My first personal glance at the RRT-2

Sharp

Enlightened
Joined
Jun 17, 2003
Messages
240
Location
Birmingham, UK
I thought I would share my experience after buying the JetBeam RRT-2.
Overall, the look is nice; the finish is great, the contrast between the ring and body colour is pleasing, and the switch feels incredibly solid. It lacks a clip, which you do miss some times.
The focusing head is a particularly nice feature, which I personally have not seen on any "tactical" light.


I say tactical with quotation marks for a reason. Although the torch has all the right numbers to be a killer of a light, it really fails you when you are not looking. The ring, which JetBeam seems to have mastered with the RRT-0, is quirky at best on this model. I am not sure whether the behaviour I am about to describe is intentional or the result of a defective unit, but I thought it worthy enough to be shared.


Allow me to explain. If you start from the right-most position for the ring, the torch is in what is labelled standby. Why that exists, since you can press the tailswitch to turn it on and off, I do not know. However, some may like it, so I do not count that as a major issue... Unless you whip it out of your pocket to quickly flood something you caught with the tail of your eye on a dark road, only to find out the light rolled itself into standby somehow. I admit the scenario may be unlikely for some people, but if you are carrying a torch "just in case" you might as well make sure it does what you want in that case.

This puts my minor niggle out of the way. As you twist the ring anti-clockwise, disappointment increases. Low mode and medium mode are absolutely fine. So is high... if you switch to it with the same slowness you disarm a bomb. If you twist either from medium or from low quickly into high, the torch displays a behaviour which amused me at first, then started scaring the living hell out of me. If you put the thumb on the ring, and snap it on the left, the RRT-2 does go into high... two seconds later. I wish it were just this, because you could (if you have a will of steel) become used to it and compensate for the time it takes. However, at times the torch takes .5 seconds. Other times a full second, and other times it goes slightly over two seconds. Twisting from medium (or low) to high is not as much as telling the torch to step up the light but to gently ask it "would you mind awfully switching the brightness level up a notch as I may seem to need it".

What other torches take seconds to switch from one level to another? I remember Surefire U2s were annoying for their slight delay when switching on, but this is in another league. I do believe that if someone tries to employ this light in any tactical or even quasi-tactical situation, they would seriously be taking chances with themselves.

In a market that seems to be selling all these "tactical" torches, high speed torches, rapid action products, this torch definitely is one of a kind. I must say that the "Rapid Response Ring" really leaves me baffled.


Now, is this my torch only or does it happen to anyone else? In my life as a flashaholic I have never ever rejected a light, but I think I have found a great way of being disappointed with this torch.

Take Care,
Sharp
 
Last edited:

matt_o

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Aug 14, 2009
Messages
70
I have an RRT-1 and RRT-2 and neither one has the problems yours does. I would contact whomever you bought it from and see if they will exchange it.
 

jhc37013

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 17, 2009
Messages
3,268
Location
Tennessee
I have an RRT-1 and RRT-2 and neither one has the problems yours does. I would contact whomever you bought it from and see if they will exchange it.

Same here I have no noticeable delay like you describe and also the ring has never switched positions while not in use. I would call your dealer it sounds like your light is not up to spec.

Edit- I also thought the standby mode was useless but after using it quite a bit I have found it to be useful. With a light this size after I turn it on I change my grip to the underhand carry position so without the standby if I wanted to turn the light off for a brief moment I would have to change my grip position, not so with the standby I just have to rotate the ring.
 
Last edited:

Sharp

Enlightened
Joined
Jun 17, 2003
Messages
240
Location
Birmingham, UK
Thanks for the replies guys... It did unnerve me for a bit! Knowing it is a defective unit, I will look into it and hopefully get a chance to properly enjoy this torch.

Regards,
Sharp
 
Top