I've been using an Ultrafire UF-007 recoil as a mounted weapon light for a while now. I've found it really useful for that purpose.
About a month ago I noticed this little Sipik branded light on DX. At $US14.80 I couldn't resist and ordered the light. Out of the box it's a well
finished light with even anodising and no rough edges. Firing it up with an 18650 it's obvious that it uses the same driver (and other internals) as the UF version. That means it's a strictly 3.7-4.2v light..........I fried the switch on the UF using the 'recommended' alternative 2X CR123's.
My conclusion......good value if you need a cheap 'thrower' with absolutely no spill
yes, it's exactly the same as the uf-008 in throw and beam shape. Looking at it long enough and there is a slight difference in bin colour.....but hey!...this is DX.
Which design is better for great throw anyway? Long smooth reflector with forward firing emitter or a recoil design such as the above mentioned?
Seems to me that recoils have virtually no spill as opposed to classic throwers. Non recoil could have greater range tho. Any1 knowledgeable on subject can comment on this?
A recoil thrower may give further range but the reflection losses diminish the total light intensity. A forward looking R2 should shoot far enough.
I deleted my own sentence. I would write, you could upgrade the deep reflector shooter with a stronger emitter but you can't change a recoil throwers emitter, or pump more current due to lack of heatsink, but then I realized that a powerful emitter has a wider base and is more of a flooder in fact. These deep reflectors don't work well with even a tidy XM-L.
XR-E leds have a tighter beam (90 degrees) while XP-G's should have somewhat wider (~135 degrees ?). So they have the advantage to focus the light to a point. These deep reflectors are designed for an emitter with 90 degrees output and they work flawlessly with them. But with a wider angle emitter their walls scatter the light to different angles and can't focus as good.
XP-G and XM-L leds need a totally different, wider head design to throw farther. I guess in the sake of size, portability and modularity (to keep the same parts and machine settings) manufacturers choose to continue their older designs. I don't think there is a real limitation in throw with just the size of the emitter. There must be a way to throw a 1000 lm light while you can easily throw 200lm to 200m's. :)
For what reason do people use these? I mean I understand it can work as a spotlight under the rifle or a remote signalling light but I can't find any uses other than a light show toy.
I really don't have a pratical use for a recoil thrower but i would like to have one for no particular reason or greater purpose. Most of us have some flashlights we could live without yet we don't regret having them right?
Yes like those 5 EDC lights I bought last week :) Would make a triple battery SST-90 if I'd carry them altogether. Hımm, is this a sign, is it the time I should get an SST-90??
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.50104
