# 1000 Lumen RaidFire Spear: With lots of pics



## mvyrmnd (Feb 12, 2010)

This is my Spear...






Notice something different?






Nailbender very kindly just installed a WJ-Bin SST-50 in it for me. On a 2900mAh 18650, the emitter is getting ~3.6A, meaning ~1000 Lumens!

Nailbender's fine work:









I'll post some beamshots later once it gets dark. This is going to be awesome! I can't thank nailbender enough for his work.

Now with beamshot goodness!

First, a white wall (well it's actually blue) The beam pattern on this light is just gorgeous:





Now for some comparisons... All photos are at the same exposure and f-stop.

My back fence of 15m away. First photo is a Jetbeam Jet III-M Q5





And now the Spear





And now, just for fun, my Elektrolumens 3xMC-E Mag





In these, the back of the treehouse is 5m away

Jet III-M





Spear





3xMC-E Mag





Enjoy!


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## saabluster (Feb 12, 2010)

*Re: 1000 Lumen RaidFire Spear*

Very nice. I am not normally into all these posts about the latest LED someone swapped into their light but I am really curious about this one. I absolutely love my Spear and always thought it had more room to push the boundaries from a thermal perspective. How quickly does it heat up to the point you can't touch it?


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## mvyrmnd (Feb 12, 2010)

*Re: 1000 Lumen RaidFire Spear*



saabluster said:


> Very nice. I am not normally into all these posts about the latest LED someone swapped into their light but I am really curious about this one. I absolutely love my Spear and always thought it had more room to push the boundaries from a thermal perspective. How quickly does it heat up to the point you can't touch it?


After 5 mins, the body is at 45C at its hottest point.
EDIT: I ran a full battery charge through it and left it sitting on a table. The body segment the pill is screwed into made it to 58C. 

I'm going for a walk with it tonight, so I'll see how far I get before it burns me 

It does seem to stabilise at that point though. It gets to 40C within 2 mins, and then is only creeping up after that.

EDIT: I just got back from that walk... It would seem that the design of this light is not just for looks. It's about 25C ambient here (at 9pm) with a nice cool breeze blowing. I had the light on for about 20 mins following my dogs around a football oval (this thing is great! my dogs are black, and I never lost sight of them while they were running free on the oval, from where I was standing, the were usually within 150m from me) and it stayed cooler than my earlier test. I swear I felt it cool in my hand as the breeze blew through it.


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## glockboy (Feb 12, 2010)

*Re: 1000 Lumen RaidFire Spear*

Is he used the same driver or ?



mvyrmnd said:


> Nailbender very kindly just installed a WJ-Bin SST-50 in it for me. On a 2900mAh 18650, the emitter is getting ~3.6A, meaning ~1000 Lumens!


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## sledhead (Feb 12, 2010)

*Re: 1000 Lumen RaidFire Spear*

Very happy to see this thread. I also love my spear, still one of my favorite lights. 
If a beamshot is possible we'd all be looking forward to it!:thumbsup:


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## Fusion_m8 (Feb 12, 2010)

*Re: 1000 Lumen RaidFire Spear*

mvyrmnd: the modded RQ Q4 5A/B you sold me is still one of my favourite lights! 

I'd love to see your SST-50 SPEAR's beamshots!


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## nailbender (Feb 12, 2010)

*Re: 1000 Lumen RaidFire Spear*



glockboy said:


> Is he used the same driver or ?



Hi 

It is a 3 level direct drive board I used.

Dave


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## YourTime (Feb 13, 2010)

*Re: 1000 Lumen RaidFire Spear*

How does it throw compare to the stock Q5?

Im keen to find out


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## mvyrmnd (Feb 13, 2010)

*Re: 1000 Lumen RaidFire Spear*

The throw is not as far as I'd hoped/expected... It's good for 200m or so, but because of the large die size, the hotspot is quite large (although beautiful) and it spreads rapidly. 

I've found it the perfect companion for my Elektrolumens 3xMCE Mag. To my eye, at least, the spear puts as many lux @ 100m as the mag does at 10m (the mag is pure flood, 2100 Lumens) Incidentally, I can't tell them apart by tint. 

I promise beamshots soon. A 4 month old boy keeps distracting me...
EDIT: They're up!


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## CampingLED (Feb 13, 2010)

Nice light. :wave:

I am waiting for the "ultimate" LED to upgrade my RQ (Spear clone). Do you think this upgrade is worth it if I have a Catapult?


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## moviles (Feb 13, 2010)

nice reflector , it fit perfectly with the ssr-50





dropin pictures please


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## mvyrmnd (Feb 13, 2010)

moviles said:


> nice reflector , it fit perfectly with the ssr-50
> 
> dropin pictures please


Done! added to first post.


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## divine (Feb 13, 2010)

This looks pretty interesting, especially since an AW 2600mAh 18650 killed my spear. 

I really have no idea why it would do that, and I emailed Nitecore and they think I put the battery in backwards and didn't know what I was talking about when I told them the battery I used.


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## saabluster (Feb 14, 2010)

Thanks for the beam shots. Wish I could have seen a before and after. Do you like the new Spear better?

BTW your sig makes me giggle ever time I see it.


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## mvyrmnd (Feb 14, 2010)

Well, a before shot was impossible for 2 reasons... first, I bought it from the MP, and it was modded with a warm tint Q4. Second, while trying to put the original LED (the seller supplied it as well) I blew up the driver. It was only then I thought about upgrading it.

I love this light. I know some have complained about cool tint LED's and their inability to see through rain and whatnot. We got an inch of rain in the space of a couple of hours last night, and with this I could see though it like it wasn't there. I know this is the reason why so many folks are here, but there's something magical about having this much light in your hand 

All I need now are some IMR 18650's to see if I can push for the 6A the driver will let though :thumbsup:


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## saabluster (Feb 15, 2010)

No problem. When I changed out the LED in mine to an R2 I thought for sure I'd ruin it. I couldn't get the MCPCB out of the light to save my light. I finally decided to try and reflow the LED in the light and let the cards fall where they may. It ended up working out OK but I have no plans on ever upgrading that light again. Too difficult. 



mvyrmnd said:


> Well, a before shot was impossible for 2 reasons... first, I bought it from the MP, and it was modded with a warm tint Q4. Second, while trying to put the original LED (the seller supplied it as well) I blew up the driver. It was only then I thought about upgrading it.
> 
> I love this light. I know some have complained about cool tint LED's and their inability to see through rain and whatnot. We got an inch of rain in the space of a couple of hours last night, and with this I could see though it like it wasn't there. I know this is the reason why so many folks are here, but there's something magical about having this much light in your hand
> 
> All I need now are some IMR 18650's to see if I can push for the 6A the driver will let though :thumbsup:


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## mvyrmnd (Feb 15, 2010)

saabluster said:


> No problem. When I changed out the LED in mine to an R2 I thought for sure I'd ruin it. I couldn't get the MCPCB out of the light to save my light. I finally decided to try and reflow the LED in the light and let the cards fall where they may. It ended up working out OK but I have no plans on ever upgrading that light again. Too difficult.



Which is exactly why I then stripped the pill, and shipped the whole thing to a pro :twothumbs


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## rickypanecatyl (Feb 16, 2010)

Any chance we could get some beamshots at 100meters more or less?


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## mvyrmnd (Feb 16, 2010)

I just tried to do this, but my camera wouldn't oblige.

I'll try again another night.


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## Shrigg (Mar 23, 2010)

I have an RQ Spear arriving from KD "any day now" and want to use my Nailbender 2.5A SST-50 to create a versatile 3 mode thrower. Is swapping the pill part of my Nailbender P60 drop in to the Spear feasible?


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## h22 (Mar 23, 2010)

That is a wicked mod, I just PMed Nailbender about building me a similar light. 
I have tried to find a spear for sale........ :shakehead.

Are these still for sale, and is there an extention tube offered?

With that kind of current draw, just one 18650 wont last too long:devil:, 

Either way that would be a cool light to add to my collection!


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## h22 (Mar 23, 2010)

h22 said:


> That is a wicked mod, I just PMed Nailbender about building me a similar light.
> I have tried to find a spear for sale........ :shakehead.
> 
> Are these still for sale, and is there an extention tube offered?
> ...


 
DOPE:thinking:, foud it.....spelled it wrong in my search......

Now I need to get ahold of Nailbender...


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## h22 (Mar 23, 2010)

h22 said:


> DOPE:thinking:, foud it.....spelled it wrong in my search......
> 
> Now I need to get ahold of Nailbender...


 
OK, DX used to have them, sold out now........


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## mvyrmnd (Mar 23, 2010)

Shrigg: You'd be better off PM'ing nailbender about that. I'm not even sure the diameter of the driver from a P60 module will even fit the pill of the Spear, and that's assuming the pill of the RQ and the Spear are identical.

h22: Spears are no longer available anywhere except the CPFMP. Good hunting. If you have no other option, the RQ that's for sale at KD is quite good quality, and most who have one are quite impressed.


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## h22 (Mar 24, 2010)

mvyrmnd said:


> Shrigg: You'd be better off PM'ing nailbender about that. I'm not even sure the diameter of the driver from a P60 module will even fit the pill of the Spear, and that's assuming the pill of the RQ and the Spear are identical.
> 
> h22: Spears are no longer available anywhere except the CPFMP. Good hunting. If you have no other option, the RQ that's for sale at KD is quite good quality, and most who have one are quite impressed.


 
Complete Idiot question here, is the store really named "KD" or is that short for something? Like "DX" is Deal Extreem.


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## h22 (Mar 24, 2010)

Kia Domain?
Found this, looks identicle
http://kaidomain.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=6654


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## Shrigg (Mar 24, 2010)

That is the P7 version. I have the Q5 version for $34.99:
http://kaidomain.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=5558


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## [email protected] (Mar 25, 2010)

I've also got the RQ Cree from KaiDomain and I'm very happy with it's build, performance & price, AFAIK the build quality wasn't as good on the P7 variants :thumbsup:

Interesting Mod I must say... very tempting 



*** If anyone's interested HERE is a review/comparison of the actual Raidfire Spear and the KaiDomain Q5 offering head-to-head


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## mvyrmnd (Mar 26, 2010)

I actually have one of the P7 RQ's aswell, with the shiningbeam 2.5A 3-mode driver. not as great as the SST-50, but no slouch. The stock supplied driver in the P7 model is rubbish. Upgrading it was worth every penny.


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## COAST (Jun 21, 2010)

Did he just swap the emitter?


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## mvyrmnd (Jun 21, 2010)

Emitter and Driver.


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## COAST (Jun 22, 2010)

Oh ok, makes more sense now. Thanks


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## recDNA (Jul 11, 2010)

I'd like to see what the Spear can do modified with one of NB's 1.4 amp XR-E R2, even better if it is the new EZ900!


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## Bimmerboy (Jul 12, 2010)

mvyrmnd said:


> This is my Spear...


... and this is my gun.

This one's for lighting, this one's for fun. 

:devil:


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