*The Packhorse modified 1ST re-defines spotlight. It's like a white lazer with a 4degree diffuser on.
Even when it got dark this light is too focused for me to get a sense of it in my house. I grabbed my blinkers and improv bike lights and went for a ride to the (mostly) closed psyc hospital on the lake-shore. (The IST was in my pocket, it is definitely not a bike light)
The light is nice. It's got good heft, nothing about it is delicate. I am puzzled by the the little exterior yellow o-rings. I guess they are partly for grip, maybe for visibility, maybe for style. These rings don't fit well into the holster and roll out of their groves. I'm may glue them in place.
Tint - purple-ish beam. Can anyone comment on how the tint looks in the water? IIRC blue should travel well. There is very little spill, a faint halo with a nice sunset motif, but very very faint. The light is like 99.9%spot, very tight, so I expect very little back-scatter.
I had been diving with a PT Rage (xenon 4aaa) as back-up. The rage is amazing out of the water and I really like this light, however in water the rage under-powered. It is not in the same class as the modified IST, not at all, and I don't for-see ever carrying the PT Rage again.
The low mode seems weak. I like that I can use it to peak around with-out bombarding the landscape with the full power of the ist, at the same time everything that low-mode pulls out of the darkness just begs to for the full glory of high. High is great, it's very satisfying. In high the beam is far, tight. The square profile is a total non-issue. It's brighter / tighter then any spot-light /search light i've used before
Modes - there are two, I'm very thankful for Packhorse's advice to only get 2 modes ... changing modes is hit and miss. This isn't a problem b/c if it doesn't change it is easy to just try again, but the twist-switch is a solid seal with a lot of resistance so I can see how continuous switching would be maddening with 5+ modes.
Best,
L
