Fenix PD30R2 6 Level 235 Lumen LED Flashlight Review

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Well I can't imagine what you could criticize about this thing. It's very well made. It stands on it's end. The clip and included belt carrier work well. It's also brighter than the sun. Seriously thing thing has an awesome wide beam and it's extremely bright. Having the option to run it at a lower power is also nice and saves on battery since you don't really need the high beams all the time. I've owned a lot of LED flashlights and I'm an outdoorsman. I've bought very nice and expensive ones in the past and this one is now the best one I own, especially considering it's small size.

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First let me say that I love this flashlight! In a nutshell I had been the proud owner of the Surefire E2 Defender until it decided fall from my pocket and never return... Since I was in the market for another torch I decided that I wanted an LED flashlight this time around and after reading some reviews I decided on the Fenix TK10. After receiving the new light I was initially very impressed. The build quality and stability or the product are superb, the two modes of operation are a nice touch, and the waterproofing is excellent! However I was a little disappointed at how large it was compared to the E2 that I had been carrying and so I decided to order another smaller torch that would be more suitable for carrying on a daily basis (the TK11 will go in the glovebox of my car when I get home). I decided to stick with the Fenix brand after I saw how sturdy and well made the TK11 was and after briefly searching again I found the Fenix PD30R2! Since it arrived I have carried it with me all day every day and haven't had a problem in the 2 months it's been with me. Like the TK10 it has a very solid build, however it also has a couple of features that it's bigger brother lacks. The most important of these is the ability to use multiple settings for brightness all with a quick half press on the power button. Turbo mode is VERY bright for a flashlight of this size (235 lumens) and outshines every Surefire that I have seen or used. The second is a much better belt clip that allows for easy placement and removal in a pants pocket (the TK10 clip is quite a bit more difficult). Overall I would say this is a great product and for half the price of a typical Surefire it's hard to argue against buying one.

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Amazing. This light is just about perfect. The new '10 models are shipped at 265 lumen. If you're not familiar with the lumen rating, it's basically blinding.

Fenix has completely overtaken SureFire. Sure the body is made in China, but the led and circuitry are quality made.

For medical use there are different brightnesses, the lowest of which is perfect for assessing pupils.

For tactical use, the strobe feature is impressively disorienting. My only complaint about the whole package is the holster that it comes with. Seems a little flimsy for a $80 torch.

Overall, you will not be disappointed.

PROS:

* Multiple selectable levels of brightness.

* Durable, quality design & construction.

* Tail switch if you're into that sort of thing.

* Pocket clip made of high-grade material. won't stretch or bend.

CONS:

* Uses expensive batteries

* Included holster is cheap and getting the PD30 back inside is difficult.

*****UPDATE 11/03/2010*****

Circuitry is designed to fully discharge batteries so that light doesn't get dim as batteries weaken. While this was designed and advertised as a plus for users, it turns out to be very inconvenient.

While working on an entrapped patient inside a vehicle collision at nighttime, the PD30 batteries apparently didn't have enough juice to supply a steady stream of light. The flashlight switched to the tactical strobe mode. I don't think I need to explain how difficult it is to start IV access on someone in the front seat of a crushed sedan, so just imagine a strobe light going off while this is being attempted.

I'd rather the brightness be compromised than having to deal with a strobe light.

Honest reviews on Fenix PD30R2 6 Level 235 Lumen LED Flashlight

It's small, it has a good feel and nice controls. It's very bright and at first it was highly satisfying. But after 10 min of play or so, it developed a flicker. I'm not talking about the blink mode, I mean it flickers in the on mode. Shudders, you might say it's a very fast flicker. The price is much less than a comperable, as far as I can tell, and I don't know if this is a lemon or if they all do this. I didn't drop or damage it.

Update: I discovered that it was a low battery, and figure it was more like 20-30 minutes I'd used it on high. Now I use the low mode for most things, and hit high only when needed. I have no complaints and the flicker has not returned.

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This is one of the best lights on the market at the time of this review. I purchased it before the 265 lumen varriant became available, and if you are looking to purchase this light, I'd go with that one, the few extra bucks are worth it.

The light itself runs using two 123 type batteries, often reffered to in stores as photo batteries and sold for rediculous amounts (always buy batteries off the internet, it will save you an incredible amount of money). It has the longeest runtime of any flashlight I know and will maintain a fairly constant output until the batteries finally give out.

The design is very slim, about the thickness of three pencils held together in a triangle. It's very easy to carry and I take it with me everywhere I go. With all the varrying levels of output, I'm always finding myself with the perfect lighting level for whatever task I may have.

The best way for me to describe the ergos are as follows:

The light has two channels. Each channel has several modes. The first channel being a accessed by fully tightening the bezel, the second by slightly loosening it. The fully tightend channel has two modes, turbo and strobe, which are activated by first clicking on the light, then lightly depressing the switch to switch between the modes. The second channel uses the same method to cycle through it's various modes: Low, Medium, High, and SOS.

The only thing I can find to nit-pick about this is the lack of any heat-sinks. The design of the tailcap is done to prevent accidential activation of the light, but I have managed to do it once. I felt an odd warming sensation in my pocket and quickly realized that I had left the light on an turned it off immediately.

The reflector is what some compare to an orange peel texture. It's designed to for more area lighting than it is for throw, which makes it, again, a great EDC light. But don't be mistaken,the throw is good, too. I frequently use it to light up my backyard to check for any wildlife that may have ventured onto my property, and the light illuminates objects well at an estimated 40 yards. Remember that's with the R2 version, too. The R4 version will get a bit more throw.

Overall it's great light and will serve a wide variety of tasks very well. Oh yeah, it's water-resistant, too!