MacTech
Enlightened
I was bored this afternoon, so i figured i'd take a trip down to Target to check out their flashlight selection....
thing is, the closest Target store is in Concord, NH, a *ONE HOUR* drive away, but i had nothing to do, the skies were threatening to rain, and it was either spend a few hours torturing my Sims, or hop in the car and take a drive....
so i decided to drive up to Target
the Concord store is a rather large one, and didn't seem to have the "I.Q. Reduction Field" effect that is firmly in place at wally-world, whenever i go into wally-world, i feel my brow getting lower and thicker, my knuckles start getting closer to the ground and i begin to communicate in monosyllabic grunts, that didn't happen in Target
I was hoping to find some of the harder-in-my-area-to-find lights, like the red Inova X5, Dorcy Super 1 Watt 1 CR123a, the River Rock line, etc...
their flashlight selection was rather underwhelming, a large selection of Mags, a few Inova X5's, X0 Reflector and X1 Reflector models, and a few Freeplay models, the Dorcy Super 1 Watt, nothing too impressive
but the fact remained, i had driven an hour to get there, and i had to get *something* to show for my effort, so it came down to a decision between the Dorcy Super 1, and the Inova X0 Reflector, the Dorcy was cheaper, but i couldn't get past the plastic lens, and it just didn't really appeal to me, compared to my Fenix P1, the Dorcy just couldn't compete, i already have a far superior single cell 123a light in the P1
I've always liked the Inova line, but i never liked the ringy TIROS optic of the original X0, the new X0 Reflector had the wonderfully solid construction Inova is known for, and a *FAR* more useful (to me) beam pattern, a nice tight hotspot and usable spill, it's actually *slightly* brighter than my NI-MH powered Fenix L2T on high, not bad for a "1.4 watt" Luxeon, if i run the L2T on Lithium AA's it becomes *slightly* brighter than the X0, but the X0 has a much wider, more usable hotspot, the L2T's hotspot is much tighter, my Fenix P1 is also slightly brighter than the X0, but not by much
(Note, all tests monitored by the highly unscientific "Mk-1 Eyeball" lightmetering device, brightness tests are subjective only
)
my particular X0 has a nice, warm tint to the beam, compared against my two Fenixes (P1, L2T), the tint is faintly yellow, *BUT* this works to the X0's advantage, this is the first LED light in my arsenal that actually gives an incandescent-esque depth to the target being illuminated, it doesn't "flatten" things out like a typical LED flashlight, i actually *like* this tint, and i usually hate tints
the supplied Duracell Ultra batteries had obviously seen a lot of use, as they ZTS'ed rather low *and* were mismatched by 20% (one tested at 40%, one at 20%), i put a fresh set of SureFires in it and *boy* did that make a difference
so, overall i was rather dissapointed in the trip, a poor selection of flashlights in the store, and i didn't find what i was looking for (red X5), but i *did* get a nice Inova out of the trip, so overall i can call it a success
thing is, the closest Target store is in Concord, NH, a *ONE HOUR* drive away, but i had nothing to do, the skies were threatening to rain, and it was either spend a few hours torturing my Sims, or hop in the car and take a drive....
so i decided to drive up to Target
the Concord store is a rather large one, and didn't seem to have the "I.Q. Reduction Field" effect that is firmly in place at wally-world, whenever i go into wally-world, i feel my brow getting lower and thicker, my knuckles start getting closer to the ground and i begin to communicate in monosyllabic grunts, that didn't happen in Target
I was hoping to find some of the harder-in-my-area-to-find lights, like the red Inova X5, Dorcy Super 1 Watt 1 CR123a, the River Rock line, etc...
their flashlight selection was rather underwhelming, a large selection of Mags, a few Inova X5's, X0 Reflector and X1 Reflector models, and a few Freeplay models, the Dorcy Super 1 Watt, nothing too impressive
but the fact remained, i had driven an hour to get there, and i had to get *something* to show for my effort, so it came down to a decision between the Dorcy Super 1, and the Inova X0 Reflector, the Dorcy was cheaper, but i couldn't get past the plastic lens, and it just didn't really appeal to me, compared to my Fenix P1, the Dorcy just couldn't compete, i already have a far superior single cell 123a light in the P1
I've always liked the Inova line, but i never liked the ringy TIROS optic of the original X0, the new X0 Reflector had the wonderfully solid construction Inova is known for, and a *FAR* more useful (to me) beam pattern, a nice tight hotspot and usable spill, it's actually *slightly* brighter than my NI-MH powered Fenix L2T on high, not bad for a "1.4 watt" Luxeon, if i run the L2T on Lithium AA's it becomes *slightly* brighter than the X0, but the X0 has a much wider, more usable hotspot, the L2T's hotspot is much tighter, my Fenix P1 is also slightly brighter than the X0, but not by much
(Note, all tests monitored by the highly unscientific "Mk-1 Eyeball" lightmetering device, brightness tests are subjective only
)my particular X0 has a nice, warm tint to the beam, compared against my two Fenixes (P1, L2T), the tint is faintly yellow, *BUT* this works to the X0's advantage, this is the first LED light in my arsenal that actually gives an incandescent-esque depth to the target being illuminated, it doesn't "flatten" things out like a typical LED flashlight, i actually *like* this tint, and i usually hate tints
the supplied Duracell Ultra batteries had obviously seen a lot of use, as they ZTS'ed rather low *and* were mismatched by 20% (one tested at 40%, one at 20%), i put a fresh set of SureFires in it and *boy* did that make a difference
so, overall i was rather dissapointed in the trip, a poor selection of flashlights in the store, and i didn't find what i was looking for (red X5), but i *did* get a nice Inova out of the trip, so overall i can call it a success
