Review: ShiningBeam Caveman

ShiningBeam is a company that sells flashlights and accessories of many brands from their online store, and they also have their own brand of flashlights. I'll be reviewing the Caveman, which ShiningBeam advertises as their "second professional grade LED flashlight," the first being the ShiningBeam Blaze that came out not too long before the Caveman.

Thanks to Bryan at Shiningbeam for providing the Caveman for review.



I’ll be reviewing the Caveman in two sections: first, I’ll discuss the light objectively (the facts about the light itself), then I’ll discuss the light subjectively (my impressions about the lights performance when used for specific applications. This is a 2xAA light, so I anticipate it mainly being used as an EDC carried in pocket or on a belt, or a general purpose light. If you have any other specific applications you'd like the light tested for, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Objective

Here are the ShiningBeam's specs on the Caveman:

-------

** 2nd ShiningBeam professional grade LED flashlight **
** Easy single mode operation with the tailcap switch **
** Excellent regulation with both alkaline and NIMH batteries
** Deep OP reflector offers excellent throw and spill **

Features:
* Cree XLamp Premium XM-L T6 1B tint emitter
* Working voltage range: 2 - 3V
* Power by: 2 x AA alkaline, 2 x AA NIMH
* Output: low 8 lm (24 mA), medium 130 lm (310mA), high 290 lm (700mA)
* Loosen and tighten light's head to switch between modes
* Tactical momentary-on forward switch
* Regulated circuit board for constant current output
* Square threads for smooth battery installation
* Reverse-polarity protection
* HA III anodizing
* Mil-spec: MIL-STD-810F
* IPX-8 waterproofing
* Memorize the last mode
* Toughened ultra clear lens for maximum light transmission
* Orange peel aluminum reflector offers smooth output beam pattern

* Accessories: holster, lanyard, switch, O-ring, silicone boot
* One year warranty by ShiningBeam.com

Operation:
*
Press tail switch to turn the light on/off
* Half press the tail switch for momentary-on function
* When the light is on, loosen and tighten flashlight's head to change through the modes

Dimensions: 15.8 CM x 3 CM x 2.4 CM
Weight: 3.95 oz

--------





ShiningBeam plans to offer this light in both neutral and cool white tints, but due to a manufacturing error they are currently (as of 11/26/11) only available in T6 cool white or T5 cool white (with the T5 being cheaper). I'll be reviewing a sample with a XM-L T6 emitter.


Packaging

The Caveman comes in a nice looking cardboard box with a tab for hanging it on a rack. Included in the box are the light, a holster, spare switch, spare switch cover, spare o-rings, lanyard, and instruction manual.




Construction Quality

This light has a solid feel to it, without feeling too heavy. As you look this light over, you can tell that attention has been paid to detail.



The main body of the light is round with a flattened section on three sides. On one flat side the ShiningBeam logo is printed, on the other, the name "Caveman" (the third flat side lines up with the clip). The white lettering is clearly printed. The light has a slim profile that you can expect from a 2xAA light, with a larger head for increased ability to throw.



The Caveman fits nicely in it's holster, either head up or down. The holster seems to be well made, and should be able to stand up to a little rough use.



The head of the Caveman has some light knurling on it, like the rest of the body, which is important because modes are changed by twisting the head. Below the head are cooling fins arranged in a nice pattern of decreasing size down to the body, giving a smooth transition between head and body and also providing good ventilation to dissipate heat into the air quickly. On the body shot you can see the light knurling, and the profile of the included clip. The clip is pretty firm with a little spring to it. The tail also has the same light knurling as the head and body, which makes it easy enough to remove for battery changes. As you can see, the switch sticks out slightly beyond the end of the tail cap, which means this light cannot tail stand.



The XM-L emitter looks very well centered. I could see no trace of any dust or grit inside the head. The reflector is what I would call somewhere between MOP and HOP (mild and heavy orange peal), so with that texture the beam is going to be pretty smooth with few rings or artifacts, at the sacrifice of throwing distance. The head assembly doesn't come apart without tools, so it should have good water resistance.

As you can see, the switch is slightly recessed into the tail cap, but not enough to allow a tail stand. This does make it a bit easier to use the switch though. A single small hole is bored in the raised part of the tail cap to put the lanyard through. This means that part of the lanyard will need to go around the outside of the tail cap in order to tie it on, but that's not a big deal since you won't be standing this light on it's tail anyway.



Here's as far as you can take it apart without the use of tools. This was a surprise for me: the clip is removable! I found that, at least on my sample, while the threads on both the head and tail had very smooth operation, the threads on the head has much less resistance than those on the tail, so I've taken to doing battery changes through the head.



You can see that the body separates from the head just below the cooling fins. The threads on the head are square, but not anodized, so the light will stay on as you loosen and tighten the head to change modes.



As you can see here, the threads on the tail are anodized, which means you can loosen the tail cap a bit to put the light in lockout mode.

To take the clip on and off, you first remove the tail cap, then slide the o-ring up a bit to get it out of the way. Then, you can unscrew the small knurled ring to free the clip. The clip fits nicely into the groove that you can see in the first picture. When the clip is off, all you can see is a small hole where it would be coming out from under the ring. This allows the clip to be removable without the use of any tools, but it is still very securely attached to the light when you have it on. Also, the ring will not come off as long as the o-ring is on, so you don't have to worry about loosing it.



On the left is the head of the Caveman, on the right is the tail. You can see that there is only a spring for the negative contact, so you'll need batteries with button tops to make good connections here. However, the Caveman doesn't support use of lithium ion batteries (only alkaline and NiMh), so as far as I know, everything should be button top anyway.


User Interface

This light has three modes: Low, Medium, and High.

The light is turned on and off using the tail cap switch. The switch is a forward clicky, which means you can press it half way for momentary on, or all the way for constant on.

To change modes, you slightly loosen the head, then fully tighten it again, and the mode is changed when you tighten the head. This will advance it to the next mode in the sequence, from low to medium to high. The Caveman has mode memory, so if you turn it off in low, it will be in low when you turn it back on, and the same with medium and high. The mode will not change if you loosen/tighten the head when the light is off.

Below is a video showing the operation of the Caveman. I apologize for the weird brightness shifts, my camera only has auto brightness for movie.
[video=youtube_share;PNIc_J7Y5F4]http://youtu.be/PNIc_J7Y5F4[/video]


Action Shots

Caveman in hand




These white wall beam profiles were taken with my camera set at ISO 100, f/3.5, 1/4" exposure. The first is a control shot, then low, medium, high.






As you can see, the Caveman has a well-defined spot with a uniform spill. ShiningBeam's website advertises this light as having a deep reflector for goof throw. While the head isn't huge, you can tell that the hotspot is much brighter than the spill area, so it should throw pretty well. The OP reflector does a good job of smoothing out the beam profile, I can't detect any rings or artifacts when shining it at a white wall. The cool white tint seems to be pretty good, not noticeably greenish or purplish.

Here's some indoor shots, camera set at ISO 100, f/8, 1" exposure. Low, medium, high.






These outdoor shots were taken in a picnic shelter ~15 yards long, camera set at ISO 1600, f/3.5, 1/4" exposure. Control shot, then low, medium, high.







The rest of these outdoor shots were taken at ISO 100, f/8, 2.0". Low, medium, then high. To the eye, it looks much brighter than this, but I couldn't get much better shots on my old camera. At least you can get the idea. (Note: you may have to make your browser window full screen in order for these pictures to line up correctly)






Measurements

Current Draw

2xAA Eneloop 1900 mAh
High: 1100 mA
Medium: 461 mA
Low: 50 mA

Runtime

The charts below were done with 2xAA Eneloop cells. From the chart, it looks like the light is regulated for a time, then turns off. However, what happens is the light turns off for a short time, then comes back on very dimly, then blinks for a while, then turns off. To show you what's going on during that time, I've got a regular runtime graph for each mode, then below it I'll show a close-up look at what happens when the light comes back on dimly.

Note: The vertical axis of these charts represents a relative brightness measurement using a home made light box. The horizontal axis is time in hours:minutes:seconds. Runtimes are stated in hours:minutes.


High


Time Regulated: 1:43
Time to 50%: 1:45
Time until first off: 2:25
Time back on: 1:00
Total Runtime: 3:25

Medium


Time Regulated: 3:50
Time to 50%: 3:50
Time until first off: 4:42
Time back on: 1:11
Total Runtime: 5:53

Low (in this set, note that I expanded the time axis as well as the brightness axis for the second graph)


Time regulated: 27:54
Time to 50%: 28:19
Time until first off: 28:22
Time back on: 0:13
Total runtime: 28:35

Mode Comparison
High Medium Low



This light does use PWM (pulse width modulation) on the low and medium modes, I could not detect PWM on high mode. On low and medium, I can hear a very faint whine when I put the head of the light directly on my ear when in a quiet room, but otherwise I can't hear the noise (and normally I'm fairly sensitive to this).

Subjective Review

General

Overall, the Caveman is a high quality light, especially for it's price range. I've noticed no flickering or any abnormalities in performance, and the construction quality is great, so I have confidence that this light will work exactly like it's supposed to, every time. It would be fun if the light had the ability to take li-ion rechargeables for crazy brightness, but I think I like that this light will perform consistently and reliable, which would be harder (and more expensive) to do with support for lions.

Here are some great things about the Caveman:
-Solid construction
-Well-spaced modes (low is good for most tasks, high will light up a whole room)
-Professional look/style
-Available in neutral (soon, I hope)
-Smooth beam profile, with pretty good throw
-Solid yet easily removable clip
-Common battery type
-Good feel to the forward clicky switch
-Mode change not done by click sequence
-Mode memory
-Good amount of time where light is dim, but not off (moon mode?)

Here are some things I'd like to see improved on:
-Slightly lower medium and low
-Clip slightly longer
-Ability to tail stand (maybe a cutout tail cap)
-Get those neutrals ready!
-Lighter OP texture reflector to maintain smooth beam but increase throw

I like the "moon mode" at the end of each run, because that will give me plenty of time to get fresh batteries, without having to do it in the dark. Like a mentioned, I'd like a slightly lower medium and low, because I think they could be dropped a bit to improve run times without sacrificing functionality. As it is, I don't anticipate using te medium mode much. I know not everyone wants a super low low, but I think this could go slightly lower

I also mentioned the feel of the switch in the positives. Some lights with forward clicky switches advertise momentary on, but when you actually use the light, it is hard to do momentary on because it's hard to keep the switch half-pressed without accidentally doing a full press. In my experience, when I use momentary on, it's usually because I don't want to make any noise, and the sound of the click would be loud. On this light, there is a good amount of travel on the switch, and the actually click is fairly firm, so I can easily half-press for momentary on without accidentally clicking into full on.

I'll note, that while I don't like lights with a click sequence UI, the head turn UI of the Caveman does mean that you either have to use two hands with it, or change your grip between overhand and underhand to operate both the head and the tail. I find myself usually using my off-hand to change modes, and maintaining an overhand grip.

I want to give some more praise to the clip design. I don't know if this is the first light to use a system like this for the clip, but I don't have any other lights like this, and I love it! When on, the clip is super secure, and I have no worries about it falling off. However, I don't like clips that are screwed on or permanently attached, because I often want to be able to go clipless for a variety of reasons. For this reason, most of my lights don't have clips, even though I would love to have the option to use a clip with them. This is the only light that I've seen that I feel has really nailed a good design for the clip.

This light does use PWM on medium and low, which isn't ideal, but like I said earlier, the sound is barely audible, and I can only notice the PWM at all when moving the light really fast, not under normal use.

The beam on the Caveman has a very bright hotspot and very wide spill, so in my experience, it was a very good thrower for it's size and power source, but it was difficult to use for close up tasks.


EDC

The Caveman could possibly fit into the EDC class, depending on your preferences. As far as function and performance, I'd have no reservations. The low is pretty low (though I'd prefer lower) and the high is high enough for most tasks that you wouldn't have a bigger light around for anyway. The only hurdle would be the size. It's got the form of a typical 2xAA light, which means long and skinny. If you have long pockets, or like using a holster, this is great. I will say, the clip doesn't feel quite long enough for such a long light, so I usually put it all the way in my pocket.


Professional Use / Work Light

I anticipate this light would work well for professional use. My profession doesn't require a lot of flashlight use, so I test this light working outside in the dark. I found, as I mentioned, that the hotspot is very bright compared to the spill, so it can be difficult to use this light for close tasks. However, it did perform surprisingly well as a thrower.

The main things I look for in a professional or work light are reliability and durability. So far, this light has worked just as it's supposed to every time. No flickering, no accidental mode change, it just works. The UI isn't perfect, but it's a pretty good setup. I do wish it was easier to operate with one hand. Durability seems good so far, I'll update the "long term impressions" section after using the light for a while.


Long Term Impressions

I'll fill this part in after carrying the light for a while. If nothing get's added here, either I find nothing else worth noting about the light, or I end up not using it often.

Another great review! Thanks so much for your time and effort.
Frontpage’d and Sticky’d.

Great review, thank you!

Is changing the output level only possible by turning the head or does the light also cycle through the modes if you tap momentary on multiple times?

I have used mine many times, great beam profile. Underrated for sure. If one could use Li-ion with a shorter tube, even as an extra price upgrade, what a most perfect light.

You must twist the head to change modes. The good news is that it therefore has memory. I leave mine hanging by the back door to check the dogs in the garden at night. Even though I now prefer neutral lights, this is great.

That is indeed nice!

Yep, the only way to change the mode is by head twist, no amount of pressing the button will change it. Personally, that’s just how I like it. 8)

Thanks again for the review Bigmac!

Forgot to thank you for the review. This, when I saw it on the Other Side some months ago, together with some happy users on this forum, is why I bought it.

Your review (originally posted elsewhere?) is one of the reasons why I bought the Caveman. Thanks.

Over the past 2 months I’ve found the Caveman to be a solid and reliable flashlight that I enjoy using. My only (minor) criticism is that I agree with your comment that it would be better if the low/med where both lower.

I find that the best way to summarize a product experience is to answer the question: “Knowing what you know now, would you buy it again?” For me, the answer is definitely yes.

Nice Review! Thanks for doing this for us.

Great review, I love my Caveman. Unless you need a ton of throw, it’s all the light most people need in most situations.

One comment about changing modes, you don’t need two hands to do it. If you don’t keep the head hard-closed after a mode change, but rather twist it back a bit , you can change modes with a little pressure from your thumb on the head.

The downside to doing it that way is that if you bump the head by accident, you will also get a mode change.

Thanks for the tip, I hadn’t thought of that!

Great review and great light :smiley: Thanks, bigmac :wink:
I like that beam profile and it has a really nice regulation. Big con for me is that the light don’t tailstand. Anyway, great light for <$40.

Of all my 2xAA lights, the Caveman is by far my favorite. Great quality, fit and feel. Unless I need tons of throw, this will do anything I ask of it. A lower low would be nice and the ability to tail stand but over all, these are minor complaints. Great light. Nice review. Thanks.

Nice review. I’m impressed with Shiningbeam’s offerings. Shouldn’t this be in the multiple AA subforum?

I think I originally put it in the multiple AA section, but then a mod moved it to the 1xAA review section. It doesn’t look like there is and multiple AA review section.

Mod? We have mods? :open_mouth:

Thanks a lot for this extensive review. I couldn’t have realized how much Caveman looks like a Thrunite T series light before I had one T30 (Thrunite). Which isn’t a bad thing at all and I love my T30. It actually looks like a T30 in 2xAA format.