|
home | about | who's here? | glossary | site map | winners |
|
Lexan is General Electric's brand of translucent, very durable, virtually shatterproof, polycarbonate resin thermoplastic.
In our gear bags we find Lexan in Nalgene bottles, flatwear, dishes, and cups. And flashlights.
I like Lexan for its clarity. One can see whether water has broken a seal, something worth knowing when at home, packing gear, rather than finding out in the field or on a boat deck before a dive.
The Lexan housing, available in a variety of translucent colors, just fits perfectly. That's not hyperbole, it's the unvarnished truth. The feel puts my cylindrical aluminum flashlights to shame. I suspect they'll be given away as gifts in short order.
That it works on standard AAA batteries (conventional or rechargable) is a plus in my book; many a time I've used up my rechargable batteries and happily taken regular alkaline batteries from my pack and continued on.
Three white LEDs, set into what the company calls a "focused wide beam", seemed just right for its range. The color is a bright white, quite refreshing when comparing it to flashlights with lightbulbs.
The Attitude with a good pocket clip, a really usable clip which held it well to my pack straps during testing, and an optional keyring, which I attached for those times I'm beating through the greneery and really want to be sure that gear clipped to the outside of my clothing and pack doesn't get pulled off by a branch.
Suggestions
I would have liked to have the Attitude's water rating (of one meter) hot-stamped into the Lexan; it's too important a property to get rubbed off by use.
The amazing feeling of the light kept making my fingers search for a properly-placed detent on-off switch. That it has a screw-down lens bezel, and requires two hands to operate, still confuses me. The kids fared better, taking to the Attitude with a vengence. And I wasn't worried about them breaking the housing or the LEDs. Sweet.
That bezel ought to be translucent too, making it really easy to see when someone has left the light on and propped on its face, something my in-laws are always doing with their lights. Enough light leaks through the body that it's adequete for the mindful to notice at night, but not during the day.
Conclusion
Minor points aside, the Attitude is a great little handheld flashlight. The solid Lexan body, light weight, incredible feel in my hand, and battery-thrifty virtually unbreakable LEDs make this light a great replacement to existing home flashlights and a great addition to car glove compartments, home emergency kits, and of course, outdoors use. Inexpensive enough to be a stocking-stuffer, it's valuable in it's execution, and won't be re-gifted by the next season.
|
This page is copyrighted 2005 by GearQueen.com, some rights reserved. If you use something from these pages please provide a link and attribution. We receive no compensation to test these products; these are the things we want to use "out there" and we hope you enjoy our opinions of their strengths and weaknesses. Evaluate our opinions yourself. We're not responsible for anything you may or may not do in dangerous situations. Be mindful. And while we're disclaiming, let's make it clear that even though we do some of our testing on the playa, we're not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the Burning Man organization in any way. Questions and comments to Michael 'Mickey' Sattler.