Review: Fenix - LD60 flashlinght

I was unfortunate enough to have my RAV4 broken into out the front of my house in December, and lost a bunch of kit that I had, both in the back, in a jumbled heap, and also in and around the front seats. I had my Platatac MAC, fully laden from an event I had been at emptied, but left behind, and a variety of other things taken, It was quite unnerving, as it had happened as I slept not 10 m away.

One of the things I lost was my most excellent Fenix TK-51 light, and I reached out to the good folks at Fenix and LEGear. They put me onto the folks at G8 who listened to my sad story and helped me select a new light to replace it. I wanted to try one of their newer models but wanted to get something portable and powerful. The LD-60.

The LD-60 certainly meets my requirements. Measuring up at 15.5cm (6.1") long and 4.5cm (1.8") in diameter around the body, 6.25cm (2.5") at the head and 360g (12.8oz) (excluding batteries). Lighter and smaller, the LD-60 fits nicely in a variety of pouches, although it comes with one of its own. The all-round build is more conventional than the teardrop big-circle/little circle configuration of the TK-51, and the triplet of Cree XM-L2 (U2) LEDs (with a lifespan of 50,000 hours each) which are in turn powered by either three 18650 rechargeable Li-ion batteries or six 3V CR123ALithium batteries. Even more exciting is that the three battery wells can accommodate one, two or three batteries and still power the light.

Eco

The circuit design also includes reverse polarity protection guards against improper battery installation for those in-the-dark battery changes, as well as digitally regulated output which maintains constant brightness, regardless of battery charge levels.

The LD-60 has the same kind of stepping power settings as the TK-51, with Eco: 30 Lumens (150 hours runtime) which barely lights up an outdoor setting, but OK for indoors or right at your feet. Low: 160 Lumens (29 hours runtime) has a very gentle effect outdoors. You can see, without dazzling yourself. Mid: 500 Lumens (9 hours runtime), which is the first setting that has any use at seeing at a distance, or broad areas.

Low

 High: 1500 Lumens (3 hours runtime) casts a very significant light, illuminating a whole street clearly and lastly, Turbo: 2800 Lumens (1 hour, 30 min. runtime). This is like a hand-held sun. Or at least a car's headlights.

It also boasts a 460 m (1,509') beam distance which I tested by walkign to the end of a breakwater in the Port Phillip Bay, and happily illuminated the houses on the foreshore, some 400 m away, easily on Turbo mode.

Medium

The light also has an "instant-Strobe" function, activated by holding the single button for 3-4 seconds. The strobe alternates between two different frequency of flashes and is both off-putting and attention getting. They are pulsed at the 2800 lumen setting, and are not good to look at.

Not good at all.  Which is excellent.

High

The switching between the settings is achieved by first powering on the light, with a brief hold of the power button, and then single presses to stage up the light from Eco all the way to Turbo. Similarly, powering the light off is by a two second hold.

The built in circuitry also has a "memory" state, recalling the last power-setting the light was used in, to give you immediate functionality for repeat usage needs, as well as a heat-damage auto-limiter.

It does get hot. Even with its durable aircraft-grade aluminum casing, and rugged design, the triple LEDs put out a lot of heat. The case itself is 

Turbo

Premium Type III hard-anodized, which gives it a very good anti-abrasive finish and the toughened ultra-clear glass lens with anti-reflective coating is protected by being in-set behind the broadly crenelated rim. It comes with a spare o-ring for the gasket seal and with this is waterproof to IPX-8 standard. (2 m (6.5') for 30 minutes) It is also shock proofed for 1m drops. Table-height, don't get any fancy ideas!

The tail cap features two wide lanyard strap holes, and it even comes with a braided cord lanyard to go with it.

All in all, I am thrilled with the LD-60. I must say it is a step up from the TK-51, smaller, neater and less complicated.