More temptation from 4Sevens!

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

http://www.4sevens.com/product_info.php?products_id=2412

I don't usually like multi level AAA torches, but the stats on this one are bloody impressive

[jzmtl]

I think people are going overboard with the low low thing. Turn on mode of 10 to 20 lumen is perfect, 1.5 is way too low.

Otherwise a good looking light thou.

[gunga]

I disagree completely.

WHen your eyes are night adapted, 1.5 lumens can be blinding.

In any case, it's a nice light, but pricey and no neutral tints.

 

[Zag]

Just ordered one!
the only thing is that there is no pocket clip 

[jzmtl]

I disagree completely.

WHen your eyes are night adapted, 1.5 lumens can be blinding.

Yes, but more often than not you use flashlight because your eyes are NOT night adapted, if they are then you probably won't use it. Plus the situations where you need a light when it's not totally dark, it's better to have a brighter startup mode.

[gunga]

Doesn't it make more sense to start on low tho?  Note that the medium is 20 lumens for 6 hours.  The old Fenix L0D's would do 6 hours at 9-10 lumens so this is quite the boost.

[jzmtl]

I guess it depends on your need. For me while it's neat to have but I don't think I ever used the low low setting on any of my lights so honestly I could even do without that mode.

I have a preon 2 neutral coming thou so I'll see how well I get on with the low first.

[SlackOne]

The low-low on my ITP gets used more often than any other mode, easily.  It's just enough light to keep from stepping on my son's Matchbox cars, enough to use as an inspection light underneath and behind furniture and such, just enough to get to the car in the dark, etc.  Even at the puny lumen level it has, it still is too bright sometimes...probably need to get a diffuser for it.

The ReVo seems kind of interesting, but the price is offputting, I'm not entirely sold on the step-down for high, and I'm not just really sure I want current regulation for a keychain light.  How long does the high actually stay high, anyways? 

[NutSAK]

I'd say 4sevens got this one perfect for me.  It's nice to see the low low, and that it cycles low-med-high.  A 20% stepdown on high should be nearly imperceivable while drastically helping the runtime on rather pathetic AAA cells.

I prefer current regulation in all of my lights, as long as there is a "moonlight" tail at the end of the runtime rather than an abrupt cutoff.  I don't like PWM because I can see it (unless very high freq.), and it isn't nearly as efficient as current regulation.

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

I'm really enthusiastic about this one, as I far prefer to have a really long run time, and rarely need a truly powerful light

[lovenhim]

I like 4Sevens lights and I am sure this will be a great light.  That being said, I still think I would prefer a Preon 1 instead because of the rear clicky.  I prefer clicky over twisty especially with a light this small. 

[Andreas]

With the exception of the SOS modes, this thing only seems like a 3 times more expensive version of the ITP A3 EOS. An I missing something?

[nuphoria]

This one does look the business if a tad spendy. 

I'm glad the mostly tactical modes are hidden too - I much prefer not having them at all in general.

It would be nice to have a clip for it but then I guess it's marketed at keychain carry.

[Gareth]

With the exception of the SOS modes, this thing only seems like a 3 times more expensive version of the ITP A3 EOS. An I missing something?

Will it be 3 times better?  Maybe not, but I would expect it to be of somewhat higher build quality.  Also 4sevens give the lumen rating as 'out the front' lumen, not the level at the emitter itself so while the numbers look very similar I'd expect there to be a noticeable difference in use.  Also the run times look to be better.

Now with all that said I'm not knocking the ITP in the slightest, it's a great light, but there will be people who see the above differences and decide it's enough reason to spend the extra cash.  I fully expect there to be numerous comparison reviews in the very near future.

[SlackOne]

The more I think about it, the less I understand the step-down.  What's the point?  Why are you wasting energy on the higher-high if the lower-high's light level will be almost imperceivably dimmer?  Am I missing something?  As I understand it, you're only sitting at 82 lumens for around 3 minutes before it tapers off. 

And it appears that the light does tail at around 4 lumens for a while after it uses its bright up, so that's not so bad.  I can understand lights protecting their cells with a complete shut-off after a certain drop-off point, but for a keychain AAA light it would be sort of asinine.

[NutSAK]

The more I think about it, the less I understand the step-down.  What's the point?  Why are you wasting energy on the higher-high if the lower-high's light level will be almost imperceivably dimmer?  Am I missing something?  As I understand it, you're only sitting at 82 lumens for around 3 minutes before it tapers off.  

And it appears that the light does tail at around 4 lumens for a while after it uses its bright up, so that's not so bad.  I can understand lights protecting their cells with a complete shut-off after a certain drop-off point, but for a keychain AAA light it would be sort of asinine.

The step-down is for runtime purposes.  There are many times that a flashlight user will want a powerful output for mere seconds.  82 lumens is available for that.  If there is a case where you need high output for an extended time, the stepdown will greatly increase the runtime for that purpose.  The stepdown creates a balance between short bursts of maximum output and better runtime at high output.  This isn't really a necessity in lights that are powered by higher-energy sources such as Li-Ion or CR123, but offers more versatility in a light that is powered by a weak AAA cell. (IMO)

It's good to hear that this one has a "moonlight" mode.  I wouldn't even consider any light that didn't, keychain or not, and I would be greatly disappointed in 4Sevens if it didn't also.

The price difference between this and the ITP or Maratac would be mostly build quality (as mentioned prior) and the more expensive (and efficient) current regulation employed.  Cheaper, less-efficient (and annoying, IMO) regulation is used in the ITP/Maratac.  I'm not saying the price difference here is necessarily justified, just that there are characteristics that would lead to a price difference.

[SlackOne]

I can kind of see the point, I guess.  It still sort of feels like 4Sevens really wanted to put in a 60 lumen mode for the runtime, but felt the need to "push" the lumens up over 80 just for the "MOAR LUMANS!" crowd that follows their products, and arrived at this compromise.

Are the current run of ITP A3s still flickery?  I only have the A2, and they started out with a much better PWM rate than the first A3s.  The H01 lamps are supposed to have a pretty decent PWM frequency and are basically a bent A3...

[NutSAK]

It still sort of feels like 4Sevens really wanted to put in a 60 lumen mode for the runtime, but felt the need to "push" the lumens up over 80 just for the "MOAR LUMANS!" crowd that follows their products, and arrived at this compromise.

Or was it that he wanted to offer max lumens in a small package but felt the need to "push" runtime for the "MORE RUNTIME!" crowd that follows their products, and arrived at this compromise?  I think that's the point really--it's both.  IMO, 4Sevens is very good at making a product that works for a wide variety of interests, not just "niche" products.  Do you get the feeling that his products are followed by the "MORE LUMENS!" crowd?  Many of the users I know that own and use Quarks are fans of efficiency and low lumens, including myself.

Are the current run of ITP A3s still flickery?  I only have the A2, and they started out with a much better PWM rate than the first A3s.  The H01 lamps are supposed to have a pretty decent PWM frequency and are basically a bent A3...

The newest A3 is indeed a high enough frequency to not be detectable.  That still doesn't do anything for the efficiency vs. current regulation though...

[SlackOne]

It's true that the ReVo will be more efficient.  Once I saw reports that there is a tail-off instead of a dead drop, I'm all in favor of the regulation.  Squeezing a AAA for all it's worth is a noble goal.

And yeah...to some degree I think 4Sevens has something of a lumen-fixated crowd around them, if only by comparison.  If the ReVo came out with only a 60 lumen high, I can almost guarantee that you'd have a good number of their fans carping about them being "dimmer" than the Maratacs, that they're not utilizing the LED to its potential, how their five year old Fenix is better, that they'll get one and replace the emitter, et cetera ad infinitum.  Maybe it's less their fanbase in particular, and more the general noise one ends up with on CPF though...

[NutSAK]

If the ReVo came out with only a 60 lumen high, I can almost guarantee that you'd have a good number of their fans carping about them being "dimmer" than the Maratacs, that they're not utilizing the LED to its potential, how their five year old Fenix is better, that they'll get one and replace the emitter, et cetera ad infinitum.  Maybe it's less their fanbase in particular, and more the general noise one ends up with on CPF though...

It think you hit it the nail on the head there.  Wouldn't the Fenix and Maratac fans on CPF not do the same if the roles were reversed?

The majority of CPF members are lumen-hungry in my opinion, and I don't really see 4Sevens fans being relatively moreso.  This is simply a result of CPF members following the development of LED technology closely.  There are many lumen fanatics there, just as there are many tool fanatics here.

[Paul]

Looks good to me, the "free international shipping" seems fantastic on the face of it - has antbody used it? I'm looking at some of the other 47's models.

Recommended?

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

I'm sure Ben did, and I don't think he had any problems

[Essexman]

Looks good to me, the "free international shipping" seems fantastic on the face of it - has antbody used it? I'm looking at some of the other 47's models.

Recommended?

I'm sure Ben did, and I don't think he had any problems

Bear in  mind the costs of VAT & import tax when buying from 4sevens. Years ago when it was just the Fenix store you would get goods arrive under the radar, which was nice. Now they declare all on the paperwork and you will have to pay.

I think there's a euro website for 4sevens too, I wonder if you would have to pay so much tax if it comes from the EU?

[Vladimir]

Only if you purchase from their main site you get free shipping worldwide-if you order from their shops in Canada and Poland you don't get free shipping, and the prices are higher.
I ordered from them and didn't have any problems.

[John]

Looks good to me, the "free international shipping" seems fantastic on the face of it - has antbody used it? I'm looking at some of the other 47's models.

Recommended?

I'm sure Ben did, and I don't think he had any problems

Bear in  mind the costs of VAT & import tax when buying from 4sevens. Years ago when it was just the Fenix store you would get goods arrive under the radar, which was nice. Now they declare all on the paperwork and you will have to pay.

I think there's a euro website for 4sevens too, I wonder if you would have to pay so much tax if it comes from the EU?

UKBA only carry out random checks on goods from Europe so highly unlikely you'll get any tax demands   one thing in favor from Europe there's no customs declarations to fill out,so no price of what is in the package either   of course all are tested with sniffer dogs and ex-rayed for  prohibited weapons/Guns and other contraband   it's just if they decide to open your package and there's a receipt in there you could be taxed,other than that I wouldn't worry buying from Europe  

[Benner]

I'm sure Ben did, and I don't think he had any problems

Used a few times and great every time.