Looking for a bright LED flashlight I found this one here
http://www.glow-bug.com/products/fl_nb8_4x.html
glow-bug is a nice company which always seems to get the latest in LED lights and the whole transaction from ordering to delivery went very smoothly.
The flashlight arrived last week and I had some time to play with it. The first impression you get when holding this light is how sturdy it is. As mentioned on the website, the body and head is made of thick aluminum and the entire light is black anodized. The surface is very smooth and feels a little slippery, but the radial grooves add to get a god grip on the light. Contrary to ordinary incandescent flashlights, you cant remove or twist the head on this one since there is no need to replace or focus the LEDs. There is also no reflector in the common sense, but the head is silver colored on the inside and the bottom in which the LEDs are sitting is white. That means light loss is minimal. You activate the light by turning the butt cap clockwise. Its this butt cap which gives me reason to gripe, because it is screwed into the main body by means of a threaded plastic tube in order to isolate it from the body and give it its on and of switch function. While the plastic used is very hard, it nonetheless makes me wonder how much impact the butt cap can absorb without breaking and how long the threads of this tube last. When its new, it seems to work just fine and only time will tell how reliable its gonna be in the long run. That said its fair to add that the function itself is very smooth and it is possible to turn on the light with one hand by using thumb and index finger of the hand while holding the light it in the reverse grip. The butt cap is also sealed with two O-rings which makes the flashlight watertight to 6ft. Another nice feature is the lanyard, which also prevents the light from rolling of angled surfaces.
Ok, now we got the technical aspects out of the way and can come to the performance. This is where this light really shines (pun intended). Its amazing how much light eight Nichia LEDs can produce when each of them is on a diet of 500mA. When I first put in three Ni-Cads I had lying around I wasnt that impressed, but that changed when I put in fresh alkalines and was rewarded by dazzling white brightness. Its not a good idea to look directly into the beam without shades. I wont compare this LED light to an incandescent one because both light characteristics are different and it depends on your usage which one is better for you. For a LED flashlight the Nightbuster 8X is very good. The beam is nicely focused and carries far enough for general purposes without loosing too much intensity.
The spec sheet states that battery life is around 20 hours and the LEDs have a lifetime of several thousand hours which can give you four hours daily burn time for 60 years.
Overall its a very nicely engineered flashlight which could be even better with an improved butt cap. It wont replace a Surefire of the same size but as a light, sturdy general usage light its excellent.
If you want to read more about the Nighbuster go here
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=3&t=000361
and here
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=3&t=000397
http://www.glow-bug.com/products/fl_nb8_4x.html
glow-bug is a nice company which always seems to get the latest in LED lights and the whole transaction from ordering to delivery went very smoothly.
The flashlight arrived last week and I had some time to play with it. The first impression you get when holding this light is how sturdy it is. As mentioned on the website, the body and head is made of thick aluminum and the entire light is black anodized. The surface is very smooth and feels a little slippery, but the radial grooves add to get a god grip on the light. Contrary to ordinary incandescent flashlights, you cant remove or twist the head on this one since there is no need to replace or focus the LEDs. There is also no reflector in the common sense, but the head is silver colored on the inside and the bottom in which the LEDs are sitting is white. That means light loss is minimal. You activate the light by turning the butt cap clockwise. Its this butt cap which gives me reason to gripe, because it is screwed into the main body by means of a threaded plastic tube in order to isolate it from the body and give it its on and of switch function. While the plastic used is very hard, it nonetheless makes me wonder how much impact the butt cap can absorb without breaking and how long the threads of this tube last. When its new, it seems to work just fine and only time will tell how reliable its gonna be in the long run. That said its fair to add that the function itself is very smooth and it is possible to turn on the light with one hand by using thumb and index finger of the hand while holding the light it in the reverse grip. The butt cap is also sealed with two O-rings which makes the flashlight watertight to 6ft. Another nice feature is the lanyard, which also prevents the light from rolling of angled surfaces.
Ok, now we got the technical aspects out of the way and can come to the performance. This is where this light really shines (pun intended). Its amazing how much light eight Nichia LEDs can produce when each of them is on a diet of 500mA. When I first put in three Ni-Cads I had lying around I wasnt that impressed, but that changed when I put in fresh alkalines and was rewarded by dazzling white brightness. Its not a good idea to look directly into the beam without shades. I wont compare this LED light to an incandescent one because both light characteristics are different and it depends on your usage which one is better for you. For a LED flashlight the Nightbuster 8X is very good. The beam is nicely focused and carries far enough for general purposes without loosing too much intensity.
The spec sheet states that battery life is around 20 hours and the LEDs have a lifetime of several thousand hours which can give you four hours daily burn time for 60 years.
Overall its a very nicely engineered flashlight which could be even better with an improved butt cap. It wont replace a Surefire of the same size but as a light, sturdy general usage light its excellent.
If you want to read more about the Nighbuster go here
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=3&t=000361
and here
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=3&t=000397
