MikeLip
Flashlight Enthusiast
OK, got it and got the charging sorted out. I don't know jack about Pila cells, but turns out they're easy - throw them in the charger and they take care of themselves.
Follow ups and beam shots when I get to them.
OK, let's compare. I'm gonna do three lights; the Lionheart, and two well know guys; the SF L4, and the Elektrolumens Blaster 3P. The last may seem unfair being a 3 D-cell, 3W, big reflector unit, but we'll see.
First, size; The Lionheart is *tiny*. It is 3-3/4" tall. The body is 1" diameter, the head is 1-1/4". Why this information is so hard to find, I dunno - it should be on the web site, or at least pics alongside a common light like the AA Minimag. But here it is anyway. By my precision wooden ruler /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif the SF L4 is 5-1/8 long, 13/16" body diameter, 1-1/8" head diameter, at the widest point. The AA Minimag is 5-3/4" long, 3/4" body diameter, 1" head diameter. Putting it all in perspective, the Lionheart is just about 1/16th longer than a Nuwai QIII and somewhat chunkier, but it absolutely blows it away in terms of output, quality and features.
In terms of beam, wow. The Lionheart and the 3P are very close when pointed at my ceiling, with the L4 coming in last. This is unfair to the L4 though - it's not designed to be a thrower, I don't think. At a distance of about 6 feet, the L4 hot spot is about 12" or so across. The Lionheart is about 3-4", the 3P is about 6. The 3P seems very slightly dimmer, but is definitely whiter than the Lionheart. The L4 and 3P are both very white. The Lionheart is a bit violet.
The Lionheart has a very intense, tightly defined hotspot with a lot of pretty dim spill. The 3P hotspot is slightly bigger and less well defined, with more spill. The L4 is poorly defined with a lot of spill.
So, what do you want? A lot of throw? The Lionheart or the 3P should be pretty close, with the 3P beating the pants off the Lionheart in terms of runtime. Lots of spill? The L4 is a GREAT area light. It's easily the best area light of the various lights I have. Size? Lionheart. If you want a compact thrower, LH is it.
It's also easy to use. Click the button and it's on at your last setting. Press and hold it while on and it ramps up or down - if it's ramping the wrong way, release and P/H again. Even the lowest setting is very usable - brighter than my Infinity Ultra, although the Ultra spills a lot more. There are a lot of other tricks in its' repertoire, but I'm too tired to sort them out. Later.
I'll take them out in the morning (got like two hours sleep last night - I'm too beat to mess with it much tonight) and see how the three compare. When I get my Tristar Phaser, it's going to bump heads with the three as well.
As for sheer usable light, I suspect the L4 will remain a favorite. I can see myself using it to sort out a flat or dead car at midnight, or look for a victim or pieces thereof (you try being a paramedic for a while, and see what it does to your sense of humor), while the others are just too "pointy", if you know what I mean. If I need throw for a long time, the 3P will come out, or my Streamlight UltraStinger, which kicks butt - it's my current throw champ. I'm eager to compare that to the SF C3 with P91 200 lumen lamp assembly that is coming in.
Yeah, I have a lot of lights coming recently. Oh well, Santa was good this year.
The Lionheart will find it's niche though, I'm sure. It's so pretty though that I'm almost afraid to carry it. It has great potential as a paramedics' light - you can do pupillary response with it on low without hurting your vic, and really see down a throat on a higher setting. Mine could be whiter though, so for now I'll stick to my Welch/Allyn. A few things are missing - an o-ring at the head/body thread would have been welcome, along with a bit of waterproofing at the head and switch. The control button is *small*! In proportion to the light it's fine, but in terms of usability it could be bigger.
I think it's great, but for about $260 out the door, it better be!
Update; I took the Lionheart and the Blaster 3P outside this morning (about 5AM) and pointed them at the building across the street. It's too light to do a good job at this, but even so, at about 250 feet, they both lit the building about equally! The Lionheart is definitely bluer than the 3P, which is very white (the only downside, other than price, to this light). However the spot size and brightness both seemed about the same. The whiter spot of the 3P made it seem perhaps a bit brighter, but it's really too close to call. Amazing. Remember, you can fit several Lionhearts in the 3Ps battery tube! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Mike
Follow ups and beam shots when I get to them.
OK, let's compare. I'm gonna do three lights; the Lionheart, and two well know guys; the SF L4, and the Elektrolumens Blaster 3P. The last may seem unfair being a 3 D-cell, 3W, big reflector unit, but we'll see.
First, size; The Lionheart is *tiny*. It is 3-3/4" tall. The body is 1" diameter, the head is 1-1/4". Why this information is so hard to find, I dunno - it should be on the web site, or at least pics alongside a common light like the AA Minimag. But here it is anyway. By my precision wooden ruler /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif the SF L4 is 5-1/8 long, 13/16" body diameter, 1-1/8" head diameter, at the widest point. The AA Minimag is 5-3/4" long, 3/4" body diameter, 1" head diameter. Putting it all in perspective, the Lionheart is just about 1/16th longer than a Nuwai QIII and somewhat chunkier, but it absolutely blows it away in terms of output, quality and features.
In terms of beam, wow. The Lionheart and the 3P are very close when pointed at my ceiling, with the L4 coming in last. This is unfair to the L4 though - it's not designed to be a thrower, I don't think. At a distance of about 6 feet, the L4 hot spot is about 12" or so across. The Lionheart is about 3-4", the 3P is about 6. The 3P seems very slightly dimmer, but is definitely whiter than the Lionheart. The L4 and 3P are both very white. The Lionheart is a bit violet.
The Lionheart has a very intense, tightly defined hotspot with a lot of pretty dim spill. The 3P hotspot is slightly bigger and less well defined, with more spill. The L4 is poorly defined with a lot of spill.
So, what do you want? A lot of throw? The Lionheart or the 3P should be pretty close, with the 3P beating the pants off the Lionheart in terms of runtime. Lots of spill? The L4 is a GREAT area light. It's easily the best area light of the various lights I have. Size? Lionheart. If you want a compact thrower, LH is it.
It's also easy to use. Click the button and it's on at your last setting. Press and hold it while on and it ramps up or down - if it's ramping the wrong way, release and P/H again. Even the lowest setting is very usable - brighter than my Infinity Ultra, although the Ultra spills a lot more. There are a lot of other tricks in its' repertoire, but I'm too tired to sort them out. Later.
I'll take them out in the morning (got like two hours sleep last night - I'm too beat to mess with it much tonight) and see how the three compare. When I get my Tristar Phaser, it's going to bump heads with the three as well.
As for sheer usable light, I suspect the L4 will remain a favorite. I can see myself using it to sort out a flat or dead car at midnight, or look for a victim or pieces thereof (you try being a paramedic for a while, and see what it does to your sense of humor), while the others are just too "pointy", if you know what I mean. If I need throw for a long time, the 3P will come out, or my Streamlight UltraStinger, which kicks butt - it's my current throw champ. I'm eager to compare that to the SF C3 with P91 200 lumen lamp assembly that is coming in.
Yeah, I have a lot of lights coming recently. Oh well, Santa was good this year.
The Lionheart will find it's niche though, I'm sure. It's so pretty though that I'm almost afraid to carry it. It has great potential as a paramedics' light - you can do pupillary response with it on low without hurting your vic, and really see down a throat on a higher setting. Mine could be whiter though, so for now I'll stick to my Welch/Allyn. A few things are missing - an o-ring at the head/body thread would have been welcome, along with a bit of waterproofing at the head and switch. The control button is *small*! In proportion to the light it's fine, but in terms of usability it could be bigger.
I think it's great, but for about $260 out the door, it better be!
Update; I took the Lionheart and the Blaster 3P outside this morning (about 5AM) and pointed them at the building across the street. It's too light to do a good job at this, but even so, at about 250 feet, they both lit the building about equally! The Lionheart is definitely bluer than the 3P, which is very white (the only downside, other than price, to this light). However the spot size and brightness both seemed about the same. The whiter spot of the 3P made it seem perhaps a bit brighter, but it's really too close to call. Amazing. Remember, you can fit several Lionhearts in the 3Ps battery tube! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Mike
