So, I bought another light, this time from Kaidomain, a direct competitor to dealextreme, and it's a thrower. This 2-Mode HAIII Long Throw R2 Flashight has a large, smooth reflector, and throws noticeably further and tighter than, say my Solarforce L2, as a result.

It's significantly larger than the L2, however, in every dimension.





_{(images stolen from kaidomain)}

It's a cheapie, of course, at US$33, so you can't expect wonders, but it seems pretty decent - double o-rings, and scratch-resistant HAIII anodizing (unusual for a cheapie).

Runs on one 18650 battery, and has two modes. The low mode is still quite bright, really. I presume the light is unregulated, at its price point, so I expect it to dim as the battery voltage drops. I used it on and off the other night, and didn't notice any great change.

So, well, it's not quite in the league of the huge-headed JetBeam Raptor I, but it throws better than the other LEDs I've had. So far, it's good for the money, and it feels more tough and manly than most of the lights I have. Time will tell how many times I can drop it off things before it breaks

Posted by metawaffle So, well, it's not quite in the league of the huge-headed JetBeam Raptor I

The name also isn't as cool.

"Hold on, lemme get out my Raptor and light this shit up"

How would you rate your kaidomain experience? Shipping time/cost etc...

Posted by rob666 How would you rate your kaidomain experience? Shipping time/cost etc...

Almost exactly the same as dealextreme - I ordered some DX stuff at the same time, and they arrived here on the same day, in the same sort of padded bag

Posted by digital_me The name also isn't as cool. "Hold on, lemme get out my Raptor and light this shit up"

I name my lights anyway.

Nice. What does the beam pattern look like?

Posted by Assistance Nice. What does the beam pattern look like?

I'll take a pic - it's a smooth reflector, though, so it's fairly ringy, with a fairly tight spot and limited spill.

I just remembered this shot from last week - not an ideal one, but it might give you some idea. You can see that the centre spot is quite small.

Right, so while out last night, I took a quick shot of the relative beams from three lights: That new little Quark, my JetBeam Jet III ST, and the Kaidomain thrower

Just to give a rough idea what we're looking at - I'm aiming the lights at the other side of a curved dam wall, from the other side of a spillway beside it.




The Quark is roughly the same sort of beam you get from a Fenix P3D or similar:




The Jet III ST has a larger head than the Quark, and is a little less spilly and a bit throwier as a result, but it's really not built for distance.




The Kaidomain thrower has a much tighter beam than the two lights above. It looks here like there's next to no spill, which isn't quite true in use, but my arbitrary exposure settings were such that it's not really apparent.




It's worth bearing in mind that these three lights put out roughly the same amount of light (especially the Jet III ST and the Kaidomain thrower), and all that differs is the way the reflector distributes that light out the front.