LIKKI LIGHTS AK-38

Likki Lights AK-38, retail $59.99 (URL not known)
Manufactured by Likki Lights
Last updated 10-16-03




The front of the package says this flashlight is "specially designed for military troops and law enforcers". I believe the goal of this light is for it to function both as a flashlight and a laser weapon sight, but you'd probably miss your target and get hosed down if you used it for a weapon sight and somebody was after you with a gun.

If you aren't a cop or aren't in the military service here or in a foreign country, this might be the right light for you. Housed in an anodized aluminum body, the AK-38 can light your way through changing a burnt-out fuse in the basement, finding your way to the camp toilet at 3am, reading a birthday card at night, or pawing your way through the house after a power failure.

The rubber button switch on the barrel allows you to select either the 5 white LEDs, or the red laser pointer. You can't have them both on at once, but o well. This button is very stiff; be sure you press it FIRMLY before you think you received a defective one.


SIZE



To use the AK-38, first install the two batteries it comes with (see below), and then you can use it.

Press the button on the barrel very firmly until it clicks, and the five white LEDs should come on.
Press it again until it clicks to turn the LEDs off.

Press the button firmly again (until it clicks) to get the laser pointer to come on.
Press it again until it clicks to turn the laser off.

Just like the shampee bottle says, "lather, rinse, repeat". In other words, the sequence will start again - the LEDs will come on with the next push of the button.



To change the batteries in this flashlight, unscrew & remove the tailcap, and dump the two dead CR123A cells out. Insert two new ones in the barrel, button (+) end first (so they're facing the front of the flashlight), and screw the tailcap back on. There. Doesn't get much easier than that. :-)

On the 20A scale of my DMM, and with the batteries that came with the light, the LEDs draw 160mA, and the laser draws 30mA.
This seems about right, all things considered. That works out to 32mA per LED, so they aren't overdriven very much.




In the above picture, the laser beam comes from the small opening in the center, and the LED light comes from the five larger openings around this central opening.

The flashlight body appears to be made from a bead-blasted aluminum material, and the tailcap has a crosshatch pattern knurling, to make it easy to grip when removing & replacing it on the flashlight body. The very front of the flashlight appears to be chrome plated styrene plastic, but it is metal as the knife blade didn't cut through it. (Would I try to cut up a flashlight I paid good money for? You bet your sweet patootie I would, if it's in the name of science!!!)

The barrel has longitudinal flutes milled into it, but I'd have rather seen flutes or ridges going around the barrel to help aid in retention. But the flashlight isn't slippery, so it's not as bad as it sounds.

The rubber covered pushbutton switch on the barrel feels OK, but you really have to reef on it to make it work. I don't have anything here to measure this with, but I'm guessing you need to apply at least 20 pounds of pressure to the switch to get it to click. If you brace the light in your hand the right way, you can turn the switch on and off with any finger, so it's not a horrible and awful switch - it's just not the best, that's all. One benefit you do gain is that the light is less likely to "go off" in a box or bag as compared to a light with a softer switch mechanism.

There is no momentary mode when the light and laser are off, but when either one is on, you can blink it on and off if you don't mind the "reverse" feeling of it.

The light is slighly larger around than an Inova X5, and slighly shorter.
Some people think this is a "rip off" of the Inova X5. While there are some similarities, I think it's different enough that it probably doesn't rip off the Inova.



Beam photo at ~12".
Measures 63,000mcd on a Meterman LM631 light meter.



This is the laser at ~12".
I don't have the special photometric cell or the mathematical
formulae I need, so I can't measure the laser's power output.
Looks like 2 to 3 milliwatts to me though, so it's a Class IIIA laser.
Beam is not white or as large as it appears in this photograph.



And here's the laser at approx. 6 feet.
The beam is smaller than what the picture shows. It bloomed on the camera CCD.
It is also not white as it appears in this photograph.



TEST NOTES:
Light was purchased on ebay and was received yesterday (09-18-03).
There goes my lunch money...oooooo the things I do for The LED Museum! ;-)


UPDATE: 10-06-03
No laser warning sticker is present anywhere on the flashlight body, so it does violate some US laws requiring laser labels on products with lasers in them - whether the laser is intended to be visible or not.
The laser in this device appears to be a CDRH Class IIIA device (emits what I believe to be 650nm red radiation at <5mW), so you ought to be able to use it in public and not get in trouble for it.


UPDATE: 10-16-03
This picture shows an AK-38 and an Inova X5 side-by-side.
You decide if it looks too much like the Inova or not.




PROS:
Feels nice in the hand
Barrel-mounted switch
Light is about as bright as the more common Inova X5
LEDs should retain that "like new" brightness longer than many other lights
Seems reasonably bright for its size
Lithium cells aid in cold weather operation


CONS:
Switch seems unnecessarily difficult to use
Does not have a laser warning label on it
Light can slip out of the hand because it has longitudinal flutes


    MANUFACTURER: Likki Lights
    PRODUCT TYPE: Tactical flashlight/laser pointer
    LAMP TYPE: White LEDs, red diode laser
    No. OF LAMPS: 6 (5 LEDs, 1 laser diode)
    BEAM TYPE: Soft-edged spot
    SWITCH TYPE: Pushbutton on barrel
    BEZEL: LEDs and laser recessed into individual cells
    BATTERY: 2x CR123A lithium cells
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION: 160mA (LEDs), 30mA (laser)
    WATER RESISTANT: Packaging says it's water resistant
    SUBMERSIBLE: No
    ACCESSORIES: Batteries
    WARRANTY: Not stated

    PRODUCT RATING:

    Star Rating





5-LED / Laser Pointer Flashlight * (No URL known)






Do you manufacture or sell an LED flashlight, task light, utility light, or module of some kind? Want to see it tested by a real person, under real working conditions? Do you then want to see how your light did? If you have a sample available for this type of real-world, real-time testing, please contact me at ledmuseum@gmail.com.

Please visit this web page for contact information.

Unsolicited flashlights appearing in the mail are welcome, and it will automatically be assumed that you sent it in order to have it tested and evaluated for this site.
Be sure to include contact info or your company website's URL so visitors here will know where to purchase your product.


WHITE 5500-6500K InGaN+phosphor 
ULTRAVIOLET 370-390nm GaN 
BLUE 430nm GaN+SiC
BLUE 450 and 473nm InGaN
BLUE Silicon Carbide
TURQUOISE 495-505nm InGaN
GREEN 525nm InGaN 
YELLOW-GREEN 555-575mn GaAsP & related
YELLOW 585-595nm
AMBER 595-605nm
ORANGE 605-620nm
ORANGISH-RED 620-635nm
RED 640-700nm
INFRARED 700-1300nm
True RGB Full Color LED
Spider (Pirrahna) LEDs
SMD LEDs
True violet (400-418nm) LEDs
Agilent Barracuda & Prometheus LEDs
Oddball & Miscellaneous LEDs
Programmable RGB LED modules / fixtures
Where to buy these LEDs 
Links to other LED-related websites
The World's First Virtual LED Museum
Legal horse puckey, etc.
RETURN TO OPENING/MAIN PAGE
LEDSaurus (on-site LED Mini Mart)



This page is a frame from a website.
If you arrived on this page through an outside link,you can get the "full meal deal" by clicking here.