<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by videocal:
Gandalf,-would you describe the color of that HA finish to sort of a greenish-gray, or what?
(I reserved one via TTS, and like you said, am having to wait longer for delivery-for a lesser cost)
p.s.-is the beam on yours well-centered?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
The 'color' of the finish is hard to describe; add to that my significant degree of colorblindness, and I'm not sure I can give a good, accurate description.
However, I asked a friend what color she though it was, (her color vision is perfect, naturally...) and she simply said 'grey'. I asked her if she though there was any green in it, and she said 'well, maybe a little bit greenish. But mostly, grey'. I asked her if there was any olive green in it, and she gave a definite 'no'. It looks similar, but not the same as the barrel on my SureFire M6, however, the whole Arc-LE is knurled, and that affects the way light reflects from it. So I'd have to say that it it's mostly a dark greyish color. To my color crippled eyes, it looks to have some olive green it it, but I'm likely wrong about that. (Remember the old joke: If a man is alone in the forest, and he says something, and there's no woman to hear him, is he still wrong?) I'm *always* wrong about color! Some, but not all, bright yellow flashlights, (especially neon yellow ones, I think) look to have a very distinct greenish tint to them. In the house I grew up in, there was a carpet on the living room floor that always looked a rather unpleasant shade of split pea soup green. I'm told that it was actually gold. So if I want a gold carpet, or furniture for my living room, do I have to get a nauseating split pea green color?
The beam appears perfectly centered; and like my other white Arc-AAA, has that rather strange cross or 'X' when shined up on the ceiling. I keep meaning to ask if all the white Arc-AAA's have that cross. My CMG Infinity, and 3AAAA stylus doesn't have one.
It's amazing how much light the Arc-AAA puts out when your eyes are dark adapted. I was out in the country, away from city lights and the nearest light was 100 yards away. The little Arc-LE lit up a very large swath of an unplowed farm field. My 3 D cell single Luxeon Star light looked like a searchlight, under the same conditions.
I can't wait for the Arc-LS; it is going to make every other LED flashlight, (except for the ones made by Gadget with very high numbers of white Nichia LEDs!), and the Trek 14 (maybe?) and 19, pretty much obsolete.
It looks really cool, with that strange 'neutral' Type 3 finish, but I *like* it.
The white lamp *does* put out more light than the 'standard' Arc-AAA. Not a *lot* more, but a very visible difference. To be fair, though, the increased light output will not make this a better light; the difference just isn't enough.
Those of you who are wiser than I, will pay less for yours, though it might take longer to get. I would have waited, but I didn't know it was an option. Meanwhile, while you are waiting for yours, it's worth the wait!
