[Review] Safe-Light Star

[choombak]

My first review of the Safe-Light Star model. Suggestions for improvement, and comments welcome. Photo-intensive. Thanks.



Packaging

Received two Star lights, orange and green from James of Safe-Light Industries. The lights came in a cardboard packaging box, reasonably well packed. Individual lights are packed in small boxes, neatly bubble wrapped, along with the information leaflet. Each box contained 1 Star light, 1 leaflet, and 1 lanyard.

The light

The Star is palm-sized (medium), with a full rubberized coating, and hence very grippy. It has diamond shaped knurlings all along the body which enhances the grip further. The glow is always on, and I liked the find-me mode (shut-off = find-me mode). With absolute no spill, this mode is very good for night time navigation, thus maintaining your night vision intact. The lens seems to be made of plastic, and is snugly fit in the body.



Click the switch once to turn on the light, and it is visibly much brighter than E01, or Arc AAA-P, and my eye-estimate puts the output lumens to somewhere around 20 (I may be mistaken). Click the switch again, and it goes back to the find-me mode.



The steel ring around the light has to be unclasped to open the battery compartment. The light also has a feature where it goes back to find-me mode after about 25 minutes if left on, to conserve the battery. Havent tried it yet.

Find-me mode:

Beam

With no spill the hotspot is very bright and tight, and one can actually see the path of light from the lens to the wall (like a search light). My unit has two faint spots, but overall the beam looks very nice. There is also a faint but visible outer ring.

About 1 feet:

At about 3.5 feet:

Attachments

Black colored lanyard, and flat with a lobster clip. It can be attached to the bottom clip of the light. Attention to detail is fine - the bottom clip has a stopper which contains it within the cavity.

Impression, and additional comments

Overall, I find this light very useful at the bedside, and for general home navigation. Additionally, the rectangular shape makes it easy standing light. The orange one I had is now being carried by my 4 yr. old daughter, and she has started loving it. Finally, she has a light of her own, which looks like a real light that daddy has.



Additional close-up shots

 

[Barrie]

nice review thanks

 

[kreisler]

nice review and nice plastic.

 

[sveqs]

Thanks for the review!

I have three SafeLights (Survivor, Lantern, Handyman), and have bought one for my mother-in-law (Star)
They are very good general household lights that will go a long way before the battery dies, and even then they fade gradually, leaving you plenty of time to replace them. I never got the runtime the maker promises but I am not using expensive 9V batteries either. Also, they have a very good customer service, My Handyman's flash mode started flickering and the unit was replaced without a question, all costs covered by James Meyer :thumbsup:

My Survivor (same as Star, with added functions) also has those two dark sports, it they don't impede everyday use at all

 

[Gregozedobe]

Good review of these useful lights.

I have put several different Safe-lights/Palights at strategic locations around my house so when I have a power failure I can find a light even in total darkness - the locator glow is good for this.

I have replaced the focusing lens with a flat lens in several of them - I prefer the more floody beam I get with the flat lens for indoor use. For outdoor use the increased throw of the focussing lens would probably be better (as stated by choombak it is surprisingly bright for a single 5mm emitter).

The locator glow is enough to navigate with with night adjusted eyes (just) and won't disturb sleeping people like a brighter light would.

My favourites are the Handyman and Survivor models, but the Star model is possibly the best one for non-flashaholics.