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Please note that this review is a "prerelease"
review which was requested by the wholesaler who will
be supplying this light. The form factor and operation
of this light may change before it becomes available
from this supplier as a result of this, and other, critiques
about its operation.
The Vari-Brite is a Luxeon III LED flashlight powered
by two 123A lithium cells. It has two switches which
cycle it through multiple brightness modes. One switch
increases, one decreases brightness. The levels of output
go from just barely lit to very bright. 18 brightness
modes were found on this particular light.
The body is made of anodized aluminum. I'm not sure
if it is type II or type III, but it has a matte finish.
There is checkering in a band around the head, body,
and tailcap for grip. The checkering is not aggressive
at all and really only provides a slight improvement
in grip. The tailcap is flat which facilitates standing
the light on end and has a lanyard hole drilled in the
side. The wrist lanyard was included and installed.
Inside and out, the machining and construction look
good.
Head/Bezel: This unit appears to have a glass lens
and a silvered smooth reflector. A continuity check
of the back of the reflector reveals that it is metal.
The reflector is held in place by a retaining ring inside
of the head. The Luxeon LED is attached to an aluminum
baseplate by a white thermal conductive paste. Below
that baseplate is the circuitry and switching mechanism
which are hidden from view and inaccessible.
Output description: Output is in the form of a very
nice spot with a bright corona and wide spillbeam. Color
temperature of the LED in this unit is very close to
sunlight with an ever so slight hint of green. Color
rendition is excellent.
The two switches on the unit permit a great deal of
variability in the output of the light. By clicking
up and down you can access 32 different settings. You
can also just hold the switch and it will ramp up or
down depending on which one you press.
However, some of the lower settings built into the
switching mechanism are sending so little voltage to
the LED that the LED fails to light. In this particular
unit the bottom 14 "clicks" of the switch
produce no light at all, and the upper 18 "clicks"
produce light from just barely firing the LED to maximum.
So essentially this particular unit has 18 levels of
output out of a possible 32. Another person who received
one of these lights found 16 levels of light and 16
nonworking lower levels. It appears that depending on
the Vf of the LED, one may fire sooner than another.
For those of you who are curious, I found the lower
14 levels by holding down the lower switch for about
15 seconds and then rapidly clicking the upper switch.
On the 15th click the LED barely lit.
Note that the switches require a VERY rapid click to
go up just one level. Many times it will jump 2 levels
in output.
Holding both switches at the same time doesn't serve
any purpose.
Beam at one meter at target center
Runtime Plot: This runtime was conducted with the light
on its maximum setting. It gradually increases slightly
in brightness (about 10%) before dropping out of regulation
and diminishing to a low level of output over the next
hour. Reducing the brightness of the light will, of
course, result in longer runtimes. This is the first
regulation curve that I've seen that steadily increases
instead of remaining level or decreasing before dropping
out of regulation. Either way, it is regulated, and
quite nicely at that.
Runtime
completed with "BatteryStation" batteries.
More information on runtime plots is available HERE.
Switch: The switches are rubber covered domes that
are sitting on a flat plateau and protected by the shoulder
of the head and the body tube. The probability of accidental
activation is reduced as a result. Click or hold the
switch near the head for increasing output, click or
hold the one nearest the tailcap to decrease output.
Now there is an additional little trick with this light.
If you unscrew the tailcap about ½ turn, it acts
like a master switch. The light will turn off. Twist
it tight again and the light comes back on AT THE SAME
LEVEL. I don't know how this works, but I could even
remove the tailcap, replace it, and when it was tightened
back up the light has remembered the level it was at
when I unscrewed the tailcap. Perhaps there is a capacitor
in there that keeps the "memory" going for
a little while and eventually it will lose the setting
- I'm not sure.
Seals: O ring seals protect the bezel, head, and tailcap.
The only fault I found here is that they were not lubricated.
At the very least I would recommend that you remove
the head and tailcap and put some silicone grease on
both O-rings. The rubber switch covers seem to seal
pretty well around the inside of the holes in the body.
I'd give it a "splashable" at the minimum,
probably "dunkable". If it gets wet inside,
just disassemble as much a possible without tools and
let it dry before using again.
Ergonomics: It's about the same length, but a little
larger in diameter, than a normal mini-light. The checkering,
as mentioned before, is fairly slick - about the same
as a standard mini-light. If there is a risk that you
will drop and lose the light, use the wrist lanyard.
Size compared to a common 2AA aluminum light
Two 123A cells power the light. I would recommend BatteryStation
or Surefire brand cells from BatteryStation.com
or Surefire.com
for less than $2 each when bought in quantity. I would not
recommend purchasing these cells at retail stores since
they cost $10 a pair or more in most retail stores!
Accessories: A nice light duty nylon velcro-closure
belt sheath is included, as well as a wrist lanyard.
What I Liked: Water resistant,
Tough/impact resistant, Regulated/long battery life,
Bright, Easy battery change, Lightweight, Stands up
What I Didn't Like: 14 lower levels
in the switching range that serve no purpose.
Other Things I Noticed: n/a
Conclusions: A very nice variable
output Luxeon LED light! What I'd like to see in the
final form of this light would be removal of the lower
switching settings that do no real good and a well designed
clickie tailcap switch as a master "on off"
or being able to click both switches at the same time
to acts as "on off". That and lubricate the
O-rings at time of assembly. Otherwise I pretty much
like everything about it! Considering the regulation,
the incredible number of light output levels available
and the good quality construction of the light, I'm
giving it darn near top marks as-is.
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