Olight announces their SF Scout competitor today

[whomever]

I went and waved it around the yard last night. Bear in mind that we are surrounded by pine woods starting 30 to 40 yds from the house, and no light looks too deeply into the woods (because the bright trees in the foreground keep you from seeing the dimmer, further areas). The next time we're camping in an open area it will be fun to try it again.

It's bright, no surprise there. It has a bright center and a fairly abrupt transition to a dimmer spill area. Personally, I would prefer a 'floodier' beam, with a less abrupt boundary between the center and edges. For me, anyway, if you are looking at an object in the bright center it's easier to miss something in the dimmer edges than if the beam is more diffuse. My sense is that a light with this many lumens can light up 50 or 100 yds pretty well with a fairly floody beam, and that is likely far enough for most situations that might be a justifiable defensive shooting. It would be different, maybe, if you were hunting coyotes or something - horses for courses. And of course, you can write what I know about using rifles at night with a crayon on a matchbook. Maybe a super bright center is good for disrupting an opponents vision or something.

ETA: I like the 21700 battery size - 50% more electrons than a 18650, but doesn't feel bulky at all (it shouldn't it's only 3mm bigger in diameter). I hope more handhelds use them.

I only compared it to one other light, a 'Nitecore new P30', which is an uber thrower. It had a hot spot that was noticeably brighter and narrower ...duh.

[Erick Gelhaus]

Anyone try their Odin out in the dark yet?

Just did.

These photos are from my neighborhood at about 25 yards. I'm illuminating a judgmental target from Tier1Targets - run by a veteran also tied to Three Rangers whiskey Clay Othic. This was set-up for the warm-up of a low-light NLTA class I ran a couple weeks ago.




I choose a location directly under a street light intentionally. Could this "burn" through the other light source or not?

The OLight Odin WML:


A SF 600 Scout with a replacement Malkoff head:


Modlite 18650 v1 PLH head:


A few initial observations from handling the light tonight - the on button & constant on feature come across a bit inconsistent or whonky to me so far. A little more annoying is that there is an audible and tactile vibration, buzzing every 3-5 activations. I'll get used to it, if it continues, but I can see it being a problematic stimulus during an encounter with another, non-compliant human.

Finally, it's a big/tall mount. It sticks out from the pic rail on my 1301 forearm much more than I'd like. Especially given the way attachments tend to catch on door jams, furniture, etc. I'll be interested to see how much effect any rotational issues have on the forearm.

[whomever]

"A little more annoying is that there is an audible and tactile vibration, buzzing every 3-5 activations. "

Per the manual, I think it's telling you the battery is low.

I agree the tailcap switch is kinda fiddly. I think the notion is:
-partial press for low, full press (to the click) for high
-short press to stay on, long press for momentary
but the boundary between short/long in particular is fussy enough it's hard to be sure what you are actually going to get.

AFAICT?? the remote switch is high only, and the same short to stay on, long for momentary, but overall seems easier to use than the tailcap.

BTW, the tailcap itself is magnetic, not just the charger thingy. Given the 'don't short the tailcap' advice you'd want to be careful tossing it into a glovebox or whatever.

[That Guy]

Is the mount on the light reversible? For example can you put the light on the right side of a gun, with the unlocking knob pointing upwards?

Can the light be used with CR123 batteries? (Obviously the output would be significantly lower.)

I haven't found answers to these questions yet. Any input from those of you who have this light?

[whomever]

I haven't found answers to these questions yet. Any input from those of you who have this light?

>Is the mount on the light reversible? For example can you put the light on the right side of a gun, with the unlocking knob pointing upwards?

Yes. depending on which side you'd have to pull forward or back to detach it. N.b. there are two mount slots on the picatinny adapter, one on the top, one on the side, so that gives you some flexibility as well.


>Can the light be used with CR123 batteries? (Obviously the output would be significantly lower.)

I wouldn't count on it. The battery is a 21700, where the 21 is diameter in mm and 700 is length in mm (approximately ... ).

123's are slightly smaller in diameter than 18650 batteries (18 mm...), which is why some Surefire tubes have to be bored out too use 18650's. So you would have to make/buy a sleeve to hold the 123's centered, I think, and with a conductive spacer to adapt the length

Problem 2 is that 2 123s put out 6.0 volts (3 volts each), vs 3.7ish for lithium ions like the 21700 (or 18650's). You *can* design circuitry to handle either voltage, but it's not a given that it would work. And testing whether it works might, or might not, damage the light :-(.

I have a Nitecore 'new P30' that takes 21700 (which they call 2150 ... long story) batteries, and a sleeve to adapt length and diameter to one 18650 or two 123's, and they spec it as OK for that. But over the years I have heard of lights designed for a 18650 that were fried by using 2x123. If the manufacturer won't tell you, you'd have to risk the light to know.


(you can see the adapter I'm talking about by scrolling down here, the 5th pic down or so:
https://flashlight.nitecore.com/product/newp30 )

[LittleLebowski]

I haven't found answers to these questions yet. Any input from those of you who have this light?

It’s reversible.

[Grey]

Tried to cancel my order with Olight with no luck from emailing their CS folks. Tried starting a live chat since their CS phone number is not working and the CS agent "hung up" on me as soon as our chat started... not terribly impressed with Olight CS right now...

[JRB]

Tried to cancel my order with Olight with no luck from emailing their CS folks. Tried starting a live chat since their CS phone number is not working and the CS agent "hung up" on me as soon as our chat started... not terribly impressed with Olight CS right now...

I'm giving it until COB Monday before I try to cancel, but they've had my money since the 22nd and I've heard absolutely NOTHING since the order confirmation. Not cool.

[GyroF-16]

I'm giving it until COB Monday before I try to cancel, but they've had my money since the 22nd and I've heard absolutely NOTHING since the order confirmation. Not cool.

Good luck with that...
I just did an online chat with Olight customer service. Asked for the status of the Odin order I placed on 21 Jun. They gave me a tracking link that showed that a shipping label had been generated on 23 Jun, but was still in “pre-shipment” status. When I asked when it would actually ship, it went like this:

CS - Due to the epidemic, our work has been hindered a lot. We are very sorry for the inconvenience.
Me - in that case, I'd like to cancel my order.
CS - I am sorry that I cannot help you cancel the order at present.
Me - who can do that, and when can they do that, then?
CC - The staff couldn't find your package among thousands of packages
Me - So - It's packaged, but hasn't been shipped for over a week?
CS - Yes, our fans are helping
Me - I'm sorry - I don't understand what that means.
CS - If you really don't like our products, we suggest you return the package directly at that time. We respect your choice
Me - Ok - I'd like to be able to use the product to assess that... Can you estimate when it will actually be shipped?
CS - We'll try to complete the delivery within two weeks
have a good day!


So - not impressed with Olight customer service. I can understand a delay in shipment, but until I contacted them today, I had no communication re: the status of my order. And the initial response was a link showing that it was “pre-shipment”, whatever that means.

[Casual Friday]

That's absolutely unacceptable customer service.