The 5mm Challenge

[coyote]

... A side note for coyote- the steelwool "frosting" trick that worked wonders on my EO1's works on the Mako, too. I admit it was a leap of faith on a $100.00+ light, but the rings in the beam were killing me. Mako is one of my favorites, this is my warm LED one

scout24: man oh man, what a difference. a man of courage because that does take a leap of faith, but boy is it worth it. quite an improvement. thanks for the idea and the side-by-side beamshots. they say it all. and i'm also tempted to do that to all my wife's E01 lights. like carrot, i didn't even know enrique made warm versions. i've been looking for a 60 degree version because i'm a flood fan. how does the standard and flood verisons compare? could you describe the 60 degree beam please?

 

[scout24]

Coyote-I'll post you up some comparison beamshots when I get home this evening.

 

[coyote]

thank you, my friend!

 

[carrot]

Already I had to cheat. I was digging around in a dark corner where sunlight wasn't going and I was wearing sunglasses. Needed a bit more oomph than the 5mm could muster. Still... been using the Arc as much as possible and enjoying it.

 

[AardvarkSagus]

This is an excellent idea, I just have one issue that is preventing me from participating...I've got review lights on the way that are more powerful. I need to be using them so I can give them a thorough rundown. I'd probably take you up on the challenge if I was between reviews. Everywhere other than at work I bet I could get away with it just fine for a limited amount of time. I'd be using my Fenix E01 if I did join up.

 

[Yavox]

Does my SF A2 with the Aviatrix ring qualify if I use only one of its red LEDs? Is it possible to play with other lights without turning them on or it is against the rules?

 

[carrot]

Does my SF A2 with the Aviatrix ring qualify if I use only one of its red LEDs? Is it possible to play with other lights without turning them on or it is against the rules?

Yes and yes.

 

[don.gwapo]

Then my led lenser v2 would be my entry. 5 white and 1 red nichia's. I'm only gonna use the red one. Don't know if I can last long. .

 

[nbp]

I'm having some friends over tonight, one of them is a flashlight junkie. I'll probably have to turn on some other lights to show him what I got. :naughty: Not that I'll really USE them for anything, but I will likely shine them around the yard...you know, assert my flashlight dominance. :nana: If that disqualifies me, I will start over tomorrow.

 

[scout24]

Here's a really bad beamshots comparing my Mako warm, 60 degree, and two EO1's... The "frosting" really mellows out the ringiness of the Mako and purple hotspot of the EO1.This was taken in daylight, and 6-8" from my garage door, in an effort to highlight the differences between them. FWIW, the chapstick cap shrinktubing covered EO1 was perfect for midnight runs and getting ready forwork this morning without waking the Wife... Plus, it gives me a screaming high level when I take the cap off!!!

60 degree Mako, frosted warm Mako, "stock" EO1, frosted EO1...

Both Makos- 60 deg. and Warm frosted.

Frosted and abused EO1 vs. stock.

 

[nbp]

I like the beam on the frosted E01. So all you did was take some steel wool and rub down the epoxy dome? That seems easy enough. :thinking: Maybe I ought to try that.

 

[bondr006]

I frosted my E01 with very fine steel wool and love the results. It smooths out the beam and gets rid of the rings really nicely. Easy to do.

 

[scout24]

NBP- takes all of 30 seconds, make sure you use 0000 steel wool, less zeros is way too coarse. Before and after below. I just stuff as much as I can down into the emitter end and twist back and forth with a good bit of downward force, checking for an even finish two or three times. Unlike my car, there is no de-frost, however...

New from box.

The steel wool.

Cram it down in there, and do the twist!

Finished...

 

[jabe1]

View attachment 52

I could put a piece of black electrical tape over 4 of them LOL

If it's one of last year's models you may be able to just wait until 4 burn-out!


Last night I tried using just my red LED Shasta... no way. I went back to the Matterhorn .

My 5mm A-team!

So far so good, although today my Quark Mini 123 had to be used to inspect some welding I had just done.

 

[22hornet]

My 5mm toys

Actually I like colored leds a lot, like my red Peak Fujiyama or my turquoise ARC

In most, around the house, cases, a 5mm will do fine for me.

Some Peak Fujiyamas:

Kind regards,
Joris

 

[WadeF]

I have survived the challenge so far. Today I used the Arc GS to find the shirt I was looking for in my closet. It rendered the various colors just fine. Later in the day I knocked a small light bulb off the shelf along my basement stairs and the Arc GS did fine illuminating the shards of glass I needed to vacuum up. It saw some other misc. use. Here are a couple photos I took out of boredom:

 

[LightWalker]

Thanks for the E01 frosting tip scout24.

 

[Got Lumens?]

So what you are saying is I have to only use one at a time, that leaves me with 1 and 4 spares

If it's one of last year's models you may be able to just wait until 4 burn-out!

 

[Burgess]

Idea for the NEXT challenge:



For one solid week . . . .



Use only STROBE or S-O-S mode ! ! !



_

 

[EngrPaul]

Wow, that's a spacy looking picture! I don't remember the light shooting out plasma before?