Fenix LD20 – a full-feature little flashlight
A few months ago I bought a Fenix LD20 flashlight. Not the cheapest in its category, but all in all a very complete flashlight. Weighing in at almost 60 dollars, I wondered: is it worth every buck?
Reading a couple of good reviews on the LD20 and the L2D (its predecessor) I decided the LD20 was the one to go with. Small, yet powerful. It has a very powerful Cree LED, and runs on two AA batteries – which you can buy virtually anywhere. And this is a strong argument against all other, more exotic, battery types. When you’re out in the boonies you may need to replace your batteries! Another argument for AA’s: they’re dirt-cheap.
The light has two main modes, which you control by a slight twist on the top. Then you can choose by means of the clicky at the end between a LOT of light (“turbo mode”), and a strobe mode. Twisting it slightly the other way, you get a low-mid-high mode, and an SOS-mode, where it will repeat blinking in the SOS morse code.
The clicky button feels solid, though to switch between modes you need to press it slightly and hold it a short time to switch to the next mode. Unfortunately it does not remember in which mode it was when I shut it off, but luckily it starts in low mode, which is a good compromise.
The light, there’s plenty of it. In fact, it seems to be constructed in such a way that two normal Duracells only supply the required amount of power for high mode for a very short time, the light tries to go to high mode, but then switches back. I don’t really mind, if I were interested in Lumen output I would buy a larger light (though it claims to produce 180 Lumen, which of course I cannot check without special equipment).
The package included a red filter which is nice when you are outside in the dark and want to preserve your nightvision.
It also comes with a mid-sized matte white tip to provide some indirect light, for instance to light your tent.
And finally, there’s a long orange tip, like the lightsticks traffic cops wave with.
It comes in a nice pouch (which is not MOLLE, but MOLLE compatible which fits the purpose) and a lanyard. The combination of lanyard AND a pouch caused some trouble for me, so I got rid of the lanyard. It also comes with a clip, which is, just like the lanyard, not fully agreeing with the pouch.
conclusion
Feature-rich, well-made and expensive, those are the three words which best describe this flashlight. Though I do believe it is worth its money, I set out to buy 60-dollars-worth of flashlights on DealExtreme just out of curiosity, and compare in my post Fenix LD20 Vs. DealExtreme flashlights.