Black Bear

I would like to here opinions on Black Bear lights. http://www.blackbearflashlights.com/

I own one of the black bear borealis 1050(I believe). I a sense it is really just a mag85. But I can tell you the craftsmenship and detail are phenominal. Even the battery holder, and lubrication.It is a touch brighter than some of the Mag85 builds I have made most likely due to cutting down resistance in many ways. I am not sure about cost's compared to his complete startup kit's vs getting the individual parts and building one yourself. I can say though that his work is excellant and holds up well. I have a silver borealis with crenulated head and wrist lanyard and it is one of my favorite lights.
Hope this helps

What kind of distance do you get out of it?

I own a regular Mag85... at this level of brightness you should be able to do about anything you would need for a flashlight. I recently used it on a outdoors trip and it lit up stuff way better than my other flashlights. I have a textured reflector which cuts down on the throw, but the throw still was very good. I think the light will be more impressive outdoors than indoors. If you need something brighter than this, you could probably look into HID handheld spotlights.

i believe it would be those wow kind of distance.

but not those of super power HID...

Cool website. I don't have one. I have seen threads on this before. He does have fans around here. Somebody will always post "you can just build your own". That's true of some people, but others can't or would rather not.

iamerror said:

I have a textured reflector which cuts down on the throw, but the throw still was very good. I think the light will be more impressive outdoors than indoors. If you need something brighter than this, you could probably look into HID handheld spotlights.

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I have a mag85 with: FM MOP, borolens, FM 3D>9AA adapter, FM bi-pin adapter, 1185 bi-pin bulbs (of course). I think that it's bright indoors and outdoors but outdoors it is sure more impressive...
the throw is good with MOP ( you can see things very far, about 150m),(I've decided to buy a throwmaster head, and I think taht with its throw will be really more impressive)

I know borealis flashlight, but I think that they are too expensive...
a borealis 1050 has: metal reflector(25$), FM adapter (40$), KIU socket (15$), batteries(don't know but aroud 20-25$), charger (25$), 3 WA1185 (16$), borolens (5.5)...TOT:140-146$

What kind of connection do they have with fivemega and kiu? It looks like they're using fivemega's battery adapters and kiu's maglite bezels.

JamisonM said:

What kind of connection do they have with fivemega and kiu? It looks like they're using fivemega's battery adapters and kiu's maglite bezels.

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I really don't know...but seems that they're using KIU socket too.

I have one of these on the way that I purchased from a guy over on FF. I am anxious to see how it runs. I am very new to modding flashlights, but have been a flashaholic for years (just never knew you could mod them until recently.) Actually I first became aware of modding through Black Bear. He is a super nice guy who evidently spends a lot of time to maximize output on his lights. I have heard nothing but good things about his lights. As others have said in this thread, you can do it yourself cheaper, but for those who don't have the time or interest to do so, Black Bear offers a top quality product at a price that is still a bargain in terms of output, runtime, and recharge-ability, and replacement component cost, when compared to factory built lights. So much for everything I have heard, I can tell you more after my light arrives. I also have a FM Throwmaster on the way. I am hoping the 2 together will be a great combination. In terms of what I have seen here in terms of lumens, recharge time, and run time, the Borealis is about as good a balance of all those things as you can get if you are going to acutally use your light in real life situations on a regular basis.

Keep in mind that is only my opinon, and I am new to all this.

Roll Tide

Art Vandelay said:

.... Somebody will always post "you can just build your own". That's true of some people, but others can't or would rather not.

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I wish I could build my own Mag85. But I have to be honest with regards to my skills at modding.... or lack thereof.

Good to see that there is a place where I can get one, commercially.

Some cool beam shots:
http://www.defensivecarry.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=21194
http://www.defensivecarry.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=21194&page=2
http://www.defensivecarry.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=21194&page=3

For those that might know is this significant?

there is a big jump from 650 to 1080 lumens. You may not see it in the photos, but in real life, you'll definitely see the difference.

The Borealis 1050 is a great deal for the money. However, the M6 is a cool looking light. You can't deny that but it's high price deters ME from buying it. If you're willing to spend the cash, why not? I don't want to start another Mag vs. M6 debate :sigh:

Also, I should know about Black Bear's quality because I used to own a Borealis 1050. In fact, I sold it to rolltide in this thread. There was nothing wrong with the Borealis, but I just needed to build and fund my own Mag mod :twothumbs

Of course theres always the debate of "build your own," but Art Vandelay couldn't have said it better with

Art Vandelay said:

Somebody will always post "you can just build your own". That's true of some people, but others can't or would rather not.

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Hi,
I bought a light from Juan, of blackbear.
I had been in contact with him for months. The thought crossed my mind to build my own, but I do not have the time between duty shifts, and running around my 1yr old kid!lol
It might seem expensive, and probably is, but the customer service and craftmanship is awesome. I bought a borealis, and it shipped quickly and with tons of documentation. E-mail questions were responded to very quickly.
I use this light a lot on duty! it puts my colleagues to shame. I always tell them....save your batteries and turn your lights off, i have enough lighte for all 6 of us. hehe.
I am a very satisfied customer

Cerbera said:

The Borealis 1050 is a great deal for the money. However, the M6 is a cool looking light. You can't deny that but it's high price deters ME from buying it. If you're willing to spend the cash, why not? I don't want to start another Mag vs. M6 debate :sigh:

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Oh no brother that was definitely not my intent. I'm judging the Borealis by the SF not comparing. SF definitely is the big dog in terms of name and established quality.
I was just trying to show that the Black Bear light has good output. I agree about the price thing too. The BB lights are almost to much for my budget. The SF's are wat too much for me.

JamisonM said:

What kind of connection do they have with fivemega and kiu? It looks like they're using fivemega's battery adapters and kiu's maglite bezels.

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"Black Bear" is aka CPF'er "juancho". There's tons of info on the mods he makes already here.

Art Vandelay said:

Cool website.

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Thank you, Art.

cd-card-biz said:

Thank you, Art.

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cd-card-biz is the guy that built my web site, he is very good at it and if anybody need his services he is top notch.

Respectfully
Juan C.

Juancho, I got to play around with one of your Polar Bear (426 lumens for those that might not know) about 1-1.5 hours ago.

My first impression, WOW!!! The guy who has it also had a 1,000,000 CW spot light and the Polar Bear was decently brighter!

You put together one heck of a light brother!!! I plan to have several!
:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

I also brought a light off Juan a couple of months ago, the build quality was excellent! Plus when I was emailing him with questions I got excellent detailed emails back with more info than I needed - it was fantastic! I really like the lights like the Mag85 and Mag11 etc but I'm not at the "capacity" to build them myself at the moment so I have been buying them pre-made eg Blackbear or second-hand... Hmmm I have a Mag623 on the way! I have had absolutely no problems with my Blackbear flashlight and its been going great... I HIGHLY RECOMMEND JUAN!!!