Another new compact LED light: XTAR D01

[Hatul]

To add to my collection of new dive lights I bought the XTAR D01.

Xtar D01

It's a single 18650 Li-Ion rechargeable cell light. The LED sits in a reflector with a bright center beam and lots of spill light. The beam is much brighter than the Dorcy and as well as Pop-Lite F6. It's also a little shorter than the Dorcy.

The body is made of a Delrin like plastic and the head is anodized aluminum. It's twisty switch with double O rings. Also has a unique continuous brightness control.

Unlike the Pop-Lite F6, this one is one heavy duty light at least as robust as the Dorcy. Listed brightness is 350 lumen, which appears to be accurate in comparison with the two other lights. Price is $60 with free shipping but does not include the battery or the charger.

I'll give a report after diving with it.

Adam

 

[lofish]

I like its size and brightness and cant wait to see your report!!

 

[Hatul]

OK, I dove this light last night at Crescent Bay and had no problems with it. It's brighter than the Pop-Lite F6 (my backup) which is brighter than the Dorcy. The sliding brightness control is nice as you can easily turn down the light when on land or shut it off without twisting against the O rings. To reiterate the light is a twist on-off , but the red slider controls the brightness from max to 0 continuously.

I highly recommend the light. You do have to buy a couple batteries from DealExtreme and a charger. I've had good experience with the protected Trustfire TR18650 2500mAh 3.7 volt (about $8 for two with shipping). It has nominally about the same energy as 3 AA cells in a smaller package.

The XTAR is a robust light with double O rings and all aluminum body. The Pop-Lite F6 is a bargain at $35 with an included battery and charger and extra O ring. Either of these lights blow away the outdated Princeton Tecs or UKs.

Adam

 

[sucnip]

Has a XML T60 LED. Claimed 800 lumen. Seems to run around $100-115.

 

[Hatul]

Has a XML T60 LED. Claimed 800 lumen. Seems to run around $100-115.

That's amazing and hard to believe you can get that much light out of one cell. I wonder how long the battery lasts at that brightness. On the other hand if it's the same design as the D01 you can decrease the brightness with the slide to prolong battery life.

Adam

 

[Hatul]

Last night I used the XTAR D01 on a dive at Redondo, together with my larger light--a Packhorse W200 mod with 2 18650 batteries, and the XTAR was noticeably brighter. The continuous brightness control is handy for reading gauges.

Adam