INITIAL LIGHTS
9xLED TORCH

Initial Lights 9xLED Torch, retail £8.99 ($16.38)* (www.initiallights.co.uk...)
Manufactured by (Unknown)
Last updated 04-30-06

* IMPORTANT: Pricing is accurate as of 04-30-06. Please visit the Currency Calculator for the latest currency conversion rates from British pounds to US dollars.




This is an almost all-aluminum flashlight that uses nine 5mm white LEDs, and an included trio of AAA cells to power it.

The flashlight has a finely-mottled aluminum finish to it and three bands of knurling on it, so it's pretty to look at whether it's on or off.


SIZE



The flashlight comes almost ready to use right out of the package, as it comes with the batteries included and already installed. All I had to do was unscrew the tailcap, tip out the battery carriage, remove the transparent insulating sleeve from the bottom of one of the cells (it protrudes quite prominently so it should be easy to see), reinsert the battery carriage, and screw the tailcap back on.

Press the rubberised tailcap button until it clicks and then release your finger and the flashlight will come on. Press and release it the same way again to turn the flashlight off.

There is no momentary or "signalling" mode available when the flashlight is off; however you can blink the light while it is already on by partially depressing the button. If you don't mind the "backwards" feel, you can blink the light this way.

This flashlight comes with a wrist lanyard; already affixed. It is long enough to go all the way around the product, so it can be hung from a long tree branch, water pipe, or other long skinny object with no readily-accessible "end".



To change the batteries, unscrew and remove the tailcap, throw it in the garbage can (dustbin), and take the bag to the outside garbage so the garbage man will haul it away next week...O WAIT!!! YOU'LL NEED THAT!!! So just set it aside instead.

Tip the transparent clear plastic battery carriage out of the barrel and into your hand. If necessary, remove and dispose of or recycle the used AAA cells from it.

Insert three new AAA cells into the carriage, orienting each cell so its flat end (-) negative faces the spring for it in each chamber.

Slide the now-full battery carriage into the flashlight barrel, orienting it so the spring on one end of the carriage goes in first. Finally, screw the tailcap firmly back on.
Aren't you glad you didn't dispose of that tailcap now?

Current consumption measures 226mA on the DMM's 2A scale.




Photograph of the front of the flashlight, showing the LEDs and reflector.

This is a very nice, somewhat futuristic looking flashlight; with a finely mottled aluminum finish and three bands of knurling (cross-hatch shaped texturising) (two on its barrel; one on its bezel). So you need not be ashamed to admit you have one of these, or even whip it out near somebody. I hate to have to do "The Smack Test" and deface such a nice looking flashlight; but I must do so in the name of science...so I beat the living tweedle out of it (ten whacks against the corner of a concrete stair; five whacks against the side of the tailcap and five whacks against the side of the bezel), and found the expected damage. There is some minor gouging to the bare Metalgreymon - er - the bare Metalgarurumon - um that's not it either...the bare Metalseadramon...er...uh...wait a sec here...THE BARE METAL (guess I've been watching too much Digimon again! ) on the sides of the tailcap and bezel where it was struck. No optical or electrical malfunctions were detected. It still produces the same predominantly circular medium spot that it did when I removed it from its package for the first time.

Water resistance should not be *TOO* much of an issue. When I relieved the flashlight of its battery carriage and then suctioned it, there was no leakage. I suctioned the tailcap, and found some leakage through there. So it should be OK to use it in lightly to moderately bad weather, but try not to dredge it.

The finish appears to be either a powder-coat or a black Type II anodizing.

Does this web page look an awful lot like the pages for the other three Initial Lights products?
Thought you'd say so.
All four passed "The Smack Test" and had the same type and amount of damage.
And all four passed "The Suction Test" with close to identical results.
So I used those web pages as templates for this web page.



Beam photograph on the test target at 12".
Measures 81,600mcd on a Meterman LM631 light meter.


Spectrographic plot
Spectrometer plot of the LEDs in this flashlight.
Ocean Optics USB2000 Spectrometer on loan from TWO-CUBED.





TEST NOTES:
Test units of this torch plus four others were sent by www.initiallights.co.uk and were received on 04-26-06.


UPDATE: 00-00-00



PROS:



CONS:



    MANUFACTURER: Unknown
    PRODUCT TYPE: Small handheld flashlight (torch)
    LAMP TYPE: 5mm white LEDs
    No. OF LAMPS: 9
    BEAM TYPE: Medium spot w/ wide, very dim corona
    SWITCH TYPE: Rubberised pushbutton on/off on tailcap
    CASE MATERIAL: Aluminum
    BEZEL: Metal; LEDs & reflector protected by plastic window
    BATTERY: 3xAAA cells
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION: 226mA
    WATER RESISTANT: Yes; weather-resistant at minimum
    SUBMERSIBLE: No
    ACCESSORIES: 3xAAA cells, wrist lanyard
    WARRANTY: Unknown/not stated

    PRODUCT RATING:

    Star Rating





Initial Lights 9xLED Torch * http://www.initiallights.co.uk...






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