zespectre
Flashlight Enthusiast
Real World Review – 2/16/2008
Rayovac "Sportsman Xtreme" 3watt LED Flashlight
Model: SELUX2AA3W-B
http://www.rayovac.com/flashlight/selux2aa3w-b.shtml
Howdy all. I dropped off the forum for a while (moving and new job has kept me fully occupied) but continued to lurk here and there. Other things were demanding attention and money so my beloved illumination tools simply had to take a bit of a back seat. Plus I have really good flashlights so I was able to scrimp by for a while. But as we all know the bug NEVER really goes away <grin> so here we are with the next (and LOOONG overdue) "real world review".
A quick recap, the "standard evening walk" has changed somewhat over time but the current targets are still very similar to the ones I used to use back in Arlington.
The New "Standard Evening Walk"
The evening walk takes place over either a 1.5 or a 2.5 mile loop depending on the whim of my wife <grin>. It begins on a well lit and well paved street, proceeds parallel to a large, unlit, cemetery, and then into an unlit neighborhood. We then usually cross a short gravel path into another unlit neighborhood and back down a steep hill to a regular lit/paved area. In the course of these walks I have chosen 6 "standard" targets to compare flashlight capabilities.
=======================================================
#1) The fence at the end of our parking lot (approx 50 ft). Weathered brown wood that makes a good test of color rendition and contrast.
#2) A light grey mailbox from 30 yards away.
#3) Cemetery (how many rows of headstones can I illuminate) distance test.
#4) Thick shrubbery along the edge of the walkway (approx 6 ft away, testing penetration vs. "bounceback").
#5) Red fire hydrant and three phone poles roughly 50 yards away on an unlit street (Can I see all?)
#6) Short but steep downhill gravel path with bad sideways crown (the "confidence" test).
=======================================================
Initial Impression(s)
The Ray-O-Vac light is fairly small and slim and feels well made. At 5.5" long it is pretty typical in size for a light that runs on 2xAA batteries. The aluminum body has a beautiful and interesting form and the quality of the machine work and assembly is very high with some sort of pretty grey/green anodizing. The body is fairly thick and seems very durable. The light has a clip-on style pocket clip with a good amount of spring and also has an included lanyard secured to the light by a plastic ring that is secured by the tailcap. One could easily remove or re-install the clip, lanyard, or both at whim.
The switch is your standard "press for momentary/turn for on" style tailcap with a rubber cap that protrudes slightly so the light isn't really able to stand on the tail. The switch itself is actually pretty nice and requires only minimal pressure to activate however this may also make the light prone to accidental (momentary) activation and you do have to unscrew the tailcap quite a ways to disable the light. I don't feel this is actually a negative issue at all, just something to note.
The body of the light has a rubber "o" ring and although I didn't test waterproofness I'm sure this light will be at least "dunkable". The light is listed as having an "adjustable" head. In fact it can be unscrewed all the way off, revealing another nice "o" ring and the well mounted Luxeon emitter. If you want to go blind you can use it as a candle in this fashion. In point of fact, other than having a "candle mode" I can see no function to unscrewing the head as it has almost no impact on the focus of the beam.
With the head screwed all the way on the deep reflector produces a very nice beam, biased towards throw but with a nice transition into a very even spill. The color rendition on my sample was quite white with possibly a (dare I say it) yellow component. In other words not nearly as blue as most of my other LED lights.
The light claims to have an output of 80 lumens (I have no way to test that) and also claims to have a regulating circuit (I'm testing that right now).
=======================================================
Standard Evening Walk
Balance, retention, and single hand operation of the light are first rate due to it's body styling and with the lanyard attached there is absolutely no drop risk. The light is also extremely sturdy and I seriously doubt dropping it would do more than mar the finish unless a rock hit the glass directly.
The switch was easily operated one handed though the threads were a bit dry/stick so I touched them up with lube and then the tailcap rotated smoothly.
I lean towards throw so the slight bias towards throw that this light has was right up my alley. The side spill is very usable, giving me a secure feeling on the "confidence" areas of my walk with only a slight "follow the bouncing ball" effect from the hotspot .
This 2xAA light stunned me. It outpowered the old but trusty Gerber LX 3.0 AND my favorite walking light the Inova T4! Okay I have an older T4 with the TIROS optics, but not much has overpowered this light and NOTHING in a smaller package has done so until now. Hrmmm, a $100 light shown the door by a $25 light. Ahhh progress <grin>.
This light did a fine job of illuminating all distance targets.
Targets
#1) Color rendition was as good as any LED light I've seen.
#2 was an easy spot due to the strong throw of this light.
#3) distance was good and I could see 3 rows (approximately 30 yards)
#4) Decent "punch through" of the shrubbery with very little "bounceback" to blind me
#5) Easily enough power to see at 50 yards. I have no way of verifying the 80 lumens claim but it looks good to me!
#6) "Confidence" trail use was very good with only minimal "Follow the bouncing ball" effect.
Summary:
Well I'm going to start the summary off with a complaint. This light is just too damn bright for up close work
.
I stick by my standard claim that any light above 50 lumens needs a "low beam" so you don't burn out your eyes when trying to do close-up work.
Okay so much for the complaints section, now about the rest of the light. Super bright, nice beam, strong construction, pleasing ergonomics, lifetime warranty, decent price…. You know where I'm going
STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.
(Someone's gonna flame me for this statement, but as far as I can tell this light is sneaking into Surefire territory for quality and performance!)
EDIT: Apparently this light is actually a Nuwai X-3 rebranded. Interesting, somehow I never knew this light existed before this week. I guess I'm a bit behind the times. Still my review stands for anyone who wants to get one
Rayovac "Sportsman Xtreme" 3watt LED Flashlight
Model: SELUX2AA3W-B
http://www.rayovac.com/flashlight/selux2aa3w-b.shtml
Howdy all. I dropped off the forum for a while (moving and new job has kept me fully occupied) but continued to lurk here and there. Other things were demanding attention and money so my beloved illumination tools simply had to take a bit of a back seat. Plus I have really good flashlights so I was able to scrimp by for a while. But as we all know the bug NEVER really goes away <grin> so here we are with the next (and LOOONG overdue) "real world review".
A quick recap, the "standard evening walk" has changed somewhat over time but the current targets are still very similar to the ones I used to use back in Arlington.
The New "Standard Evening Walk"
The evening walk takes place over either a 1.5 or a 2.5 mile loop depending on the whim of my wife <grin>. It begins on a well lit and well paved street, proceeds parallel to a large, unlit, cemetery, and then into an unlit neighborhood. We then usually cross a short gravel path into another unlit neighborhood and back down a steep hill to a regular lit/paved area. In the course of these walks I have chosen 6 "standard" targets to compare flashlight capabilities.
=======================================================
#1) The fence at the end of our parking lot (approx 50 ft). Weathered brown wood that makes a good test of color rendition and contrast.
#2) A light grey mailbox from 30 yards away.
#3) Cemetery (how many rows of headstones can I illuminate) distance test.
#4) Thick shrubbery along the edge of the walkway (approx 6 ft away, testing penetration vs. "bounceback").
#5) Red fire hydrant and three phone poles roughly 50 yards away on an unlit street (Can I see all?)
#6) Short but steep downhill gravel path with bad sideways crown (the "confidence" test).
=======================================================
Initial Impression(s)
The Ray-O-Vac light is fairly small and slim and feels well made. At 5.5" long it is pretty typical in size for a light that runs on 2xAA batteries. The aluminum body has a beautiful and interesting form and the quality of the machine work and assembly is very high with some sort of pretty grey/green anodizing. The body is fairly thick and seems very durable. The light has a clip-on style pocket clip with a good amount of spring and also has an included lanyard secured to the light by a plastic ring that is secured by the tailcap. One could easily remove or re-install the clip, lanyard, or both at whim.
The switch is your standard "press for momentary/turn for on" style tailcap with a rubber cap that protrudes slightly so the light isn't really able to stand on the tail. The switch itself is actually pretty nice and requires only minimal pressure to activate however this may also make the light prone to accidental (momentary) activation and you do have to unscrew the tailcap quite a ways to disable the light. I don't feel this is actually a negative issue at all, just something to note.
The body of the light has a rubber "o" ring and although I didn't test waterproofness I'm sure this light will be at least "dunkable". The light is listed as having an "adjustable" head. In fact it can be unscrewed all the way off, revealing another nice "o" ring and the well mounted Luxeon emitter. If you want to go blind you can use it as a candle in this fashion. In point of fact, other than having a "candle mode" I can see no function to unscrewing the head as it has almost no impact on the focus of the beam.
With the head screwed all the way on the deep reflector produces a very nice beam, biased towards throw but with a nice transition into a very even spill. The color rendition on my sample was quite white with possibly a (dare I say it) yellow component. In other words not nearly as blue as most of my other LED lights.
The light claims to have an output of 80 lumens (I have no way to test that) and also claims to have a regulating circuit (I'm testing that right now).
=======================================================
Standard Evening Walk
Balance, retention, and single hand operation of the light are first rate due to it's body styling and with the lanyard attached there is absolutely no drop risk. The light is also extremely sturdy and I seriously doubt dropping it would do more than mar the finish unless a rock hit the glass directly.
The switch was easily operated one handed though the threads were a bit dry/stick so I touched them up with lube and then the tailcap rotated smoothly.
I lean towards throw so the slight bias towards throw that this light has was right up my alley. The side spill is very usable, giving me a secure feeling on the "confidence" areas of my walk with only a slight "follow the bouncing ball" effect from the hotspot .
This 2xAA light stunned me. It outpowered the old but trusty Gerber LX 3.0 AND my favorite walking light the Inova T4! Okay I have an older T4 with the TIROS optics, but not much has overpowered this light and NOTHING in a smaller package has done so until now. Hrmmm, a $100 light shown the door by a $25 light. Ahhh progress <grin>.
This light did a fine job of illuminating all distance targets.
Targets
#1) Color rendition was as good as any LED light I've seen.
#2 was an easy spot due to the strong throw of this light.
#3) distance was good and I could see 3 rows (approximately 30 yards)
#4) Decent "punch through" of the shrubbery with very little "bounceback" to blind me
#5) Easily enough power to see at 50 yards. I have no way of verifying the 80 lumens claim but it looks good to me!
#6) "Confidence" trail use was very good with only minimal "Follow the bouncing ball" effect.
Summary:
Well I'm going to start the summary off with a complaint. This light is just too damn bright for up close work
. I stick by my standard claim that any light above 50 lumens needs a "low beam" so you don't burn out your eyes when trying to do close-up work.
Okay so much for the complaints section, now about the rest of the light. Super bright, nice beam, strong construction, pleasing ergonomics, lifetime warranty, decent price…. You know where I'm going
STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.
(Someone's gonna flame me for this statement, but as far as I can tell this light is sneaking into Surefire territory for quality and performance!)
EDIT: Apparently this light is actually a Nuwai X-3 rebranded. Interesting, somehow I never knew this light existed before this week. I guess I'm a bit behind the times. Still my review stands for anyone who wants to get one
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