PT Impact/Impact2/Attitude questions

I'm interested in a light for car camping and have been looking at these models. For those who aren't aware, car camping is basically driving to a state park and using a campsite available there. We don't go backpacking and therefore aren't as concerned with the size and weight of our gear.

So, anyone have any experience with any of these models, or can you reccomend any others? I am covered for the blindingly bright lights with Surefire, but would like an LED or two, or three, or...well, you get the idea.

I was looking at the Impact and Impact2 at a local store, but could not see a great deal of difference between the two and the Attitude.

Any help for this neophyte would be appreciated.

Dave

Impact - four AA's, one LED, bigger light designed for extremely long runtime on a set of batteries

Attitude - three AAA's, three LED's, pretty bright, smaller light, shorter run time.

There's also the Impact 2 which uses AAA's and has just one LED.

Between the three I'd get the Attitude and put some rechargeables in. The Attitude uses the same body as the Rage, which has a much brighter but battery hungry xenon lamp. You can interchange the lamp assemblies. If you buy an Attitude you might want to get a spare Rage lamp assembly (around $5) that you can swap in if you need a bright light.

All these lights are reviewed in the LED Flashlights section of

http://thelightsite.cruxial.com/reviews/reviews_index.htm

Note: I think brightguy.com was having a special on some of these--you might check there.

Main difference between Impact and Impact II is size (AA vs AAA). The beam's similar to a Brinkmann Long Life LED, and that meaning it's a focused beam of light that keeps its throw for a good 20-25 feet... As I don't have the Attitude, I'm not sure of it.

You may do well to look into a BadBoy/MadMax Dropin and grab yourself a Brinkmann Legend 2AA or if you already have one, a Minimag 2AA and drop it in. The Q3L upgrade to the BB400 is as bright, if not brighter than an ArcLS, and is only $55 total... Good 4 hour runtime with that as well...

All I can say is...WOW! I ask a question and immediately get responses. Thanks so much.

After looking at the lights again, I see that I've been rather unobservant regarding the battery size, which you guys have pointed out.

I guess I'll just have to get a AA version and a AAA version to make my own comparisons.

Thanks again,
Dave

The AA version is kind of silly unless you need REALLY long runtime for some reason, or want to share batteries with your other AA-powered gear. The AAA's will run for a good long time and are a much more pocketable light that's easier to hold.

the attitude will run for a VERY long time on it's 4 aaa's.

i ran one for 5 hours straight, and it only lost about 20% of it's brightness--barely noticable.
i have 4 attitudes--GREAT light.

another nice possibility is an opalec newbeam. it is very similar in output to the attitude, but runs at the same brightness for over 9 hours!

good luck,
Bob

I think you would be pleased and suprised by how much light the Attitude puts out, and for how long. They are really nice solid knockaround lights, and were the lights that made MiniMag lights completely obsolete for me.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gifI 2nd the opalec, consistent output,8-10hrs will work with lithium aa, low batt. warning light.

Opalecs are real nice from everything I've heard (I don't have one) but pretty expensive given the original query.

In zero light conditions, an opalec is quite nice. But it pales in comparison to the brightness of an Attitude.

It's full regulation means 9+ hours of same brightness lighting; quite nice for only 2 AAs... Plus, the red low battery indicator's a great feature...

Eventually the twist on - off switch will need to be fixed. There is the fix posted on this forum on 1-28-03

Is that the Opalec or the Attitude?

That's the Attitude...

Have you considered the PT Aurora? Headlamp equivalent of the Attitude... so convenient around the campsite

What's the fix? I don't quite understand that picture.

That hard twist on/off is due to the pressure sensitive switch (located on the side of the pc) not making contact. The fix is to remove the top bar & adding solder to the 2 contacts underneath; put a drop of solder on the top of the bar & replace it.
Note:The bar slips off the 2 plastic poles after squeezing the mushroomed tops with plyers or tweezers. When finished soldering, put it on & mushroom the top again to hold it on.
Alternative by Spectrum: Raising the plastic bulkhead inside the housing that contacts the switch plate should have the same result. A small blob of hot glue on the top of the plastic and mashed flat seems to work without having to touch the circuit board at all. Anything that makes the switch actuate well before the end of travel for the end cap.

Well, I got the Impact II today. The throw is incredible for an LED light. I like the pocket clip and slim profile, but I believe I'll have to add an Attitude as well, for closer work and reading.

I have a feeling that the Attitude will not be the last, either. After buying Surefires, these lesser expensive lights are hard to turn down.

Thanks for all the advice and I believe I will pass on the AA version, due to the size issue.

Dave

Grab yourself a BadBoy module... If you haven't already, you'll be even more impressed by how useful its beam is...

I have an attitude and like it quite a bit. It is very easy to carry by putting it head-first into the watch pocket of my jeans.

I have been considering an Impact 2 (thats the aaa, right?) mainly for the pocket clip. Have you carried yours using the clip yet? How is it for comfort and such?

PT Attitude /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Bright, long battery life, robust, lightweight, pocketable, waterproof. The perfect "go anywhere" light, which knocks the Mini Mag into a dark corner, even with an Opalec conversion.

I also have an Impact, which is much better for long throws and very bright for a single LED light

My only minor beefs with them are the switch action (a little heavy) and the fact that the lenses are not very recessed and vulnerable to scratching. There's also the translucent casing on the Attitude, which makes it look a tad cheap and leads to a slightly distracting backwards glow. If they made the case opaque like the Impact it would be a great improvement.

Haven't seen the Impact 2 yet, though.