# Pentagonlight Molle review



## bridgman (May 2, 2007)

I ordered a tan Molle light from Steven at www.tacticalsupply.com and picked it up from the post office today. First impressions are pretty simple :

1. It's really small.

2. It's a really nice light.

The Molle light is not super bright, and doesn't have a lot of features, but it is an extremely practical, useable light. It's plastic, but it weighs almost nothing and seems pretty tough. It's smaller than my Fenix L1D-CE although the 90-degree head makes it a bit less pocketable than the L1D -- on the other hand it's very "clippable" into a pocket.

Size comparison -- new style SF A2, Pentagonlight Molle, Fenix L1D-CE :







Packaging is nice -- you don't need an Arkansas Toothpick (aka Bowie knife) to hack through the packaging, you just unclick it to open. All of my testing (and the pics below) were with the Duracell AA included in the packaging.

The switch is a momentary, but if you push it hard you get constant on ie a conventional clicky. MUCH more convenient than the Fenix -- I haven't really learned to like reverse clickies yet. The switch does a pretty good job of "doing what I want", ie momentary when I want momentary, constant on when I want constant on. There is no audible "click" for constant on, at least nothing I can hear, but if you push firmly you get constant on.

The beam quality is extremely high -- looks very much like my Streamlight Scorpion LED would look on "low" if it had a "low" level. The Scorpion LED was the previous winner of the "basement clearing" exercise I held for a previous review, but IMO the MOLLE light beats the Scorpion out. The beam is just bright enough to penetrate the dark corners in my (relatively small) basement, the spill is bright enough to see clearly over a wide area, and the brightness is sufficiently low that white walls don't blind you. Indoors -- two thumbs up. 

Outdoors, with maybe 30 seconds of dark adaptation, this is maybe a 30 foot light. It definitely illuminates further but not sufficiently well to clearly identify what is out there. Ideal for walking around but if there was any risk of predators (2 or 4 legged) I would probably want to carry a brighter light as well and use it maybe 1% of the time.

EDIT -- I guess carrying a loaded shotgun would also work, that way if something DID manage to get close I could at least communicate effectively with it on short notice.

OK, let's get down to what these lights are really designed for -- white walls. The main reason for these beamshots is to give an idea how the MOLLE light fits against a variety of more well known lights. 

First comparison was against a Streamlight Scorpion LED. The SL is obviously brighter and the camera washes out the shape of the SL beam but the two beams are VERY similar other than overall brightness. The Pentagonlight beam quality is very good, and shares the "small bright hotspot fading gradually to an even spill" characteristics I like so much in the Scorpion LED. In all of these shots the Pentagonlight MOLLE is on the right; here SL Scorpion LED is on the left :






Next comparison is with the Fenix L1D-CE on Low. The Fenix throws a bit better even on low, but you can see that (a) Pentagonlight beam quality is way ahead, and (b) the spill from the Pentagonlight is *much* brighter. During earlier "basement clearing" exercises I concluded that a bright, consistent spillbeam plus a small bright spot was ideal for room clearing, at least for me. The Pentagonlight has it; the Fenix does not (and, interestingly, neither did a Surefire P60 bulb in a Z2). 

Here is MOLLE on the right, L1D-CE Low on the left :






Next is the same shot but L1D-CE Medium on the left. You can see that both spill and hotspot are brighter than the Pentagonlight, so we know that output is brighter than the rated 10 lumens of L1D Low and lower than the rated 40 lumens of L1D high. Makes sense.






OK, next up is a recent A2-WH running on LED. Again, MOLLE on the right, A2 on the left :






The A2 is great for navigating around inside but the spillbeam is relatively weak compared to the MOLLE light. The A2 is actually quite adequate if you are very comfortable with your surroundings (ie going from bedroom to bathroom  ) but for basement clearing there was no comparison. 

The MOLLE light had enough spill to make a dark creepy basement seem comfortable while the A2 did not. I ran the MOLLE and A2 through the same exercise and honestly preferred the MOLLE light over the A2. Having said that, if I had to pick one light I would still take the A2 for the superior outdoor throw on incan and the longer runtime on LED. 

Other stuff :

The tan lights come with red filter; black lights come with blue filter. I'm into astronomy when I have time (roughly every third year) so the red filter was one of the attractions of the light. The filter is pretty dark, but the resulting output seems pretty close to ideal -- bright enough for to see clearly ~12" from the light but dark enough to be difficult to notice and unlikely to bother other dark-adapted people. Without dark adaptation it was a bit hard to walk around and see the ground but the light did stop me from walking into the snowblower, so props for that.

The light comes with a compass tailcap, but not with the pouch that CountyComm is offering (albeit at a higher price). I don't need the pouch, and the compass seems handy as long as you accept that you will need to remove it from the flashlight to use it, ie that you will be using it during the day unless you have another light. No biggie.

After taking the pics I replaced the Duracell AA with an Eneloop AA charged a couple of weeks ago. I *think* the light is brighter with the Eneloop although you should treat this as a low quality data point.

BOTTOM LINE

This is a very useful, practical light. It's very small, weighs almost nothing, has a very practical clip, and has a very nice beam. Great for walking around outdoors and for pretty much any use indoors, but IMO not enough throw to be your only light outdoors in a potentially hostile environment. For camping etc.. I can't think of a better light.

Not sure if the rated 3 hour runtime is with an alkaline or a NiMH AA; will try to run some tests with Eneloop AA and post back.

That is all.


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## PJD (May 3, 2007)

bridgman...very good review and pics! I've bought two MOLLE Lights so far; a black one and a tan one. I gave one of them to my neighbor who is an avid fisherman/outdoorsman, and he absolutely loves it! I'm quite fond of the MOLLE Lights. The hotspot is bright enough to effectively illuminate objects at what I consider to be "utility" range, and the spill light is just plain impressive! In fact, I think the spill light is the MOLLE Light's truly strong point.

If you put your ear right up to the switch when turning the light on, you can hear a faint but audible click. This was somewhat of a "bone of contention" to some folks who bought the MOLLE Light; to me it makes perfect sense. The MOLLE Light was put together with military/law enforcement applications in mind, and to have a more audible click when turning the light on sort of defeats the purpose from a "tactical" perspective. Not all lights that are used for tactical purposes need to retina-scorchers, and IMHO, I think the MOLLE Light does fill a niche for some tactical applications.

Again, great review! I think the MOLLE Lights are worth every penny of their cost...Thanx for sharing!

PJD


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## woodrow (May 3, 2007)

Nice review, great job-thanks!


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## bridgman (May 3, 2007)

>>If you put your ear right up to the switch when turning the light on, you can hear a faint but audible click. 

Geez, you're right. Who'da thought ? Thanks !!


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## ringzero (May 3, 2007)

bridgman said:


> BOTTOM LINE...This is a very useful, practical light. It's very small, weighs almost nothing, has a very practical clip, and has a very nice beam. Great for walking around outdoors and for pretty much any use indoors, but IMO not enough throw to be your only light outdoors in a potentially hostile environment. For camping etc.. I can't think of a better light.



Thanks for the excellent review and pics bridgman.

I've been intending to get a few of these lights but will be holding off a little longer due to problems people were experiencing with some of the early production lights they got from CountyCom.

I do agree with you conclusion. I can't think of a 1AA light better than this or as all around useful as this.

It's a shame there isn't more competition amongst the various manufacturers to make small angle-head lights.

It would be so easy for UK to add a convertible angle-head feature to their smaller lights, as they already do with their 4AA lights.

Fenix is very speedy and innovative. Fenix could quickly tool up and make an angle-head model, or it could sell a replacement angle-head attachment for existing models.

.


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## ScooterBug (May 3, 2007)

great review. this talked me into ordering one.


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## UKSFighter (May 3, 2007)

Great review. I really like this little light. I will not have filter kits, but they are going to be available soon I am told.

Enjoy!


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## Dutchman (Jun 26, 2007)

:twothumbs
Got my black molle pentagonlight today. So far no problems.
Only I wasnot happy with the filter.
I used my trusted Dremel, got rid of the blue lens and glued an old yellow/orange plastic disk from a fulton light and voila, got a bright orange filter.

I am very happy


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## 83Venture (Jun 26, 2007)

I saw one of these at a gunshow this weekend ($35.00) and was surprised at how small it is. I wonder how it will compare to the Streamlight Sidewinder when it comes out next month?


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## Daekar (Jun 27, 2007)

I think the real question is, what kind of emitter is it, what's the voltage running to it, what's the current running to it, and can you mod it for a CREE or SSC?


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## karsten (Jul 5, 2007)

Is this light regulated like the fenix-lights?


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## karsten (Jul 8, 2007)

karsten said:


> Is this light regulated like the fenix-lights?



Does anybody know this?


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## mulotozink (Jul 11, 2007)

any water resistance?


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## elgarak (Jul 13, 2007)

Splashproof. I dumped it into the sink for a minute or so without problems.

However, during a ... lengthy... water test... ok, ok, I took it into the shower... it leaked a little. Not much, could be dried out within 2 hours, but don't go swimming with it.

I suspect the main entry point is the switch... it might be OK if you do not operate the switch under water.

Regulation: It runs on one AA, so it has at least a boost converter, so it's at least semi-regulated. Unfortunately, have not the means to do runtime graphs.


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## Mr. Blue (Sep 2, 2007)

are lithium AA's ok for this light?


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## Grubbster (Sep 2, 2007)

Mr. Blue said:


> are lithium AA's ok for this light?


Lithium primaries work fine in mine.


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## Mr. Blue (Sep 2, 2007)

Grubbster said:


> Lithium primaries work fine in mine.



thanks...is it regulated?


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## Pwallwin (Sep 4, 2007)

Semi-regulated I think.

Which way is the polarity?

I say this because, I just got mine and I inserted the AA with positive facing upwards ie. towards the head. It worked fine, but when I had it turned off it started to flicker on and off! I began to wonder if there was an SOS mode on it!

Have I inserted the batteries correctly? I don't wanna try the other way incase I damage the unit.


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## Flash_Gordon (Sep 4, 2007)

Pwallwin said:


> I say this because, I just got mine and I inserted the AA with positive facing upwards ie. towards the head. It worked fine, but when I had it turned off it started to flicker on and off! I began to wonder if there was an SOS mode on it!



There have been a number of previous threads on this light. The condition you describe is a defect and the only solution is to return your light to Pentagon for replacement.

I was one of the first to get this light. The first night I was awakened by the light shining in my eyes from the nightstand. When turned off, it might turn itself on full, partial or flicker. My replacement has been perfect and I think it is a really useful light.

You must have run across one from an earlier batch as I have not heard about this problem recently.

Call Pentagon for an RMA. The turnaround was pretty fast.

The batteries are inserted positive towards the head.

Mark


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## Pwallwin (Sep 4, 2007)

Flash_Gordon said:


> You must have run across one from an earlier batch as I have not heard about this problem recently.


 
Thanks Mark. Sure enough, it's flickering and sometimes stays on even when the button should means it's off, and sometimes it doesn't turn on at all...very annoying.

Even more annoying seeing as I live in the UK! I will try and get their number and send it back to them.

Thanks!


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## Pwallwin (Sep 6, 2007)

I am using rechargeables for these. I've just thought of that now! 

Could that be causing a problem? :shrug:


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## Flash_Gordon (Sep 6, 2007)

Pentagon does not recommend rechargeables for this light. They have only tested with alkaline. I use AA lithium in mine with excellent results.

Try a fresh alkaline in your light. NiMH may stop it from turning on but should not in any way cause it to turn on when it is off.

Mark


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## Bushman5 (Sep 22, 2007)

GREAT REVIEW!! thank you, another light to add to my list! :thumbsup:


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## Russianesq (Oct 4, 2007)

*I contacted PentagonLight to find out if lithium batteries could be used.*
*This is the email response:*

*" We don't have the performance data on lithium AA because we have not done any extensive testing on that, so we can not give a definitive answer. But it should be able to take any AA complied batteries. "*

*Nice little light. Here are some more size comparison pics.*
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## gottawearshades (May 1, 2008)

Howdy.

Just got a Molle light for free with an order from Maxpedition.

I am pleasantly surprised. This is very small, very bright, and and very white. It lights up a room. Definitely more than 30 lumens (comparing ceiling bounces with my NovaTac).

This is now on my list of "Best Buy" lights.

Does anybody know kind of LED it uses? I couldn't find anything on PL's Website.

Cheers.


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## e2x2e (May 2, 2008)

Wow it's much smaller than I thought! I wish it was more waterproof, but I need one anyway.


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## cruisemissile (Nov 26, 2008)

I just ordered one for my son as a gift- I ordered the "phantom" (glow in the dark body). looks smaller than I thought, but I haven't taken it out of the package yet. It seems to be a good light for my 5 year old. He is graduated from the "cheap" lights, and even his mini-mags (with nite ize led).


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