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Reviewer's
Impressions:
Although the Lightwave 2000 does not produce a large amount
of light, the light it gives out is smooth, and the battery
life is fantastic.
The LEDs are pretty well protected by being recessed in the
bezel. The lack of a plastic lens allows the maximum amount
of light output by the LEDs to land on the target area. There
is no light lost as a result of the light passing through
a piece of plastic.
One thing that I found strange was that although
this light and the Lightwave Illuminator both use the same
number of batteries and the bezels are interchangable, the
Illuminator bezel only put out 54 lumens/meter², where
the Lightwave 2000 bezel put out 64 lumens/meter². The
Lightwave 2000 was noticably brighter.
The main problem I found with this light was
the same problem I found with the Illuminator headlamp. When
you rotate the bezel to turn the light off, less than 1 turn
later the bezel falls off in your hand. This is suprisingly
easy to do as there is very little resistance when turning
the bezel. Although it is easy to turn on and off with one
hand as a result, in my mind this poses too much of a risk
for loss. It would be advisable to stow the whole thing away
when not in use so the bezel does not become lost or add a
thicker O-ring to increase the turning resistance.
As with several of the other Lightwave lights,
the lack of a voltage regulation IC is suprising. There seems
to be plenty of room in the head of the light for a regulation
circuit that would keep the light running at nearly the same
brightness throughout the useful battery life. As-is, the
light will dim significantly as the batteries are depleted.
+ + + Pluses: Long battery life, easy
battery change, watertight
- - - Minuses: Possibility of bezel loss,
no voltage regulation for constant brightness
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