Swiss Light - did the dust ever settle?

Free Light, Swiss Light, Swiss Light II, Swiss Light III, jokes about an accessory for constant on, rumors about a recall... where are we at with this thing?

Does anyone have a CURRENT PRODUCTION model of this sucker?
Is it waterproof? Is it easy to operate? Will it really stay charged under florescent type lighting? Does the battery develope a charging memory?

Does anyone EDC this thing? It seems like such a great concept - yet has fallen by the wayside. Any comments? Any updates? (Anyone care for a mint?)

Yea I'll take a mint, I just ate some catfish for lunch.

I dunno what the status is, but I do have the Swiss light II, it works for me I think it's a great concept. The light I have is very well made and looks like a quality item.

GregR

I have a swiss light III from countycomm.com. I can't answer many of the questions, but here's what I know.

It's at least water resistant. i've operated it underwater but not for extended periods of time or at depth. the battery is a lithium vanadium cell which is supposed to handle many more cycles than regular rechargeables.

i really like the interface. you can set the brightness level, and put it in find-me mode, but when you push the button normally, it turns on (constant on, unlike some older versions) and when you press it again it turns off. the other fuctioins are accessed by holding down the button for a couple of seconds. you don't have to toggle between the different modes each time you use the light.

i don't edc it, because i'm not sure the solar cell will survive on my keychain, but if the world ends and you survive with only one flashlight, i think this would be the one to have.

[ QUOTE ]
dreamlogic said:
but if the world ends and you survive with only one flashlight, i think this would be the one to have.

[/ QUOTE ]
Hmm... if the world ends, we may not have any sunlight to charge it up anyway!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif So, moral of the story is, keep LOTS of spare batts just in case! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Back to the topic, think the Swisslight would definitely be a nice light to have, but not for EDC, as it'd be too dim. So it'd have to be classified as an 'Emergency lighting' option and not EDC, I think.

[/ QUOTE ]
Back to the topic, think the Swisslight would definitely be a nice light to have, but not for EDC, as it'd be too dim. So it'd have to be classified as an 'Emergency lighting' option and not EDC, I think.

[/ QUOTE ]

Stanley: So you think it is significantly less bright than say an ARC AAA?

I'm not Stanley, but I compared a Free Light II with my 2002 CPF Arc-AAA (because it happened to be handy), and the Free Light is roughly half as bright as the Arc. The Free Light II measures 11,600mcd on high, and my 2002 CPF Arc should measure around 20,100mcd; give or take 1,000mcd.
So yes, the Free Light *is* about half as bright as an Arc.

I don't think there was an official "recall" of the II's. But I have some III's here, and they're quite nice. They work as advertised, are really tough, and work great hanging from a backpack. To my eyes they're about 75% the brightness of an Arc AAA - with a new battery. They seem to charge in almost no light, actually.

Thanks LEDMusuem, for crunching up the numbers...

I don't have a Swisslight, but I have read a few reviews and seen a couple of beamshots (here on CPF I think), and plus a runtime of 1-2 hours with each full charge makes it an 'iffy' light to have as a EDC. All else said, it is still a great emergency light to have for hiking/camping, etc.

Edit: I have just found the site I saw the Swisslight II review at... it is here, review courtesy of James Sentman... a fellow CPFer too I am pretty sure...

I have a review of it too, right here if you're interested. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

James Sentman IS a CPF member. At least he is, that I know of. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Sorry LED Museum, didn't mean to leave you out of the reviews there... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twakfl.gif just that James' link was one of the first links that came up in the search... No hard feelings?

Did the Swiss Light III solve the permanent death problem of the II?

[ QUOTE ]
Stanley said:
Sorry LED Museum, didn't mean to leave you out of the reviews there... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twakfl.gif just that James' link was one of the first links that came up in the search... No hard feelings?

[/ QUOTE ]
Dont worry about it, k?

I must have been lucky...
My swiss Light II is equally as bright as all three of my Arc AAA's /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
It sits on my desk and is kept charged by another single USB flex light\LED plugged into my PC's USB hub.
Oh, the irony... Sort of a "charging cradle" if you will.. heh...

I had one of the pre release models that has worked perfectly up until last week when it went TU.

Must have left it on in find in the dark mode.

Anyway it's off to Switzerland for replacement, no fuss no bother.

The new model overcomes the problem by having s reset mode.