Princeton Tec Impact opinions wanted

Has anyone here had a chance to handle the Princeton Tec Impact light? Looking for opinions on this LED light, plus specs if ya' got 'em. Size, weight, etc...

Thanks!

I;ve got one, but testing is incomplete as of yet.

Size is approximately 5.9" long (when off) and the widest part - the head - is approx. 1.65" in diameter.

Weight... I don't have a calibrated accurate scale, but appears to be approximately 2.6 ounces empty, and 5.98 ounces fully loaded.

I've had one for about two weeks now, and am very pleased with it. It puts out a very useful amount of light (though not as much as a good incandescent), with a smooth round beam. The battery life is longer than any other light that I'm aware of. I (accidentally)dropped it hard enough to dent the batteries, but the light itself survived just fine.
A friend of mine installed the LED/reflector assembly from an Impact into a Princeton Tec Vortec headlamp. This is a drop-in installation and works perfectly.

I saw an Impact sample which I got to play with. Went to the bathroom in the dark and was pleasantly surprised by the strength of the spotlight. However, the store also ahd a sample of the Incandescent Tec 40 which has the same body as the Impact. The bottom of the plastic body was fractured with a portion of the batteries showing. It seems someone may have screwed the head down too tight when turning it on and bottomed out the batteries to the point of breaking out the bottom of the body on the side opposite the head. When I took the battereis out, there was a thin flat piece of metal battery contact on the bottom but no springs like the Impact's smaller cousin, the Attitude. If the Impact had the springs on the bottom, it may not want to break out the bottom of the body when someone tightens the head too much.
Does anyone know how the circuitry allows for 4 batteries instead of the usual 3?
If the body cracks, is it coverd by the warranty? If so, I may still get one.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by weremala:
I've had one for about two weeks now, and am very pleased with it. It puts out a very useful amount of light (though not as much as a good incandescent), with a smooth round beam. The battery life is longer than any other light that I'm aware of. I (accidentally)dropped it hard enough to dent the batteries, but the light itself survived just fine.
A friend of mine installed the LED/reflector assembly from an Impact into a Princeton Tec Vortec headlamp. This is a drop-in installation and works perfectly.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

That sounds like a good idea for a headlamp! Do you know if the led is overdriven with the 4 batteries? If overdriven, leds may lose their brightness after a while which is not a good tradeoff for temporary extra-brightness. I wonder why princeton tec didn't use their pulse voltage regulator technology (of their Matrix headlamp) on the Impact. Anyone know why not?

It is not possible to overtighten the lamp and break the body - there must have been battery acid.

The problem with the Impact module in a Vortec is that it does not light up enough space - I find that when you wear a headlamp you want to see all that is around your feet - you really want a wide beam to cover a larger area than the Impact beam can cover.

I like the Impact a lot btw.

Regarding the overdrive issue: I haven't taken my Impact apart enough or measured it to know what the regulation method is. The Attitude (with 3 LED's and 4 AAA's) uses a simple 15 Ohm resistor, which works pretty well and doesn't overdrive the LED's much. I am certain that the Impact's single LED isn't connected directly to the batteries - the LED doesn't get very warm. I have read some complaints that 3 batteries is a better match for the white LED's. I disagree - 4 batteries with a dropping resistor or regulator gives more even light output over the life of the batteries.

My friend with the Impact/Vortec hybrid used it on a caving trip today. He used it in conjunction with 2 Petzl Tikkas (for peripheral light). Overall, the system worked very well - a fair amount of light for a week or so from 6 AAA's and 4 AA's. The Tikkas are really the weak point - I exepect they're not as durable as the Vortec. I suggest that Princeton Tec should make a tiny, tough 4 AAA headlamp that would accept either the Rage (incandescent) or Attitude (LED) lamps. It would be a great backup lamp.

In regards to the report of a broken Tec 40 - both my Impact and my Tec 40 have been subjected to a lot of heavy use and abuse without any failures of any sort.

Has anyone compared the Impact with the similar Ledcorp flashlights (Best Aluminum flashlight and the Turtlelight)?
They all have concentrated beams, run on 4AA batteries, and are waterproof. I'm torn between getting the Impact or the Ledcorp Aluminum. Which one is better? Which one puts out a stronger beam?