I took my NovaTac camping!

My wife and I did a quick overnight camping trip to Lassen National Park and I had a chance to check out my NovaTac 85P in quality darkness. I initially had it programmed for 2.7, 15, 30, and 85 lumens. 1st off the beam pattern was nearly perfect. A very wide cone of light dare I say (Surefire) L2 like. It really puts alot of light out in a wide area especially on the higher settings. If you want a thrower, this is not the light for you IMHO. The color rendition was very good in the forest for a LED. I think this is because it not being a thrower everything your looking at is at closer ranges, within 35 meters.

When it got really dark I quickly reprogrammed the light to 0.66, 5.3, 21, and 85 lumens. When I 1st got the light I thought click-click-press to reprogram the intensity was a liability because I kept accidently activating the ramping up of the level I was on and resetting the light. After I got used to the level selection process the simplicity of setting the light levels became evident. When ramping up or down the light double flashes at the highest and lowest settings for a reference point. At 1st I was fixated on having to know the exact lumen output I had the level set at and knowing an estimated runtime on that level. All you need to know is by ramping backwards from full output, for the 85P model, 8 steps down covers 60, 42, 21, 15, 10, 7.5, and 5.3 lumens respectively. And ramping up from the lowest settings the 1st 10 bumps covers 0.08 to just under 2 lumens. I just reset my light as the situation dictates. No more preconceived light levels for every situation. Go with the flow and stop obsessing!!! It takes just a few moments to reprogram. As for the runtime obsession, I had an epiphany, just because my light will run at least 30 minutes at 85 lumens really doesn't mean a whole lot in the field because I have no idea how much charge my battery has. So I just carry a few extra cells when away from camp.

I used a Minimag white traffic cone with the 10 lumen output for a table candle. Now I know why some of you want the tail standing capability. This also made a great tent light.

I am extremely pleased with my 85P!

Thanks for sharing!

I'm glad to hear that kelmo! I have an 85P and I love it!! :twothumbs

I just recently went camping this past weekend and I brought several lights of course. The one I used the most was a Fenix P3D RB100 because it had the lowest level. When your walking around the park you don't want to blind people you just need enough lite to navigate. Its nice to be able to bump it up to 200 lumens if you think you hear an animal outside your tent. I am interested in a Novatac because you can set the different levels. A SureFire titan would be nice but 3 times the cost etc. Glad to hear your camping review, makes me closer to geting a Novatac :twothumbs

I took a few small and lightweight lights on a recent backpacking trip. As always, the Petzl Tikka+ headlamp was in almost constant use after dark -- no change there. When I wanted to spot something across the lake, the D-Mini was ideal as expected. A pleasant surprise was my old P1 which I'd put a Seoul P4 into, a piece of Scotch "Magic" matte tape over the lens to make it floody, and loaded with an RCR123A. It was intended mainly as a spare light and spare battery holder, but it would nicely light up the whole camping area very brightly. If I could only take one (in addition to the headlamp, which I'd never give up), it would probably be the P1D CE due to its combination of small size, light weight, brightness, compromise beam pattern, and output level selection.

c_c

I also went camping this summer and my Fenix P3D was one of my most useful due to its multiple brightness settings and small enough to pocket carry. The ability to have both a bright light output and low light output in the same light really hit home during the trip. I am sure the Novatac was even more usefule with having the ability to set a very low low. The Novatac looks to be a great light. I have some issues with the P3D inavertantly switching modes at times which is bothersome. The Novatac is a bit more upscale with cooler features. The P3D is not bad at what it is and can have a long runtime if needed.

I am looking forward to receiving a Liteflux LF-3 that has programmable levels and easy access to two levels. I think it will become a favorite.

Having a nice low setting is great for when walking around in the dark and the security of knowing you can switch to high mode if needed makes for a great camping light - and small enough to be able to put in your pocket when you are not using it.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm going camping in September and I will of course be bringing my 120p. I have use my seoul modded HDS U60 on previous camping trips so I know how the light will perform since my 120p and HDS are very similar in most respects. One problem I have run into is at times I forget which light I am carrying and because I am so used to my HDS I have accidentally accessed the brightness ramping (click, click, press) on my 120p when I was intendeing on accessing maximun on my HDS (click, click, press) I have been using a Surefire F04 beam diffuser recently so I am looking forward to using it on my upcoming trip.

kelmo said:

...At 1st I was fixated on having to know the exact lumen output I had the level set at and knowing an estimated runtime on that level. All you need to know is by ramping backwards from full output, for the 85P model, 8 steps down covers 60, 42, 21, 15, 10, 7.5, and 5.3 lumens respectively. And ramping up from the lowest settings the 1st 10 bumps covers 0.08 to just under 2 lumens. I just reset my light as the situation dictates. No more preconceived light levels for every situation. Go with the flow and stop obsessing!!!...

Click to expand...

So true. I have been the same way but I am trying to go with the flow now.

regulator said:

<snip>
I am looking forward to receiving a Liteflux LF-3 that has programmable levels and easy access to two levels. I think it will become a favorite.
<snip>

Click to expand...

I understand that the LF-3 has a 3rd level--the user level that has a fairly quick access!
Please let us know how you like the twisty access to the UI. The options really interest and intrigue me.
Greg
(sorry to hijack the thread)