bright area seems comparable. The width makes it very practical for most of the things I use a flashlight for: looking for something, or illuminating a task.

 

[Brock]

If I had to choose a light that wasn't LED and didn't use lithium 123's and was small enought to carry in a pocket. I would choose a UKE 2 AAA Pen or the 4 AAA rage. The rage is brighter and not much bigger. I would definetly choose the Rage over a standard Q40, the UKE 4 AA light, mag 2AA or 2AAA or anything of the like. I do prefer the beam shape of a surefire or streamlight over the Princeton Tec Rage, but then again the surefire is 8 times the price and the streamlight is 4 times the price of the rage. For about $10 it can't be beat.

Brock

 

[Joe Talmadge]

Interesting think about the Rage. While I was a bit disappointed when I was just shining it on my wall, I've found a few applications lately where it fit the bill really well. For those of you who read my story of walking through the lava tube, the Rage actually worked pretty nicely. It illimunated a big enough area, with enough light that'd I'd give it an "acceptable" rating, although I'd counsel someone going into the tube to pick a UKE 2L or even move up to a Surefire or Streamlight 2-L light if possible (the Streamlight Scorpion, with its adjustable beam, may be perfect). However, the E-1 gets an "unacceptable" rating in the lava tube: the bright spot is bright but too small, and the surrounding very-weak corona simply got eaten away by the tube. In the tube you need to be able to see right in front of you, but also far enough in front to plan a path around the huge crevice or sudden drop-off.

Likewise, just walking a path at night, a relatively bright big beam beats a very bright tightly-focussed beam. And the Rage does well for this.