I’ve just bought this flashlight.
And jolly nice it is too.
ShiningBeam is run by Bryan Chen who is located in the USA. His torches are manufactured by a Chinese company called Olight. Olight make their own branded range of lights, as well as manufacturing lights for a number of flashlight companies: Four Sevens, ITP and possibly EagleTac. So he’s keeping good company!
This light appealed for a few reasons:
I’ve recently bought an EagleTac D25LC2 clicky, which I love. I wanted another smaller light as a “Leave in the car” torch. Ideally running a single CR123A cell.
I liked this light because it’s a forward clicky tail switch. That means you have a momentary activation or a full depress to lock the light into the ‘on’ position.
Also the unit is supplied with two bodies which allow you to have a range of cell options: 1 x CR123A, 1 x AA alkaline, 1 x AA NIMH, 1 x 14500 Li-Ion
That appealed to me for the extra flexibility. Which in all truth I don’t need. Go figure… 
What’s in the box?
The light itself which consists of:
The front bit which the light comes out from (the Head?) which has the toughened lens, a Cree XP-G R5 emitter LED and the regulated circuit board for constant current output. This regulation means that the light has a consistantish output till the point where the cell is significantly depleted. At that point the output rapidly drops. It also has reverse-polarity protection which I understand means it protects the circuitry if you put a cell in the wrong way round.
The tail cap incorporates the switch.
Two tube bodies: This allows you to use either an AA or a CR123A cell. {After screwing the appropriate body into the tail cap and Head}
A detachable clip, a wrist lanyard, Instruction manual, a CR123A cell, two O rings, spare switch and switch silicon cap. I’ve no idea how easy or otherwise it is to swap out the switch, and I’ll leave alone unless it stops working.
Here are some size comparisons with two popular lights the EagleTac D25LC2 (2xCR123A ) Olight i3 (1xAAA ) and the two cell choices you’ll be using: AA & CR123A. (The two pictures show the I-mini’s two body options)
Here are some pics of the insider bits of the light and the LED.
Ok so what’s it like?
The light is very comfortable in the hand. It’s a pretty solid feel to it too.
The wrist lanyard appears to be flimsy, being a very thin nylon cord. Actually it’s the opposite. I had a mobile phone for years with a similar lanyard. It never broke despite being used for about 5 years on a day to day basis. I expect the Shiningbeam lanyard to be equally sturdy. Also it’s minimalist nature is in keeping with this small light. I’d basically just say it’s perfect for the job.
The light is It’s not suitable for diving, but getting it wet in the rain should present no problems. It’s waterproofed to IPX-8 standard. That means no water egress when submersed to 12 feet/3.6 meters for 24 hours. If you are with your I-mini at a depth of 3.6 meters of water for that long, you drowned and a soggy light is of no consequence. You may see a bright light but that’s more an afterlife-type of thing!
The I-mini does not tail-stand; it’s prevented from doing so by the domed silicon boot for the switch protruding beyond the body of the light. It has square threads for smooth battery installation. I think that means that it’s easy to do up the cap.
The finish is HA III anodizing which I understand to be pretty rugged. Which is nice. I view tools as things to be used rather than pampered. Wear through use is part of the character of ownership and the point a mass produced item becomes yours. Think: Millennium Falcon in Star Wars. It wouldn’t have been half as cool, if it was all shiny and new looking. If you want shiny, why’d you join the Rebel Alliance in the first place?
The I-mini is rather easy to use. Push the tail cap button in a little way and you get a momentary-on. Fully press to lock the light on. Press again to turn it off. Pretty easy so far. The light can vary it’s brightness from 7 to 260 lumens. It will then memorise this setting for the next time you turn the light on. Ok.
The threads are anodised. This means that you can unscrew the tail-cap a little and this will prevent accidental light activation in your pocket, if you feel that might happen.
I turned the light on and figured that you just twist the Head to the desired output. When I did this, after a few seconds the light got brighter and brighter then weaker and weaker, continually cycling through this variable output. Hummm. Broken? Nope. As the clearly laid out instructions supplied and repeated on the eBay listing details, you let the light cycle then tighten the Head at the desired output. OK. But it would be a lot easier if designed to be able to just twist the Head to the desired output. Also, the speed the I-Mini ramps the light intensity up and down is quite fast. This makes it tricky to get roughly the light output you are trying to obtain.Pa!
Adjusting the light output is a two handed operation. One hand to turn the Head, the other to hold the knurling mid way on the central body of the light. If you use only one hand to attempt the light level adjustment, your adjustment will alter the light output to zero! The light is too small to grip the mid point knurling while turning the Head with the same hand. Your fingers have to use the tail cap for purchase. As the Head has a tighter fit to the body than the tailcap, rotating it while holding the tail cap results in the unscrewing of the tailcap rather than the turning of the Head. Result no light.
In use
The light beam is a good combination of usable light in your immediate surroundings and throw for see things further away. The light pattern is fine.
So there’s a load of subjective opinion lacking detail! I take a lights usefulness to be whether it illuminates a significant amount of detail of an object. This throws out a lot of light fot its size. Illuminating a dark alley rather a lot at about 75 meters. By that I mean really well lit up. It goes a lot further, diminishing the illumination as it goes. That’s on full brightness. Of course you have the facility to vary the output.
If you have the I-Mini set at the lowest output when you turn it on, there is a momentary brighter flash for a fraction of a second after which the low output activates.
This is a very impressive light though the reader should note I’m very limited on flashlight knowledge or experience.
Here is a picture of my wall from about a meter away. I hope this is of use.
I googled “ShiningBeam I-Mini” and found the best price at that time to be from Bryan’s ebay store. His user name: ShiningBeam. He also has a website where you can purchase from too. There may be more info/prices on the marketplace part of this site, but I didn’t check that out.
I paid £22.11 plus £3.77 postage; I’m in the UK. ($33.75 Shipping: $5.75) .
They also sell a ShiningBeam I-Mini [Value Edition] This only has a CR123A body and is correspondingly cheaper. (About 75% of the cost of the I-mini) Handy if you CAN make up your mind on cell choice! I just liked the novelty of being able to swap cell sizes. Also that does give you flexibility when your light dies and you don’t have a CR123A cell handy, you might have an AA cell nearby and they are much more widely available in shops, petrol stations, and the like.
I’m rather pleased with this light.
