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Detailed
Information:
I may as well state the obvious right now... Looks
like a Surefire, doesn't it???? Well, it isn't, as will
become obvious as you read through the review (ouch!)
No, it really isn't a bad light at all. In fact it's
pretty darn good!
The body is machined aluminum with bands of knurling
for improved grip. The head is significantly larger
than the body and does have a Pyrex (advertised as such,
I have no idea how to confirm) domed lens inside of
a crenelated bezel cap. The crenelations allow you to
see that the light is "on" if you set it down
on its face.
The tailcap is also crenelated, allowing easy access
to the clickie tailcap switch and also allowing it to
stand on end. There is also a clip attached to the tailcap
via two hex screws for bezel-down carry. The battery
tube is about the size of a Surefire E series body and
fits on E series heads. The head can also be removed
and placed on Surefire E series bodies. A green Type
III hard anodize finish protects the body from abrasion
and corrosion. Type III, for those of you who do not
know, is much tougher than the standard Type II anodize
found on common aluminum lights.
The bezel contains this lamp assembly:
Looks a lot like a Surefire P60 lamp, but it isn't.
Or maybe it is, and it's being made by the same company
that makes the Surefire lamps. I don't know, but the
resemblance is stunning. The F2 accepts Surefire P60
and P61 lamps as well as its own. The standard lamp
will run for about 1 hour on two new batteries with
output diminishing over that period of time.
Now when I received the light I noticed lots of little
metal flakes inside the bezel. I took it apart and cleaned
them out and found that the flakes were coming from
the top edge of the lamp assembly. It appears that the
thin coating on the inside of the reflector that makes
it so shiny was overcoated onto the outer lip of the
aluminum reflector and that coating peeled off when
the light was assembled. None of the coating on the
inside of the reflector came off.
When I removed the bezel cap I also noticed this:
That is a sharp piece of threading around the top of
the inside of the head that should have been removed
by the machining process. Instead it remained and was
anodized with the rest of the light. The result was
that the seal under the Pyrex lens could have trouble
mating properly against the top of the light head assembly.
Now I was able to take a file to it and remove the remnant,
but no user should have to do this. Machining on the
part of the manufacturer appears to need to be revisited
in this one area.
Output is in the form of a beautiful white "perfectly
focused" spot of light. The surround beam appears
square due to the crenelation around the bezel.
The switch is a very soft clickie. You may not hear
it click on, or feel it for that matter. Press part-way
in for momentary operation, press harder to click it
on for constant operation.
Two 123A lithium batteries power the light for about
an hour. The battery tube is nickel coated inside for
corrosion resistance. Remove the tailcap to change out
the batteries. These batteries are very expensive in
retail stores and instead should be purchased from an
online retailer like BatteryStation.com.
O-ring seals are present throughout the light and provide
some water resistance. I'd give it a "dunkable"
rating.
What I Liked: Water resistant, Tough, Very Bright,
Easy battery change, Lightweight, Stands up
What I Didn't Like: Machining may need some
more QA on the part of the manufacturer. Clickie has
such a light touch that it can be hard to tell if the
constant-on function has engaged or not.
Other Things I Noticed: Body fits Surefire E
series heads. Head fits Surefire E series bodies. Accepts
Surefire P60 and P61 lamp assemblies.
Conclusions: Good light. Not a Surefire, but
someone is trying really hard, and they're coming pretty
close! Much closer than anyone else so far. The machining
concerns me a little and the soft clickie bothers me
personally a bit. For the money, it seems to be a good
purchase considering all you get, especially if you
want to use a bright P60 or P61 lamp module with what
is an essentially E-series sized body.
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