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(More customer reviews)Allow me to break down all the advertising text into something more easily understood, remove some confusion you may have about the item you are looking at, and offer my experience with this light.
This is the Fenix PD30 Premium R4. Firstly, you may see two other lights called the PD30 on Amazon for less money, only differentiated by their lumen output - this isn't some pricing mistake, they are different lights.
If you don't know what a "lumen" is, it's a standard measure of the brightness for lights. You can use it to compare how bright the lights are, but keep in mind that it takes a difference of more than just one lumen for most people to be able to tell the difference in how bright a light is. I generally say that a light needs to be ten lumens brighter than another one for there to be any real difference.
Another confusing term is "waterproof to the IPX8 standard". This is actually advertising gibberish. IPX8 means that the item must survive immersion in a standing (not moving) body of water of a specific depth for a specific time. The depth and time are to be defined by the manufacturer, and they are supposed to be included on the specification like this, "IPX8 15 bar 30 minutes". That would mean that the light can be submerged in 15 meters of standing water for 30 minutes without any water getting into the light.
Notice that this ad doesn't say anything except IPX8, which is meaningless. You can be assured however that the light can be submerged in at least one meter of water for at least 30 minutes, which is the minimum for IPX8 certification. To put it simply, you can drop it in a puddle but don't go diving with it.
Now let me try to help you figure out which of those three Fenix lights to buy...
To figure out which light you are actually looking at, look at the Item Model Number in the description...
This light says: "Item model number: PD30 R4"
So it's the PD30 R4.
One of the Fenix lights advertised on Amazon is the standard PD30. A great light, but it's not as bright and doesn't have as much battery life as the other two. It's also designed differently, lacking some of the features of the other two Fenix lights.
The second one is the PD30 R2. Brighter than the PD30, with much more battery life, but not as bright or as long-lasting as the R4.
Except for small differences in brightness and battery life, the R2 and the R4 are almost identical. Both can serve as a candle (they stand on their ends without falling down).
Both have pocket clips.
Both have flattened parts along the edges so they don't roll away if you drop them.
Both have lanyard holes(very teensy tiny ones, but the included lanyard will fit if you push it through will a small tool of some sort). NOTE: Attaching the lanyard means it won't stand up as well, the lanyard loops around a part of the tail-cap.
Both come with a belt-sheath which holds the light securely. The belt sheath requires you to use two hands to remove the light however, which makes it a pain to use, but you're not buying the sheath and getting the light for free, it's the other way around. :)
You may want to verify that the items I just talked about are actually in the bundle you are buying, but they were in mine along with some other good stuff as well.Now I will talk about the light you are looking at now, which as I have said is the Premium R4.
I have had this light for a couple of weeks. Here are the ups and downs.Upside: It is very sturdy, is very bright, lightweight, and very well-made. It's everything a flashlight needs to be.
Other features of note: It can be used for self-defense (it strobes quickly in its brightest mode to disorient an attacker). It's enough to force me to avert my eyes. This may give you a chance to run away if you're in danger.
It has an SOS mode (it actually flashes SOS in morse code automatically).
On its lowest setting it has amazing battery life of 65 hours. I imagine you could find your way out of just about any dark place in 65 hours. The lowest setting is good enough to walk around with at night.
On its medium setting, battery life is still very good at 9 hours. The sun will be up before your light goes out, unless you're in Alaska... The medium setting is as bright as you would expect most flashlights to be.
On it's high setting, the light is really bright. The battery still lasts 4 hours. Nice.
This light actually has a Higher-Than-High setting as well, which Fenix calls Turbo mode. Like the Turbo Mode on KITT (Yes, I know they called it Super Pursuit Mode in later episodes, but that has nothing to do with a flashlight review. Try to stay focused here.) the Turbo Mode of the PD30 R4 is pretty fun to use. The light is as bright as it will get, fully discharging a new set of batteries in only 1.5 hours. Unless you're sweeping a building looking for the bad guys, or trying to see through smoke or fog, I can't imagine what practical need you would have for this mode other than making your friends say "GAK!" Don't do that by the way, this light can damage your eyes.Downsides: It's too big for pocket carry.
The batteries are very expensive. I paid ten dollars for two of them, and this light takes two. They are camera batteries typically used for high-powered detachable flashes. They produce a lot of power, which is one of the reasons this light is so bright for its size and weight. If you don't want to fork out that kind of cash for batteries, look for the Fenix L2D or LD20, which both use AA batteries. Amazon sells both those lights as well.
Here are links to them:
Fenix L2D - Fenix L2D 6 Level High Performance Cree LED Flashlight (Black)
Fenix LD20 - Fenix LD 20 6 Level High Performance Cree LED Flashlight, Black, 6- Inch, Maximum 180 Lumens
Back to this light...
On its highest setting, the light will drain a set of batteries in only 1.5 hours. You won't need the highest setting, but remember that if you use it, you will be out of power in no time.
The included sheath is poo. I use it anyway. :)
Over all, I would buy this light again if I were looking for something to carry on a belt. If I were looking for a pocket flashlight, I would go for the Fenix PD20 or something equivalent.
This light isn't really a tactical light, although it sort of claims to be one.For every day flashlight tasks, the Fenix PD30 R4 is way over qualified.
If you want a really great light at a reasonable price (for this level of quality) this is the light for you.
You will not regret buying it.
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