Manker LAD, a new 219c option, alternative to the Tip?

The Manker Lad, a new offering.

not a review, more of a dare you to buy one, so I can watch..

I hope someone who does buy one, will share their impressions. does it have PWM, does it activate accidentally in a pocket, etc

Backstory on the Tip here. Im hoping this thread can help us TipTurboPosters move on

The LAD (compared and contrasted to the TIP):
claims to use constant current (so does the Tip but its not true)
has a charging port cover (Tip does not)
has only 1 recessed button (Tip has 2 protruding buttons)
claims 300 lumens (Tip claims 360)
Nichia 219c option (two Nichia 219b options)
USB rechargeable (same)
25 grams (21 grams)
3 colors (9 colors)
Lowest non red mode, 23 lumens (Tip has a low of 1 lumen)
4 different strobes (No Strobe)
no battery meter or low battery warning mentioned in link (yes battery meter and low battery warning)
no lockout mode mentioned (the Tip has the World Famous Two Button Lockout Mode! second to none!…)
waterproof rating IPX-6 (waterproof rating IP54)
mode memory yes (also yes)

this is a draft, please help with corrections or additions

Love it!!!:goodjob:

Sex appeal,hoping it works better than my TIP.

Looks cool, if a little rushed. The solo pic of the front of the red model looks like their screwdriver slipped out of 3 of the screws and they simply gave up on the top right one. Edges look a little rough.
Of course I'll order one to get a closer look. It hasn't been that long that the only lights remotely like this were custom made in small quantities and many times this cost.
I bought one of the MecArmy lights like this but the PWM was unbearable on low, UI was an afterthought.
Oh yeah, here's the pic of the front: http://cdn3.bigcommerce.com/s-4buan...98/red-01__01165.1481275033.1280.1280.jpg?c=2

Well I was interested until I saw the lowest mode is 23 lumens. In a light like this that is just way to high, needs a mode of no more than 1 lumen.

Tac Gunner said:

Well I was interested until I saw the lowest mode is 23 lumens. In a light like this that is just way to high, needs a mode of no more than 1 lumen.

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Bummer. I guess they think we'll use the 1 lumen red if we want low level lighting. Think I'm gonna hold off on this for now or at least wait to hear CPFer reviews.
Some of these companies are pretty quick to respond, might adjust the levels in response to customer requests.

Tac Gunner said:

Well I was interested until I saw the lowest mode is 23 lumens. In a light like this that is just way to high, needs a mode of no more than 1 lumen.

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that was my first reaction as well, but then my sense of humor kicked in and I came up with some debatable points of dubious merit.. LOL

1. for their "Target Market", (appropriate pun for a Gunner dont you think?) maybe it makes sense to have a LAD that starts on a 23 lumen medium, and,
2. it might be a real eye opener to discover that at 1 lumen, a red LED is very useful, and Tac tical (as in Tac Gunner.. aint I a hoot?), without any glare from the LAD..
3. I know I prefer warm CCT at 1 lumen (cant get much warmer than red, right LAD?)…
4. Remember, the LAD offers a Nichia 219c.. how many other lights can you buy with that LED today? Be the first on your block…
5. LAD, let me give you a TIP, dont be so flashy. (enough with the LAD jokes, for now :devil

Um... want. You should compare this to the Surefire Sidekick. If the Manker is CC, want, esp. with red low and Nichia 219c (but, is it a highCRI version of 219c? not all 219c are highCRI). Anyway, $25 is cheap for a flat, rechargeable A2 Aviator.

Folks, moonlight, well, really when members specify 'moonlight' they are being romantic, and don't really mean 'moonlight,' they mean 'firefly.' Bugs just aren't as romantic. Anyway, I sure do love that low low firefly mode on flashlights... most everyone does. But no one is willing to admit, just like shocking brightness and low runtime, that firefly/moonlight has pretty limited usefulness. It's absense shouldn't stop you in your tracks from buying, the way PWM SHOULD, but doesn't (except for jon_slider and I).

chillinn said:

compare this to the Surefire Sidekick.

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according to this,
both the Sidekick and the Tube have PWM, and for that matter so does the TIP

people buy PWM ALL the time
except for chillinn and me (theres someone else here too that refuses to buy PWM.. I will try to remember who it is)

besides, the Sidekick low is 500% higher than the 1 lumen low that both the LAD, the TUBE, and even the TIP.. and the Sidekick costs 250% more than a LAD or TIP, and 600% more than the Tube. The High mode on the Tube is not even close to the LAD, whose high mode is just as high as the Sidekick, for less money. The LAD also weighs less than Half as much as a Sidekick.

Now if it turns out the LAD is really a constant current light, it will join a very RARE group of LiIon lights. Many people here like LiIon, and in a rechargeable format it makes a great Xmas gift..

Friends dont let LADs use Alkalines in their lights

Besides, the LAD is the only one of the lights mentioned that offers a Nichia 219c, which of course is High CRI, nobody would want a Low CRI Nichia, that just isn't done. People who want low CRI, buy bright lights that use XPL and XM-L2 LEDs, and let me tell you This LAD is not one of them.

jon_slider said:

the Sidekick costs 250% more than a LAD

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If a LAD is $25, and the Sidekick retails between $72-$80, then math...
A Sidekick costs between 280%-320% more than a LAD.

:green:

Thanks for the comparison; well done.

Dragon breath mode? I'm sure that's not simply misspelling of some conventional feature like they did with "stobe," so what does it mean? Strobing the red LED's only?

Looks like it's basically the same thickness as the Tip, but a little bit wider and shorter in length.
Tip: 2.39 x 0.96 x 0.53
LAD: 2.01 x 1.10 x 0.51

Tip has the bigger battery (500 mAh vs 280 mAh). Efficiency in the two mid modes looks pretty similar.

It seems a good bet that the slightly heavier weight of the Manker is mostly in the case. It certainly looks pretty solid.

Nice to see another option. I suspect we'll see others coming out with similar keychain lights soon, too.

iamlucky13 said:

Dragon breath mode? I'm sure that's not simply misspelling of some conventional feature like they did with "stobe," so what does it mean? Strobing the red LED's only?

Looks like it's basically the same thickness as the Tip, but a little bit wider and shorter in length.
Tip: 2.39 x 0.96 x 0.53
LAD: 2.01 x 1.10 x 0.51

Tip has the bigger battery (500 mAh vs 280 mAh). Efficiency in the two mid modes looks pretty similar.

Click to expand...

Excellent comments. Dragon breath sounds plausible too, I wondered about that. Also wondered what a red Straw Hat LED is.

Dragon Breath Mode is a location beacon mode that ramps up and down v e r y s l o w l y from a Deep-Blue LED beneath the semi-transparent switch boot. It's actually very mesmerizing to watch and you will not have trouble finding this light in the dark. I base such observation on an U-11 Manker. So LAD should be similar.

Red Straw Hat Led...my translation.... 1 red led situated on each side of the main LED.

Streamer said:

Dragon Breath Mode is a location beacon mode that ramps up and down v e r y s l o w l y from a Deep-Blue LED beneath the semi-transparent switch boot.

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Thank You for the Blue Dragon info
and I agree the straw hats are the red leds

I did a Straw Hat LEDs google and got this..
I think the gist of it is that:

Red Straw Hat = Red Flood Beam

(not a typical domed 5mm LED)

compare and contrast:
LAD has a blue locator beacon mode, but no low battery warning? (Tip has no strobe or locator modes, but it does have a low battery flash)

iamlucky13 said:

Nice to see another option. I suspect we'll see others coming out with similar keychain lights soon, too.

Click to expand...

I hope so. For some reason, this form factor really appeals to me, but all the offerings seem to fall short in some way or another.

Desdinova said:

all the offerings seem to fall short in some way or another.

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yes, hard to get a perfect mix of options for differing needs and priorities.

specific to the LAD, what features are missing, or undesireable, for your preferences?

things I like about it
1. USB rechargeable, potentially a good gift for a nonflashoholic, prevents them from needing to buy batteries and avoids them using Alkaleaks
2. starts on a useful medium level
3. It has a 1 lumen low (not sure if I will like the red, but have not tried, and it may be useful)
4. It has a Nichia
5. Simple 1 button UI, and the button is flush mounted, does not stick up above the body.

things that would be dealbreakers for me
1. If the Nichia is Low CRI
2. If the driver uses pulses that interfere with my photos
3. If the button is too easily accidentally activated in pocket

things it has that are not important to me
1. Mode Memory
2. strobes

things I wish it had that might become a deal breaker in practice
1. No Battery meter (I wonder if my multimeter could read the charge level thru the USB port or cable?)
2. No Low Battery warning

Battery capacity of Lad is @ half of the Tip's.

Streamer said:

Battery capacity of Lad is @ half of the Tip's.

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That does seem problematic. But I think it may be irrelevant. What matters is runtime. What we need are selfbuilt runtime graphs of both models in all their modes. Then we can say, if it is so, "the runtime of the LAD is half that of the Tip's. What gives?" and then the answer would obviously be, uh... capacity. But if the runtimes are within reach of each other, capacity is then less relevant.

chillinn said:

What matters is runtime.

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I agree the LAD battery is much smaller, however it has better performance specs overall. Of course I do not believe runtime specs, until there are independent tests.. I also dont believe Lumen specs, some companies report LED Lumens instead of ANSII, and in both cases can be inaccurate.

LAD specs:
High: 300 lumens, 0.5 hour
Medium: 86 lumens, 1.5 hour
Low: 23 lumens, 5.6 hours
Red: 1 lumen, 100 hours

TipCRI specs:
Turbo: 240 Lumens / 30 min
High: 95 Lumens / 1 hr 30 min
Mid: 22 Lumens / 6 hr 30 min
Low: 1 Lumens / 46 hr

compare and contrast

• highest mode, LAD is 60 lumens (+25%) brighter, same runtime as TipCRI
• second highest mode, LAD is 9 lumens (-10%) less bright, same runtime as TipCRI
• second lowest mode, Lad is 1 lumen higher, 54 minutes (-14%) less runtime than TipCRI
• lowest mode, LAD is red 1 lumen, Tip is white 1 lumen, LAD has 54 hours (+117%) longer runtime than TipCRI