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Hey Everyone,

I just want to remind you if you havent subscribed to our RSS feed in the top right corner of the screen, you might want to do so…

This feature allows you to always stay current with the latest information regarding our Light for Life UC3.400 Flashlight. As we get closer to launch you dont want to miss anything!

Why did 5.11 choose an LED over an incandescent bulb?

This was actually a very easy choice, considering the evidence below.

-LED’s last longer than incandescent bulbs.

-LED’s have a predictable failure mode. Have you ever noticed that an incandescent bulb just goes out without any warning?

-LED’s lifetime is not determined by how many times you turn the light on or off.

-LED’s are resistant to shock and vibration, incandescent bulbs are not.

-Incandescent bulbs have a high operating temperature, where LED’s remain cool.

-LED’s use small amounts of energy, incandescent bulbs use a lot of energy.

Which bulb would you choose?

Why do we consider our flashlight environmentally friendly?

Reason #1 – Our flashlights contain advanced capacitors rather than batteries. The advanced capacitors we use contain no heavy metals.

Reason #2 – Our Flashlights require less energy to charge. The Light for Life UC3.400 Flashlight can recharge in only 90 seconds and remain powered for 90 minutes. No other flashlight can do that!

Reason #3 – The advanced capacitors in our flashlight, unlike batteries, NEVER needs to be replaced. What do you do with your old batteries?

Reason #4 – The LED’s we use in the Light for Life UC3.400 does not contain mercury, which is extremely harmful to the environment.

Reason #5 – LED’s last longer than traditional halogen or incandescent bulbs. The bulb life can almost be twice as longer.

What are the Advantages of LED Bulbs?

There seems to be some confusion on why we have selected the LED bulb to placed within our Light for Life Flashlight, hopefully this will shed some light (sorry, bad pun) on our decision.  Take a look at some of the advantages of using LED bulbs.

•  Efficiency: LED’s produce more light per watt than incandescent bulbs; this is extremely helpful for our Light for Life Flashlights

•  Slow failure: LED’s mostly fail by dimming over time, rather than the abrupt burn-out of incandescent bulbs.

•  Lifetime: LED’s can last a very long time. It has often been reported that LED’s can last over 50,000 hours or more.

•  Shock resistance: LED’s are difficult to damage with external shock, unlike fluorescent and incandescent bulbs which are fragile.

•  Focus: LED’s can be designed to focus its light. Incandescent and fluorescent lights often require an external reflector to collect light and direct it in a usable manner.

•  Toxicity: LEDs do not contain mercury, unlike fluorescent lamps.

I think we made the right choice!  What do you think?

Lumens, Watts, and Candlepower… oh my!

Okay, I know everyone has heard of these terms, however most times these terms are confused in normal everyday conversation.  I am going to attempt to explain them to you, our readers.

What is a lumen?

A lumen is a unit of measurement of light.   More importantly, a lumen is a way of measuring how much light gets to what you want to light.  For example, if you shine a flashlight at a wall 20 feet away, how much light actually hits the wall?  The more lumens the more light the wall will receive…

What is candlepower?

Candlepower is the measurement of light taken from the source or the amount of light the bulb produces.

Finally, what is a watt?

A watt, in simple terms, is the amount of energy used by the bulb.

These terms are important, especially when you buy a flashlight because it can actually save your life.  Using the definition above wouldn’t you rather have a 270 lumen flashlight as opposed to a 200 lumen flashlight?  I don’t know about you, but those extra 70 lumens can help you identify a potential life threatening situation faster.

What do you think?

Quick Update on the Warranty

I just wanted to pass along the warranty information on our new flashlight.  I know a lot of our readers have been asking about it, so here it is…

http://www.511tactical.com/warranty.html#LightForLifeWarranty

No Chemical Reactions

Hey Everyone,

Once again I appreciate you posting your questions in the comments section of the blog.  Here is a question from one of our readers.

Q: “Could you give us some info as to how the Polymer light is going to react to Chemicals like oil and fuel?”

A: Great Question! The polymer of the flashlight body and charger has a UL certified V-O flammability rating.  What that means is that our polymer is the same as many plastic components found in automobiles.  Chemicals such as oil and fuel should do no damage.

Keep sending those questions!