Lumalee
Newly Enlightened
Hi All,
This is not intended as a full review, just my personal findings during the test period of this flashlight.
Well I have had this light, courtesy of Marc at AE Light, for just over three weeks. It has been in some harsh places and some executive scenarios too. It has been evaluated in the real world as I dont have any technical gadgetry to measure its perfomance in Lux or Lumens, sorry.
Firstly, what do you get in the box ? Well forstarters the box is a high quality gloss finished box with foam inserts to keep the light snug and secure. There is the light body, the battery pack, the carry case and the two power options, mains charger and cig lead, which both fit into the charging cradle.
Upon removing the light from the box you can immediately feel the quality is high, I would say certainly on a par with SF, the knurling is sharp and deep and the black finish is uniform. For the technical info please visit www.aelight.com where you will find all the tech spec, weight, emitter etc etc, but it feels solid and robust and capable. I love the soft touch switch, which is just behind the light head, and is covered with a tactile white cover, press once for full power, press again for low power, press and hold for strobe, this switch is also the low battery indicator and glows red when the battery is about 20 mins from exhausted, a very clever and well thought idea.
The image above shows the tactical tailcap switch, which gives full output with forward click, and also illustrates the innovative charging contacts on the tailcap, which make contact in the charge cradle shown below.
This charging vradle is used both for mains charging and for car charging but is ultimately aimed at mounting in a vehicle for constant charge/use scenarios. From flat to full charge takes approx 2 hrs.
The quality of finish on the light is second to none and at the business end is a very capable emitter producing approx 160 lumens on high although this is a pre production/pre sale version and the retail release will be more like 200 lumens. The five hour runtime, yes FIVE hour runtime is not over quoted at all, we used it for a full weekend as security operatives at a rock festival, and it was used for all kinds of things from traffic control to crowd control and for most of the nights, but we didnt have to charge it at all during the whole time !!
The beam produced is one of mixed ability, a vert tight central beam with tremendous throw similar to the MRV, but with workable side spill/flood effect for general Police/SAR work, best of both worlds. Not a massive light but big enough to be serious and compact enough to carry on duty belt etc. For scale purposes I have included a SF U2 and SF E1L to give you an idea of the size.
Here are some simple beamshots, at 1m from cream coloured wall.
Topgun on Full power
Topgun left compared to SF U2 on right
Topgun on left compared to SF E1L Cree
I will do some outdoor shots as soon as I can, and post them here.
Overall, I think the Topgun has a broad spectrum of uses, and is a very capable performer in all of them, build quality, and beam quality are out of this world, love the switch gear and options, charger is solid and fast, battery lasts ages and ages, it could definately be a candidate for the Holy Grail of general purpose flashlights !!
Down sides ? none really apart from I wish they did a smaller version so I could EDC one, yeah !! its that good.
To dispel the synics, this was not a freebie from AE Light, I paid for a pre retail version to allow me to evaluate the light for a client on this side of the pond (UK) and thus my judgement is not biased in anyway, I genuinely hand on heart love this light and I cant wait until the retail version is available some time early October, I think.
Cheers to all
Lee
This is not intended as a full review, just my personal findings during the test period of this flashlight.
Well I have had this light, courtesy of Marc at AE Light, for just over three weeks. It has been in some harsh places and some executive scenarios too. It has been evaluated in the real world as I dont have any technical gadgetry to measure its perfomance in Lux or Lumens, sorry.
Firstly, what do you get in the box ? Well forstarters the box is a high quality gloss finished box with foam inserts to keep the light snug and secure. There is the light body, the battery pack, the carry case and the two power options, mains charger and cig lead, which both fit into the charging cradle.
Upon removing the light from the box you can immediately feel the quality is high, I would say certainly on a par with SF, the knurling is sharp and deep and the black finish is uniform. For the technical info please visit www.aelight.com where you will find all the tech spec, weight, emitter etc etc, but it feels solid and robust and capable. I love the soft touch switch, which is just behind the light head, and is covered with a tactile white cover, press once for full power, press again for low power, press and hold for strobe, this switch is also the low battery indicator and glows red when the battery is about 20 mins from exhausted, a very clever and well thought idea.
The image above shows the tactical tailcap switch, which gives full output with forward click, and also illustrates the innovative charging contacts on the tailcap, which make contact in the charge cradle shown below.
This charging vradle is used both for mains charging and for car charging but is ultimately aimed at mounting in a vehicle for constant charge/use scenarios. From flat to full charge takes approx 2 hrs.
The quality of finish on the light is second to none and at the business end is a very capable emitter producing approx 160 lumens on high although this is a pre production/pre sale version and the retail release will be more like 200 lumens. The five hour runtime, yes FIVE hour runtime is not over quoted at all, we used it for a full weekend as security operatives at a rock festival, and it was used for all kinds of things from traffic control to crowd control and for most of the nights, but we didnt have to charge it at all during the whole time !!
The beam produced is one of mixed ability, a vert tight central beam with tremendous throw similar to the MRV, but with workable side spill/flood effect for general Police/SAR work, best of both worlds. Not a massive light but big enough to be serious and compact enough to carry on duty belt etc. For scale purposes I have included a SF U2 and SF E1L to give you an idea of the size.
Here are some simple beamshots, at 1m from cream coloured wall.
Topgun on Full power
Topgun left compared to SF U2 on right
Topgun on left compared to SF E1L Cree
I will do some outdoor shots as soon as I can, and post them here.
Overall, I think the Topgun has a broad spectrum of uses, and is a very capable performer in all of them, build quality, and beam quality are out of this world, love the switch gear and options, charger is solid and fast, battery lasts ages and ages, it could definately be a candidate for the Holy Grail of general purpose flashlights !!
Down sides ? none really apart from I wish they did a smaller version so I could EDC one, yeah !! its that good.
To dispel the synics, this was not a freebie from AE Light, I paid for a pre retail version to allow me to evaluate the light for a client on this side of the pond (UK) and thus my judgement is not biased in anyway, I genuinely hand on heart love this light and I cant wait until the retail version is available some time early October, I think.
Cheers to all
Lee
