Led Lenser has a new rechargeable flashlight out and thanks to the fellas at Leatherman, we got to look it over. We’re thinking you might want to take a look at it. It’s the P5R, and at a convention recently we watched it visibly illuminate a section of rafters in the Virginia Beach Convention Center during the middle of the day with all the lights on. It pushes some significant lumens (the manufacturer says it’s 225).
It comes with a magnetic-attach recharger, but can also recharge off a USB port (which is pretty handy) and can use AA batteries.
The P5R doesn’t’ use a reflector to amplify light, it uses a light gathering lens. All electrical contacts are gold plated (non ferrous metal on non ferrous metal prevents corrosion). It’s light, easy to handle and simple to focus with one hand (the focus can be locked in). The light can be employed in three different modes; high, low and strobe. High is apparently standard illumination, low is only about 15% of its maximum output.
Leatherman had a model there, to show the ‘guts’ of the P5R. It was a regular flashlight cut lengthwise down the middle of the long axis. Even split n half it was bright as hell.
Read more about the P5R at the LED Lenser website.
We’re hoping to get our hands on a couple to actually use in the field, but in the meantime if you’ve used one let us know how it held up.
