PK-PL2 1XAAA Flashlight Field Use Review.

Disclosure.

I purchased this from Milepost28 as a used gear item after a pass around. The sale was to raise money for the Chris Kyle Frog Foundation. IMHO Milepost28 did an outstanding good deed and I got a nice flashlight at a discount.

With that out of the way some stats.

https://milepost28.com/products/pkdl-pl2-silver

The PL2 silver is a polished aluminum keychain light that provides a whopping 110 steady lumen output on high or a counter clockwise twist of the head changes it to 12 lumen when less light is required. This little thrower can run on lithiums, alkalines or your favorite flavor of eneloop rechargeables.


Included with purchase from Milepost 28 is a quick connect carabiner for keychain fasten.

Some specs:

110 lumens (1.2 hr)/ 12 lumens (12.4 hr) using Energizer Ultimate lithium

CREE XPG R5 6500k

Double side anti reflective coated Borofloat glass lens

Fully regulated ensures steady output

Lock out feature bezel

IPX8 weather proofing

Reverse polarity protected

Girth; 0.6", Length; 3.2", Weight; 0.9 oz

Click to expand...

The light has lots of groves etc etc which makes getting a good grip on the body and bezel easy. An important thing for a twisty. One of my few complaints about the old G1 Preon which was too slippery.





I rather like the silver. It's easy to see in the environment.





A bit larger than these Olight 1XAAA otptions but not too big for EDC.





The glass window. For some reason this has the most throw out of my 1XAAA flashlights. Maybe the smooth reflector? Didn't measure to see if it was larger etc etc.





On many of the 1XAAA lights the body screws into the bezel but like the older Fenix E01 the bezel of the PK-PL2 screws in to the body.








Nice O-ring. That's going to come into play later.





It's easy to change the battery in the dark which is going to come into play later.





You get a larger split ring than some other 1XAAA lights.





The reason being it has a more robust attachment hole. I loop tied some reflective cordage.





PK claims constant current however the cellphone test did detect noise of some sort on the low mode. I don't think it's true PWM as the shake test looked rock solid. However showing the pics so others can decide.





I EDC the light for some weeks but in the end decided for me it's best roll was within my little AAA light kit. I have an H05 2XAAA active, PK-PL2 which replaced my i3S (a very good 1XAAA light) and 2XAAA lithium batteries all in that blue case.





Before field testing during an actual outing a gear item gets used. In this case EDC but also checked out if the dunk rating would hold.








I will be using these two Duraloop 800 mAh LSD batteries for the field testing.





The setup for the field testing will be a hiker or maybe someone during a Get Me Home situation covering ground at night. The kit was made for times when I don't expect a night hike but just want to toss something in the daypack or ER bag. Kinda like tossing a Mora in a bag on a whim. I will go out 6 miles then wait for dark, then with 4 or 5 miles to go I will shut the headlamp down simulating a failure in mid step. Will take out the PK-PL2 from the pack in the pitch black then finish the hike/trail jog to my van.

It's getting on to dusk.





Headlamp is down! Time to crack out the backup.





Also have a brightly colored lanyard. The lanyard/light has combined reflective and high visibility cordage which per my tests proved very effective for seeing something in low light conditions.





But that's not all I have.





1. Tops/Turley rebuild PSK.

2. Original BHK Small Tiger Knapp knife with DIY Kydex firesteel holder and ferro rod.

3. Extra fleece pullover which I will be using as the temps dropped into the low 40s.

We need to go!





High mode. The throw was great for seeing trail markers.








I could see stuff higher up as well. Good for sniffing out widow makers if I needed to spend a night out.





The dunk test. It's rated to handle this and field conditions are different than a jelly jar full of water near a cactus.





A bunch of little brook trout were so pissed off at this. They can be seen in the video.





No water intrusion detected. Not sure how long it was under. I messed around with a few cameras and took a wiz. Thought about the bears etc etc. Not sure how long that all takes. Back on the move using low. The UI is simple. Starts on high and then low. I wouldn't want to run on low but the output looked about right and is more than enough for lots of things.

Low mode.





Back on high trying to avoid the thorns.





Looking for more trout.





I needed to change the battery as it got low and the light became unresponsive if shut off. I could tell the regulation gave up before having issues. Flashlight don't work once the battery is exhausted. Go Figure however had plenty of warning. It was easy to change in the dark but it's really thirty on high. Then again it's really bright as well. I made it out of the woods with plenty of power left in the second battery.

Pros.

1. Simple UI.
2. Very bright on high and nice medium mode however no true low mode.
3. Very good thrower for such a small light.
4. Lots of texture to the bezel and body. Easy to grasp and change modes.
5. Nice beam.
6. Looks like a little SF. I like that.
7. Common battery type. 1XAAA.
8. Past the dunk test aka water resistant.

Cons.

1. Only two modes and turns on using high.
2. Can't tail stand.
3. I wonder if it might be possible to accidentally twist off the head in a pocket. It's so smooth to turn.
4. Larger than some other 1XAAA options.

Conclusion.

I liked it enough to replace an Olight i3S within my little lighting kit for this application. I consider the i3S EOS to be one of the best 1XAAA flashlights so that's says something.

Here is a video of the review. Thanks for looking.

Looks like a nice little light. Only the missing real low mode and the kind of PWM thing I think are dealbreakers for me.... Thanks for another great outdoor field review!

Thanks for taking the time to do this W.W.

For clarity, I'm the fellow behind Milepost 28. And if it's ok I'd like to express the heartfelt gratitude from PK himself. I'm not writing this to sell flashlights. I'm writing this in order sorta put a few things into perspective as a spokesman for PK. The night the video by WW went public I received a phone call from PK who very excited about the review. We discussed the PL2 for a while and I was fortunate to hear from the man himself some of what went into the thinking of his first 1x aaa flashlight. I hope what follows does justice to this thread.

For those who don't know PK was the lead designer at SureFire during it's formative years up to about 2013. He was there when it was a 2 room shed, a guy with a pencil and a drawing board, a lady to answer the occasional phone call and Dr. John Matthews, founder of SureFire. Being head of designs, right many SureFire products discussed here were conceived from the mind of Paul Kim aka PK. Yet SureFire itself had a style in both form and function.

When PK set out on his own he had his own style in mind, yet you'll see hints of his style over at SureFire in his current designs.

Woods Walker mentioned grip. PK designs products with wearing gloves in mind. See, each product he makes has a soldier, an LEO, special ops, or first responder in mind. Folks who regularly wear gloves while performing their respective duties.

He mentioned the big hole at the rear and lack of tail stand. PK also designs sort of hidden personal protection features into the products and the protrusion at the tail end is one of those. It's called a 'kubatan device' where the point is to gain a few seconds of reaction time if and when an attacker ends up either grabbing the user or is within inches of the user. Also makes a great all else failed beverage bottle opener.
The big hole was meant as WW showed it. Easily attach a lanyard or other cord to act as drop insurance or personal protection item using the laws of inertia.

The throw is such that the idea is to find your way back home in a black'd out all other ideas fail in a quest for home or gain a few seconds if need be. We think of soldiers and police being well armed and fully protected, yet there are times when the venerable flashlight is a worst case scenario when in full on combat duty in darkness. And there is that rare occasion where the average consumer finds themself in peril, which having a tactical light may just end up making the difference in an accostment situation.

I won't go into the weeds about PWM except to say that I've never detected any in any of my PK Design Lab products. Using my "fan blade" test I have never seen it. I'm not an engineer nor do I play one on tv so I cannot go into how PK gets his current to drop about 80% without a drastic change in tint. Engineers can get into the why's and how's. I'll just post two photos from my fan blade test that is pretty good at picking up even the fast PWM'd lights.


Your basic PWM'd light


My personal PL2

Lastly, WW mentioned the business end screwing into the body vs over the body. Another of PK's ideas from long ago where the light can be upgraded down the road using adapters that would screw into the light and the upgrade fastening over the adapter. The thinking is that as battery technology improves somebody is going to develop brighter lights when possible. (He began this idea with the fabled P60 module) At that time your little ole measely 110 of 2016 lumen'd PL2 can take advantage of the improvement while still using your old favorite little body. And the current version of the PL2 is the foundation for things to be implimented later.

One more thing, PK has a dual function clip coming out very soon. It'll double as a pocket clip or a hat clip. And for you tailstander fans a slight slide down the barrel it will act as a kickstand that allows your PL2 to tailstand.

The prototype


Where the idea started.

When they are available in quantity future PL2's will come with one standard and current owners can receive one upon request.


Again thanks for doing this Woods Walker.

Great practical review @WW

And just a gentle reminder @byk , that discussions of flashlights here should stay on the "tool" side of the spectrum of uses

Thank you both.

EDIT ... thank you

FlashlightR said:

Looks like a nice little light. Only the missing real low mode and the kind of PWM thing I think are dealbreakers for me.... Thanks for another great outdoor field review!

Click to expand...

I don't think it really has true PWM. Detected something similar with the NU20 and SC5w and those like the PL2 past the shake and rain test. Something is going on with all these newer lights which are listed as CC but still show noise with the cell camera. Not sure what but can't detect (super sensitive to PWM) it with any other means. That said passing along the info for others to evaluate.

WW =Nice report on this light, have this silver one and can't fine anything wrong with it. Always with the keys, so simple to operate and handle.

BK= Thanks for explaining more about this light from PK.

Woods Walker said:

I don't think it really has true PWM. Detected something similar with the NU20 and SC5w and those like the PL2 past the shake and rain test. Something is going on with all these newer lights which are listed as CC but still show noise with the cell camera. Not sure what but can't detect (super sensitive to PWM) it with any other means. That said passing along the info for others to evaluate.

Click to expand...

Those crazy guys in lab coats have developed a way around the true "pwm" as it were. To me if it has a rapid flicker it don't matter what three letter acronym is applied, it still ends up annoying to some folks. I was just glad it didn't have any detectable (to my ears) audible whine.
Frankly that causes me to think the light is about to explode. lol

My personal feeling about the bezel/body arrangement is....

1. It looks cool.

2. Easier to change batteries in the pitch black which can be seen in the video. If I dropped either the head or battery in the leaf litter (lawn/street for that matter) in the pitch black the odds of me finding them are low. But it was so easy to slide the battery into the tube and the head screwed in easier as well.

It was the bit longer throw, increased grip and easier change of battery which knocked the i3S (a fantastic 1xAAA light) out of that kit AAA UL kit. Those for this application those are greater pros (for me) than the increased modes and tail standing of the Olight. On a side note accidentally dropped the light a few times on the floor without issue.

edit. Forgot to add that yes the light has no whine or other sound which I could detect.