Review w/pics: ReyLight's Golden Rey of Sunshine

I was contacted last week by Rey about his newest little AA/14500 light made from solid brass. He asked if I’d be interested in doing this review and taking some pictures and I was more than happy to oblige! Rey has been making some really nice lights and they’ve certainly outdone themselves with this one! :slight_smile:

As you can see, this came to me with a brushed finish and a nice mirrored clip. The light is meticulously prepared top to bottom, the finish is very uniform and quite pleasing to the eye and also surprisingly easy to hold onto. This one takes a regular Alkaline AA cell or if more power is desired (and one knows what they are doing with these more powerful cells) the 14500 Li-ion cell can also be used.

This sample has a Nichia 219C with a warm white tint that is seemingly in the 4000K range, it’s warm but not extremely so, which is actually quite pleasant in this small light with an AA cell, the tint bin complements the brass and is easy on the eyes. The reflector is a mild orange peel with a semi-hybrid cone at the base, as such it gives a smooth but again surprisingly tight beam profile. Surprise is a key element with this light, I was continually amazed as I opened it up for these pictures. :slight_smile:

Testing showed the following results using a new Alkaline Copper Top 1.5V cell…

LevelCurrent__Lumens
1…………0.003A…….0.069
2…………0.047A…….4.002
3…………0.391A……30.774
4…………1.325A……86.94

Energizer Lithium Primary 1.5V

LevelCurrent__Lumens
1……….0.003A………0.00 on the meter
2……….0.044A………2.09
3……….0.389A…….33.496
4……….1.323A……106.95

And with a freshly charged dark purple Efest 14500 650mAh cell…

LevelCurrent__Lumens
1…………0.001A………0.00345 (firefly, barely glowing)
2…………0.063A……10.212
3…………0.477A……96.945
4…………1.83A……362.25

[Above numbers edited on 9.13.16 at 5:04PM to reflect accuracy. Sorry about that!]

The tail cap has a SS button with a slot for a tritium vial already machined in. The slot is amply deep, the button clears the brass for easy tail standing, and the operation is smooth and easy in a reverse clicky format. If the button is stressed, pushed from the side, it can drag a little. I’m finding 4 modes, starting with a true firefly and stepping up in nice increments that make it a very usable EDC. I can easily see this in the suit pocket of a business man or woman, or carried in a small handbag or clutch in an equally plush office setting for a female from a nice secretarial job to a lawyer. Obviously it would work well in a myriad of user situations, make note though that the solid brass construction is substantial, you’re not going to lose this one in a pocket as it’s weighty enough to remember it’s there!

Well machined at every turn, notice the rounded bevel around the switch button. Easy on the fingers or fine gloves. :wink: This kind of attention to detail prevails throughout the build of this little brass light and I for one very much appreciate the effort. :wink:

Removing the tail cap to put in a cell has the pocket clip retained by the o-ring. It will come off without removing the o-ring if you wish, but it’s secure enough to not lose with a cell change in most normal type situations where a reasonable person is paying attention.

As you can see in these two pics, above and below this sentence, threading is clean and robust, heavy enough pitch to make it easy to engage and not get in a bind. This IS brass, so a person should exercise some care though as the threads will be prone to damage otherwise. Just something to keep in mind.

Notice too the fitment of the retaining ring, the care given to even have flat bottom holes in the tiny access holes of the retaining ring! Well done, this shows someone that knows flashlights and works with them regularly is behind the design on this, to every last detail. Even the cord hole in the pocket clip, also serving to keep the light from rolling far when laid down.

Thread fitment on all sections is snug, well backed by the o-rings, and there is already a bit of grease in place where needed.

The driver is held into the light engine with an external retaining ring, a neat idea in a small light such as this. If you must remove the light engine, the retaining ring comes out first (it’s in the same threads as the pill itself) and it is a bit tedious re-inserting this pill and keeping the driver in place… it has tabs on either side that fit into slots on the pill and then opposing these slots are narrower tweezer slots for pill removal. All in all well thought out and executed.

Taking the tail cap assembly apart shows once again that somebody was really thinking here! There is a nicely machined brass cup that presses a sealing rubber boot into the end of the tail cap so it’s water proof and yet the SS external button has an easy use. The retaining ring fits perfectly, everything is just really well done here! Surprised again, was I!

The fitment of every tiny piece, the machining, just extraordinarily well done at every turn! Bravo!

The pill is no different, housing the Nichia emitter with a nicely done centering/isolation disc that cups the reflector perfectly.

The driver is a dual board design, I didn’t remove it for these pics but probably will later at some point and I’ll get pics then of the driver components and layout.


The reflector is well done, apparently designed and made for this light as I don’t recall seeing anything quite like it before, from the external fitment at the base to the cone style hybrid like design at the emitter. The result is a nice focus that will have this light becoming a favorite to use. :wink:

Will you just Look at how exquisitely machined these threads in the head are?! Superb! Again, surprised by the attention to detail and fitment. Beautiful work!

Even a bit of crenelated bezel style, so you can see if the light is on when standing on it’s head. :slight_smile:

And even the lens is 2 side AR coated with a nice purple reflection indicative of a quality coating. Not leaving any stone unturned, there is a bevel on the edge of the glass as with any nicely done lens.

A Pleasure Rey, very well made light through and through and I very much enjoyed doing the review on it. Well done, as usual! :slight_smile:

This is really nice!

Looks great, there are no visible sharp edges, huge step up compared to the BLF-Ti

Would love to see a 18650 version made of titanium.

This will be a must have! Rey assures no visible PWM and someone who understands how to install a pocket clip!

I’ve been looking forward to this one. It seems like a very nice host, and the clip really helps make it useful for daily purposes.

Will probably get one or two and see what I can do about customizing the driver, because I enjoy that kind of thing. The default seems pretty decent though, with modes and spacing similar to the venerable L3 L10-219.

I have some 14500 batteries sitting around, doing nothing. Not for long.

Any suggestions on where to get a tritium vial that will fit inside that tailcap slot? How does the tritium vial stay inside the slot if the flashlight is jolted, such as from a fall?

Very nice review, your pictures are a treat, as usual! It looks like Rey has learned all the lessons there were to learn, and again delivers a custom light for a price that is way below custom light prices, but now also with all the details right.

This light is too heavy for me to consider buying, but seems more than worth the money!

Glue.

Specifically, Norland 61 optical adhesive. It goes on like vegetable oil, but cures in UV or sunlight to form a hard, durable, invisible glue.

Hmm, so that means if I decide to change the vial because the vial’s color doesn’t work for my usage, I’ll have to pry it loose from the adhesive?

Use boiling water to soften the norland. Then pick it out carefully.

101 g with Energizer Lithium prinary AA

Looks super nice. Those low moonlights are awesome, as is the tint, and pocket clip. Good job Rey, and thanks for the review Dale!

Thanks Dale and Rey. Looks like a real winner.

For TK, the ReyLight Brass Cutie next to the DQG 18650 Brass Beauty. Cells alongside for comparison.

(Yeah yeah yeah, I used the little Canon S90 instead of the 7DMkII with 100mm Macro Hybrid IS. Lazy, pure and simple.)

The thing here is, the DQG Brass Beauty was made to be as small as possible and fit an 18650. I have but one cell of all my cells that will fit inside this light and it’s really snug at that. The ReyLight Brass Cutie is made more robust, takes ANY AA cell or ANY 14500, lot of options there. Both are brass, yes. One is more refined, serves a grander purpose. :smiley:

Of a Ti 18650, yes, yes, yes.

I will add a pic with trit installed later.

I was just thinking about that as well Rey, I’ve got a green trit sitting here and the Norland to put it in with. And a crazy powerful UV light I made a while back to cure it. :smiley:

Edit: Not feeling so great but got a quick trit shot anyway. Sorry if it sucks…

Neato .

But I would have to file off the cord hole on the clip .

Thanks! It looks like it’s about the size I expected, similar to a Thrunite T10. Between the nice aesthetics and the clip, I’ll likely get a lot of use out of mine.

It’s fun trying to avoid perspective distortion on those little cameras, isn’t it? I always have to back away and zoom in as far as I can without making the exposure impossibly-long.

I shot that in Macro from about 5” away, applied distortion correction in Lightroom 5. :wink:

Easier, at the time, than digging out the big camera. Not sure what’s going on tonight but I feel lousy. Oh well.