I'd like to begin with an the operation of the flashlight. The included instructions are sadly a bit murky and it took some experimentation to unlock all the secrets. Essentially you have two main modes of operation, standard and "turbo." To enter turbo mode you simply make sure that the lens end of the torch is screwed all the way on. to enter standard mode you lossen it by a quarter turn. Each of these modes has 2 or more sub modes. To cycle the sub modes you first click the button to turn the light on, then you depress and release the button, but you don't depress the button so far that it clicks. For normal mode you have 4 submodes: low, medium, high, and SOS flasher. Turbo mode includes turbo and turbo strobe. Your final control option is giving the tail cap a quarter turn to loosen it. This turns the torch off and effectivly locks out the button.
The first 3 normal modes will make up the bulk of your day to day use. Low power is pretty dim, 9 lumens, but it will maximize your run time. I find low power makes a great task light as well as a good general purpose light once I've addapted to operating in the dark. Medium puts out 70 lumens, this is great for navigating the house in the dark, heading down to the basement, etc. Medium is about the output of a low end pocket flashlight like you'd find at wal-mart. High output is 117 Lumens. High is my go to setting for looking for small parts I dropped. It's about the same output as the higher end LED lights you'll find at wal-mart. good and bright, unfortunatly, your run time drops to 4 hours. This is considerably lower that the peak of a 65 hour runtime you get on low power. The final standard mode is the SOS flasher. Activating this mode simply sets the torch to flash and SOS signal in high output setting. Heaven forbid you ever actually have to use this, but honestly, after the tornado struck nearby Joplin I realized, this probably isn't a bad setting to have. A steady pulse of SOS could make the difference in being able to attrack the help of a rescue crew and dying under a pile of rubble. Fenix makes no claim as to the run-time of this mode, and honestly, I've never tested it.
Activating Turbo mode is simply put, like opening the Ark of the Covenant. Turbo puts out an impressive 220 Lumens. If that's not enough for you there is the option of purchasing the PD31 which has an awesome 300 lumen output but otherwise is identical to the pd30. Turbo mode is actually what convinced me to make this purchase. I'll admit, I picked one of the display models up shined it into my palm and clicked it on. After looking at a large green and red spot that followed me around for the next few minutes I pulled out some cash and made my purchase. There are two main drawbacks to the use of turbo mode. First your runtime is crummy. Turbo mode will hold you out for about an hour and a half. Second, Turbo mode heats the flashlight up considerable. The manual suggests that Turbo mode be used only in limited duration and frankly I have to agree. Turbo mode is your self-defense mode. It works on animals and people. All you see with this shining in your direction is a massive glare and colorful spots. If your really in trouble and pairing it with your conceal carry, you have strobe mode. Great setting for CQB. In this mode the light strobes rapidly at it's full 220 Lumen output. If you've ever seen the move "Kick Ass" you'll have a pretty good idea of what this mode does.
The Fenix line is made in China. I wouldn't let that put you off too much though, this isn't a cheap knockoff of a better light. In the time I've been carrying this torch it has seen daily use. I use it when I'm working on the car or cleaning gear. At the laundry mat I use a quick flash on low power to check that I haven't missed any socks in the machine. It's a small size and convient to hold. It rides well clipped in my jeans pocket and doesn't stick up anymore than a ballpoint pen does. The belt pouch includes velcro on the belt loop allowing it to easily be removed from a belt or attached to a MOLLE vest. The tail cap uses a U shaped design that mostly protects the switch from accidently being pushed but is still comfortable for your thumb. I've had some problems with the light activating when carried in my pocket. When placed in my pants pocket and driving my car, the tailcap is perfectly positioned to be activated by the buckle on the seat belt as I lift my foot from the gas to press the brake and viceversa. This is a small complaint and only happens with certain jeans and not all vehicles I drive. True a better protected tail cap would prevent this but a quick twist locks the butten out and prevents this just as well.
The Lock out mode is a great feature. I've been on night ops with individuals with weapon mounted Surefires or cheap UTG weapon lights. It never fails, someone will stumble and hit the pressure pad or tail cap and send that beam into the sky looking like the Eye of Sauron searching for the one ring. It's not uncommon for people to put batteries in backward, leave them out, or even place a small piece of paper in their light to prevent this. The quick twist of the tail cap is so much easier. What more is you could set it up so that the light would turn on as soon as you've twisted the tail cap.
The run time has been great. The orignal batteries are still holding up just fine for me after months of daily use. With your options of various run modes you can really maximise your battery life. I was worried that this light would devour pairs of rather expensive CR123A batteries but honestly it's been great. The flashlight will give you a heads up as it get's low. The beam will start to waiver before it dies. I'm not sure how long you have, but it's a good heads up to change your cells.
I don't have much experience with Surefires or other high end tac-lights out there. I will admit I own a UTG weapon light as well as other cheaper lights. As such I'm aiming this article at other new mil-simmers or anyone else entering the tac-light market. I would recommend this torch in a heart beat. It's going price seems to be about $65. It's held up well and served me well.
As a final note, Viking tactical makes an offest mount for about $70 that will fit the little pd30 and PD31. I'm planning to purchase one of these along with a couple of PD31's. I plan to use the mount and one of the torches for airsoft. The second I plan to store in the box with my home defense items.
UPDATE: well my feniz bit the dust last spring. I was comming home from a camping trip and somewhere in the 14hour car ride it clicked on in my pocket. by the time I got home it was dead. I replaced the batteries to no avail. I'm guessing the full on turbo mode until the battery went dead probably burned something out in the circuitry. I'm still looking for a replacement if anyone has anything they would like to suggest.
