First impressions: My EDC for the last year+ has been my 4Sevens Mini123 using an RCR123, so somewhere in the neighborhood of 235 Lumens Out The Front. This is the comparison light for the data below.
The Vesuvius (V) is a tiny bit longer than I had envisioned, but certainly small. It's nice and slender, with a great, non-aggressive knurl. Thread action is smooth and there is some copper based thread lubricant or Never-Sieze utilized. (At first, I thought it was dirt until I used a magnifying glass) I don't use ring mountings so I removed the small one at the end. I wish I could easily remove the ring nub without evidence of having done so to shorten the light by 3/16" but oh, well. Another reason to remove the nub - so it can tail-stand. Maybe when I get my lathe, I'll face it off. The light just looks good in my hand. I'll say right up front, that V will probably not replace my EDC. It's a little too long. It will still see front line duty though.
I tried V first in a darkened room without charging the IMR cells. They were at approx 3.85V - perfect for LiOn storage. I turned it on as low as I could and saw a nice, very low Lumen output. I turned it up to High and did a ceiling bounce test. My perception was that it is not as bright as my Mini123. I got out the Mini and did the same test. The Mini sure looked brighter. OK, enough of this "from the hip" stuff. I went out to the garage and put the cells on my Schulze and paralleled them at a 200 mA rate. They took 113 mAh each.
The lights: (I decided to throw in an 800 Lumen rated modded Tank7 light by VestureOfBlood) (The rule is perfectly lined up with the top of all 3 lights even though it doesn't look that way)
The beam shots:
M camera was on manual and I centered the on-screen light meter for the Combined Mini123 and V shot. Then I centered the light meter again with the Mini123 "by itself" and shot it - assuming it is the least bright of the two. Settings ended up to be 5 seconds and F3.2 which were also used for V by itself. Each light is aimed at the second square to the left and right of the vertical center door frame and 2nd square up from the bottom.
First pic shows the Mini and V both on (cells fresh off the charger) against my white/gray door @ 15'. Mini, right, Vesuvius, left. Note the obvious Mini hotspot but also note the void of light to its' right. No hotspot to speak of for "V" but it lights up much more peripherally.
Vesuvius by itself
Mini123 by itself
Modded Tank7 light that I believe is rated at 800 Lumens.
Now some Estech 33 meter data. All numbers were taken as soon as the lights were on HIGH and on a fresh-off-the-charger cell. Numbers are from a ceiling bounce method. Ceiling is 9' tall and white.
Mini123 - 917 Lux
Vesuvius - 1701 Lux
Tank7 - 2306 Lux
To my eye, I still have a difficult time seeing the significant higher output of the Vesuvius but the camera light meter, the Estech meter and pics don't lie. I'm a "Throw" guy and I'm sure I'm letting the small, bright Mini hotspot prejudice my perception. Vesuvius is a keeper but we'll see if it becomes my EDC.
