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200 of 203 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant product, May 25, 2012

By Al Massicotte

This review is from: Techlite Lumen Master 200 Lumens High-Intensity CREE XPG L.E.D. Tactical Flashlight, 3 Pack (Misc.)

INTRODUCTION

My name is Al Massicotte (Alofbennington@yahoo.com). I'm a professional broad-spectrum product innovator. But like most who read Amazon reviews, I simply want to buy excellent products at affordable prices.

I bought two 3-packs of this 200-lumen flashlight (Techlite TE-105/200) from Costco four months ago. The regular price for a pack was $20, but it was on sale for $16 ($5.33 per flashlight). And, of course, it comes with Costco's usual lifetime money-back guarantee.

Fortunately, my profession gave me access to test equipment that facilitated an in-depth study of this flashlight. And I am happy to share my findings with the Amazon community, whose vast library of reviews helped me evaluate hundreds of products.

OVERALL DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE

The flashlight has a very smart design. My compliments to the team that created this practical marvel. And it's manufactured with high precision from quality materials.

ILLUMINATION

The flashlight uses just 3 AAA batteries, yet is more illuminating than a traditional flashlight with 3 D batteries. I could barely believe my eyes. This little gadget will light up a big tree on a dark night from a hundred yards away!

Intensity and hue do not noticeably vary from sample to sample.

Reviewers of an earlier model (100-lumen) said an adjustable focus did not work properly. But the 200-lumen model has a fixed focus. Its ingeniously-shaped reflector concurrently delivers both an excellent spotlight (for intense illumination of the target) and an excellent floodlight (for ample peripheral illumination).

COMPACTNESS

Although the flashlight is compact, it fits one's hand comfortably and securely.

I had no hesitation replacing all of my flashlights, big and small, with this palm-sized floodlight. I love that it takes up so little room in my toolbox, glovebox, bedside drawer, kitchen drawer, laundry, and safe room.

In fact, it's even compact and light enough to carry in a pocket or purse. So it's much more likely to be brought along than left at home.

BATTERY RUN TIME TEST METHODOLOGY

I performed a series of tests to determine the run time of a set of batteries, depending on the choice of beam--HIGH, LOW or STROBE.

To assure that test results would not be influenced by differences between flashlight samples, I used the same flashlight throughout the series.

To assure that test results would not be influenced by variations in battery performance or condition, I began every test by loading the flashlight with fresh batteries from the same stock (package of Costco Kirkland alkaline AAA batteries).

I monitored the light output of the flashlight with a photometer (Sekonic L-246 outfitted with a white filter and 10X slide). I nested the head of the flashlight over the filter and took all readings from the meter's black scale. Although the readouts are in nonstandard units, they are in proportion to the volume of light generated by the flashlight. And in these tests that's what matters.

With fresh batteries a beam's brightness will be what I call "full-bright". As the batteries drain, brightness will gradually diminish. But it is presumed that most users will find a beam acceptable so long as its brilliance doesn't fall below "half-bright". Accordingly, "battery run time" is the amount of time a fresh battery pack can deliver a beam at half-bright or better.

It turns out that LOW has a full-bright reading of 100 on the scale; so it is half-bright at 50. HIGH has a full-bright reading of 300; so it is half-bright at 150. STROBE has a full-bright reading of 140; so it is half-bright at 70.

Normally, one would load a fresh set of batteries into a flashlight, then consume them over a period of many months in multiple sessions, each followed by a long rest. It turns out that these rest breaks enable batteries to recover, extending their run time. To approximate this operational scenario in a compressed time frame, each test was broken into a series of five sessions (S1 through S5), separated with rest.

I began each session by starting a count-up timer from zero. Then I selected the beam of interest. When the brilliance dropped to half-bright, I switched off the flashlight and noted the run time.

Each beam was tested in 10 steps: (1) Install fresh batteries. (2) S1. (3) One-hour rest. (4) S2. (5) One-hour rest. (6) S3. (7) One-hour rest. (8) S4. (9) One-day rest. (10) S5.

BATTERY RUN TIME TEST RESULTS

Battery run time on LOW = (226 minutes in S1) + (35 in S2) + (18 in S3) + (7 in S4) + (24 in S5) = 310 minutes. That is, LOW lasts only 3.8 hours in a first session, but 5.2 hours overall.

Battery run time on HIGH = (46 minutes in S1) + (24 in S2) + (4 in S3) + (2 in S4) + (4 in S5) = 80 minutes. That is, HIGH lasts only 0.8 hours in a first session, but 1.3 hours overall.

Battery run time on STROBE = (143 minutes in S1) + (17 in S2) + (21 in S3) + (6 in S4) + (13 in S5) = 200 minutes. That is, STROBE lasts only 2.4 hours in a first session, but 3.3 hours overall.

Reviewers of an earlier model (100-lumen) said an apparent electrical flaw was rapidly draining the battery pack, even when the flashlight was off. It was reported that the battery pack of a flashlight would drain dry in 1 to 6 months of storage. But that's history.

MODE SWITCH

The switch has 4 modes--LOW, HIGH, STROBE and OFF.

Switches found on traditional flashlights are solely mechanical and consume no power. But this flashlight's switch includes electronic circuitry, which consumes power continuously, even in the OFF mode. With fresh batteries, the battery pack drain rate is 260 mA on LOW, 1000 mA on HIGH, 440 mA on STROBE, and 0.010 mA on OFF. Accordingly, the drain rate is 100,000 times as much on HIGH as on OFF. So if the flashlight is stored unused for a year (8760 hours), the OFF loss will be the same as running the flashlight on HIGH for 8760h ÷ 100,000 = 0.0876h. That's only about 5 minutes (6% of initial overall capacity).

If the flashlight is accidently left on until its beam dies, it will turn off automatically. That will preserve the batteries, which are capable of partial recovery. But then it will no longer be possible to switch the flashlight back on until the following is done: (1) Allow the batteries to rest for an hour or so, if necessary. (2) Remove the cap momentarily, which resets the electronic switch. (3) After the cap is reinstalled, the flashlight will be ready for additional use.

The mode switch button does not protrude beyond its guard ring, so is not prone to accidental actuation. In fact, it must be depressed over 1/16" to activate.

BATTERY CAGE

Many reviewers of a previous model (100-lumen) said the battery cage was brittle and prone to break apart if the flashlight fell as little as half a foot. But the 200-lumen model has a rugged battery cage. I drop-tested one of my 200-lumen flashlights from a height of 4 feet to a sheet of 3/4" plywood that was lying on a concrete floor. I ran one drop with side impact, one with head impact and one with tail impact. Sadly, the plywood sustained considerable damage. But the integrity and performance of the flashlight and cage were unaffected. Finally, I ran the same series of drops with just the fully-loaded cage (no longer protected by the case). Although some batteries popped out upon impact, the cage incurred no apparent damage.

In the event of battery leakage, the cage is likely to prevent corrosive material from attacking the barrel and its electronic components, which are difficult to access for cleaning and burnishing. Whereas the cage is easy to remove, empty, and clean.

STROBE

One use for the strobe is as a locator. It can send a plea for help to people on the ground, on the water or in the air. Possible scenarios include vehicle breakdown, injury on a hike, and urgent need of rescue. I tested the nighttime reach of the strobe on a well-lit street in the suburbs. At a distance of 1300 feet the strobe was still very eye catching. I presume that a rescue pilot could easily spot the signal from a mile away.

A second use is as an emergency caution marker, as might be warranted in a road accident.

A third use is in self defense. The strobe can twart the approach of an attacker through disorientation and even temporary blindness.

If you are strobophobic, you don't have to pass sequentially from LOW to HIGH to STROBE in order to get to OFF. Just hold the button in for a couple seconds to leapfrog the intermediate modes.

SELF-DEFENSE STRIKE BEZEL

The head of the flashlight has a scalloped bezel. It enables the flashlight to be used to fend off an attack, such as by forcefully and repeatedly jabbing the attacker's face. And the handle's knurling provides an extreme grip, which should make it easy to keep this weapon under your control. Hopefully, the bad guy will run off and painfully regret his choice of victim.

The bezel provides an important additional benefit. When doing tabletop jobs, such as service work, the user may wish to leave the flashlight turned on until the task at hand is done. But the flashlight's barrel lacks reliable anti-roll provision, so would be prone to fall off the table. The good news is that this flashlight will rest very stably on its bezel. And the scallops let out enough light to remind one to turn off the power before going on break.

WATER RESISTANCE

I apply a dab of plumber's silicone grease to the flashlight's O-ring. This facilitates cap removal and replacement. And it should improve the water seal.

I lowered a flashlight sample into a pail of water. And while it was submerged, I cycled the switch through its four modes. Then I left the flashlight on LOW for one hour at a depth of one foot. The flashlight never skipped a beat. Not so much as a trace of water was able to pass its O-ring. So the interior of the case remained bone dry.

RELIABILITY

The power circuit of a traditional flashlight typically would become touchy as contact points (in the switch and battery compartment) became tarnished. Eventually, to get the flashlight to perform as expected it was necessary to turn the switch on and off several times, jar the flashlight repeatedly, or burnish all battery contact points.

In contrast, my hope is that Techlite's electronic switch will remain 100% dependable indefinitely.

Reviewers of an earlier model (100-lumen) complained that it would suddenly turn off, even though the battery pack still had most of its charge. That's the last thing one would appreciate in an emergency situation in the dark. This was likely due to bad electronics. The 200-lumen model does not have this problem. In fact, as the battery drains, the light intensity will gradually diminish all the way down to very dim.

DURABILITY

I've had absolutely no problems with my 6 units over the 4 months that I've owned them and used them repeatedly.

My impression is that this rugged tool will give a typical user consistently excellent performance for the rest of his life.

RATING

I apologize for having virtually nothing negative to say about this flashlight. But it's not my fault. Complain to Techlite.

I paid only $5.33 per flashlight. But if I ever need more of them, I won't hesitate to pay $20 per flashlight, if necessary. It would still be an excellent value!

U P D A T E #1 (Sep 7, 2012)

ANSI FL1

On the Techlite 200 three-pack, its manufacturer testifies that the flashlight was tested to ANSI FL1. This standard is one way to define nomenclature and methodology for measuring a flashlight's performance. I presume that tests on the Techlite were done directly by the manufacturer, as a third-party lab (not motivated to fudge) isn't referenced.

The test results are as follows:

1) Weather resistant

2) Impact resistant to a 1-meter fall

3) Peak intensity = 6000 candelas

4) High beam intensity = 200 lumens

5) Beam range = 150 meters

6) Run time on high beam = 1 hour

7) Run time on low beam = 4 hours

PHYSICAL MEASUREMENTS (taken by me)

Length = 4.5"

Handle diameter (mounting diameter) = 1.11"

Head diameter (maximum diameter) = 1.43"

Weight (including batteries and strap) = 4.9 oz

RECOMMENDED MAINTENANCE (proposed by me)

Every 2 months: Move each flashlight one step through your array of flashlight storage locations--car to kitchen, kitchen to laundry, etc. This distributes the unusual demands of certain locations. For example, the car flashlight may be subjected to high temperatures, which degrade batteries rapidly. And the kitchen flashlight may be used heavily, while the laundry flashlight is barely used at all.

Every 12 months: Replace all batteries. This not only helps to assure great performance by all flashlights at all times (especially in an emergency), but it minimizes the chance that you will ever have to deal with electrolyte leakage.

STRATEGY FOR SHOPPING LED FLASHLIGHTS

The marketplace now offers a plethora of LED flashlights. That's necessary in order to address the great diversity of requirements that buyers wish to satisfy. But it's also a challenge, because the complexity begs more of the shopper. I would like to pose a broad LED flashlight shopping plan. It is designed to help a person who has had little or no experience with LED flashlights as well as one who is properly primed, but now wants to land his dream torch.

First, if you don't have an LED flashlight, start by getting a few inexpensive ones. Until you experience the technology firsthand in a wide range of general-purpose applications, it will be very hard for you to meaningfully evaluate higher-end flashlights that play to special objectives. A 3-pack of Techlite 200s fills the bill better than any other product offering I've seen. For only about twenty bucks you'll have 3 high-performance GP flashlights. It's a great opportunity to replace some old, bulky conventional flashlights of lackluster performance. And, who knows, you could be pleasantly surprised! These GP flashlights just may meet most of your special objectives as well. In any case, this model will establish an important set of benchmarks and provide a basis for real-world experiences that can put you in a commanding position to properly evaluate other LED flashlights.

Second, pursue your special flashlight (if you still think you need one) by comparing candidates in all ways relevant to your intended uses. Here's an alphabetical checklist of some key topics:

BATTERIES: Common size?

BENCHTOP STABILITY: Is flashlight likely to roll off bench and fall to floor?

BODY COLOR: Important when worn on the catwalk. You know what I mean.

COST: At half the price, you can buy twice as many, doubling access and redundancy.

FIREARM COMPATIBILITY: Easily mountable?

FOCUS: Do your uses really call for variable focus?

GRIP: Knurling is gold standard for extreme grip.

IMPACT RESISTANCE: Was this capability tested per ANSI FL1?

LED TECHNOLOGY: For example, Cree XPG is more advanced than Cree XPE.

LIGHT HOMOGENEITY: Intensity should transition smoothly and lack artifacts.

LUMINOSITY: Was this verified per ANSI FL1?

MODALITY: High, low, strobe, off, etc.

OFF-MODE DRAIN: Can flashlight die from just 12 months of storage?

QUALITY OF CONSTRUCTION: Is it as well-made as Techlite 200?

RELIABILITY: Refer to credible reviews.

RUN TIME IN EACH OPERATING MODE: Were values acquired per ANSI FL1?

SELF DEFENSE: Scalloped bezel?

SIZE: A flashlight is for naught if too klutzy to keep at the ready.

WARRANTEE: No-fuss, full-refund, lifetime satisfaction warrantee?

WATER RESISTANCE: Was this claim tested per ANSI FL1?

WEIGHT: Lighter for carriability. Heavier for self defense.

Finally, buy the flashlight that is best for YOU.