A little upset at Led Lenser

av8r1 · **on:** February 13, 2019, 01:18:45 AM

Hey, it's that guy again!

So the switch in my P3 AFS P died. No problem, just mail it to Portland! The barrel, optics and light are fine, I figured they'd just slap on a new tail switch assembly and mail it back, if not just send me a new light.

Well they sent me a new light, and I just can't believe it. The P3 AFS P is discontinued, so I got an i5 instead. I didn't know there was such a model, and there's not much information on the web about them. It's utterly garbage. Runs on a AA, 80 lumens. The tail switch has to be on just right for the light to switch on. if you grip it by the head and the tail switch body and pull hard enough to zoom the optics, that's enough for the light to give up. The optics aren't as good as the old P3 either. I wanted a pocket light, mind you, I had a AAA class light. What I got is bigger around and considerably longer than my Fenix E12. I hope that doesn't represent their build quality, because if it does, they've gone considerably downhill. I just ordered two more AFS P's from Amazon to keep on the shelf. I hope during their lifetime someone starts selling an acceptable replacement. I don't think I'll bother sending them back to Leatherman when they die.

Top-Gear-24 · **Reply #1 on:** February 13, 2019, 02:18:10 AM

Don't know if the tail cap of the regular P3 would fit on the P3 AFS P. But if so, you could get a couple of those and replace some of the shared parts.

Over here the regular P3 is still available last time I checked, and it comes at half the price of the AFS P version. Might just be ideal to keep the more expensive AFS P going for a little bit longer.

If the parts are interchangeable, that is.

av8r1 · **Reply #2 on:** February 13, 2019, 04:59:39 AM

Quote from: Top-Gear-24 on February 13, 2019, 02:18:10 AM

Don't know if the tail cap of the regular P3 would fit on the P3 AFS P. But if so, you could get a couple of those and replace some of the shared parts.

Over here the regular P3 is still available last time I checked, and it comes at half the price of the AFS P version. Might just be ideal to keep the more expensive AFS P going for a little bit longer.

If the parts are interchangeable, that is.

I've had two AFS P's, both times the switch failed. The first one lasted about 2 years in daily service, so I sent it back to Leatherman and got an identical unit in return. The switch on that one failed after a couple of years, I send it back to Leatherman, and I get this bewildering i5 light. I like the AFS P's feature set a lot, so I went ahead and bought two more. I would be interested to know if other tailcaps would fit the AFS P barrel; possible donors would be the P2, P3BM and P4. All seem to be out of production, though still available from resellers. I might pick one up, if it works, spare part! If it doesn't, dim little pocket light!

My two new AFS P's should keep me in lights for the next 4-6 years, but I don't know if I'll buy another Led Lenser at that point. I was shown very poor quality by that i5, and they want a LOT of money for their pocket rechargeables. We'll see.