Shorelite Vx1 LED Dimmable torch

Hello,
well, i did a search of the forumz, and didnt turn nytin up, so here i go.

DOES ANYONE OWN A SHORELITE VX1?????????
HOW DOES IT FARE IN HARSH WEATHER AND AS A TORCH IN GENERAL??????????

sorry to shout, but nobody seems to know what these even are. i am looking in to buying one of the little beggars, and frankly the Ledmuseum Review of it doesnt tell me what i want to know (no offense to craig, it is a good review, it just doesnt tell me enough about the light).
if anyone owns one of these beauties, then please, tell me what you know! how is it? does it work properly? have you had any problems with it? do you EDC it? if not, what DO you use it for?
thankyou for this, im just frustrated that a forum dedicated to lights has info on nearly every torch, could have no info on this cute, and by the looks of it useful, torch!!!!

Neg.

Neg2LED -

A couple of guys gave their impressions on the Shorelight VX2. The VX1 was mentioned briefly here: VX2 ROOKIE REVIEW

Bare in mind these guys aren't real reviewers. One of them took some interesting pictures of the light surviving punishment. As you know, Punishment Zone, is a section in the LED Museum. I think they had Craig Johnson in mind when they did this.

I HOPE THIS IS HELPFUL. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

**EDIT** I see the first group of photos are gone but the second group ( which are cool) are still there. I'll see if there is something that can be done about that.

ok. i still wish someone else here owned a Vx1!
thanks nyway...

neg

I've owned the Vx1 for over a year now. To tell you the truth, I don't use it very much. This was my second LED purchase after a Photon, and at that point I was still lurking here. What really drew me to it was the multiple brightness levels and AAA power. I have not tested this light in harsh weather. It is sealed by a gasket and the parts fit tight, but I wouldn't really call it waterproof. I've described the beam before as funky. It's blotchy and quite blue and ringy, but it is bright. If used as the flashlight gods intended for lighting the way, and not just shining on a white wall, it works fine. The multiple levels are nice. Your battery will last almost forever on the low level, which is still a usable brightness. Unfortunately it always comes on at the brightest level and you must cycle through the others to turn it off. Its size makes it quite pocketable and it comes with a swiveling hat clip. If I didn't have an Arc AAA and a Sonic now I would probably EDC the Shorelite. With a better LED and maybe no lens system I'd use mine more than I do. Maybe it's been improved since my purchase. For no other reason, its uniqueness makes it collectable. I have no regrets.

I have the Browning-branded version of the light. The beam SUCKS, as it is a "snake-eyes" pattern, ie.e a round circle of light with two dark dots in the middle. This is caused by the magnifying lens integral to the dome of the light. The shiny reflector adds odd shapes/artifacts to the beam, although it does hide the electronics. When I operate the light without the lens, the beam is fine. I wish this light was made without the lens, so the standard beam from the LED was exposed. The quality of the build is OK, but I think the case is unnecessarily complex (the flexible seal, for example, is required to be a very odd shape). It could be better. The hat-clip is well engineered, and fits the case well, slides on and off securely.

Those are my impressions, anyway. I was disappointed in the beam quality, but I may try replacing the LED with an 8mm LED (if I can find one), and see if that changes anything.

"I may try replacing the LED with an 8mm LED."

That would be very cool.

[ QUOTE ]
Neg2LED said:
... and frankly the Ledmuseum Review of it doesnt tell me what i want to know (no offense to craig, it is a good review, it just doesnt tell me enough about the light)...

[/ QUOTE ]
No offense taken. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
I only had the flashlight for about a week (along with several other flashlights from the same owner under the same time constraint), and I could not punish-test the sample, so I admit my review of the Shorelite Vx1 is a bit lacking.

I second what DSpeck said about the beam quality of the VX1...mine easily had the worst beam of any single 5mm LED light I've ever owned. It was so annoying that I gave the light away! The problem is that it uses a magnifying optic that sits WAY too close to the LED, and the result is that you actually see the LED's dye in the beam pattern. Because of the way the light is designed, there's no way to correct this problem. WriteRight did make the beam tolerable to an extent. Also, the square metallic reflector gives off some pretty funky artifacts. IMHO, this light would have been far more acceptable without the magnifying optic...either just a flat lens or no lens at all would have been better. The light seemed sort of fragile, offered no degree of water resistance, and battery change was sort of a PITA. The dimming feature was a definite plus, but in my opinion the cons of the VX1 definitely out-weighed the pros. YMMV...

PJD

maybe when i get mine i will try to mod it with a better LED. that might be a good idea, after all i have never modded a light before....

actually my above post is incorrect. i have modded a light - a 2-aa job - i popped in a inverter to make it a one cell superbright white regulated. its rated at 6000mcd (the led) but the 8000 is no brighter. strange, huh?

neg

Hmm, nifty looking little thing. Anyone know how much and where to get one?

you can get them from glow-bug.com - $14, they are on sale.

neg

Thanks. Nearly bought one, just a shame that the shipping ends up being more than the light! $16 shipping on a $14 light...think I'll give it a miss then. At $14, it's cheap, at $30, it isn't.