Okay, let's just say right up front here that this is not intended to be at the level of a "Consumers Reports"-type review, or even at the level of one of Craig's or Brock's reviews; it's more of a flashback session/ rave on the experience, because (dare I admit it on this board?) I wasn't there to test the flashlights;
I was there to be floored by fireworks. :duck-and-cover: The flashlights were merely tools or fun accessories. :dodge-lightning-bolts:
On Saturday, May 21, three friends and I headed to the biggest annual fireworks show in the country, Thunder Over Louisville. With us we took three (3) CMG Infinity Task Lights (white), a green Photon II, a blue ASP Sapphire, a green Traser Glow-Ring, the obligatory standard Mini-Mag, a SureFire 8X, and a SureFire 9Z. Battery status was as follows:
<UL TYPE=SQUARE> <LI> CMG Infinity #1 - Several weeks' frequent daily use (Panasonic Industrial AA) <LI> CMG Infinity #s 2 & 3 - Brand new (Panasonic Industrial AA) <LI> Photon II - original battery, frequent daily use since March 3 <LI> ASP Sapphire - original batteries, frequent daily use since Labor Day <LI> Traser Glow-Ring - (psych!) no batteries; it's tritium, remember? <LI> Mini-Mag - unknown (not mine) <LI> SureFire 8X - full charge minus ~10 minutes accumulated intermittent use <LI> SureFire 9Z - Energizer e2 Lithium batteries inserted March 3, minus intermittent use [/list]
We were positioned very near the bank of the Ohio River (approximately 10 yards {9 m} away), in the parking lot behind the Louisville Science Center, underneath I-64, which was approximately 20 yards (18+ m) above us. )The relevance of our location relative to I-64 will become apparent later.) This was a wonderful location to watch both the air show during the daylight, and the fireworks after dark.
As the daylight faded, the last "performer" in the air show was in a biplane, trailing smoke and showers of sparks while he performed aerobatic biplane-type stunts. This was followed by a couple of choppers, each flying a HUGE American flag underneath it, which was the target of the extremely numerous carbon-arc spotlights (WWII anti-aircraft lights, some of 'em). During this phase, we popped out our flashlights and began to play a little. We happened to be sitting right next to an employee of the Louisville Science Center, and he thought the LED lights were really neat. As a matter of fact, he told us that the Louisville Science Center was thinking about converting its exhibit lighting to LED fixtures in the relatively near future. Now wouldn't that be cool!
The ASP Sapphire's batteries are winding down from highly-useful to close-range use only, so it garnered a few oohs and ahhs for its color, but not much else. The Photon II lit things up well, but the green color of the impressive beam tended to put people off (not us, the other spectators). They loved the visibility of the lit LED, like with the blue Sapphire, but they were too used to incandescent lights to appreciate the magnificence of the green LED's beam. What really surprised people was the white light of the CMG Infinity Task Lights. They couldn't get over how you could get such a white color of light from a flashlight. When I told them the AA battery would last 41 hours, they were flabbergasted. [now here's the part that blew me away] When, just for yuks, I pointed the CMG at the {very dark} bottom of I-64, I could see the "hot spot" of the beam reflecting off the dark, dingy underside of an interstate expressway, 30 yards away, in very incomplete darkness!
All I can say is, the next time I go camping or caving, I am definitely taking this light with me so I can see what it does in real darkness. The only way I can account for being able to see the beam hit a dark, dirty object that far away in incomplete darkness is that my eyes were very well adjusted to the darkness. Anybody else have any other ideas? Remember, this is not some highly-reflective traffic sign, or any highly-polished surface; this is the dark-colored, dirt-encrusted underside of a highway bridge.
After the fireworks (some pix to be posted to a page on my website after CyberPMG mails me the CD of the 100+ pix he took with his digital camera), we used the two SureFires to carve our way through the 750,000 - 800,000 people to a restaurant, where we awaited the thinning of the crowds and the traffic. We had some good Mexican food while we waited, too! After we finished our food, we meandered the two blocks to the parking garage, using the two SureFires to tag distant buildings and nearby pedestrians who were showing evidence of more booze capacity than sense. Once we reached our parking garage, we continued our game of "flashlight tag," and noticed that we could tag (light-colored) buildings several blocks away, even with the city streetlights cluttering things up. We actually continued tagging things out the windows as we drove home, including a few more inebriated celebrants, two young ladies wearing flashing LED necklaces (who weren't impressed by our array of flashlights, oddly enough), and more buildings and signs than we could count.
[/ramble]
Later. Time to go to a meeting.
On Saturday, May 21, three friends and I headed to the biggest annual fireworks show in the country, Thunder Over Louisville. With us we took three (3) CMG Infinity Task Lights (white), a green Photon II, a blue ASP Sapphire, a green Traser Glow-Ring, the obligatory standard Mini-Mag, a SureFire 8X, and a SureFire 9Z. Battery status was as follows:
<UL TYPE=SQUARE> <LI> CMG Infinity #1 - Several weeks' frequent daily use (Panasonic Industrial AA) <LI> CMG Infinity #s 2 & 3 - Brand new (Panasonic Industrial AA) <LI> Photon II - original battery, frequent daily use since March 3 <LI> ASP Sapphire - original batteries, frequent daily use since Labor Day <LI> Traser Glow-Ring - (psych!) no batteries; it's tritium, remember? <LI> Mini-Mag - unknown (not mine) <LI> SureFire 8X - full charge minus ~10 minutes accumulated intermittent use <LI> SureFire 9Z - Energizer e2 Lithium batteries inserted March 3, minus intermittent use [/list]
We were positioned very near the bank of the Ohio River (approximately 10 yards {9 m} away), in the parking lot behind the Louisville Science Center, underneath I-64, which was approximately 20 yards (18+ m) above us. )The relevance of our location relative to I-64 will become apparent later.) This was a wonderful location to watch both the air show during the daylight, and the fireworks after dark.
As the daylight faded, the last "performer" in the air show was in a biplane, trailing smoke and showers of sparks while he performed aerobatic biplane-type stunts. This was followed by a couple of choppers, each flying a HUGE American flag underneath it, which was the target of the extremely numerous carbon-arc spotlights (WWII anti-aircraft lights, some of 'em). During this phase, we popped out our flashlights and began to play a little. We happened to be sitting right next to an employee of the Louisville Science Center, and he thought the LED lights were really neat. As a matter of fact, he told us that the Louisville Science Center was thinking about converting its exhibit lighting to LED fixtures in the relatively near future. Now wouldn't that be cool!
The ASP Sapphire's batteries are winding down from highly-useful to close-range use only, so it garnered a few oohs and ahhs for its color, but not much else. The Photon II lit things up well, but the green color of the impressive beam tended to put people off (not us, the other spectators). They loved the visibility of the lit LED, like with the blue Sapphire, but they were too used to incandescent lights to appreciate the magnificence of the green LED's beam. What really surprised people was the white light of the CMG Infinity Task Lights. They couldn't get over how you could get such a white color of light from a flashlight. When I told them the AA battery would last 41 hours, they were flabbergasted. [now here's the part that blew me away] When, just for yuks, I pointed the CMG at the {very dark} bottom of I-64, I could see the "hot spot" of the beam reflecting off the dark, dingy underside of an interstate expressway, 30 yards away, in very incomplete darkness!
All I can say is, the next time I go camping or caving, I am definitely taking this light with me so I can see what it does in real darkness. The only way I can account for being able to see the beam hit a dark, dirty object that far away in incomplete darkness is that my eyes were very well adjusted to the darkness. Anybody else have any other ideas? Remember, this is not some highly-reflective traffic sign, or any highly-polished surface; this is the dark-colored, dirt-encrusted underside of a highway bridge.
After the fireworks (some pix to be posted to a page on my website after CyberPMG mails me the CD of the 100+ pix he took with his digital camera), we used the two SureFires to carve our way through the 750,000 - 800,000 people to a restaurant, where we awaited the thinning of the crowds and the traffic. We had some good Mexican food while we waited, too! After we finished our food, we meandered the two blocks to the parking garage, using the two SureFires to tag distant buildings and nearby pedestrians who were showing evidence of more booze capacity than sense. Once we reached our parking garage, we continued our game of "flashlight tag," and noticed that we could tag (light-colored) buildings several blocks away, even with the city streetlights cluttering things up. We actually continued tagging things out the windows as we drove home, including a few more inebriated celebrants, two young ladies wearing flashing LED necklaces (who weren't impressed by our array of flashlights, oddly enough), and more buildings and signs than we could count.
[/ramble]
Later. Time to go to a meeting.
