MacTech
Enlightened
Y'know, it's funny, with the current Cree/Lux Rebel/SSC/K2/thelatestÜberemitter craze here on CPF, you'd think 5MM LED lights were forgotten, many CPF'ers seem to be seduced by the power, efficiency, and whiteness of the latest Überemitters
yes, Cree/Seoul/K2/SSC/Rebel lights are very nice, however, they also seem to be growing both brighter and more power hungry with every revision, and they're also generating prodigious amounts of heat, it's almost like they're transforming into nothing more than an "unbreakable" incan bulb, as brightness rises, heat generation increases and LED lifespan drops.....
to make matters worse, most lights have the emitter permanently mounted in the light's head, so when the LED succums to heat/voltage damage and starts to lose brightness, or just plain dies, it's almost impossible to repair/replace the emitter
I have a couple of Überemitter lights, a Lighthound Cree drop in in my old 6P, and a SSC P4 in my E1L-SR, and i love both of those lights (especially the E1L-SR)
that said, I still like the "obsolete" 5MM based LED lights, lights like the Inova X5 and X1 Gen 2, the CMG Infinity, the Peak 5MM light line, the Arc-P, the Fenix E0, and other such lights
I like their simplicity, no need for complicated optics or reflectors, each LED has it's own optic as part of the emitter itself, their durability, and power efficiency, i have an old standard power Peak Kilimanjaro 1 LED light that I've been doing a runtime test on, it's been burning now continuously for 6 days, and for 5 of those days, the light was still usable for walking around the house when dark adapted, today it's dropped down to the point where i can see the bond wire going into the LED die, but it's still putting out enough light to read by....
my Aviatrixed A2 Aviator (hey, it has 5MM emitters in it, it counts!) is the perfect light, a low red LED for when i want to protect my dark adaptation or get ultra-long runtimes, i lightly sanded the red LED to smooth out the ringy, square beam and to cut down some of it;s throw, the two white LED's are great for normal use, and since i sanded the red LED, the pink hotspot in the middle of the white flood is almost unnoticeable when WWH'ing, in actual use, it's undetectable
my X5s (i own 3, Gen 1-3) are absolutely reliable and sip power, I can always rely on them to produce usable light, even on depleted cells my A2 incan bulb is "done" with, i don't have to baby them (even though i do), they can stand up to anything short of a direct thermonuclear strike, rugged, solid, bulletproof lights that emit an incredibly useful flood of light, perfect for 80% of what i need a light for
my X1's (1 gen1, 2 gen2's) and CMG Infinity can also be relied on for a nice long runtime, and a nice wide flood of light, my Infinity is an original Cyan model, and i roughed up the LED with a little 000 steel wool and a green scotchbrite pad to smooth out the ringy cyan beam, it now puts out a flawless cyan flood, and runs forever on whatever AA's i can scrounge up to feed it, from brand new Lithium AA's to ancient carbon-zinc cells, it's a simple, bombproof design that....just....works
And my new favorite, my Arc AAA-P, it puts out the same amount of light as my Inova X1 Gen2's, and fits unobtrusively on a keyring, however, it's too nice to relegate to keyring duty, so i've got it hanging from a spare SureFire lanyard around my neck, hey, it was cheap (free) and durable, I'm still looking for an inexpensive stainless or titanium chain to hang it from my neck on, as the SureFire lanyard is a little bulky
I need to order a couple more Arc AAA's though, a Standard to put on my keyring, and another Premium to keep as a backup.....
Yes, the Überemitters are nice, no questions, but don't count out the little ol' 5MM, it still has potential, and it's a heck of a lot more battery efficient than the SuperEmitters, and when i actually sit down and think about it, i actually use my 5MM lights more than my Überemitter lights, for me, floody beams are far more useful than throw, if i want throw, i have my A2's incan beam, or my MagCharger, for my purposes, the wide, floody beam and superior battery efficiency of a 5MM device fits my needs better
to quote the Old Man from the "Bring out your Dead" skit from Monty Python and the Holy Grail...
"I'm not dead, I'm getting better, I think I'll go for a walk..."
Don't count the 5MM out yet, it still has potential for long-running battery sippers or flooders
yes, Cree/Seoul/K2/SSC/Rebel lights are very nice, however, they also seem to be growing both brighter and more power hungry with every revision, and they're also generating prodigious amounts of heat, it's almost like they're transforming into nothing more than an "unbreakable" incan bulb, as brightness rises, heat generation increases and LED lifespan drops.....
to make matters worse, most lights have the emitter permanently mounted in the light's head, so when the LED succums to heat/voltage damage and starts to lose brightness, or just plain dies, it's almost impossible to repair/replace the emitter
I have a couple of Überemitter lights, a Lighthound Cree drop in in my old 6P, and a SSC P4 in my E1L-SR, and i love both of those lights (especially the E1L-SR)
that said, I still like the "obsolete" 5MM based LED lights, lights like the Inova X5 and X1 Gen 2, the CMG Infinity, the Peak 5MM light line, the Arc-P, the Fenix E0, and other such lights
I like their simplicity, no need for complicated optics or reflectors, each LED has it's own optic as part of the emitter itself, their durability, and power efficiency, i have an old standard power Peak Kilimanjaro 1 LED light that I've been doing a runtime test on, it's been burning now continuously for 6 days, and for 5 of those days, the light was still usable for walking around the house when dark adapted, today it's dropped down to the point where i can see the bond wire going into the LED die, but it's still putting out enough light to read by....
my Aviatrixed A2 Aviator (hey, it has 5MM emitters in it, it counts!) is the perfect light, a low red LED for when i want to protect my dark adaptation or get ultra-long runtimes, i lightly sanded the red LED to smooth out the ringy, square beam and to cut down some of it;s throw, the two white LED's are great for normal use, and since i sanded the red LED, the pink hotspot in the middle of the white flood is almost unnoticeable when WWH'ing, in actual use, it's undetectable
my X5s (i own 3, Gen 1-3) are absolutely reliable and sip power, I can always rely on them to produce usable light, even on depleted cells my A2 incan bulb is "done" with, i don't have to baby them (even though i do), they can stand up to anything short of a direct thermonuclear strike, rugged, solid, bulletproof lights that emit an incredibly useful flood of light, perfect for 80% of what i need a light for
my X1's (1 gen1, 2 gen2's) and CMG Infinity can also be relied on for a nice long runtime, and a nice wide flood of light, my Infinity is an original Cyan model, and i roughed up the LED with a little 000 steel wool and a green scotchbrite pad to smooth out the ringy cyan beam, it now puts out a flawless cyan flood, and runs forever on whatever AA's i can scrounge up to feed it, from brand new Lithium AA's to ancient carbon-zinc cells, it's a simple, bombproof design that....just....works
And my new favorite, my Arc AAA-P, it puts out the same amount of light as my Inova X1 Gen2's, and fits unobtrusively on a keyring, however, it's too nice to relegate to keyring duty, so i've got it hanging from a spare SureFire lanyard around my neck, hey, it was cheap (free) and durable, I'm still looking for an inexpensive stainless or titanium chain to hang it from my neck on, as the SureFire lanyard is a little bulky
I need to order a couple more Arc AAA's though, a Standard to put on my keyring, and another Premium to keep as a backup.....
Yes, the Überemitters are nice, no questions, but don't count out the little ol' 5MM, it still has potential, and it's a heck of a lot more battery efficient than the SuperEmitters, and when i actually sit down and think about it, i actually use my 5MM lights more than my Überemitter lights, for me, floody beams are far more useful than throw, if i want throw, i have my A2's incan beam, or my MagCharger, for my purposes, the wide, floody beam and superior battery efficiency of a 5MM device fits my needs better
to quote the Old Man from the "Bring out your Dead" skit from Monty Python and the Holy Grail...
"I'm not dead, I'm getting better, I think I'll go for a walk..."
Don't count the 5MM out yet, it still has potential for long-running battery sippers or flooders
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