FIGHTER TINY CREE 2-MODE FLASHLIGHT

Fighter Tiny Stainless Steel Cree 2-Mode LED Flashlight, retail $24.50 (www.dealextreme.com...)
Manufactured by (Unknown)
Last updated 10-17-07




The Fighter Tiny Stainless Steel Cree 2-Mode LED Flashlight (probably just called a "flashlight" on the remainder of this web page) is a small but powerful flashlight that uses a Cree XR-E P4 white LED protected by a glass window, house in a stainless steel body.

The LED is powered with a single AAA cell, so there is most certainly an inverter circuit in the bezel (head) to bump the ~1.5 volts from the AAA cell to the ~3.6 to ~3.8 volts needed by that white LED.

The body has a smart brushed finish to it; no markings or inscriptions are on it at all, giving it a sort of "clinical" appearance.


SIZE



To use this flashlight, feed it the included AAA cell first (see directly below), and then you can go paint the town red...or in this case, white.

Grasp the lower section of the flashlight with one hand, and grasp the upper section of the flashlight with the other, and give it a clockwise twist.

By default, I believe this will switch the flashlight on in "high" mode.
Grasp the flashlight as before but twist counterclockwise this time, and the flashlight will turn off.

If you turn it back on within a couple of seconds, it will turn on in "low" mode.

If it's left off for more than a couple of seconds, the flashlight will turn back on at the same setting you last used; this "memory" can be quite handy especially if you used it in the dark on "low" - you won't accidentally blind yourself when turning the flashlight back on and having it come on in "high" mode.


The flashlight comes in a handsome, hinge-lidded wooden case.
I do not normally show flashlight packages here, but this one is handsome enough to warrant such a photograph.



To get your flashlight ready for action, unscrew the two halves until they come apart (don't worry about losing parts or bulbs), and drop the included alkaline AAA cell in the rear section so the button end faces up. Screw the business-end of the flashlight back on, back it off slightly when the flashlight springs to life, and you're finished.

Due to the way the product was constructed, I am not able to furnish a current usage measurement for you.




Photograph of the flashlight, showing the "business-end" of it.

The flashlight appears to be reasonably sturdy...but O NOOOOO!!! IT'S NOT!!!!
I administered the smack test on it (ten whacks against the concrete floor of a patio; five whacks against the side of the tai and five whacks against the side of the bezel), and found the expected damage. There is some very minor gouging on the side of the bezel where it was struck. But more importantly, the flashlight quit working!!!

Even after changing the AAA cell (to rule out battery compression - which would have not been an issue anyway), the flashlight failed to function, so this evaluation cannot be completed, and more importantly, that dreadful "Zero Stars - Whip Out Your {vulgar term for male urinator/inseminator - rhymes with "wrecker"} or Sit On The Toilet and Urinate On It" rating will be issued at once.



Beam photograph on the test target at 12".
Measures 173,300mcd (low) and 512,000mcd (high) on a Meterman LM631 light meter.



Beam photograph on a wall at ~10 feet.

Those rectangular graphic things in the upper left quadrant of this photograph are marquees from:

Nintendo ''R-Type''
Super Tiger...er...uh...Konami ''Super Cobra''
Midway ''Omega Race''
Sega ''Star Trek''
Williams ''Joust''
Venture Line ''Looping''
Universal ''Mr. Do!'s Castle''
Jaleco ''Exerion''
Gremlin/Sega ''Astro Blaster''
Atari ''Tempest''
Gottlieb ''Q*bert''

upright coin-op arcade video games from the 1980s.

That graphic toward the right is:
A "BIG SCARY LASER" poster sent by www.megagreen.co.uk

And that clock to the right of the "Big Scary Laser" poster is an Infinity Optics Clock.


Spectrographic plot
Spectrographic analysis of the LED in this flashlight.


ProMetric analysis
Beam cross-sectional analysis.
Image made using the ProMetric System by Radiant Imaging.






TEST NOTES:
Product was purchased on the Deal Extreme website on 09-22-07, and was received on the afternoon of 10-15-07.

Product was made in China.
A product's country of origin really does matter to some people, which is why I published it on this web page.

Because the product failed during testing and it should not have, that dreadful "Zero Stars - Whip Out Your {vulgar term for male urinator/inseminator - rhymes with "wrecker"} or Sit On The Toilet and Cover it with Uranation" rating will be issued at once.


UPDATE: 10-16-07
I repaired the unit by dropping a small quantity of kitchen aluminum foil down the barrel; apparently the LED module (reflector, LED, and driver circuit) shifted upward slightly during "The Smack Test". Therefore, this evaluation *CAN* be finished, and that dreadful "0 Stars" rating will be removed.

The unit as a whole appears to be reasonably sturdy and well-constructed; it need not receive that "toliet rating" undeservedly so.


UPDATE: 10-17-07
The action of the switch appears to be erratic, even when aluminum foil is placed at the bottom of the barrel.


PROS:



CONS:



    MANUFACTURER: Unknown
    PRODUCT TYPE: Small LED flashlight
    LAMP TYPE: Cree XR-E P4 white LED
    No. OF LAMPS: 1
    BEAM TYPE: Wide spot w/dimmer corona
    SWITCH TYPE: Twist flashlight body on/off/mode change
    CASE MATERIAL: Stainless steel
    BEZEL: Metal; LED & reflector protected by glass window
    BATTERY: 1xAAA cell
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION: Unknown/unable to measure
    WATER RESISTANT: Yes
    SUBMERSIBLE: Unknown
    ACCESSORIES: AAA cell, three spare O-rings, hinge-lidded wooden case
    WARRANTY: Unknown/Not Stated

    PRODUCT RATING:

    Star Rating







Fighter Tiny Stainless Steel Cree 2-Mode LED Flashlight * www.dealextreme.com...






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