Hi one of my bosses was bragging today about a River Rock AAA w/ clip (rebel looks like) flashlight he bought a Target for 10 bucks. I looked at it was kinda pathetic (throw) but I told him hey you got a good deal. He is kinda a hunter. I wanted to know was this light a rebel because the small chip sure looked it from the reflector? :thinking:
He seemed proud that he had left it on a good few hours and and a day even dropped it a few times (clumsy I guess). It still worked and he was happy. Until I pulled my Q5 2XRcr123 Turbo monster from my duty belt. Oops sorry
callmeshyguy
I have the original 2AAA River-Rock, and it definitely used a Nechia half-watt emitter, but they may have made the switch to the inxpensive Luxeon PWT, or even a low bin Rebel as you said.
Sure the River-Rock is no where near the output of even the tiny L0D, in fact it doesn't even throw as much light as some cheapy 1W luxeons, but it's still brighter than an AA incandescent mini-mag and does have really good battery life (six hours or more as I recall).
But if you thought you saw a Rebel in there then maybe they changed the emitter, it's hard to tell without a close up photo.
If the beam is white and even, but low brightness, then you may well be correct and they may now be using the cheapy low bin rebels (Rebel 40's or 50's) which along with the low drive level would explain the poor throw you saw.
If the emitter looks like a tiny rectangle chip with no dome at all and throws a fairly white even beam, It's probably a Lumiled Luxeon PWT emitter.
If the chip has a small dome like a Rebel but the beam is a bit white-purple and splotchy it's probably the original Nichia like mine.
If your boss likes that light he should at least consider the
Fenix seasonal special L0D-Q4. If purchased with the CPF discount it's only a little over 40 dollars, but for 4 times the cost, it's ten times the light in my opinion.
I just turned both lights on with the L0D set to high, and side-by-side you can barely even tell that the River-Rock 2AA light is on, except that the River-Rocks splotchy purple beam stands out even though it looks super dim compared to the L0D's huge flood of pure white light.
Still not everyone wants a 40 dollar flashlight no matter how good it is, and I still think the little River-Rock 2AA is a pretty good deal at $10.
