WriteRight just keeps amazing me!

I have to mention this - I have a 4AA Rayovac "Compass light" (essentially the same as the Target "Greatland" 4AA rubber light. It's got an OK beam - kind of ringy, oval, looks like a contour map of an oblong hill. I bought it for about $2 on clearance at WM and was using it with a dummy cell for LED bulb retrofits in PR bases.

Well, I slapped the old bulb and 4AA in it and a piece of WriteRight over the lens and promptly exclaimed "Holy S__T"! Beautiful beam even tighter than the original! The WriteRight took the ringy oval and turned it into a smooth diamond of light with no rings, no holes, nothing - Almost looks like a Surefire beam except for the distinctive diamond (plus sign)(x shape) pattern of the light in the very center caused by the texture of the WriteRight (MUCH better than the rings and holes). Amazing! Turned a $2 POS light into a serious lighting instrument.

I've seen it do some great things to some of my lights, but this was the most dramatic change I've seen yet. Just had to mention it. If you've got some lights you don't use because of the beam quality, pick some up. It's not cheap ($18 for 12 sheets at WM - about 2 lights per sheet), but the effects are very dramatic and I'm sure someone here would be willing to buy any sheets you don't use.

You might want to try Freescreenprotectors.com. Enter code "FREESP" and you can get a pack for free - pay s/h of $6.95. I know 6.95 is way too much for s/h, but not bad overall.

I don't know if those are WriteRight or not. WriteRight (NOT the ones for color - only B/W - Palm III) has a microtexture that does the magic to the beam.

You can see the texture here on my review: http://thelightsite.cruxial.com/reviews/writeright.htm

And here's a newer before and after shot on a Streamlight Trident that really needed it:

You are correct - it appears that it does not have the texture like the WriteRight.

Quickbeam, I know there have been lots of threads about this product and several other like "contact paper", etc. but has anyone ever tried "cold laminating" paper? A friend gave me a small piece and it really improved several of my lights and I think it's fairly cheap but have never bought any of it.

I think this would be similar to the Clear Con-Tact paper I also reviewed - the improvement is the result of a chaotic texture created by the adhesive, not by a micropattern in the plastic itself.

Here's beam pics of the light I first mentioned - the compasslight - with enhanced insets showing the countour of the beam. WriteRight applied to second pic.



EDIT: well, got the names mixed up when I saved them, but they're in the right order now.

I've put Writeright on all of my MiniMags, Mag C's, Mag D's, and on a number of DB's.

The beam is much smoother on all. What disappoints me a little is that the WriteRight seems to yellow (lower) the color temperature somewhat as it diffuses the light.

I had an air bubble beteen the WriteRight and a Mag 3D lens. I am running a UKE 8cell 13 W bulb in a a Carley 912 PR base adapter on 3@ 3AA NiMH battery packs (9 cells) in that light. I was amused to see the WriteRight puff out like a baloon as the air heated and expanded. After I removed the lens the warmed-up Writeright reapplied smoother than ever. I previously ran an 10V 0.8A 8W Carley bulb in the light whose heat was insufficient to puff out the Writeright.

The good news is that W/A's tables suggest this Mag is putting out more than 411 lumens with this bulb at 14.5 W at an estimated 10.3 V and 1.39 A. I have spare Mag Reflectors, so I'll see if this one melts. I only have Mag plastic reflector, so I'll see if I need to buy a $2.50 glass reflector from Bright Guy.

The Bad news is that the wide W/A T-2 1/4 bulb filament reflector will only focus to a fairly wide flood with the Mag. Without the WriteRight this blotchy flood would be very ugly. The round flood diameter is double the wide axis of a P91 beam. In no place is the flood as bright as the P91 hot spot although it is whiter. The lack of a flat base to sit on the PR adapter makes the W/A bulbs even less well suited for PR-base use.

The Carley T-2 1/2 bulb, on the other hand, focuses to a tight hot spot. The 10 V 0.8 A bulb runs nicely in this combination after the 1.35 V per cell = 12.15 V surface charge of recharged NiMH's settles down to the 1.2 V per cell or 10.8 V running rate. I just discovered that freshly charged batteries can blow the 10V 0.80 A Carley 20 hour Halogen bulb. The 30-hour W/A 9.6 V 1.33 A bulb did not blow. After I get some more Carley bulbs, I'll move this W/A bulb back into a DB 8AA where it will run yellower and dimmer on 8 cells.

I'll next try to use the 10.5 V Carley 1.20 Xenon lamp #809 in this 9R-cell flashlight. The beam will be focusable and the and the rated lumens are 310. The lower amperage gets me back into Carley's unofficial +20% tolerance band on the 1.0 A spec for max recommended amperage on the PR base.