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Reviewer's
Impressions:
The Streamlight Septor is a pretty slick headlamp. It is
basically an "all LED" version of the Streamlight
Trident. Having the ability to adjust the LED output very
rapidly just by clicking on the switch equates this to a 7
LED headlamp with a dimmer. A VERY handy thing to have. Need
just a little light - one click, need more - 2 clicks, need
a lot - 3 clicks, want less again - click 2 or 3 more times.
Pretty easy and straightforward, just the way a light should
be.
The headlamp itself is well made and does pretty much what
you would expect it to do. Like the Trident, the single LED
is about as bright as a Photon and is great for low light
navigation. The 3 LEDs project enough light to be useful in
accomplishing your normal camp-side duties while making the
most of your battery life. The 7 LED setting produces a nice
flood of light similar to (but a little dimmer than) that
produced by a Lightwave
3000 or a Tektite
Expedition 300.
The beam is not as perfectly smooth as you would expect from
an LED light. This is in part due to the smooth reflector
that is used and the fact that the LEDs are placed a little
low of center in the reflector. A little more light is projected
forward, and the price you have to pay is a little blotchiness.
Projecting more of the light forward is never a bad thing
and unless you are inspecting a solid white wall (how many
times does THAT happen when you're camping...) you'll probably
never notice.
About the runtimes... We would all like to believe all manufacturer's
claims of battery runtimes, but you need to be wary at the
end of the battery life proclaimed by some manufacturers you
would just barely be able to read a newspaper at arm's length
in pitch darkness with dark adapted eyes. Needless to say,
the flashlight would NOT be producing much light at this point.
So I'll invoke "Doug's Law of LED Illumination"
;-) which states that:
"In general, you should take the battery life claimed
by the LED flashlight manufacturer and divide by 3. This
is how long the light will probably produce light before
you will want to change the batteries."
That said, you should probably expect about 45-50 hours of
good light for 1 LED, 12-15 hours for 3 LEDs and around 5-7
hours for 7 LEDs. The good thing is that even with the reduction
made by "Doug's Law", the battery life isn't all
that bad! If you need more runtime, extra battery carriers
were available from www.brightguy.com
for about $3.00 each at the time of this review. This will
allow for quick "reloads" without having to worry
about putting the batteries in the carrier correctly while
sitting in the dark.
Durability? Well it seems to be able to take drops, kicks,
tosses in the air with no attempt to catch, and general whacks
completely in stride. The rubber and O-ring seals should keep
out moisture without a problem, although I would lubricate
them with a little extra silicone grease if you were taking
the light out in a very wet environment just to be safe (I
would recommend this for any light).
As for comfort, the Septor is light and unobtrusive. It is
sized identically to the Trident. If you want all LEDs, the
Septor is a good way to go for a headlamp. It's bright and
(effectively) dimmable to suit whatever situation you are
in except for illuminating long-distance targets. If you need
the additional "throw" of an incandescent bulb in
combination with LEDs, take a look at the Streamlight
Trident.
(Rating updated April 2003 to reflect ongoing testing
and update to rating system.)
+ + + Pluses: Low, medium and high brightness levels
(dimmable), Water resistant, Decent runtime, Lightweight,
Clicks in place when adjusted.
- - - Minuses: Slight but mostly tolerable beam artifacts
from smooth reflector.
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