Now that I'm back on the night-shift and handling the likes of noise complaints and checking out suspicious persons in a calm, North Texas area hotel, I've had time to get intimate again with the flashies. Cleaning today, I got to looking at the old incans I've had since about 2006 or so. They're sitting on their table, not quite collecting dust, but barely ever used.
After some thinking, I may decide to upgrade only one of them to XM-L. The reason being, the more I play with the QBeam 3 Mil candlepower spotlight in the patrol vehicle, I think back to the days of hardcore incans and how I so loved them. The more I think to compare LEDs, I find myself taken with the hype of what is offered today, but afterwards, can't help but say: "The incans look brighter and light things up better." It's just there, in the back of my mind, plaguing me. :-)
So, I fired up my 9V Sportsman's Warehouse P60-style incan. Uses three Cr123s. I bought it and loved it. Still do. The main reason I quit using it is because of the tailcap clicky, which has not failed to accidentally activate in a pocket yet. And then the high power LEDs came along, but this and two other incan lights (to be reviewed later) are still the comparison standard.
Here is the light.
Throws like a Surefire with the same lopsided beam and is every bit as bright (and whiter) than my Streamlight TL3 (supposedly 175 lumens or 211, depending on which you believe). And the thing stood toe-to-toe against the Inova T4. Looked exactly the same as you see below.
Here it is side by side with an Inova XO3, 135 lumen.
Another shot from a distance of 6 to 8 feet against a white wall...
And then, holding both in hand, I remembered another thing that made me shy away from the incans--the batteries. They can't use RCR123s, which is a shame because they would be needed to cut down on the cost of running these things.
So here we are today with batches and batches of new-fangled little powerhouse LEDs chomping at the bit to be purchased. Every time I get an LED, I compare it to one of the incans. The "eye torture" test makes you feel like you have that much more power. Even my 65 lumen Surefire version seems to shine brighter than comparable LEDs. It's funny, though, because some of my friends I show my lights off to can see LED brightness while to me, the incans look brighter, and for sure, illuminate more. It's like LEDs are "fake" light.
This little beast gets motherluvin' hot, let me tell you! And that within seconds of running it. It will run without dimming for nearly 85% of the battery life. It shoots its throw-elicious beam out and it illuminates what I need it to. A fully charged Streamlight Ultrastinger may be a bit brighter, but when you see both in action, you can't tell a huge difference. That's rated at 295 lumens, but the big brother to this clone is the 180 lumen incan from Cabella's, a light (almost identical to this one) that looks even brighter than an Ultrastinger.
So yes, these LEDs sure do perform, and there's not much reason to revert back, but I can't help but notice with my way, way brighter Ultrafire C8 XM-L T6 from Manafont that it look 450-650 OTF LED lumens to really and noticeably outclass these incans. And still, whether we're dealing with 1500 lumens in a QBeam spotlight or a 120 alleged lumens in a 9V pocketable, I find the warmer tint illumination far more useful all-round.
I love this old dinosaur. I refuse to upgrade it, but I will upgrade one or two. In a world where merchandising and deceitful advertising is costing us money buying so-called 300-lumen lights, sometimes it feels better to go with the old-schoolers. They keep LEDs honest! lol
it could also make a nice mag mod thinking about it….