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Detailed
Information:
The Insite-Light is one seriously tough marker light!
This thing just shrugs off normal abuse The body is
thick polycarbonate and is beefy all the way around.
Unless you flood it with salt water and fail to clean
it or allow the batteries to leak all over, you should
get a lifetime of use out of an Insite-Light.
The Insite-Light is an exercise in simplicity. Drop
two batteries in, observing the polarity marked on the
case. Place the cap on and press it down. If the LEDs
don't light, turn the cap 180 degrees and try again.
The instructions say that the unit is "keyed"
with one square post for one LED, and one round post
for the other LED and that the cap only goes on one
way. This is not the case and the posts can be inserted
into the body incorrectly. Don't worry, though, if you
get it wrong. Just turn the cap around and try again.
The LEDs should not be damaged by a short reverse polarity
event and the light works fine with the posts in the
"wrong" cutout in the body. Just make sure
that when you squeeze it that the LEDs come on. Once
the LEDs come on, twist the cap to the "Auto"
position marked on the body.
If you are using the Insite-Light as a marker, just
twist the cap clockwise from the top relative to the
body and it will cam down and turn on. Reverse the twist
to turn it off. If you are using it for fishing and
it will be sinking below a depth of 5 meters, just leave
the cap in the "auto" position (this position
is also "off" if you are using it as a marker)
and the light will come on automatically at about 5
meters depth due to water pressure compressing the cap
against the body.
Why would you use the Insite-Light for fishing? Apparently
the lights attract bait fish. If you throw in your line
with a couple of baited hooks and the light attracts
live bait fish, larger fish will come along looking
for a meal. Seeking the easiest prey, they'll go after
the bait fish that are the least active (so the theory
goes) and they'll snag the ones on the hooks. Apparently
this works quite well as it is a technique used by commercial
fishing establishments to increase their catch when
employing long-line fishing.
Water resistance is incredible. It has a beefy O-ring
around the body that is engaged when the cap is placed
on the body. For shallow water depths and rain/spray,
this is more than enough to keep the inside of the light
dry. As the Insite-Light sinks deeper a second O-ring
engages the top rim of the body as the top is pressed
against the body by the water pressure. The greater
the pressure on the cap as it goes deeper, the tighter
the seal becomes. This has given the Insite-Light a
depth rating of over 2000 ft. The instructions do strongly
warn against using petroleum jelly to lubricate the
o-rings. Use a silicone based grease.
For batteries, I would strongly recommend that you
continue to use the Energizer L91 lithium 1.7v AA batteries
as replacements when the original batteries finally
go flat. You can get these batteries for about $10.00
for a four pack. The light output is much greater than
alkalines and the lithium batteries supply a more constant
level of illumination.
The clip that the Insite-Light comes with is really
intended for attaching the unit to a fishing line and
will not work too well for attaching the unit to straps.
You may want to use a carabiner clip to replace the
fishing clip if you will be using this strictly as a
marker beacon.
What I Liked: Tough as a rock,
waterproof to ridiculous depths, and very easy to operate.
Very long runtimes are great. Based upon the graphs
they give on the website, I would recommend changing
out the lithum batteries after about 150 hours, but
it will run at diminished levels much longer than that.
Even with the cost of AA lithium batteries being higher
than alkalines, this thing will easily pay for itself
relative to using chemical light sticks. Plus you can
turn it off when it's not in use.
What I Didn't Like: The unit is
a bit dim to use as a tent light. I wouldn't mind seeing
a special unit with white LEDs driven by a step-up circuit
tucked away inside the top to increase light output.
It is a bit larger and heavier than I expected, but
it's not excessive.
Other Things I Noticed: As I mentioned,
the polarity protection which is emphasized in the directions
is really nonexistent. But in reality, LEDs aren't easily
harmed by reverse polarity problems at these voltages
(yes, I tried it and the light still works.) If it doesn't
light when you put the cap back on, remove the cap and
turn it around or turn the batteries around. That's
all.
Conclusions: If you use chemical
light sticks as marker lights or safety lights, give
serious consideration to one of these. At 2 bucks each
for lightsticks if you spent $40.00 you could get 20
of them which would last about 160 hours (8 hours each.)
So for the same $40.00 you can get an Insite-Light which
will easily last 160 hours on the one set of batteries
that comes with it. Plus you can turn it off when you're
finished.
I'm giving the Insite-Light 4 Stars for
sheer durability, simplicty and functionality.
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