Whiplash
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2004
- Messages
- 13
After reading kenshiro's superlight reviews, I decided on the KumKang HID Searchlight and began searching the web to find one. I came out unsuccessful, however, as not even KumKang's site has the flashlight listed. They have a different model, not the one kenshiro reviewed. After reading his review and subsequent comparison of the McCulloch X990, and finding out that it is made here in the states, my next goal was to buy one of these. I ordered it from www.brightguy.com, and it arrived a few days ago.
(More pictures are below)
Wow, this light is insane! After looking at the pictures of the light and at the car charger, I thought that the battery was a slim stick that slid into the bottom of the flashlight. Upon receiving it, however, I discovered that the battery is the bottom of the flashlight. The stick part of it slides up into the lower housing, and the battery cells are contained in the base. The light came with two batteries, a notable improvment over the KumKang, which seems to have its battery built in, thus making its potential runtime shorter and a battery failure probable cause for an entire light replacement (as far as I can tell).
The light is relatively heavy (probably somewhere around 8 pounds), but I have always had the somewhat subconcious belief that heavy things are of high quality. The battery and main body casing are made of extremely durable plastic. It is "soft," capable of absorbing shock, yet extremely tough. The light housing, on the other hand, is made of relatively thin aluminum. While the chromed main housing and black matte lower housing feels good to the touch and serves as a heat sink for the light /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif, it seems very susceptible to dents and scratches, something you do not want on your new $500 flashlight. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsdown.gif We'll see how is fairs later on.
After carefully perusing the manual, something I do not usually do, I plugged in the wall charger and began the 4 hour nearly unbearable wait to full charge. Each battery last 70 minutes continuous use, which is excellent for a flashlight, especially considering that it puts out 3200 lumens of light, while the Surefire M6's high output bulb puts out only 500 lumens (still quite a bit) and lasts only 20 minutes. The second battery will come in handy on long camping trips, as it provides the light with 2 hours and 20 mintues total run time. (I am sure most of you already know most of this flashlight's specs, but for those who don't, I am going into detail).
After charging, I went outside to turn it on (it was now dark outside at 8:30pm), and I flicked the switch. The light output of this thing is indescribable. It is extremely bright at first ignition, and only gets better from there. After it had finished its 10 second warm up to full power, I could aim probably over 1/2 a mile to illuminate apartment buildings from my second floor window. I was able to illuminate a helicopter flying overhead, probably unnerving the pilot in the process.
I love the whine that the HID ballast makes as it powers up. Makes the light sound all the more serious and insane. I will be posting pictures of it soon, so stay tuned!!!
Cliffnotes and pro's/con's
Pros: /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
Insane light output
Simply badass because it is an HID flashlight
The familiar whine of HID as the light powers up
Rugged (for the most part) casing
Two batteries for 140 min total runtime
Durable custom-moulded case for transport and protection
Only $500, and brighter than some of the $2000 searchlights out there
PURE white light, with the familiar colored halo of HID
Tiltable head for any configuration
Cons: /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsdown.gif
Easily scratchable (and most likely dentable) light housing
Case could have had light padding to protect the light head (I will be adding this myself with some microfiber cloth)
$500, more expensive than some smaller, possibly more practical lights out there
Update: Here are the pictures. I couldn't get any good beamshots into the air with my camera, but I was able to get some good ones otherwise.
First, here are pictures of the light itself:
And here are the beamshots I was able to take:
Here is the spot mode on the wall of my garage about 50 feet away:
Here is the flood mode on the same garage from the same distance:
Here are a couple of pics I took of the light from the front. The pics are about 45 degrees off axis. The light is focused in spot mode, and the pics are taken within the spill cone of the light. The main beam of the light would probably destoy the camera. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
The first one is taken with the same camera setting that the above pictures are taken with. The second pic is taken with a different setting, and shows more of the true light color. The first pic is a little more blue than the actual beam is in person.
Hope you like them! If anyone knows how to get some better beamshots, let me know and I will try.
-Wes
(More pictures are below)
Wow, this light is insane! After looking at the pictures of the light and at the car charger, I thought that the battery was a slim stick that slid into the bottom of the flashlight. Upon receiving it, however, I discovered that the battery is the bottom of the flashlight. The stick part of it slides up into the lower housing, and the battery cells are contained in the base. The light came with two batteries, a notable improvment over the KumKang, which seems to have its battery built in, thus making its potential runtime shorter and a battery failure probable cause for an entire light replacement (as far as I can tell).
The light is relatively heavy (probably somewhere around 8 pounds), but I have always had the somewhat subconcious belief that heavy things are of high quality. The battery and main body casing are made of extremely durable plastic. It is "soft," capable of absorbing shock, yet extremely tough. The light housing, on the other hand, is made of relatively thin aluminum. While the chromed main housing and black matte lower housing feels good to the touch and serves as a heat sink for the light /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif, it seems very susceptible to dents and scratches, something you do not want on your new $500 flashlight. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsdown.gif We'll see how is fairs later on.
After carefully perusing the manual, something I do not usually do, I plugged in the wall charger and began the 4 hour nearly unbearable wait to full charge. Each battery last 70 minutes continuous use, which is excellent for a flashlight, especially considering that it puts out 3200 lumens of light, while the Surefire M6's high output bulb puts out only 500 lumens (still quite a bit) and lasts only 20 minutes. The second battery will come in handy on long camping trips, as it provides the light with 2 hours and 20 mintues total run time. (I am sure most of you already know most of this flashlight's specs, but for those who don't, I am going into detail).
After charging, I went outside to turn it on (it was now dark outside at 8:30pm), and I flicked the switch. The light output of this thing is indescribable. It is extremely bright at first ignition, and only gets better from there. After it had finished its 10 second warm up to full power, I could aim probably over 1/2 a mile to illuminate apartment buildings from my second floor window. I was able to illuminate a helicopter flying overhead, probably unnerving the pilot in the process.
I love the whine that the HID ballast makes as it powers up. Makes the light sound all the more serious and insane. I will be posting pictures of it soon, so stay tuned!!!
Cliffnotes and pro's/con's
Pros: /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
Insane light output
Simply badass because it is an HID flashlight
The familiar whine of HID as the light powers up
Rugged (for the most part) casing
Two batteries for 140 min total runtime
Durable custom-moulded case for transport and protection
Only $500, and brighter than some of the $2000 searchlights out there
PURE white light, with the familiar colored halo of HID
Tiltable head for any configuration
Cons: /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsdown.gif
Easily scratchable (and most likely dentable) light housing
Case could have had light padding to protect the light head (I will be adding this myself with some microfiber cloth)
$500, more expensive than some smaller, possibly more practical lights out there
Update: Here are the pictures. I couldn't get any good beamshots into the air with my camera, but I was able to get some good ones otherwise.
First, here are pictures of the light itself:
And here are the beamshots I was able to take:
Here is the spot mode on the wall of my garage about 50 feet away:
Here is the flood mode on the same garage from the same distance:
Here are a couple of pics I took of the light from the front. The pics are about 45 degrees off axis. The light is focused in spot mode, and the pics are taken within the spill cone of the light. The main beam of the light would probably destoy the camera. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
The first one is taken with the same camera setting that the above pictures are taken with. The second pic is taken with a different setting, and shows more of the true light color. The first pic is a little more blue than the actual beam is in person.
Hope you like them! If anyone knows how to get some better beamshots, let me know and I will try.
-Wes
