Saturday, February 10, 2007

SMITH & WESSON PRODUCTS

Friday, February 09, 2007

S&W SELLS MOST EVERYTHING - WHY ??

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE REAL S&W HANDGUN MANUFACTURER ??


Home » Exciting New Products

Smith & Wesson

Men's Cologne







SMITH & WESSON BILLIARD CUES














Smith & Wesson Cotton Tapestry Throw's


CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Home » Clothing

Polo Shirts






Outerwear







Hats






Shirts







T-Shirts






Camouflage Clothing







Sweatshirts











Smith & Wesson Leather Products





NEED A WATCH - CALL S&W

NEED A CHINESE KNIFE - CALL S&W

NEED A COFFEE MUG - CALL S&W

NEED CLOTHING - CALL S&W

NEED A BILLARD STICK - CALL S&W

THE LIST IS ENDLESS, HOW ABOUT A GOOD REVOLVER WITH NO KEYED SAFETY. ONE THAT WILL NOT ENGAGE WHEN YOU DROP IT ON CONCRETE BY ACCIDENT. I THINK YOUR NEXT PRESIDENT AND CEO SHOULD COME FROM A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY.

S&W I AM WAITING FOR YOU TO OPEN A FOOD CHAIN IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD SO I CAN BUY YOUR S&W PRODUCE, AND YOU CAN THEN SELL MILK AND BREAD AND JUICES AND THE LIST CAN BE ENDLESS, WHICH WILL BE MADE IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY. A SUGGESTION WOULD BE TO CRAWL IN BED WITH WALMART, FOR A PRICE I AM SURE THEY WILL TEACH YOU THE ROPES.

Thursday, February 08, 2007

HELP SUPPORT FLASHLIGHT BLOGGER


Use the menus above to navigate!

Welcome to FlashlightReviews.com! This site is designed to serve as a reference for people who share the common interest of flashlights (torches) or for people who would like some education about personal and professional illumination devices before making a purchase. Enjoy!




Recently Reviewed / Updated
Review Coming Soon (well... sometime...)
Feb 01 Unigrip Squeeze Light (preview only)
Feb 01 LumaPower M1 Hunter Cree



Feb 06 Several Cree-based Fenix lights...

(Please see the Archive for previous reviews)




(If you are wondering why fewer reviews are being done now, see the note at the top of the "News and What's New" section below.)


TOP 20 Most Popular Reviews, Jan. 2006 - Dec. 2006
Rank
Name
Rank
Name
1
Fenix L2P
11
Amilite Neo T3
2
Fenix L1T, L2T
12
Surefire KL1 gen2
3
Inova T series
13
Princeton Tec Apex
4
Inova X1
14
Jetbeam Jet-I
5
Fenix L1P
15
HDS EDC Ultimate 60 XR
6
Fenix P1
16
Inova X5
7
Surefire L4
17
Surefire U2
8
PeakLEDSolutions Caribbean
18
Terralux Ministar2
9
Streamlight Propolymer Luxeons
19
Stenlight S7
10
Arc AAA-P
20
Diamond 3W Mag Bulbs

Fast riser at # 21: Maglite Mag-LEDs


Review Samples / Manufacturers / Retailers:
As of December 2006 we are only reviewing products on an infrequent basis and only by special invitation.
I have found it necessary to severely scale back the product reviewing process.

Feel free to contact us regarding reviewing your product but very few will be accepted at this time.

Any products received without explicit permission to send them will be
considered a "gift" and will not be reviewed nor returned.



$$$$$

This site is FREE, but...

...if you find the information on this site useful, please
consider making even a small (or big!) donation to help me
with care and feeding of this web site!

Click Here for donation options,
List of Contributors,
and donation policy!




NEWS and WHAT'S NEW

External pressures on my time prevent the degree of involvement I have had in the past with FlashlightReviews.com, but it is my intention to continue to maintain this site for everyone's reference. For now the site is "semi-retired". Review samples are only being accepted and reviewed by special invitation and will be done on an infrequent basis. Email to the author may not receive a reply. New articles may be added, but not with the frequency of the past several years.

- Doug P., Author and Owner, FlashlightReviews.com, December 2006


Feb 07 , 2007: Big thank you to everyone who has sent donations to help keep the site running. Recent thanks go out to Greg B., Adam R., Lewis S., and James G. who sent donations via US mail.

URGENT WARNING: Fake Surefire U2 flashlights are appearing on the market. They are almost exact copies in appearance (only). Functionally and quality-wise, they are sub-par. Please see the Fakes, Frauds, and Fallacies page for more information. Don't get scammed!

Feb 01 , 2007: The preview of the two hand squeeze lights is done. I received a LumaPower M1 Hunter Cree light for review and will work on it next. I have added a special review table for Cree and Seoul high efficiency LEDs, available from the LED selection menu at the top (there's only one entry at this time...)

Jan 24, 2007: I have received two prototype hand squeeze lights which are designed to be a very inexpensive human-powered rechargeable LED flashlight. Pumping the handle recharges what appears to be small cluster of NiMH cells inside. Considering the cost, so far they look pretty good. Better than those junk crank lights and fake hand pump lights. More to come!

Jan 17, 2007: The Fenix L2P has unfortunately been discontinued, but it's hard to keep a good light down! Check out Giga International for the L2P Version 2.0. Unfortunately I will not be reviewing this light, but if anyone would like to send me their impressions, please feel free!

Jan 01, 2007: Happy New Year! I've been doing some serious poking around in the collection and found this little critter. After playing with it for a while I have again realized what a nice little light it is. Although nothing super special, I just plain think it's cute. Plus it's on sale right now for about $11 and really has a good runtime and output for 1 AAA.

It appears that with the new year, I am not the only one cutting back (See Dec 26, 2006 News and What's New entry). One of my favorite daily newspaper cartoons, FoxTrot, will no longer be daily. The author is cutting back to Sundays only. He says in the press release "...I think it’s time I got out of the house and tried some new things." My friend, I know how you feel.



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FlashlightReviews.com WWW

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Enjoy your visit - Doug P.

If you like what you see here, you will find great discussion topics and a lot more information at CandlePowerForums !

CPF Down? Here's the CPF Underground - look for the Lifeline forum.

(CandlePowerForums and the CPF Underground are not owned or operated by FlashlightReviews.com)



Tuesday, February 06, 2007

FENIX FLASHLIGHT

Fenix P1D and P1D-CE

Provided for review
by the kind folks at:

5 Stars
Excellent


Light Type: Luxeon III T-bin or Cree 7090 XR-E LED
Light Class: Pocket / Keychain

The Fenix P1D and P1D-CE is the new generation of the venerable P1. These new lights run on a single 123A cell like the P1, but have multi-purpose circuitry inside allowing for three levels of output and two strobe modes (strobe and SOS). The P1D standard model uses a Luxeon III T-bin for light while the P1D-CE uses a Cree 7090 XR-E LED. The Cree LED model is almost twice as bright as the Luxeon model, but has, for all intents and purposes, the same runtime. This means that the Cree LED gives all appearances of being twice as efficient as the Luxeon LED.

Body: The body of the Fenix P1D is machined aluminum with type III hard anodize finish and is available in black and natural. The outside of the body has six flat panels around the central area of the body for texture and display of the company logos. The head has a ring of knurling for grip (the head is the switch). The tailcap has an unusual raised 4 pointed star configuration. One of the "arms" of the star has a hole for attachment of the included small split ring and lobster-claw keychain attachment. The raised base is large enough to allow the light to stand on end.

Bezel/Head: The head of the P1D and P1D-CE includes a coated glass lens, a metal reflector, a T-binned Luxeon 3 watt LED or Cree 7090 XR-E LED, and a regulator circuit, all permanently installed. The lens is slightly recessed which serves as some protection from impact and abrasion. The LED is perfectly centered in the reflector.


Luxeon left, Cree right

Output: Output is very good. The white light produced by the LED in both lights produces good color rendition. No tint is detectable in either beam. The beam itself is a excellent multipurpose beam with a tight central spot surrounded by a wide corona and spillbeam. The P1D-CE has a slightly tighter beam with a few slightly noticeable rings in the beam.

As noted before there are 5 output modes. When using the three different constant output modes, the light does not appear to use a PWM for dimming. Many LED lights use a PWM circuit for dimming which causes the light to flicker very rapidly. This fools the eye into thinking the light is dimmer, while allowing the light to conserve power since it is actually "off" part of the time (the space between the flickers). This flicker can often be seen by moving your eyes or the light very rapidly and some people find this flicker to be quite annoying, especially when reading. The output of the P1D is constant with no visible flicker, even while on the "Low" mode.

Fenix P1D

Level
Primary
730 (27.02)
2220 (22.20)
Max
1330 (34.47)
4000 (40.00)
Low
200 (14.14)
550 (5.50)


All throw readings are in Lux at one meter. The numbers in parenthesis are for comparison in the Comparison Charts.

Fenix P1D-CE

Level
Primary
1400 (37.42)
4200 (42.00)
Max
2700 (51.96)
7850 (78.50)
Low
370 (19.23)
1040 (10.40)


All throw readings are in Lux at one meter. The numbers in parenthesis are for comparison in the Comparison Charts.


Beam at one meter at target center.

Runtime Plot: Runtime with a standard 123A cell shown below. Both lights were tested in "Primary" mode only. "Max" will give shorter runtime, while "Low" will provide longer runtime. Third party tests have shown that you should expect runtimes of about 45 minutes in "High" mode and a little over 10 hours in "Low" mode.


Runtime completed with "Titanium" brand batteries. More information on runtime plots is available HERE.


Runtime completed with "Titanium" brand batteries. More information on runtime plots is available HERE.

It is interesting to note that the P1D-CE with the Cree LED uses the same power source, has almost the same runtime, but produces nearly double the light output of the Luxeon P1D. This equates to almost double the efficiency of the Luxeon LED.


Runtime completed with "Titanium" brand batteries. More information on runtime plots is available HERE.

Switch: The head of the lights is the switch. Tighten for on, loosen for off. The P1D-CE has a slightly larger gap between the head and the body which is filled by an extra O-ring at the base of the head. When first turned on, both lights are in "Primary" mode. A quick off-on cycle switches the light to the next mode in the series. The modes are as follows: Primary, High, Low, Strobe, SOS, (repeat).

Seals / Water Resistance: The lights are protected from the environment by an O-ring and a sealed bezel. Fenix advertises them as "waterproof" with no specific depth rating. I would call them "dunkable" but not "diveable". I would recommend lubricating the O-ring with a Teflon based lubricant. This may be found in many hardware stores (and Radio Shack) in a precision applicator and is often labeled as "Super Lube". I find it works extremely well.

If either gets wet inside, just disassemble as much a possible without tools and let it dry before using again.

Ergonomics: Nothing special to report here, except that they are very small and easy to carry in the pocket or on a keychain.


Size compared to a common 2 AA aluminum light

Batteries: One 123A cell powers each light. I would recommend Titanium brand cells for $1.00 each (here's a review) or BatteryStation or Surefire brand cells for less than $2 each. I would not recommend purchasing these cells at retail stores since they cost $10 a pair or more in most retail stores!

To change out the battery: unscrew the head, drop out the old cell, place in new cell observing proper polarity. Reattach the head and you're ready to go.

Accessories: Several accessories are included with the light. Inside the box you will find a spare O-ring, key ring/lobster-claw type clip and belt sheath.

What I Liked: Waterproof, Tough/impact resistant, Bright, Easy battery change, Lightweight, Stands up

What I Didn't Like: None

Picky Little Things: None

Conclusions: Will the Cree LEDs be the new "Jack the giant killer?". I'm not sure, but with twice the output and same runtime as Luxeon LEDs using the same power source, it looks to me that the folks at Cree will soon need a lot of wheelbarrows - for carting their money to the bank! These new Cree LEDs display a wonderful step-up in efficiency and Lumileds is probably scrambling to catch up. After dominating the market for so long it looks like Lumileds may have fallen a little behind in innovation.

The utility of these little 123A powered lights is great with the multiple output levels. Personally I think the SOS mode is completely useless, so I'm glad it's the last in the switching sequence. It'll never see any use from me. If you can, go with the Cree LED version for twice the efficiency for your buck.


Quick Facts Table:

Item Reviewed.......................... Fenix P1D and P1D-CE
Review Date ............................. December 2006
Country of Origin ...................... China
Case Material ........................... Anodized Type III aluminum
Case Features .......................... Faceted sides around center, texture around head, lanyard attachment
Case Access Type .................... Unscrew head
Switch Type ............................. Twist head for on-off, 5 modes of output
Reflector Type ......................... Polished metal
Lens Type ................................ Coated glass
Bulb Type ................................. Luxeon III T-bin or Cree 7090 XR-E LED
Beam Type ............................... Spot
Beam Characteristics ............... Central smooth spot with slight corona and wide spillbeam, some rings in CE model
Throw (Lux) at 1m (click for description) see charts above
Overall Output (click for description) see charts above
Battery / Power Type................ 1x123A lithium cell
Battery Life (advertised) ........... Primary: 2.8 hrs, High: 1 hr, Low: 21 hrs
Battery Life (test results) ........... Primary: ~ 2 hr 45 min to 50% output
Environmental Protection ......... O-ring seals, dunkable
Weight (oz.) with batteries ....... 1.5-1.6 oz. (need to convert to grams?)
Special Items of Note ............... Accessories included
Warranty .................................. Limited lifetime
Retail Cost ................................ 50-70 US$ at time of review at Fenix-Store.com