Tag Archives: Lights

Gear

Get One: Fenix e12 V2.0

1 Comment

The E12 V2.0 by Fenix is proof that you don’t have to be the Biggest and Brightest to be the most useful. In essence, Size Doesn’t Matter. Not really when it comes to Lights that is. Okay, so the E12 is a compact little LED light powered by a single AA battery, that has proven to be far more useful for common tasks than it has any right to be. Small and Simple, sure… But at the same time, damn near perfect.

The previous Fenix lights I’ve reviewed are much larger by comparison, and by order of magnitude, far brighter. They project enough light to make even a Lighthouse blush. And that’s fantastic for the purpose of signaling for edgy superheroes or for hunting German Bombers over London… But sometimes you just don’t need to fire off that many photons. Like if you are in your office and drop a contact lens, or you’re trying to follow a cable under your desk… Or the supply closet is just too dim to read which printer toner cartridge you need because they all look the same and you have to actually read the code in small print and it’s not your job to find a ladder to change the lightbulb overhead… But I digress. No, that’s not oddly specific… just a plausible example, you know? Don’t judge me.

As you can see, the E12 isn’t as long or as girthy as the others. But it’s about how you use it… and it gets more play than the others because it’s never “Too Much”. It’s sized just right. And while the others use Rechargeable batteries, the E12 is only using a single AA battery type which is as common and basic of a battery as a pumpkin spice latte is in the hands of a white girl in October. I’m not judging, I’m just saying they’re everywhere. *Gestures around* Just look. Every line at the Grocery Store has them hanging there waiting for you. Every 7-11 or Quick Trip has them for you at 3:00 AM if you need them. And they’re cheap. You can buy a pack of 4 for the same price as 1 of another popular tactical-type battery that I won’t mention. It’s probably the most universal battery type on the planet. I was once in a place that didn’t speak English as a norm and when I said “Double A Battery” they still knew what I wanted and I got them. Now, just for safety sake, if you have to go to LA, bring an extra set of batteries just in case… you know?

But you’ll probably not need an extra battery… because at the Low Setting, that little AA battery is going to last 70 hours. Using the battery that came in the package with the light, the longevity was as advertised. With an ADVANCED LITHIUM, well, I don’t know… it’s still going strong and I’ve been using the hell out of this E12 because it’s become just so very useful. It’s replaced my STREAMLIGHT Pen Light that uses two batteries. I liked the Streamlight for the same reasons, useful output without being too much, and a common battery type. But it’s too long, and it doesn’t have selectable brightness modes. This makes the E12 a clear winner if you’re looking for a flashlight that is just flat-out USEFUL. It’s small size is handy “EDC” purposes and it saves the batteries in my more serious use lights from mundane purposes that don’t involve blinding Antifa Zombies.


At HIGH, 160 Lumens is more than enough for going into the basement to find that can of paint you knew you put away. Medium’s 30 Lumens is actually perfect for most things. And if your wife is asleep and you don’t want to wake her up, the Low setting’s 5 Lumens will get you to the bathroom and back without stubbing the everliving crap out of your little toe, again.

The body of the little E12 is solid aluminum, with some ridges going around it to help prevent it from getting slippery. This is important because it is small in the hands and could be difficult to keep hold of without it. Small, lightweight, but doesn’t feel “Cheap” at all. Sturdy. Like Gimili from LOTR. And if you don’t know who that is, you are sad, and Google is your friend.

The Tailcap Switch is great… A quick tap to change between the three modes, and a firm Click to turn it on and off while staying in the last mode you used. This is about perfect, and is a feature missing from the other light I mentioned that this has replaced. In fact, I gave the other light away. I don’t need it anymore. I have the E12 now.

The Clip allows for “Tip Up” or “Tip Down” carry and it does carry very well… and I find it goes nicely in my pocket alongside a folding knife without competing for space. I also find that I’m carrying this light more than the others and after using it for a couple of weeks, I can find no fault with it.
If you are interested in this light, or the many others Fenix makes, take a minute to browse their Site. They have no less than a Dozen lights for EDC use, and they have lights all the way up to serious Search and Rescue use and everything in between. A truly impressive array of options. But get the E12… It’s too damn good not to have one of these. Just Get it:
FENIX E12 V2.0

Gear

Review: Fenix HM65R

2 Comments

I’ve found Head Lights to be incredibly useful when out camping or working at night outdoors. Or even just under the hood. It beats trying to hold a flashlight in your teeth and untrained assistants always seem to fail at keeping the light where you need it.

One of my favorite types of flashlights, are the tiny little LED clip lights that you can clip to the bill of your Ballcap.

These little lights are pretty handy. But they have a couple problems. First, is that they put out very little light. Second, is that the cost of the battery is about the same as just buying a new one… So I tend to go through these like a can of Pringles. I often buy them several at a time for that reason. The last bit – is that you pretty much have to be wearing a baseball cap for these to really be useful.

This is where the Fenix HM65R really shines. Because it resolves all the little light’s shortcomings. Number one, being the Shine. This thing is… well, the Technical Term is “hella bright”. Compared to any other headlight I’ve ever used – and I’ve used my share… this thing is the brightest. It puts out an impressive 1400 lumens of clear bright light. And Max Output is actually too bright for a lot of things I use headlamps for… Luckily, Fenix gives you control over that.

The two LED Lamps are controlled individually, and both or either can be used together or not… all depending on how much light you wish to project. Each lamp has a different spread of light settings that you can toggle by tapping the lamp’s respective activation button. Press and hold to turn on and off, tap to cycle through the light modes. There are no goofy strobe modes, thankfully. I’ve never been out in the woods and thought, “You know what this situation needs? A flashlight Rave.”

The smaller lamp has the lowest mode at 8 lumens. Which is still brighter and clearer than the little clip light. And in that mode, the battery life is a crazy 300 hours. Medium, the light puts out 130 lumens for 50 hours. High is 400 lumens for 21 hours.

The larger lamp has four modes. Low, Medium, High, and Turbo.
50 lumens for 97 hours, 130 lumens for 42 hours, 400 lumens for 22 hours, and 1000 lumens for 4 hours.

Using both lamps together will give you that 1400 lumen output for about two and a half to three hours. But really that’s brighter than a Street Light and everyone around you is shielding their eyes and cursing you, so you might not want to do that very much anyways.

I’m not showing any night shots of the light output due to current camera issues. Will update this later if that gets resolved soon.

One very nice feature it has is that it’s rechargeable via a common USB-C connector. Also, in the photo above, you can see that the angle of the light is adjustable. This is great because just solid straightforward isn’t really ideal in most situations, and that’s been a complaint of mine of some other headlights I’ve used in the past.

From what I can tell, recharging is done in a couple of hours using the same charger I use for my Tablet. Using a Rapid Charger might cut that time down… but I find that isn’t really all that important in this application. What is though, is a common jump pack can recharge my phone, tablet, and this light, all with a common USB type C connection. That’s awesome. I don’t like proprietary. Also, the battery pack can be removed and replaced as needed. So if you don’t have time to recharge during a Cave Expedition, you can carry spares with you. (Two is One, One is None)

Overall, the HM65R is a solid piece of kit. The materials are of good quality, and it’s built for rugged situations. Even the straps. The adjustable straps are comfortable enough without a hat on. and it can be used with a hat too of course, as shown.

It’s just under 3.5 inches at the widest, and it’s about 4 ounces in weight (est), and it’s waterproof to 2 meters. So you can wear it in the rain with no problem, but it’s not for SCUBA use. Which is fine. I don’t go underwater anymore… because I know what’s down there… * thousand-yard stare* I’ve seen things. *shudder*

If there is any downside to this light, it is that it is a little bulkier than some, and a little heavier… But that’s really only a concern for hikers and mountain bikers and other such weirdos that don’t have a vehicle. Because if you’re concerned about weight – you obviously don’t have enough ammunition with you, so what’s your point being out at all? Hippies… I swear.

Overall, I really dig this light and will continue to use it for a good long time.

For more information about this light and other lights from Fenix:

https://www.fenix-store.com/fenix-hm65r-rechargeable-headlamp-1400-lumens/

Gear

Gear Alert: Primos Light

1 Comment

I’m a gear whore when it comes to some things… especially Lights.   I love a good flashlight.  Primos has an interesting new Weapon Light out now.  It’s designed for Night/Low Light Predator Hunting. Check it out.

It seems fairly large for a weapon light, but it has some good qualities that make it worth a look.  Rechargable is a nice feature, as is the 220 Lumen LED head, and a 5 hour run time.  A High Low switch would be able to extend that life cycle by double I’m sure.

On the side is a small dial switch that turns a red filter to give you a 220 Lumen white light, or red light as the situation warrants it.  Well, maybe not red… more light a soft pink.  The white light is nice and bright, but I’m not sure our example is 220 lumins.  Maybe half of that… but it’s still nice and bright.

It has a very narrow profile and could potentially do very well on the side of a Quad Rail, or on the top with a rifle with a fold down flush front sight post.  However, this light from Primos has a couple problems I’m not real pleased about…

The mount is crazy tall.  It’s designed to clip to your 1″ Hunting Scope Body, and be able to rise above the scope’s objective bell and such.  Which is find for what it is… but a low picatiny mount would give this some nice tactical applications, not just hunting.

The light does come with a pig-tail switch.  But if you have charged batteries in the light, the light is on.  When you attach the pig-tail switch, you can then turn it off.  Oh, it also turns off if you plug it in to recharge… but then you can’t have the pig-tail switch plugged in when you do.  This retarded power on/off thing is a deal-breaker for me on the light for my purposes… but might be just fine for yours, so it’s worth looking at.  I think to make this light more ulititarian would have been to include a simple freaking ON OFF BUTTON.  Also, it’s not water proof.  WTF was Primos thinking here?  Fix these issues and give it a low profile pic mount and you could have a heck of a good Weapon Light for the Tactical Shooter, not just the Critter Shooter.