Riverrock Nightfire 2C 136Lumen @ Target - Opinions

Hiya,

Went to my local Target yesterday and saw they had the Riverrock Nightfire 2C 136 Lumen. On the package it stated that it has a Cree, outputting 136 Lumens. Is this light any good? Any opinions will great appreciated it.

There were some discussions on it a while back... Cree P4, lexan window, plastic reflector, questionable click-switch reliability, poor regulation with Alkalines. Nuwai tradition of glue everywhere to-the-max.

I wanted to give one a shot, as a mod host for a pair of 18500 RCR cells, DX multi-mode driver and a Cree Q5-WC. But the glue-aspect and plastic lens turned me off.

How much did it cost? I have a 2C Task Force light from Lowes that I'm very satisfied with. It was $30 when I bought it last year, I imagine they're still about the same.

violatorjf said:

How much did it cost? I have a 2C Task Force light from Lowes that I'm very satisfied with. It was $30 when I bought it last year, I imagine they're still about the same.

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$29 at my local store.

It's $29.99 at my local Target and it seems to sell very well. It's always out of stock and I only saw one left yesterday...

Is the Nightfire the same light that I see in the River Rock brochure with a Cree XR-E and 21 hours at Max Brightness model R-AC2C?

I just bought one today. Nice light! It's made very well. Everything about it feels better than either the LTF2C or the AAP2C.

I didn't take it apart all the way, but I did unscrew the head to take a look. The relector is OP aluminum, and the lens is plastic of some sort.

The hotspot is small and there is lots of spill. I'd say it's not quite as bright as the LTF2C, but the color is warmer so that might explain some of the difference.

If anyone asks me, this is now the 2C flashlight I'd recommend.

I didn't take it apart all the way, but I did unscrew the head to take a look. The relector is OP aluminum, and the lens is plastic of some sort.

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I bought one of these a while back and think they may have changed a few things. The one I bought had a plastic reflector and lens and they were all glued into the head. I took the one I had back, might have to look at this again.

Got one. Definitely not 136 lumens. More like 40 lumens comparing it to my other lights.

But it's pretty nice, forward clickie switch and MOP produces a smooth light pattern.

Very efficient too, single set of C cells lasted me about 40 hours.

It is also a great mod host as the head can be unscrewed exposing the stock Cree, then the stock Cree can be soldered out and swapped with more efficient/higher output Cree versions.

Got one. Definitely not 136 lumens. More like 40 lumens comparing it to my other lights.

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Are you serious? Only 40 Lumens?

I just found one of these pups and I like it!! It is more spill than throw, but it has a very usable light. I have been using it all in and outside of our house all week. It very bright, but I think 136 lumens may be a bit of a stretch. Is is surely more than 40 by my eyes. Mine looks like 80-100 comparing it with a few of my other lights. It looks like it was made for runtime.

Mike

I decided to try another one and picked one up today. Like MikeOz said I say its about 80-100 lumens. Ive run it for 3 continuous hours with no drop in brightness. Doesnt even get warm. It does have a PLASTIC LENS AND REFECTOR, and THEY ARE GLUED IN. I would love to get the lens out and replacde it with glass. Very useful light, And I may get blasted for this but I like it better than the Lowes Task Force Cree. The beam reminds me of an SSC. And a nice warm tint to it. It is kinda slick and I can see where it could get slippery when wet or greasy. I think I can fix that with some spray on texture from Walmart. Ive used this stuff on alot of lights and it holds up pretty well. Heres a few pics.

EDIT - The light will tailstand.

I thought the grip on the light was a bit slick so I had a brainstorm!!.....or maybe just a slight drizzle.... Check this out...





I slid the grip off the old version of the Lowes 2C light and it fit perfect over the RR!! Looks great also!!

Mike

Hmm. I've been thinking about picking up one of these for a light to use while running in the evenings. I used my L1D a few times. It did the job well in turbo mode and was easy to carry, but I'd rather have something that was bright but without having to change the batteries so often. This light looks like a pretty good candidate! Can you grip it cigar style, or between the middle, index, and thumb?

mhubble said:

I decided to try another one and picked one up today. It does have a PLASTIC LENS AND REFECTOR

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I'll have to take a closer look, but when I tapped the reflector with the forceps I used to remove the retaining ring, it sounded like metal to me.

I've been using this light as much as I could today, and the more I use it the more I like it. Definitely more spill than spot, and the spill is nice and bright.

Stress_Test said:

Can you grip it cigar style, or between the middle, index, and thumb?

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If your fingers are long enough I guess you could, but it's a larger ring gauge than any cigar I've ever smoked. The walls of the tube are pretty thin, so if you can hold a C cell like a cigar, this won't be too different.

I did some runtimes on this light and Im pretty amazed. Its nothing like they advertise but its better than most lights out there.

Ran the light for 2 hours with no drop in brightness. Batteries dropped to 1.42 volts.

Rant the light for two more hours, brightness dropped approx. 40%,Batteries read 1.32 volts.

Ran the light for another two hours, no more drop in brightness, batteries still read 1.32 volts.

Ran the light for another two hours, no more drop in brightness, batteries still read 1.32 volts.

Ran it for another hour this morning with no drop in brightness, batteries read 1.30 volts.

So thats 9 hours of run time, Im guessing its about 50 lumens and has been at that level for about 6 hours. Plenty of useful light.

Later today Im going to turn it on and leave it on to see just how far it will go.

Notice the battery type says two C sized alkaline batteries but under battery replacement it says to replace with two new "AA" sized alkaline batteries.

Well, I gave in to temptation (that didn't take much!!) and bought one. Carpe diem and all that stuff.

To answer my own question above, I can get my fingers around it cigar-style, but it's not very comfy or stable. It works better with a "modified" cigar grip, with the middle finger and index finger both on top.

It's brighter overall than my Fenix L1D-CE on turbo, but the L1D may actually throw a bit more. Hard to tell indoors, and it's not dark yet. The spill of the RR is much brighter than the L1D spill.

It's actually a really nice beam. It reminds me of the full-flood mode of the MiniMag LED, but without artifacts.

Strangely enough, the flood area isn't as large as I thought; it's similar to the L1D. I thought it might light up a larger area with the larger head, but I suppose it's due to the emitter being buried deep in the reflector.

The only thing I don't like about it so far is that the switch is very very soft. It barely takes any pressure to activate the momentary mode. For pocket carry, it definitely needs to go head down because it's own weight is more than enough to activate the switch in a pocket.

All in all I'm pleased. If these do go on sale, I may get a few more as Christmas/birthday gifts.

Thank you all for contributing in this thread with thoughts/picts/opinions and to the OP for brining up the question. I have been curious about this light....

I saw this same light at target the other day and was very tempted by it. Just looks like a good beater light to have around. I'm a big fan of the 2C task force cree, as it's a good value light that I feel comfortable loaning out as there isn't any special requirement to understanding how to use it or anything. I've been on the lookout for decent 2 cell flashlights (AA/C/D size) that are simple single mode operation, with a modern emitter that isn't driven too hard, but rather, pushed to a conservative level to extend runtime and make good use of any cells that happen to be laying around. IMO everyone should have at least a few LEDs lights in larger format that can make it through the night in an emergency without changing the cells. The Task-Force has that nice tight throw, but honestly, that tight throwy spot with severe lack of spill is not always useful. This RR looks like a good alternative.

Eric