Hi guys I just wanted to share my infatuation with my newest light.
Yesterday I received my Jacob A60 light from DX.
Immediately I examined it and found a few things that I liked.
Feel: This is a substantial light. Even without battery it is heavier than what I am used to from budget lights. With a battery in it it feels solid. That is the best way to describe it. The grip on the light is simply awesome. It falls into a natural rest in my hand regardless of hold. Overhand, underhand, cigargrip, this one work in all ways. Perhaps not by the teeth because it is a bit heavy and has a wide tailcap that is great in the hand but probably awful in the mouth.
Size: This is small. Small head. Short body. And I like that no unnecessary length is added by the designer whoever they may be. The only place this light has some bulk is in the thickness of material in the battery tube and bottom of the head. But for an all around nice feel that is apparently where it matters.
Looks: It came with not a flaw in the ano. The ano is the glossy budget type that I am so used to by now. There is a stupid hexagonal cooling fin behind the head that is not big enough to work as a anti roll fin. That is why i think it is stupid that it is hexagonal type. However the squared off tailcap gives some anti roll function to the light.
Then I threw in a battery and turned it on and immediately I knew I would like this light. I prefer throwers when it comes to flashlights and floodlights when it comes to headlamps. This is a thrower! It was daylight but I knew immediately when I saw the round well defined hotspot in the shade under some trees 25 meters away. YES :-) I have handled it last night and during nightfall tonight. And boy does it throw. With soft white spill that starts 3 meters away from you when you hold it at waist height.
Metering it says 54,6 kCd BTW.
Tailcap reading on mine is 1 Amp high , 0,25 Amp low. Strobe I cannot measure reliably.
For the first time ever I have bought a budget light that is so nice that I dont know if I want to mod it.
At 1 amp taildraw a 3,1 A battery would give me over 2 hours on full blast before falling out of regulation and on low it would be something like 8 hours.
Use: Since it is so small it handles really well. Will tailstand reliably and send a beacon type beam into the sky.
The high lets me spot a black cat on a dark background and over 125 meters or very close to what is possible in daylight for a cat that is not moving.
The low is still good enough for the same at 50 meters.
A small brown dog that is moving I can spot and follow at 200 meters easily in grass covered areas.
I can see trees light up at 400 meters well enough to know where I am and what my direction is.
I can spot my golden retriever at 300 meters and follow it.
I am SO happy with this light. For 15 usd I dont see anything touch it! But I am waiting for the Smallsun C10 aspheric light and that may change some of it but let me say this right now.
This is the best built, best throwing, best handling light I own that is still stock! I am seriously considering not modding it and that newer happened before. Ever.
I have a big thank you to the thrower lovers here that have recommended this flashlight. You all know who you are so no one mentioned and no one forgotten. THANK YOU GUYS.
Edit: I forgot to mention these things but I just had the dogs out for their last trip tonight and i remembered this.
PWM: High there is no trace of PWM. Low there is PWM but it is the fastest pwm I have seen on any budget light so far. I am normally troubled by pwm but this is so fast that I had to wave my finger frantically in the light beam to notice. Lovely.
Artifact: Has artifacts when white wall hunting but none that show in real life.
CORRECTION: The beam does not hit the ground 3 meters away. It is 1,5 meters away when held at waist height.
Beam: Bright spotlight center. Soft usable spill. Usable out to 20 meters for details. Corona is even softer and really nice on the eyes.
Edit again 26-June-2012:
I forgot to mention this so I'll just add it here: The threads were bone dry when it came. But the o-rings seems to me like they are in fair contact with the sealing surfaces when screwing the light together. Maybe I'll dunk it in my sons bathing tub or something tonight. Then I'll post results back here.
Added 27-June-2012:
I just threw the light in my sons outside bathing pool. Left it there for a good 25 minutes. No water ingress. And I still did not lube the threads or the O-rings.