Real World Review - River Rock 1w 1xAA light

ZeSpectre's "Real World Reviews"

09/16/2007

Hey everyone, sorry I've been gone so long but there have been a LOT of life changes and things keeping me busy. Still the flashlight addiction never -really- goes away so I'm back and here's the first Real World review since my "grand" return <grin>.

First a technical note. I've moved from Arlington to Staunton, VA since my last reviews so the "standard evening walk" has changed somewhat. Interestingly enough I was able to find "targets" along the new walk that are very similar to most of my previously used ones.

The New "Standard Evening Walk"

The evening walk takes place over a 1.5 mile loop. It begins on a well lit and well paved street, proceeds parallel to a large, unlit, cemetary, and then into an unlit neighborhood. We then usually cross a short gravel path into another unlit neighborhood and back down a steep hill to a regular lit/paved area. In the course of these walks I have chosen 6 "standard" targets to compare flashlight capabilites. #1) The fence at the end of our parking lot (approx 50 ft). Weathered brown wood that makes a good test of color rendition. #2) A light grey mailbox from 30 yards away. #3) Cemetary (how many rows of headstones can I illuminate) distance test. #4) Thick shrubbery along the edge of the walkway (approx 6 ft away, testing penetration vs bounceback). #5) Red fire hydrant and three phone poles roughly 50 yards away on an unlit street (Can I see all?) #6) Steep downhill gravel path with bad sideways crown (the "confidence" test).


Initial Impression(s)

River Rock 1w LED (1xAA)

The River Rock light is fairly small and slim and feels well made. It has a pocket clip with absolute no spring to it and that bends out of shape on the first use. The pocket clip is a useless piece of garbage, unclip it and chuck it! The supplied lanyard is in the best traditions of Surefire and other companies. It has a stiff little loop that makes mounting easy and the lanyard itself is a nice length with two spring clips to adjust the length. The lanyard is every bit as nice as the pocket clip is crappy.

The switch is a simple on/off reverse clicky under a nice rubber pad. The switch is mounted below the tailcap rim so the light can be stood on end "candle mode" style. The tailcap has a rubber "o" ring and although I didn't test waterproofness I'm sure this light will be at least "dunkable". The rest of the body is a nicely machined aluminum that is pleasing to the eye, heavy enough to be durable, light enough to make for nice pocket carry. The emitter is a nice 1 watt luxeon mounted within a surprisingly deep reflector. The light takes 1xAA battery to operate.

Standard Evening Walk

Balance, retention, and single hand operation of the light are first rate due to it's body styling and with the lanyard attached there is absolutely no drop risk. The light is also extremely sturdy and I seriously doubt dropping it would do more than mar the finish.

The switch is a reverse clicky with a nice positive tactile and audible feedback and was easily operated one handed.

This light seems to be mostly designed for a controlled throw with a sharp hot spot and then an abrupt transition to the spill area. The side spill is very usable, but on the "confidence" areas of my walk there was a definite "follow the bouncing ball" effect from the sharp hotspot and this, as always, means that you slow down and pick your footing a bit more carefully under these circumstances.

Even though it's a 1xAA powered light, it did a fine job of illuminating all distance targets. I would put it easily on par with the old EDC-60 on "turbo" mode.
The slight blue color made distinction on target #1 less than optimal, but still acceptable.
#2 was an easy spot due to the strong throw of this light.
#3) distance was good and I could see 3 rows (approximately 30 yards)
#4) Decent "punch through" of the shrubbery with very little "bounceback" to blind me
#5) Not quite enough power to see well at that distance
#6) "Follow the bouncing ball" effect so only medium confidence walking that trail.

Summary:
Hey, this is a nice little light and may be my new EDC for the briefcase.
STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.

A venture to Target recently and this very light followed me home.:thinking:

Initially I like it, beam similar to my nuwai x-1, but a little more bluish. Seems heavier built though. Took some getting use to the switch, its recessed in there a long ways and its pretty stiff.

Decent buy:twothumbsIMHO

Price and pics?

Low to mid $20s depending on the Target store. Think mine was $24 when I picked it up.


Thicker than my ACU 550...







There are some other impressions in the LED forum and review forum, IIRC.


Nice light. Mine has a very white tinted beam. Definitely makes Fenix models look green. Use it more than my JetBeam because the clicky is more convenient. JetBeam C-LE v2.0 might change things with the addition of a clicky, though. :thumbsup:

Anyone know how hard it is to open one if those lights up? Because if it easy, I might just buy one and modify it with a Seoul P4 because it seems better built then the brighter MTE Seoul.

I like the idea of a clip(Where are you Fenix???).

Great real world review,

I've wondered that myself, dont know the output but it pulls 750-800ma from the battery so it might be a great host.

I bought this light a few weeks ago for $22. I couldn't figure out how to attach the lanyard, but the pocketclip hasn't given me a single problem at all. It's never bent out of shape, it's very stiff and holds well. My color is a white tint, no blue or purple tint at all. It's a great little pocket light for the work I do and walking around the house at night. I have wondered about getting it open though. I was thinking boiling it in a bag might loosen it up. Oh, I did lube the o-ring on the tail, with vaseline, as it seemed dry to me. It does seem to be slightly brighter after the lubing too. May just be my eyes playing tricks on me. I love the light.

Nice review, the light is fairly easy to open, a little heat at the bottom of the bezel and a strap wrench got me in. The LE screws out but is a tad tricky, I used a utility knife point to easily grab the outer edge a spin.

It appears as though the reflector also screws out (I did not try). I thought of upgrading the emitter but once I got a look at the LE decided against it. The Lux 1 leads are bent through tiny holes and soldered to the wires from the driver, it looks like that is how the driver PCB is held in place. Some more adventurous folks may have or will accept the challenge I'm sure, but IMHO the light is decent as is.

Also the pocket clip is fine for my use ( nicely attaching to the brim of my hat), so any who want to chuck theirs give me shout..............

Phaetos said:

I bought this light a few weeks ago for $22. I couldn't figure out how to attach the lanyard, but the pocketclip hasn't given me a single problem at all. It's never bent out of shape, it's very stiff and holds well. My color is a white tint, no blue or purple tint at all. It's a great little pocket light for the work I do and walking around the house at night. I have wondered about getting it open though. I was thinking boiling it in a bag might loosen it up. Oh, I did lube the o-ring on the tail, with vaseline, as it seemed dry to me. It does seem to be slightly brighter after the lubing too. May just be my eyes playing tricks on me. I love the light.

Click to expand...

Pinch the mini loop on the lanyard together, and then thread it through the hole in the tailcap. Now thread the other end of the lanyard through the mini loop.

You might want to try a heatgun or hair dryer instead. Might take a lot of patience and time, but eventually it should loosen anything up if the head is open-able.

The threads on mine were bone-dry. Turning the cap was like scratching nails on a chalkboard...*cringe*. Bought a small tube of plumber's silicone grease from Home Depot as well as Radioshack lube. Haven't tried the shack one yet.

I have noticed two types of finish on them also,a flat black,and a semi gloss,that I have on mine.Nice review, ZeSpectre.:thumbsup:

Interesting about the clip that the rest of you seem to have. Mine had absolutely no "spring" to it. The first time any tension was applied it bent and stayed that way (like bending a piece of aluminum of similar gauge rather than some spring steel or such). Maybe I just got a bum clip.

No clip problems here, but the only thing I clip it to is my jeans pocket

First of all, welcome back zespectre! :welcome:

Secondly, I bought one of these specifically to mod. I used a little heat, and got the front apart. The LE then came out easily. I put a UV led from DX in mine. I actually took the LE totally apart, mounted the led, and then pushed the leads through the holes in the driver board, then soldered everything back up. It was actually quite easy in practice. I showed it to a few machanics at work, and may need to make a few more.

Sounds like you found a good evening walk routine in Staunton! And, there's probably lots of good 'quality dark' there.

How's this one compare to the Fenix L1P original or Civictor in brightness and throw?

Cheers

I'd say much like the Civictor but with a more intense hotspot and (if memory serves) about 5-10% more throw. Not -revolutionary- but a definite step up. I'm hoping to get a chance to set up the monitoring software and do a runtime test. If/when I do I'll post a runtime graph.

In town not so much quality dark <grin>. But you sure don't have to get far out of town for it!

I've had this fine, little light since early summer and like it a lot. I don't use the clip because I'm afraid it might fall off my belt or pocket. I just leave it on for better gripping. I have to use my index finger instead of my thumb to activate the switch but that is a minor annoyance. I find that the beam and throw is adequate for the uses I put it through. Mine has a very acceptable white tint.

I just spent a week on vacation and had time to test most of my lights on night walks along wooded roads. I relied on this little guy for forays outside around the cabin. For brighter and longer throws I pulled out my bigger guns.
:twothumbs