Fenix Lights - How do they work?

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emtpacker

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Hi guys and gals,
I've been reading the forums for quite a while but haven't posted much yet because most of the topics and info I need is already presented.

So... I've been looking into upgrading my EDC flashlight from a Streamlight Scorpion to a Fenix L2D. The Fenix seems to be a very good, versatile light with lots going for it - cheap batteries, long run time, pocket sized, strobe feature, etc. My question is this: how does the selector bezel work? Is it something that could be used to go from a general light for threat identification to a strobe for disorientation on the fly? Any explanations would be appreciated.

Thanks! from a THR noob.
 
here's the deal;

when the bezel is tight, the clicking the tail switch will give you max power; tap the button (not a click) will go to strobe.

when the bezel is not tight, a click gives you low; tap for med, tap again for high.

you can get quite creative with this arrangement. If you click the tailcap on, then loosen the tailcap until the light goes out, a squeeze will silently activate the light.
 
Fenix lights are nice,I have three, but for a little extra money ( in many cases) you can have the mac-daddy......get a Surefire. Join CPF ( candle power forums). LOTS of good,accurate "illumination tool" information there. Then, call OpticsHQ, tell 'em you're a CPF member, and get you that jumbo discount on a new Surefire !!! Lots of other operations give CPF members discounts, but none beat OpticsHQ.
 
Current model Fenix lights are way too complicated; it is hard to get the light you want with modes at the head and several brightness levels at the switch. I have a L1T r 2.0 with switch Off - Momentary - On - Off and twist the head for High and Low. That is plenty.
 
thanks for the input, guys. I will definitely check out the CPF. The Fenix lights do sound a bit too complicated. I really only wanted a pocket-sized light with low, high and strobe settings, preferably controlled by one tailcap switch. MIL-DOT, do any Surefire's fit this bill?

Time to start hunting all over again. Thanks for the help!
 
I have an L1D and love it, though I confess to only using two modes- highest output and lowest output. I think anything else is overkill. Fortunately, those two modes are just a twist of the bezel away from each other. Even then, I bet that 75% of my usage was on High and 25% was Low, until I figured out I could achieve the same effect by occluding most of the light with my pinkie finger. Now I use it 95% of the time on high, and only switch to low when I it's not convenient to just block the light, or if I need to preserve juice.

I find the L1D to be a pretty darned perfect EDC light. It's bright enough to be used for target ID and illumination at close range, cheap to feed, lasts forever on a freah battery, and it fits in the change pocket of my jeans, where it is both out of the way and immediately at hand. Plus, I don't look like Tommy Tactical walking around with a bunch of crap peeking out of every pocket. Perfect.

Mike
 
Coronach, the L1D does sound like a more ideal light for EDC, without being undepowered. One last question, though: Does the strobe have a rapid, disorienting effect? Thanks again!

Colin
 
Hey emtpacker.......I agree, most Fenix lights are ( for my taste) way too complicated, though the ones i have a single, or two levels. They're also too expensive considering that for a little more money you can go with a Surefire,which has a no-questions,lifetime guarantee.
One of the most popular Surefires is the L1, which is a very simple, two-level, single battery ( lithium cr123) light. And i think i like my new E1L outdoorsaman even better, now with two levels,and much longer run-time. Both also use a tail switch, but i don't know of any that have a strobe feature, but you should double check that.. Also keep in mind, Surefire is one of the few companies to rate their lights in "out the front " lumens, rather than measuring from the emitter .That means they measure the light coming out,usable,real-world light, rather than measuring directly from the LED emitter in a lab. So, when Surefire says a light is 45 lumens, expect it to be as bright as another manufactures light that's rated at 70,or 80 lumens. Hope this helps.....mark
 
I love my P3D Premium Q5. It is very bright. It is a little hard to go into and out of turbo mode quickly with one hand. I leave it in turbo mode and turn it down if I am using it for most work. The other thing I love is that it is pretty affordable.

I do find the strobe mode disorientating. Some say that is it overrated, I have never heard enough of the advertising blitz to know what people say. I would use the strobe mode during a hostile confrontation if the light was to be on more than a few instants at a time.
 
I have the Fenix L2D. Light output is amazing and it runs for a long time on regular AA batteries. (I got tired of feeding 123a batteries to the Surefire and Streamlight.)

My only complaint is the switching. As others have mentioned it's slightly complicated. It's also sensitive: once you click the light on, just barely tapping the tailcap (not even clicking - just tapping) will switch modes. Sometimes I find myself on bright and then unconsciously touch the switch and suddenly I'm strobing. I've halfway trained myself to keep my thumb away from the switch.

OK, one more complaint. The L2D doesn't provide a good grip. I like my Surefire and Streamlight better as far as grippiness.

If I had it to do again I'd look for a Fenix with a simpler switching arrangement. I'd also buy in person rather than online if I could.
 
If you want something simpler than the L2D, take a look at the L2T:
https://www.fenix-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_69_71&products_id=335

Basically, it's the L2D form factor, but only 2 modes, controlled by twisting the head, and the tail switch controls on/off. It's a reverse-click switch, which allows you to press it slightly for momentary off, but won't do momentary on. However, Fenix-Store.com is getting a limited run of forward click switched L1Ts and L2Ts if you prefer the momentary on. See the homepage of the link above for that announcement. That's another nice thing about Fenix - they respond to customer suggestions and demands fairly quickly.

You may also want to consider the Olight T20M or T20T (-M has 3 levels, SOS, & Strobe, while -T has 5 levels and no SOS/Strobe). There's also a Special Ed. which has 5 levels, Strobe, and hi and low SOS. The T20 has a nice tailcap switch and will always turn on to the last mode selected (switch modes by twisting the head).
http://batteryjunction.com/olt20t15t10.html
 
The O light is a very good suggestion. Another light that is highly regarded is the Nitecore Defender. I think it meets all the OP's requirements-easy to use, AA battery, powerful, variable outputs, strobe. The Defender is the one I immediately thought of when reading the original post.
 
Whoops, sorry - just to clarify, the Olights are not AA, they use CR123. However, good qaulity CR123s can be bought online for less than a $1 each (I, of course, found this out after buying a package of 2 for $15 at the local drug store...). The places I linked to above have them.

I haven't used the Nitecore Defender, but those that have it seem to love it.
 
S4lee: thanks for mentioning the Nitecore. That does look interesting. Here's YouTube video showing the modes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daFqQjRYgMs

I'm going to watch it again to see if I can make a bit more sense of it. Seems slightly fussy to set it up the way you want it, but you can set the two modes exactly how bright you prefer them. Clicking the tailcap goes into full brightness (tactical mode) and a slight twist of the head goes into your user-defined mode (which is however bright you make it during setup).

Someone in the YouTube comments said he can go between modes one-handed. I like my StreamLight TwinTask where you can just hit the power button to go between hi and lo, but the Nitecore setup is nice if you want a tactical light that's full brightness by default and has a low brightness option for when you need long battery life.
 
Now, i like that new L2T, I have the old one with the once-state-of-the-art Luxeon 1 watt emitter,but this one with the cree is badd-ass !! ANd at $47 bucks, and free-shipping from the fenixstore,IIRC, and a CPF discount ( 8%, i think), then this light is tempting. (well, that's if i didn't own 3 Surefires,2 streamlights,3 Inovas,4 Gerbers,2 mag-lights,and 3 Fenix's already !!! )
 
Okay, I've got a Nitecore on the way from TADgear.com.

It runs on AA batteries like I wanted. Amazingly, it uses just one battery, so it's smaller than all of the previous lights I've used. I think I might like that.

Runs a bit less than an hour at full brightness and about 50 hours at minimum brightness. More with 14500 AAs. Light output on high is also much steadier with the 14500 batteries, so I'll try some of those. (I'm basing all of this on the manufacturer's specs here.)
 
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