Customer Reviews

Princeton Tec Impact XL Waterproof LED Flashlight - Blue One Size

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I've only had my Impact XL for a week but so far I'm extremely impressed. The review who said his switch broke must have accidently reviewed the wrong flashlight, because this is a twist flashlight and doesn't have a switch! Another reviewer said these were so hard to twist that they get stuck. Based on my experience so far this seems ridiculous, along with his claims of unreliability. That review almost appears written by someone either not too bright or they are a competitor posing as a buyer.

I have other flashlights and the Impact XL feels extremely well built and of high quality compared to them. It also takes Lithium batteries so I carry it in Colorado as an extreme weather emergency light. Light output is rated at 24 Lumens on the box, and with Lithiums seems even brighter. The light is plenty bright for most things I need a light for indoors and outdoors and is also very comfortable to carry with its rubberized grip.

One thing that was odd (but good) is the picture Amazon displays for these. I ordered one in yellow, but instead of clear plastic like the one shown, it is a solid yellow, which turned out to be much more attractive.

All in all I love this light and already bought another one for a friend to carry in his car for winter travel in the Rockies.

I found so many great reviews for Princeton Tec flashlights, so I was sure they would be pretty decent quality. But I was sadly disappointed. I bought two, the torches have pretty weak beams and burnt through batteries pretty quickly too. This was especially disappointing when scuba diving, which was the reason I bought them in the first place.

The build quality is terrible, I assumed they would be fairly tough, as most diving equipment is, but they are made of cheap brittle plastic, and one of them has already cracked open. The on-off switch is a threaded lens-cap that you can tighten up to turn on, and loosening it turns the torch off, as with maglites. But in turning it on the cap has to be tightened to the point where it strains on the threads, and those threads are obviously pretty weak. One of the torches cracked all the way around the threaded plastic when turning the torch OFF (ie. when releasing this pressure). Not only is it almost totally destroyed (only a cm or so of non cracked plastic holds the lens on), it is useless for diving now.

It's very annoying because the torches are advertised as being impact resistant, but this plastic is incredibly cheap feeling and is clearly not up to scratch.

They are just not worth the price, there are better torches out there for less, and ones that are not made of such cheap materials. I will not buy anything from this company again.

My husband and I use these lights as primary lights on recreational dives (up to 30m depths) and as back up lights on deep technical dives (30-80m). We love these lights for many reasons. They're compact, perfect light beam, never flooded so long as the seals are clean and greased properly, durable and energy efficient. We've used our current lights for 5 years now with no issues and we're now shopping for more!

I bought my wife one of these for her backpack years ago from EMS, it works great, batteries last a long time. I had to borrow it working. I am an electrician and decided to get myself one. You won't regret it.

Ed

Much of the negative press here seems centered on the twist type on-off 'switch' and the non metal construction. Let me say that there are sound design reasons for both. THe twist on/off feature rules out switch failure all but certainly, as there are no abrading or intermittently stressed contacts. The rubber construction aides grip, floatation, and rules out getting a nasty shock when working on or near live electrical circuits. So I say BOO! to those critiques!

As for function, this is a VERY bright LED flashlight, in a moderately sized and priced package. It gives a lot of output, in terms of intensity and duration, from a single set of regular alkaline AA batteries. I find it suits most general purposes (household repair, auto maintenance and repair, searching the lawn or backyard for my keys or my cat) very well. There are bright and prettier lights, and this isn't a BIG WOW item, but a solid value and high performer. I've had mine since 12/25/07, in use 3-4 tasks per week, total 20-80 minutes/week, and I rate myself highly satisfied.

The original XL is my favorite all-around flashlight. This model has been "improved" but I like it less than before. The LED is now regulated. This means the brightness should remain constant over a longer period. Unfortunately, the original seems brighter when loaded with fresh batteries. The head has been changed so there is now a black band around the edge of the lense. The refector is smaller. The overall shape is still the very best for holding in your hand and the regulator should enable the use of rechargeable NiMH batteries so I'll give it four stars (but just barely).

Princeton Tec Impact XL flashlight - neon yellow

This is the longest lasting battery run time flashlight that I have ever used. Most batteries in flashlights will last only 4 to 5 hours run time, but the manufacturer rates theirs at about 50 hours. (REI lab test shows about 63.8 hours) Incredible! I have had my three flashlights for over three years and have yet to change the batteries. If you want a flashlight that has less of an impact on the environment, the Impact XL would be hard to beat; you use one-tenth to one-twelfth the number of batteries in a given amount of time.

We went caving on a recent trip and the light output was as bright as the one used by the guide which was a three D-cell standard flashlight.

The regulated output is a great feature not found in most flashlights. The XL does not start out bright and then gradually dim as you would normally expect. All in all, they are the best flashlights I have ever had. I am in the process of phasing out all others.

Great for scuba, for boating, superb underwater ilumination for it's size. Only problem is that rubber cover gets detached easily.

I purchased this flashlight for caving trip. After assembling it according to the instructions, it did not light, so I called Princeton Tec customer service (friendly and helpful), and we walked through the instructions again. It still did not light and they agreed it was defective and gave me a return number. This experience is disappointing in a few ways:

1. I had to scramble due to time constraints to get replacement waterproof flashlights in a small town. Had to settle for some that used a different size battery than my other lights and now have to make a trip to the store for more batteries.

2. I have to pay about $15.00 for expedited shipping and return shipping costs for a product that didn't deliver, and make yet another trip to the UPS store.

3. I think it's necessary to spend time, despite my impending departure date, typing this review to save others the hassle and cost of purchasing this product.

You may have noticed the Impact XL has mixed reviews. If you look a little closer, as I did upon review, maybe you'll see the favorable reviews sound like advertising, as if someone is writing copy. Their focus is education about and defense of the product, more than expression of the degree of satisfaction. These positive reviews seem to target their anger at the negative reviewers rather than simply stating their personal experience. Consider this before you fork out hard earned dollars and spend precious time on an item that has a spotty record at best.

August 2011 Update

I returned the flashlight to Princeton Tek and they repaired the light and returned it in a timely manner at no cost other than shipping. Customer service was good. Light was dependable during this year's travels.

I have Streamlights and many other LED flashlights. This one seems nearly as tough as my Streamlight. The only thing I don't like about it is that one needs to use two hands to turn it on: One hand to hold the body, the other hand to twist the head. I know switches are expensive, but they are also nice to have.

I'm going to try Pelican next, but not because this one failed. I just wish all the "tactical" flashlights had a low power, long runtime option. I'm talking about dozens of hours here, not 1.5. ;)