November 09, 2008
Now that's a flashlight
Did you know there's a website for devotees of flashlights? Well, there is, and Flashlight News posted a press release about a pretty amazing light, if the reality lives up to the hype.
Powered by a sophisticated energy management system, 5.11's Light for Life™ UC3.400™ Flashlight fully charges in 90 seconds and delivers up to 23.5 hours of total runtime (98% uptime) in a 24-hour period. This revolutionary performance compares with charge times ranging from four to 12 hours, and runtime rates ranging from 9% to 25% for duty flashlights currently on the market.
The UC3.400 contains no batteries, but rather ... ultracapacitors.
[...]
Unlike costly batteries that need to be replaced, ultracapacitors quickly load and unload energy without a chemical reaction. The UC3.400 is rated for 50,000 charge/discharge cycles with virtually no degradation and no memory - even in severe temperature conditions. That's one charge a day for more than 135 years! Current rechargeable flashlights begin to lose the ability to hold a full charge after the first use, are highly susceptible to temperature fluctuations, and have an expected life of 500 to 1,000 charge/discharge cycles (one to three years expected for a professional user) before the battery must be replaced at a substantial cost.
Now, if you can really get 23.5 hours of light after a mere 90 seconds in the charger, that's truly a technological breakthrough. I'll be interested in seeing if 5.11 Tactical can deliver the goods.
Posted by Mike Lief at November 9, 2008 07:28 PM
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Comments
Oh sure, it lights up real bright. But can you beat a goblin to death with it in one stroke?
Posted by: The Little Coach at November 10, 2008 03:59 PM