Is the blush of the rose for the Ray O Vac 4w/3c already?

Hi guys,

I jumped right onto the new Ray O Vac Sportsman Xtreme 4w/3c bandwagon immediatley. At first blush, it sounded very impressive for a $27 light, hell, any light for that matter, so I ordered one.

Was I premature? Little complaints about it are coming out in dribs and drabs... "Yeah it's bright, but mine came with a... loose this, loose that, poor buld quality in general," and so on.

Has a consensus been formed yet or is it just too early? Sounds as if it may be a hit or miss proposition.

If I knew how to start a poll of some sort on the light (with voting only for those who own the light) I would.

Mike

I enjoy mine and don't have any complaints!
For $27.00 it is what it is....

I hope to pick one up tonight after work (I get off work at 4-5 am and pass right by a Meijer store on my way home). I don't have high hopes for build quality on a $25 light, but I do expect it to work and put out a lot of light for a $25 LED light. I guess I'll see.......

When I reviewed this light a month ago I said

I went into my local Meijers and they had them also! The first thing I noticed is the rubber grip is slides around on its own. I think I'll have to silicone it on there so it doesn't drift.

Secondly the post that holds the lanyard isn't sealed and it slides back and forth. So although there are o rings on threads, water could easily go through the post on the tail.



The quality of construction doesn't seem very high but then again it was only 25 bucks.

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Later the lanyard pulled right out! The quality is not great. But that would only be a problem if the light cost 50 bucks. It doesn't. It's only 25. It's bright, long lasting, and at least where I live (5 were at Miejers today) readily available.

If mine were lost or stolen today would I go out and buy another one? In a second.:twothumbs

I think there are much better lights to spend your money on. The light I got was defective out of the box. I believe the Rayovac 1W or 3W are much better lights. They feel like higher quality and I have not heard of nearly as many issues as this light, and they are cheaper.

Seems like the honeymoon is over as more and more people get their hands on one of these ROVs. It had an air of mystery when only a few of us michiganians could get them:nana:. I just got back from Meijers today, where I bought a second one. They were sold out for a while-must be a few CPFers around here! Anyway, for all of its shortcomings, I like the light. I think it is an excellent light for keeping in my car,and the second one is hanging in the garage for general outdoors duty. Then again, I don't need much of an excuse to buy yet another flashlight to fill some real or imagined niche or need.

For the few shortcomings, I still feel this is a rock and roll light. Perfect example this evening. We were at a friend's house and a serious squall blew through, knocking branches down and raining so hard visibility was a hundred feet or so. I happened to have my Wolf Eyes Cree Explorer in my pocket when a couple of us wandered outside to see what had been damaged. Up in a tree a few hundred feet away was something light colored. The tree was a bull pine probably 120 feet tall and we could see it was something, but not identify it with the WE. I walked to my LandCruiser (shameless plug) and grabbed my ROV from the door pocket, which is what I bought it for. From the truck (farther away by 50 feet) all of us could instantly and clearly tell it was a chunk of siding from the neighbor's house.

So, I realize this thing is not perfect. But this is a perfect example of a 'run of the mill' light that kicks butt in doing what a flashlight's primary function is - light stuff up. Perfect beam pattern? Nope. Waterproof? Nope. Are both my lights the exact same color output? Nope. Would I buy another one? Yep - as soon as they're in my neighborhood I'll get another for the boat and another for my emergency home kit. And I'll yank the cheesy lanyards and replace the crappy rubber with quality grip tape just like the first two.

DougM

Bottom line......bright, great throw, and all the issues some CPF users have can be fixed for a few dollars. This kicks the ma*lites butt, and has raised the bar for other mass producers. This light is worth every penny, and can easily be modded into a more efficient, regulated light:twothumbs

clg0159 said:

.... This kicks the ma*lites butt, and has raised the bar for other mass producers....

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Wow.... This is like the 4th or 5th topic about this light.

Thing is, I seriously doubt if Maglite is worried. I too was very excited when I first learned of this light. Now.... much less so. Rayovac still hasn't learned one of the main lessons that Maglite has perfected over the years. Namely, get your product into as many locations as possible.

Go to a hardware store located in a remote corner of America. Chances are, you'll find Maglites on the shelves. Rather than putting their 3C light into places like Target, K-Mart, Home Depot, Lowes, or Wal-Mart; they put it in Meijers..... A chain of stores not located all over America. Who was the brilliant guy in marketing over at Rayovac who came up with that idea? :ironic:

Where I live, I could go to several B&M stores selling Surefires, Inovas, Streamlights, Pentagon lights.... Yet not one 3C Rayovac model. Meh, if I see one for sale somewhere, I'll buy it. But I'm done checking Wal-Mart stores for this model.

Monocrom said:

Wow.... This is like the 4th or 5th topic about this light.

Thing is, I seriously doubt if Maglite is worried. I too was very excited when I first learned of this light. Now.... much less so. Rayovac still hasn't learned one of the main lessons that Maglite has perfected over the years. Namely, get your product into as many locations as possible.

Go to a hardware store located in a remote corner of America. Chances are, you'll find Maglites on the shelves. Rather than putting their 3C light into places like Target, K-Mart, Home Depot, Lowes, or Wal-Mart; they put it in Meijers..... A chain of stores not located all over America. Who was the brilliant guy in marketing over at Rayovac who came up with that idea? :ironic:

Where I live, I could go to several B&M stores selling Surefires, Inovas, Streamlights, Pentagon lights.... Yet not one 3C Rayovac model. Meh, if I see one for sale somewhere, I'll buy it. But I'm done checking Wal-Mart stores for this model.

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+1 ... Too many dissapointed trips to the store. To many purchased lights so I didn't leave empty handed.

I received mine a few days ago and am so quite as impressed as others. The light does have good output, and I figure it is around 120 lumens. I got this figure from comparing it to other lights which have been tested by other members and are a known brightness.
The beam however is NOT what I expected. It does have good throw, but not nearly as much as I though it would. It has right around the same throw as a MagLED but has a much larger spot. The hotspot is not nearly as tight.
For those of you that use this light, is the beam at its tightest when the head is screwed down all the way? Mine isn't but I still use it all the way screwed down because it is the most secure.
Mine also has the WORST tint of any light I have seen! It is extremely blue/purple and looks like the hotspot of a AAAP. :thumbsdow
I do think this light is a pretty good deal and seems to funtion quite well, but the beam style is not what I invisioned.
Even still a 100+ lumen light that will run for hours on Alkaline cells is quite an accomplishment for anything that sells in retail stores for less than $25. As soon as Walmart starts carrying these I'll most likely pick up a few more for presents.

I fixed my lanyard by pulling off the tailcap, putting the post back in it, putting a phillips head screwdriver in the end and hitting with a hammer. It's super tight now and isn't coming off.

is the beam at its tightest when the head is screwed down all the way?

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No. Screwing it all the way down is too far. Just aim it at a wall about 10 feet away and adjust it till you get the spot as tight as it will go.

Is this the highest quality ever manufactured? No. Do you expect it to be for 25 bucks? You shouldn't. It's bright, long lasting and reasonably durable. It's definitely a lot of bang for your buck.

I'd get another one in a second.

On mine, the sleeve slips, the optic rattles if not focused all the way down, and the lanyard is held on by a thin string that I don't trust. $25 is about what an LED drop-in for a Maglite runs ($17-32 from Magled to TerraLux). The 3 & 4D Magleds have prettier output, and better flood, but the ROV better spot.

I don't know if I'd buy another one for use as a flashlight, but I do know I've spent more than this for an optic, star, and heatsink. So I get a body, tailcap, bezel, and optic protector for free! I've started to really like the 3C form factor; this light will enable some fun mods.

PS - Stocked up on $6.48 Brinkmann Maxfires for the cars. The batteries alone run $6-9 here.