PKFL2LE review (650lm, 2xCR123A, 1x17650)

viperxp

Enlightened
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Aug 14, 2013
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218
Location
Israel
Greetings All,
This is a review of a very special flashlight, the most special that I own. I will first write some information about the flashlight, than I will review it.

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So ,what's so special and who is PK ?

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So .. Many of you might heard about Surefire company. There are lots of topics about it's products, and many will follow, for many reasons. So .. Paul Kim worked there as a Vice President of Engineering for a lot of time (19 years total), designed a lot of cool stuff and recently left Surefire. He opened his own company, and the flashlight is his first flashlight made independent from Surefire. The flashlight shares much with Surefire flashlights, so that existing accessories will fit.


Specs

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What's interesting? Not much really, besides the fact that only 1000 flashlights will be made. 650 lumens and usage of non-rechargeable batteries does not look very attractive, given the competitions. Remember Surefire, right?


Lets get started


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So ... this is the actual package of the mega-exclusive almost 200 dollars flashlight.

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This is the content - very spartan. Flashlight, sticker and user manual.

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I find the flashlight beautiful, but it's a matter of taste. A lot of edges, fine details. The manufacturer is proud that the flashlight will not slip from the hand even if you use gloves or hands are wet even with blood.
The quality is excellent, I could not find any flaw. The flashlight itself is much smaller than I thought, it even can be considered to be called compact.
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A beautiful detailed piece of engineering. Bezel is one-of a kind, I was very surprised that it did not tear my pants pocket. The Glass has anti-reflective coating and of a sophisticated type - try to google "borofloat". No fingerprints or dust was found on/below the lens.

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The flashlight came with well lubricated threads. Not square cut, but anodized. The tail-cup is very beautiful,even proud design with "IN GOD WE TRUST" on the outside and the manufacturer logo on the inside.


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The flashlight does not have spring in the head. The LED is perfectly centered. Specs say about some clever reflector tech - from my point of view it might be special it does look shinier than some.

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The flashlight in company of other popular tactical - and not so tactical flashlights, to give you idea of it's size.
Left to right you can see Olight M22, Thrunite TN12 2014, Olight M18 Striker, PKFL2LE, Olight S20 Baton. As you can see the flashlight is quite compact.

Does it even work??

Yep, and works pretty well in my opinion. The light itself is cool white with no visible tint. The flashlight has two brightness modes - high and low. The flashlight starts from high, the flashlight has tactical switch. The switch itself has a very nice feel, the button is just stiff enough and the click is solid.


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Control shot

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Thrunite TN12 2014 1050 lumen. On all the pictures first I point the flashlight at the closest tree, and then on a more distant (distance is 50 and 100-150 meters I think)

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PKFL2LE . Does not look very different from the Thrunite.

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Olight M18 Striker. 800 lumen.


Some numbers (lux in hotspot from meter)

Flashlight/ModeLowMidMediumHighTurbo
Thrunite TN 12 2014 (1050 lm)21452670750010000
Nitecore P12 (950 lm)8480-19838950
Olight M18 Striker1300---6200
PKFL2LE485---9500

A large clever reflector allows PKFL2LE to almost catch 1050 lumen Thrunite with only 650 lumens :)

PWM, Noise

I could not detect any sound coming from the flashlight on any mode, and no PWM


Conclusions


So ... Features/lumens vise it's not a great hit - many other flashlights give more at a fraction of it's cost. But it you take into account the durability and the value of the flashlight - the fact that it's a result of a work of a real master that influenced the flashlight industry as we see it today, and the fact that the flashlight is a part of limited edition - it may look very different.

Thank you for reading. If you have any questions/suggestions I will be happy to hear and assist. My English is far from being perfect, so sorry for the typos.

The flashlight was provided by PK for a review


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P.S. Some flashlight, and PK himself pictures for you.



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viperxp

Enlightened
Joined
Aug 14, 2013
Messages
218
Location
Israel
viperxp,

Very nice review
:thumbsup:.
You covered PK's FL2 LE differently than I did in my review and I like that. I like what I read and I'm sure Paul will enjoy reading it as well.
This is my review if you have not read it.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...2-Beam-Shots&p=4454012&highlight=#post4454012

Yes the FL2 LE is a great light for sure. Thanks for your review.

Thanks, it's been my pleasure reviewing it. I will read you review and give my thouts about it as well :) .
 

pk

Photon King
Joined
Aug 3, 2001
Messages
1,735
Location
Westminster, CA, USA
viperxp,
Gratitude for intuitive and practical review to enlighten all.
However, did you must use that old photo of me!! That's when I was young & wild and now I am not that anymore!!

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Just looking at that haircuts make me feel...
Now I will go back hide into my cave!
 

RedForest UK

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 28, 2009
Messages
1,365
Is it seriously a 20 second reset to high mode? That just seems riduculous. Think about just how many times you could find yourself having used the light 10-15 seconds ago, then needing it again and getting the low mode instead of high. For me, tail cycling with long reset or memory times are one of the most important factors to avoid in a light of any price. Hopefully I have misunderstood, because I just can't believe that someone with so much experience in the market would choose about the worst UI possible, and for such an expensive premium light as well.
 

RedForest UK

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Nov 28, 2009
Messages
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Well, between 1 and 2 seconds is generally an acceptable reset time. Most decent manufacturers who use a 'scroll through' UI (e.g. Surefire's E2L and newer G2X/6PX/P2X line) have settled on around that limit. It is generally the really low-end lights that have longer reset times, often termed 'next-mode memory' as they so often come on in the following mode because the pause between use hasn't been long enough. The same problem is also evident on Armytek's 'partner' line however, which is the only thing stopping me from purchasing one as I love the quality and beam profile of TIR Armyteks.

Personally I prefer the 'head twist' UI, where the mode setting is decoupled from standard operation, e.g. the Quark tactical line or many Fenix lights. If a scrolling UI is chosen though, then I would much prefer an even faster than normal reset time of 300-500ms. This would mean that the light can be comfortably used as a momentary on without switching between outputs unless specific effort is put in to do so and would certainly make for a better 'tactical' UI in my opinion (not that momentary activation is only useful in 'tactical' situations).
 

Greta

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Messages
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Location
Arizona
Well, between 1 and 2 seconds is generally an acceptable reset time. Most decent manufacturers who use a 'scroll through' UI (e.g. Surefire's E2L and newer G2X/6PX/P2X line) have settled on around that limit. It is generally the really low-end lights that have longer reset times, often termed 'next-mode memory' as they so often come on in the following mode because the pause between use hasn't been long enough. The same problem is also evident on Armytek's 'partner' line however, which is the only thing stopping me from purchasing one as I love the quality and beam profile of TIR Armyteks.

Personally I prefer the 'head twist' UI, where the mode setting is decoupled from standard operation, e.g. the Quark tactical line or many Fenix lights. If a scrolling UI is chosen though, then I would much prefer an even faster than normal reset time of 300-500ms. This would mean that the light can be comfortably used as a momentary on without switching between outputs unless specific effort is put in to do so and would certainly make for a better 'tactical' UI in my opinion (not that momentary activation is only useful in 'tactical' situations).

Interesting. Well... I just "tested" my FL2 and it took me less than two seconds to get from high to low to high again. I guess what you're NOT wanting to do is push the button more than once. But you prefer two hand operation for the 'head twist'? Personally, I HATE two hand operation when it comes to tactical cuz what are you going to do with your weapon while you're twisting the head? Doesn't make sense to me - but that's me, I guess. I just like to keep it simple.

So in summary... I guess this light isn't for you! Not every light is for every body. Vive la difference! :D
 

Overclocker

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frankly i'm not impressed. and it's got that cheapo light vibe to it... that crumpled sheet of foam kinda validates that

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is that a bare PCB trace as + terminal in there? no proper metal terminal? i take it this is not weapon-mountable...

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"in god we trust". really? that's a little scary to put in there... thomas jefferson must be turning in his grave

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i wanna know if the bezel is pressing directly against the glass. yes impact resistance...
 

RedForest UK

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Messages
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Interesting. Well... I just "tested" my FL2 and it took me less than two seconds to get from high to low to high again. I guess what you're NOT wanting to do is push the button more than once. But you prefer two hand operation for the 'head twist'? Personally, I HATE two hand operation when it comes to tactical cuz what are you going to do with your weapon while you're twisting the head? Doesn't make sense to me - but that's me, I guess. I just like to keep it simple.

So in summary... I guess this light isn't for you! Not every light is for every body. Vive la difference!
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I think maybe you've missed what I'm getting at, or I may well be misunderstanding either your post or hopefully the mode description, then this wouldn't be a problem at all!

If you turn the light on in high and then turn off and wait for 5 seconds, then turn it back on again, does it come back on in high or low?

It's not the speed of mode changes that bothers me but the speed by which it resets to high, if it takes 20 seconds to reset then a temporary use in high will mean that if it is needed again in any time less than 20 seconds it will come back on in low. I like to be able to turn the light on in the primary mode temporarily to light something up, then release the switch for off and turn back on in the primary mode after a break of only a couple of seconds, something which wouldn't be possible if the mode reset time was longer than the couple of seconds it was off.

That's the advantage of the head twist UI to me, I always know what mode it will come on in and I can use it in that mode momentarily over and over without worrying about accidentally switching to another unsuitable mode. I agree that needing two hands to change mode isn't ideal, and yes in a tactical situation changing the mode would be even more awkward with that UI. However I would think that in such a situation you would generally only want access to the primary (probably the highest) mode and it is most important to simply know you can rely on the light to come on at that level without worrying about waiting a set period of time before reactivating it. This is why the 'tactical' versions of the Surefire 'x' line are single mode, so they can be relied on to always come on in high.

Try taking it for a walk in the dusk, when you don't need a light on permanently but intermittently wish to highlight something in the shadows. If the mode reset time is too long you'll find yourself in low half of the time and have to 'scroll' it back to high. It depends on how you like to use the light, which of course not everyone is the same, but I like to use momentary quite a lot so for me this irritation is a major reason not to purchase any light where it's featured.
 
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Overclocker

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Is it seriously a 20 second reset to high mode? That just seems riduculous. Think about just how many times you could find yourself having used the light 10-15 seconds ago, then needing it again and getting the low mode instead of high. For me, tail cycling with long reset or memory times are one of the most important factors to avoid in a light of any price. Hopefully I have misunderstood, because I just can't believe that someone with so much experience in the market would choose about the worst UI possible, and for such an expensive premium light as well.



agree! that's just ridiculous...

i prefer fast reset, like 2 seconds. so if you're at HIGH then you turn off, as long as you don't turn it on again within less than 2 seconds then you're pretty sure it'll fire up at HIGH again. this is how a tactically oriented light should behave
 

subwoofer

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There are lots of things I like about this light, but some of the shortcomings overclocker has pointed out spoil what could have been a truly top notch light.

Whatever beliefs you may have, it does seem very tacky to me to put 'In God we Trust' on a bit of tactical kit. I'd rather trust the kit.

PK, we know you can do better.
 

Greta

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RedForestUK - point taken. I guess I just don't use my lights EVER in the way you describe. Just doesn't happen.

But for argument's sake... using temp on (not depressing button all the way), it's really not that difficult or time consuming to get back to high. I just shot this quick video... (can't believe Sasha didn't give me that classic "WTF?!?" bulldog look!)

 

RedForest UK

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I agree that depending on usage style it can prove either a bigger or lesser problem, and it is quite easy to get back to high if needed.

The problem is that this isn't just an irritating 2 second reset time, but 20 whole seconds. This means that the problem will show up even if it isn't being used for momentary on as I described. Even if it was constantly on for a few minutes, then you switched it off/put it down for even 19 seconds, when turned on again it would be in low mode instead of the high that you would otherwise expect. 20 seconds is a long time, by which time (assuming you are actually doing something else in this time instead of testing what mode the torch comes back on in!) you would probably have completely forgotten to expect it to change mode.

Yes it's easy to switch back to what you want and you could explain it away as only a minor gripe. But then many of the issues on this forum are even more minor really; an poor tint, beam profile artefacts, off-centre LEDs, anodizing blotches or mismatches are all not major issues in general use. From my own experience, when you are expecting high, and get low for something you needed high for, this can get really frustrating. It's like having random mode activation instead of a reliable tool. That is just as big a problem as any of the other examples I listed imo, and whilst it is ok to put up with it on a sub-$10/15 light, in a premium light where things are well thought out and effort is put in to get everything else right it just is not a flaw I would expect or put up with.

Anyway, I do hope that you're right it's not a big problem for you, but please let us know how you feel again after perhaps a few weeks or months of use.
 
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Greta

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... an poor tint, beam profile artifacts...


Ok now THOSE are not minor issues. Tint gets me every time and I've embarrassed my husband on more than one occasion by commenting on the tint of someone's flashlight. The most recent was the plumber who came to fix a leak in our attic. I believe my comment was "Wow that's a crappy light". He ended up finishing the job with my FL2 and leaving our house with an ICON Rogue 2. He wanted my FL2 but I wouldn't let him have it cuz it's MINE!

Anyway, I do hope that you're right it's not a big problem for you, but please let us know how you feel again after perhaps a few weeks or months of use.


I've had mine since January... ;)


 

Barefootone

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Jul 10, 2003
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479
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East Brady, Pa.
PK,
You are still a wild and crazy guy you can't fool us.
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viperxp,
Gratitude for intuitive and practical review to enlighten all.
However, did you must use that old photo of me!! That's when I was young & wild and now I am not that anymore!!

iP8BOxBGKuK7o.png


Just looking at that haircuts make me feel...
Now I will go back hide into my cave!
 
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