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Detailed
Information:
The Flashflood is one of 4 new Gerber lights with very
unusual designs. As with the other unusual Gerber light
reviewed so far (the "Inferno") the Flashflood
is a bit disappointing. It can do a lot, but none of
it really well.
The body is blue polymer and has a wide variety of
features which are designed to allow it to be attached
to a variety of surfaces. On one side is a pull-out
retractable cable which is meant to be wrapped around
an object and attached to the loop on the other side
of the body. Unfortunately, the tension spring that
retracts the cable is so weak that I have serious doubts
that the cable could hold the light against a smooth
surface by its tension alone.
On the back is a large clip. Turning the screw to "open"
on the back allows the clip plate to be removed exposing
two strong magnets - one on the plate, one on the body.
This allows one magnet to be placed on one side of a
thin fabric surface and the light on the other side
with the two magnets pinching the material and holding
the light in place. The body magnet will also hold the
light to a metal surface.
The base of the light includes molded-in feet which
will allow it to stand on end
On the front of the light you will find 5 LEDs in a
silvered reflector behind a plastic lens. The LED assembly
sits in a movable socket with a rubber boot over the
top. I say "movable" not "positionable"
because the assembly and boot move in all directions,
but don't stay in the direction you point them.
Well, bad news. As I was writing this review I was
moving the bezel around and all of a sudden
SNAP!!!!!!
it started moving a lot farther than it ever did, and
it stopped working. So apparently they mounted the LED
module on a moveable platform that isn't designed to
be moved... Let's start ripping and tearing, shall we???
Upon disassembly I found that the LED module really
IS on a ball and socket joint, so it IS supposed to
pivot around. However, the "brilliant" engineer
who designed this thing made the wires that attach the
circuit board and the power supply so short that they
snap off as soon as you try pivoting the LED bezel.
If it wasn't supposed to move, why the heck did they
put it on a post with a ball and socket joint?
On either side of the base of the light is a gray rubber
cap with six little dimples. One is the switch, the
other is the battery cover. The switch side is indicated
by the orange spacer between the cap and the body. This
is one of the most poorly designed switches I've encountered.
It is essentially a curved shallow dome with slight
dimples. It is very difficult to get a grip on the switch
to twist it, and twisting it takes some effort. Twisting
the switch, if you can, allows you access to the 4 lighting
modes in order: 1 narrow white LED, all LEDs lit, 2
red wide LEDs, 2 red wide LEDs blinking.
Output was pretty good. The single white LED does an
admirable job and the "all LEDs on" mode does
a good job of lighting up a wide area in front of the
unit.
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Level
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1 white narrow
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12 (3.46)
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110 (1.10)
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All on
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13 (3.61)
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380 (3.80)
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2 red wide
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1
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75 (0.75)
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All
throw readings are in Lux
at one meter. The numbers in parenthesis are for comparison
in the Comparison
Charts.
The batteries are accessible through a cover on the
opposite side from the switch. The carrier holds 3 AAA
batteries and can only be inserted in one direction.
Removing the carrier can be a chore. First you have
to get a grip on a dome shaped lid. Next you have to
smack the body against your hand several times to get
the carrier out far enough so you can pry it out with
a fingernail. After that, replacing the batteries in
the carrier is easy - just pop them out with a fingernail
and replace.
What I Liked: Strong magnet mount, OK output.
What I Didn't Like: Moveable bezel
designed to be moved but not designed to be moved and
breaks when moved too much, Switch that is very poorly
designed and very tough to grip, Poor tension on the
mounting cable, Battery carrier difficult to remove.
Other Things I Noticed:
Conclusions: Not recommended at
all, especially for the crowd Gerber usually markets
to (aka serious outdoors adventure folks). Another surprising
disappointment from Gerber after seeing the high quality
of their aluminum lights.
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