HDS RA-owners: please explain why it is so good!

I just stumbled over the thread: "if you could only have one light, what would it be?"

To my great, uhhh, surprise is not the right word, but, anyway, I noticed I read HDS Ra clicky etc etc etc every time again!
RA here, RA there....

There MUST be something special to these HDS RA-lights :thinking:

Of course I could take a look at the manufacturers' website, but that's not enough to get the point: just like any manufacturer, THEIR products will, of course, be the very best ones available: they want to SELL their lights, don't they?

What I want is the opinion from USERS. Especially: WHAT distinguishes a HDS RA-light from all the others? Is it the UI? Is it the overall quality? the enormous amount of light? Or the..........? I thought, Surefire pretty well was the best available... maybe this is only for their incans?

You should know: I'm much more into incans. I just recently decided to give LED-lights another try, after 4sevens introduced their WARM series. Just received my Fivemega FM1909 lamps... for those who don't know: 63 Watts(!) of raw power that I put in a flashlight the size of a 2D Maglite.
2000 Lumens of fine incan-light

I hope HDS RA has some fine WARM white LED-light too. "Neutral" white is not warm enough for me... in my humble opinion, this is just a hair less angry blue than most stone cold LED-lights are...

Timmo.

-You can customize the UI.
-You can customize the light when you buy it.
-Battery is cushioned both ways.
-Runs on CR123 and RCR123!
-Love the titanium bezel.
-Love the sapphire glass.
-Great size for EDC, I just carry mine in the pocket and it has never turned on automatically.
-Great support from HDS.

I forgot another big point for me, the light is very efficient on the battery's so you will never be surprised with an empty battery because the light steps down in modes and blinks to let you know the battery is almost empty.
If it blinks you still have a few hours of runtime.

I once had a nice Surefire in a dark forest without spares on me and the light just turned off because of an empty battery, that sucks.
I own this one: Custom: 170 lumens LED, narrower beam, crenelated silver titanium bezel, sapphire lens w/AR coatings, black clip, flush button, tactical operation

Already THIS single answer makes me hunt for the website from HDS systems... I'm very eager to learn more now!

Timmo.

Here are some answers to your questions from my perspective:

• Is it the UI? Yes... easy, one handed access to 4 user definable levels... easy 1 handed access to adjust the brightness of the 4 levels also. What other light, besides the Surefire Titan and the Spy have as many choices of levels? The Ra offers 23 levels.
• Is it the overall quality? Yes... and the quality of the design as well. I don't know of any other manufacturer that sweats the details the way that HDS does. Top notch efficiency, top notch ruggedness, top notch UI, top notch build quality.
• the enormous amount of light? Yes. My 170's do not fall behind any of my other single CR123 based lights... HDS' lights are a benchmark for accurate output on all of their levels because they are all calibrated to the precise output at the factory... their 170 really is 170 and it is the same from light to light.

Surefire still is one of the best available but there is no light in their line-up that compares to the HDS Clicky. I love their lights and own several including the U2A, E1L, E1B, LX2 and soon to be a Titan T1A but none of these can do all of the things that the Clicky can... so if I could only have one light, it would be the HDS Clicky.

If you don't like neutral tints, be sure to get the high CRI option... it will not be as bright but it will be plenty bright.

OK, OK, I fully got the point now.

I would like an RA Clicky with 100 Lumen High CRI-LED, CR123A battery-compartment, Sapphire glas, with flush button in executive guise lovecpf

I would completely re-program the light like this:
From OFF:
click: 1.1 Lumen
click - press-and-hold: 5 Lumen
From ON:
double-click: 25 Lumen
triple-click: 100 Lumen

Any step in output will be approximately a "five times more" step...

I already like this UI....

I'm afraid this light will be my next LED-light :thumbsup:

Timmo.

If you love incans then you will definitely find the High CRI acceptable in terms of tint. I too prefer warm tints and the High CRI is excellent in that regard. Also for being "only" 100 lumens the burst mode is very bright. You should definitely not hesitate to make the purchase. I waited around, and now wished that I had gotten one sooner.

325addict said:

I'm afraid this light will be my next LED-light :thumbsup:

Timmo.

Click to expand...

Please be sure to update us with your thoughts after you receive it, I am quite sure you will be pleased.

My favorite feature about the Ra lights is their extreme efficiency. In addition you can program they to your likes and have great beams.

My 170 has a warm hotspot but if you want a warm beam for sure buy the high CRI version.

On top of all of these, the Clicky's extremely low low mode (.8 lumens, IIRC) is invaluable. I can't even begin to list the number of times that has come in handy, be it in the middle of the night getting some water, or at a concert, looking for a dropped SwissCard. It is just enough light to see clearly without ruining one's dark adaptation or disturbing others.

It doesn't sound important, but it comes in handy far more often that you would think.

There is also something that can't be explained about the feeling of having one in your hand. The balance is just perfect and the solidity feel is.. :thinking:hmmm... you really need to hold one to understand...

The dynamic range the light offers is tremendous, and the UI makes the levels easy to get to. Even if you are an incandescent guy, you will definitely appreciate the wide range of light the HDS gives you.

It is indeed an Awesome EDC. In fact I would say its one of the Top 5 EDC lights ever made. Performance Quality Engineering & Price point are all Superior. I would say it is on par with any customs and in the top 5-10% range of all lights on the market.

The lowest level (#1) is 0.07 or 0.08 lumens, depending on the max brightness of the light. By comparison, the lowest level of a quark is 0.2 lumens, which is about equal to level #4. 0.8 lumens is about level #8.

One of the best things about the HDS line (which along with other features reflects great attention to detail in design) is that each level is 1.4 times as bright as the previous one, just enough brighter to be noticeably so. The brightest level is 2000 times a bright as the lowest level, with access to the full range of brightness by using only 23 levels. In the Clicky model, you can assign a different level to each of the 4 modes. In the Twisty, you can choose 3.

The level I use most in both my HDS lights is the lowest available -- 0.08 in my Clicky 170, and 0.07 in my high-CRI Twisty 100. If it's dark enough to need a flashlight, my eyes are adjusted to the darkness and I usually just need a little light to see my way around. Not that I mind having 170 lumens available, of course.

antikythera said:

On top of all of these, the Clicky's extremely low low mode (.8 lumens, IIRC) is invaluable. I can't even begin to list the number of times that has come in handy, be it in the middle of the night getting some water, or at a concert, looking for a dropped SwissCard. It is just enough light to see clearly without ruining one's dark adaptation or disturbing others.

It doesn't sound important, but it comes in handy far more often that you would think.

Click to expand...

To paraphrase Justice Potter Stewart of the SCUS, "I do not know what makes a great flashlight, but I know one when I see it!"

I already noticed that ultralow-low in this light. Indeed, 1 Lumen is already step 8 or so.
I completely agree that "low" on most flashlights is still way too bright with a night adapted vision. That's the reason I was fairly impressed with the 2 Lumen low on the SF U2.
But 0.07 Lumens... as I JUST read, this still makes sense. From reading it, I thought this would barely be ANY light at all... now I know better!

Thanks guys for all this important info.
This one moves up on the "WANTED!" list right to the top. As I just bought numerous flashlights and modding parts, this will, however, have to wait a little

Timmo.

There's a side benefit to ultra low. At 0.07 lumens you can peer directly at the emitter from close range without any discomfort at all; study how it's made; check for worn out sections of phosphor. Kinda cool.

You won;t find worn out phosphor in a Ra though.

these are reassuring words

I indeed think that with a maximum of 100 Lumens the LED isn't driven to its max! This will be god for the lifespan it has, definitely!

Timmo.

Also, I know you are well-versed in the flashlight world, but I just wanted to reiterate that there is a huge difference in craftmanship between Henry's RA lights he currently sells on his site, and the current generation of Novatac lights. The RA's are far and away better in terms of quality, craftsmanship and overall reliability. You can often find a used RA for under $100 too. I would not hesitate to buy a used RA light.

I forgot another big point for me, the light is very efficient on the battery's so you will never be surprised with an empty battery because the light steps down in modes and blinks to let you know the battery is almost empty.
If it blinks you still have a few hours of runtime.

I once had a nice Surefire in a dark forest without spares on me and the light just turned off because of an empty battery, that sucks.

I too am an incand guy. I use my lights mainly in my frequent camping trips and I loved the colors incands provides. Incand has never been known to be efficient and one thing I disliked about incand is the lack of regulation to keep the power consistent. I have a Surefire A2 which I love and it is probably the only regulated stock incandescent one could purchase. But the A2 is never a very bright light so I pair it with an SF M6.

Then LED got more & more efficient and I find myself using LED most of the time for trekking and camping, reserving the M6 mainly for throw. And later on we have all the different tint colors for LEDs that falls in the range of neutral white to warm white. I find myself drawn to the neutral white LEDs as it is more widely available than warm white and is a good enough compromise to incand. And being a Surefire fan I found myself wishing Surefire would include a model or two in neutral white but that has never been Surefire's calling.

Lately my dream LED was answered when 4sevens released a limited run of warm white LED which I think is almost the color of incandescent. I ordered a turbo 123x2 and a MiNi 123 and I loved the color the tints provided. So now I am itching for a super strong LED light (built wise, not beam power) that has as good a tint color as incand and offers very good efficiency and runtime.

That's where the high CRI Ra clicky comes in. At 3700 degree kelvin, it sure is very close to the incand spectrum and with a very nice user interface allowing me to switch power all with one hand. Ra isn't the most powerful light around but it sure is one of the most efficient around. I had just ordered a high CRI clicky and is awaiting shipment. Meanwhile I will just have to contend playing with my cool white Ra clicky while awaiting the high CRI one to arrive.

With that said, I find myself migrating further and further away from incandescent. In the old days when incands are king in the flashlight world, who could have fathomed LEDs to progress to what it is today?