Gatsby
Enlightened
I just returned from my annual beach vacation where I got to put a few lights through some different paces and uses, with some interesting results. The usual suspects:
Dereelight CL1H v3.0 - 2SM Q5 module, non OP reflector.
Novatac 85P
Liteflux LF5
Liteflux LF2
Jil JCR2 IT
Mag85
Peak Pacific
Energizer 4AA folding lantern
Lumapower LM31 (my sons - he used it on our ghost crab hunt)
LL Bean LED baseball hats (my sons and mine - he used his on our ghost crab hunt with good results)
Usage included normal EDC usage - looking for things in cabinets, navigating around the condo and checking on the kids at night, as well as several night walks on the beach and around the property. The Pacific was solely for backup use in case a storm came through and knocked the power out so I did not anticipate using it and the LF2 is my key ring light so it did not get used since my keys were mostly stored!
Several lights were not used at all - Liteflux LF5, Jil JCR2IT both sat unused in my storage box, nice to have them as options, but...
MVP award: Novatac 85P. Like the Arc4+ and HDS I owned before it, the Novatac does a lot of things and does them all well. Whether it was low light navigation at night, spotting something on the beach or in the weeds with my son, the Novatac proved to be a more than adequate replacement for the LF5 and the JCR2 IT. Part of it was the attire - shorts and a t shirt hid the only issue I have with the Novatac lights and their predecessors, their size which is a bit bulky for a pocket light. In a lot of circumstances the slimmer profile of the LF5 and the tiny JCR2IT make a better pocket light, but neither does as much as well as the Novatac.
Honorable mention - Dereelight CL1H v3.0. When my son and I went ghost crab hunting one night the Dereelight really proved its worth, putting out a ton of useful light and spotting the sneaky ghost crabs well before we scared them. And that was on low. On high it is a powerful light in a small package. It really does put out a ton of useful, very bright and very white light. I do wonder about getting the OP reflector as the non OP does throw a lot but it is a super tight beam with less of a general purpose usable beam, and typical cree ringiness. Still, the combination with the Novatac really does most of what you'd need a light for - one powerful thrower and one all purpose EDC light.
The Mag85 was a curiosity - fun to see just how far it throws, and it throws a long way, but obviously limited in practical terms. Heck the Dereelight on low was even too much light on a dark beach for more than spotting things at a distance. Part of this is batteries - I'm waiting on some Eneloops as the current Energizer 2500s just aren't up to the task at all as they die way too quickly.
And perhaps the most important light of all was the Energizer 4AA led folding lantern which on low was the nightlight in my kids (6 and 2) room - critical equipment for them and it just seems to run and run. I topped off 4 Kodak NiMH cells on Thursday but didn't really need to as it was running strong after well over 50 hours of use and didn't seem to be dimming at all. I'd expect a shortened runtime on rechargeables, but still it shows its worth as a long run time emergency light - and they are cheap at Wally World right now!
All in all a great trip and despite taking a ton of lights, well, I could easily have gotten through the week with just two - the Novatac and the Dereelight. Some time ago I went for more than two years with a Photon on my keyring, an HDS B42XRGT and a Streamlight Strion as my only lights. The LF2, the Novatac 85P and the Dereelight are all improved lights in most respects with similar purposes, but it does demonstrate to me that I could arguably live with just those three again as they cover a lot of bases... but how much fun would THAT be?
:devil:
Dereelight CL1H v3.0 - 2SM Q5 module, non OP reflector.
Novatac 85P
Liteflux LF5
Liteflux LF2
Jil JCR2 IT
Mag85
Peak Pacific
Energizer 4AA folding lantern
Lumapower LM31 (my sons - he used it on our ghost crab hunt)
LL Bean LED baseball hats (my sons and mine - he used his on our ghost crab hunt with good results)
Usage included normal EDC usage - looking for things in cabinets, navigating around the condo and checking on the kids at night, as well as several night walks on the beach and around the property. The Pacific was solely for backup use in case a storm came through and knocked the power out so I did not anticipate using it and the LF2 is my key ring light so it did not get used since my keys were mostly stored!
Several lights were not used at all - Liteflux LF5, Jil JCR2IT both sat unused in my storage box, nice to have them as options, but...
MVP award: Novatac 85P. Like the Arc4+ and HDS I owned before it, the Novatac does a lot of things and does them all well. Whether it was low light navigation at night, spotting something on the beach or in the weeds with my son, the Novatac proved to be a more than adequate replacement for the LF5 and the JCR2 IT. Part of it was the attire - shorts and a t shirt hid the only issue I have with the Novatac lights and their predecessors, their size which is a bit bulky for a pocket light. In a lot of circumstances the slimmer profile of the LF5 and the tiny JCR2IT make a better pocket light, but neither does as much as well as the Novatac.
Honorable mention - Dereelight CL1H v3.0. When my son and I went ghost crab hunting one night the Dereelight really proved its worth, putting out a ton of useful light and spotting the sneaky ghost crabs well before we scared them. And that was on low. On high it is a powerful light in a small package. It really does put out a ton of useful, very bright and very white light. I do wonder about getting the OP reflector as the non OP does throw a lot but it is a super tight beam with less of a general purpose usable beam, and typical cree ringiness. Still, the combination with the Novatac really does most of what you'd need a light for - one powerful thrower and one all purpose EDC light.
The Mag85 was a curiosity - fun to see just how far it throws, and it throws a long way, but obviously limited in practical terms. Heck the Dereelight on low was even too much light on a dark beach for more than spotting things at a distance. Part of this is batteries - I'm waiting on some Eneloops as the current Energizer 2500s just aren't up to the task at all as they die way too quickly.
And perhaps the most important light of all was the Energizer 4AA led folding lantern which on low was the nightlight in my kids (6 and 2) room - critical equipment for them and it just seems to run and run. I topped off 4 Kodak NiMH cells on Thursday but didn't really need to as it was running strong after well over 50 hours of use and didn't seem to be dimming at all. I'd expect a shortened runtime on rechargeables, but still it shows its worth as a long run time emergency light - and they are cheap at Wally World right now!
All in all a great trip and despite taking a ton of lights, well, I could easily have gotten through the week with just two - the Novatac and the Dereelight. Some time ago I went for more than two years with a Photon on my keyring, an HDS B42XRGT and a Streamlight Strion as my only lights. The LF2, the Novatac 85P and the Dereelight are all improved lights in most respects with similar purposes, but it does demonstrate to me that I could arguably live with just those three again as they cover a lot of bases... but how much fun would THAT be?
:devil:
