Gerber Foreman Review.

[Spoonrobot]

Gerber's page on the Foreman.

LED Museum's analysis of this light.

I adore penlights, the slim profile makes carry easy and they are generally cheap and available.

Gerber has released an interesting light in the Foreman. Operating on 2AAA batteries this light features four different colors in the form of interchangeable bezels. According to the website:

white for general use, green for "be seen" safety and map reading, blue for fluid identification, and red for preserving night vision

The included sheath has elastic pockets for bezel storage. Vertical carry is the only option available for the sheath. The bezels are fairly easy to swap out of the elastic pouches but bezel swapping is not something I would want to do while on a ladder or something similar since you are going to be juggling a bezel during the swap until a space opens up.



Operation is achieved through a momentary push button or through twisting the tailcap all the way down. Fit and finish of the light are fair, the plastic threads are smooth and the LEDs are centered perfectly inside the bezels. The light does not appear to be submersible since the LED are exposed and do not appear to be potted. It should handle rain but no diving. The rubberized grip of the light tends to snag slightly when interacting with cloth but I was informed that the rubberizing was done to make the light non-conductive for use in certain environments. It also aids with grip with wet or oily hands.



In comparison to some other penlights, the Foreman is slightly fatter but of similar brightness.




Beamshots at 3 meters. The white LED has typical 5mm cool tint to it.


Runtime for this light is excellent, a member over at CPF did a plot and gave times to 50%:

Runtime to 50% of max brightness for the WHITE led = 9 hr 4m
Runtime to 50% of max brightness for the GREEN led = 10 hr
Runtime to 50% of max brightness for the BLUE led = 10 hr 16 m
Runtime to 50% of max brightness for the RED led = 10 hr 22 m

Pricepoints for this light run from 15-25$. Taking everything into consideration this is a fairly good light, it gives the user a convenient way to carry four color options in a compact package and has excellent runtime.

[Carthas]

Exellent review as always Good to see someone else who appreciates penlights. What is the light at the top of the picture, above the stylus?

[Benner]

Great review Spoon.

[Spoonrobot]

Thanks for the comments guys. I hit a burst of energy earlier tonight and powered through some reviews I've been slacking on.

Exellent review as always Good to see someone else who appreciates penlights. What is the light at the top of the picture, above the stylus?

It's a 2AAA Garrity penlight I bought from Wal-Mart a few years ago. The neat thing about it is that it will accept Mini-Mag bulbs for almost triple the stock brightness.  Penlight hotwires.

On the subject of Penlights; anyone have one of the Welch Allyn Halogen lights? It looks like the Cadillac of penlights but it's price (35$+) is just too high for me to get one right now.

http://www.allheart.com/wa76600.html

I wonder if this Heine is any good?
http://www.allheart.com/hed0173150.html

Penlights seem to take me back to being a little kid again. They're cheap and accessible, no worries about loss or making sure the contacts are clean with Pro-Gold, no worries about how it compares to the latest Fenix Crees, just simple light for having an adventure or saving the day during a power failure.

[Carthas]

Thanks for the comments guys. I hit a burst of energy earlier tonight and powered through some reviews I've been slacking on.

Exellent review as always Good to see someone else who appreciates penlights. What is the light at the top of the picture, above the stylus?

It's a 2AAA Garrity penlight I bought from Wal-Mart a few years ago. The neat thing about it is that it will accept Mini-Mag bulbs for almost triple the stock brightness.  Penlight hotwires.

On the subject of Penlights; anyone have one of the Welch Allyn Halogen lights? It looks like the Cadillac of penlights but it's price (35$+) is just too high for me to get one right now.

http://www.allheart.com/wa76600.html

I wonder if this Heine is any good?
http://www.allheart.com/hed0173150.html

Penlights seem to take me back to being a little kid again. They're cheap and accessible, no worries about loss or making sure the contacts are clean with Pro-Gold, no worries about how it compares to the latest Fenix Crees, just simple light for having an adventure or saving the day during a power failure.

Well isn't that what flashlights are about? Granted, I'm always questing to get the best light for these activities, but still

[Grant Lamontagne]

I have a Foreman as well, but I am somewhat less impressed with it.

Good review though- nice to see someone with more flashlight knowledge actually giving real info on it!

Def

[kreskin13]

I have a Foreman as well, but I am somewhat less impressed with it.

Good review though- nice to see someone with more flashlight knowledge actually giving real info on it!

Def

Couldn't agree more Def, wasn't impressed. It's one of the few things I'm missing that I'm not too worried about. The concept isn't bad though.

Calvin

[Leatherman123]

Spoon, how is the Stylus? I have been meaning to get one!

[mpi]

 this is the light that comes with the resolve tool and cross grip tool combo set.  $17 at costco.

[Spoonrobot]

Spoon, how is the Stylus? I have been meaning to get one!

The Stylus is an excellent light. Fit and finish are very good and it's small size makes it easy to carry. Stock brightness is okay but it is an older 5mm LED so there is a pretty blue tint to it. I recommend replacing the stock LED with a brighter unit, it's a simple and cheap mod to update the light a little bit.

Def, Kreskin; what didn't you like about the Foreman?

The beams are fairly ugly but I am somewhat jaded by poor 5mm color LEDs since using my Sidewinder so much, I don't really notice the artifacts during use.

[Grant Lamontagne]

What don't I like?  Well it's a fair list, so settle in!

I don't like the plastic body- it seems flimsy and is quite flexible.  I have no doubt it would be broken in no time.

The multiple colored heads are a great option, but when carried in the sheath, the whole mess becomes very bulky, which defeats the purpose of a pen type light in the first place.

The heads on mine seem to want to cross thread and go on crooked half the time.

It's not terribly bright with the white head and the colored LED's really don't help much.

Pocket clip is a little too high up- unless you have really deep shirt pockets to put it in you'd better find a better place to keep it.

I haven't really used it for anything- I was so unimpressed with it that I put it away moments after playing with it.  It's possible that I might feel differently if I was to carry and use it for a bit, but I just really don't like it and I'd probably just come up with more things I don't like about it.  About the only good thing about it is you can tape it to the side of a video camera, put the green LED on it, turn out the lights and make your own Paris Hilton style videos!

Def

[Carthas]

I quite like the stylus. Sure, it's output of 11 lumens is average by today's standards, but IMO it puts out almost as much light as my 2xAA maglite, and it's battery life is awesome. I got the Stylus pro as a potential upgrade from this one, and it is brighter and has a tailcap clickie switch, but I like the size and finish of the older stylus better (The newer pro model has a matte black finish similar to the "blued" finish of a gun, whereas the older one has a finish similar to the maglites). I think the older stylus is made in america, while the stylus pro is made in china.

[Spoonrobot]

What don't I like?  Well it's a fair list, so settle in!

Always good to see some other input on the light, helps balance out the review process.

[ringzero]

I quite like the stylus. Sure, it's output of 11 lumens is average by today's standards, but IMO it puts out almost as much light as my 2xAA maglite, and it's battery life is awesome. I got the Stylus pro as a potential upgrade from this one, and it is brighter and has a tailcap clickie switch, but I like the size and finish of the older stylus better (The newer pro model has a matte black finish similar to the "blued" finish of a gun, whereas the older one has a finish similar to the maglites). I think the older stylus is made in america, while the stylus pro is made in china.

I've been a bigtime penlight fan since I was a kid, usually EDCing a penlight of some sort since way back in my junior high school days.

Must have gone through hundreds of penlights over the years, always seeking the perfect one:  bright, durable, compact, reliable.

2AAA lights were the most common penlights I've carried, along with a few 2AA lights.  I've tried other types including the Streamlight Stylus.

Until recently my favorite was the UK 2AAA eLED Penlight with pushbutton tailswitch - waterproof, rugged, decent beam, good runtime, pocket clip, reasonable price at around 15 bucks.

My new favorites are the Streamlight 2AAA StylusPro and 1AAA MicroStream.  These lights have pretty much ended my eternal quest for the perfect penlight.

I don't believe anything else available compares favorably to these Streamlight models.  Certainly nothing available in their price range, of 15 to 17 bucks.  (Peak *may* offer a better 2AAA light, but only at a far higher price.)

Finally, after only a few decades of waiting, these are the penlights I've been searching for.

.

[Spoonrobot]

I quite like the stylus. Sure, it's output of 11 lumens is average by today's standards, but IMO it puts out almost as much light as my 2xAA maglite, and it's battery life is awesome. I got the Stylus pro as a potential upgrade from this one, and it is brighter and has a tailcap clickie switch, but I like the size and finish of the older stylus better (The newer pro model has a matte black finish similar to the "blued" finish of a gun, whereas the older one has a finish similar to the maglites). I think the older stylus is made in america, while the stylus pro is made in china.

Until recently my favorite was the UK 2AAA eLED Penlight with pushbutton tailswitch - waterproof, rugged, decent beam, good runtime, pocket clip, reasonable price at around 15 bucks.

You wouldn't happen to have any size comparison pictures of this light would you? I've held off on buying it for a while since the bulbous head looks like it defeats the penlight form factor.

[ringzero]

Until recently my favorite was the UK 2AAA eLED Penlight with pushbutton tailswitch - waterproof, rugged, decent beam, good runtime, pocket clip, reasonable price at around 15 bucks.

You wouldn't happen to have any size comparison pictures of this light would you? I've held off on buying it for a while since the bulbous head looks like it defeats the penlight form factor.

Sorry, I don't have a functioning digital camera.

The UK 2AA eLED Penlight is somewhat bulkier when compared to StylusPro, but the UK is by no means too big for shirt pocket carry.  The StylusPro is just exceptionally slender, riding in a pocket about like a fountain pen.

The StylusPro uses some type of half-Watt emitter that just crushes the UK on tint, throw and output - something like 20 lumens compared to 4 lumens.

StylusPro has quite a good runtime for its output, just a few hours less than the UK.  IIRC, StylusPro is 7+ hours and the UK is 10 or 12 hours.

The big advantage of the UK would be its superior waterproofness, if you were wanting a light for caving or diving.  Another advantage might be its non-conductive case for working around electronics or in explosive atmospheres.

Both lights seem very rugged and are supposedly drop-test rated.

.

[Carthas]

Here is a pic of (from the top) the older Streamlight Stylus, the Stylus Pro, and the Maglite Solitaire for reference:



You can see that the Pro is thicker and shorter than the older Stylus, on account of having 2 x AAA Batteries as opposed to 3 x AAAA. Note that the Bulbous end on the Pro is slightly fatter than the Solitaire, on account of the Pro having a reflector assembly.

Sorry about the image quality, but my camera skills are like my Image posting skills - severly lacking 

EDIT: Modified for correctness

[Spoonrobot]

'Tis a fine pic, for some reason I had figured the Stylus Pro was a lot thicker than reality. I may have to hunt one down now. Does it have a lock-out tailcap?

[Carthas]

Not sure if it's an an intentional one. You can twist the battery cap end a quater of a turn, and it will stop it from making enough contact with the battery to stop it from switching on. I think someone else on these forums (ringzero maybe?) pointed out that you could leave the 2 position tailcap switch in the "on" position, and turn it into a tailcap twistie with this method.

Slightly off topic, but I've also read on CPF about how some folks have put the head of a Fenix L0D onto the body of a Streamlight Microstream, since the thread on both matches up. This gives their Fenix L9D's the much sought after tailcal clickie. I'm guessing that maybe this could also be done with a Stylus Pro?

[NutSAK]

You can see that the Pro is thicker and shorter than the older Stylus, on account of having 2 x AA Batteries as opposed to 3 x AAAA.

Isn't the Stylus Pro 2 x AAA?

[ringzero]

Not sure if it's an an intentional one. You can twist the battery cap end a quater of a turn, and it will stop it from making enough contact with the battery to stop it from switching on. I think someone else on these forums (ringzero maybe?) pointed out that you could leave the 2 position tailcap switch in the "on" position, and turn it into a tailcap twistie with this method.

StylusPro works fine in the tailcap twisty switch mode.  Plus, if the tailcap is not backed off too far, the button still works for momentary on!

Slightly off topic, but I've also read on CPF about how some folks have put the head of a Fenix L0D onto the body of a Streamlight Microstream, since the thread on both matches up. This gives their Fenix L9D's the much sought after tailcal clickie. I'm guessing that maybe this could also be done with a Stylus Pro?

IIRC, there's several CPF threads on this and the Fenix head works with either MicroStream or StylusPro.

The StylusPro's 3 volts will put the Fenix head into "super-turbo" mode - just as a 3 volt Lion does.  Huge boost in lumens.  Not recommended by Fenix, but apparently some CPFers routinely run their L0D on 3 volt cells without damage.

The MicroStream body just yields the same outputs as the regular L0D, only switched with a pusbutton.

.

[Carthas]

You can see that the Pro is thicker and shorter than the older Stylus, on account of having 2 x AA Batteries as opposed to 3 x AAAA.

Isn't the Stylus Pro 2 x AAA?

Yep, you're absolutely right. Modified the post for correctness. Thank you for picking up on that 

[WhichDawg]

Very nice review, thank you. I used to really like pen-lights but since the inova key chain lights came out
(and now the really bright cheapies/freebies) I don't use them any more, but some nice info in here, thx all.