Gerber Tempo impulse buy - I should know better...

I was in REI and I got distracted by a little AAA light on the rack from Gerber - 5mm seemingly well made and at $10 I thought, why not? I've been looking for a new key chain light so this won't break my heart when it gets beat to you know what.

Then I do some research here on CPF (what I usually do ... extensively ... before I buy any light $10 or not) and discover that the runtime is a bit disappointing, head not sealed so marginal water resistance, dodgy switch etc... very lukewarm response.

I open the package and the beam is OK, pretty white actually, and the build quality does seem OK if a bit heavy for what it is (no Peak or Arc light and tough here), but that rear tail switch is dodgy and not that easy to operate one handed (a must for a key chain light) and it is a bit larger than it needs to be for what it is ... and overall I'm, well, lukewarm about it! I really should have waited and done a little bit of research and saved the $10...

However, it will go to my son (budding flashaholic himself) as a backup camp light for him so all is not lost. But a good lesson nonetheless ...

You've just confirmed you are infected with "Flashaholism"...there is NO help BTW!! NONE!! I'm sure we've ALL done it as well!! Thanks for being honest with us!

Hey BTW, need a light? What can I get for you?!

Gatsby...I should know better as well. I picked up a Gerber Firecracker a few weeks ago on impulse at Sports Authority. 1XAA using a Nichia Rigel and a strange type of TIR optic. In true flashoholic fashion, I ripped it apart within two days to get at the optic! It was a real B**** to get apart, too! The adhesive they used to seal the head didn't give up without a pretty good fight. In the end though, it proved to be no match for me and my two sets of channel-locks!

Long story short (IMHO), don't waste your money on it. While the optic is pretty intriguing, and the construction isn't bad (...right down to the glass lens over the optic) the output is marginal at best (even for a Rigel...), and the beam color is amongst the worst I've ever seen for ANY type of emitter. Save your money a little longer and get an ArcAAA-P DS!

PJD

Sometimes the only way to get info on a light before the more knowledgeable CPF'ers rate them is to bite the bullet and buy it. I did that last summer with a Gerber Cornea (also on the rack at REI). I wanted to get a 2AA light and bit on the advertising. After testing it at home I decided it wasn't something that I wanted to use on a routine basis. The solution? Give it to my girlfriend as an emergency light for her apartment. We took a night walk the other day and compared it to the UK 4AA eLED Zoom I was carrying. It obviously didn't match my light for brightness, beam quality and color but it was adequate for illuminating our way. At least it didn't set me back a lot of dough and it turned out to be an appreciated "gift." [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/FONT]

Uncle Bob said:

Sometimes the only way to get info on a light before the more knowledgeable CPF'ers rate them is to bite the bullet and buy it...

Click to expand...

Uncle Bob...I agree! I've "bit the bullet" on quite a few lights over the last few years; take one for the team! The Firecracker won't be thrown away by any means...in fact, it did find a home in my tool box after I put it back together.

PJD

These lights are long running, so it is unfair to compare them to brighter lights that won't run as long.

Just wanted to add that I think the FIRECRACKER is a fine light, and puts out a good tight beam. I didn't want anything too bright, so it is a good option, and the battery lasts for a long time. Mine has decent tint, too. It doesn't appear very bright, but it has great throw.

People seem to write a lot that they use their SF L1 on low mode most... pretty similar to the FIRECRACKER.