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Cold Steel · February 20, 2008, 11:10 PM

Good review, but I think you sell the P3D a bit short.

The T1 is a decent light and, true, it has a better heat sink, but it's a boxy thing and doesn't offer that much more in my opinion, all things considered. For one thing, if you need to use the turbo mode, you can use your hand as a heat sink, or probably other conductive material. There's been a lot of talk about that over at the Candlepower Forum, where the overall preference is for the P3D. So far, overheating's only been a real problem during warm seasonal months. I do want to get a T1 one of these days, but Fenix is one of those companies that sets prices and enforces them. You can get a modest discount from The fenixstore.com (8% with CP8 in the coupon box, I think), but that's about it. And, frankly, the Chinese no-names are getting pretty darn good with larger reflectors, Q5 emitters and multi-modes.

Oh, another thing I like about the P3D is the red filter that's available for it, for about six bucks. Makes maintaining night vision that much better.

But there's been a lot of progress made in tactical lights, and LEDs are something I wish I'd had when I was a scout. When I think of those miserable two-cell "C" flashlights that gave me less runtime than a P3D on turbo, and were as dim as the lowest setting on a P3D, and stayed on strobe all the time, but slower (especially when I had to shake the flashlight to get it to light), these new torches are incredible. I expect in the near future that runtimes will increase, the tints will improve, and, of course, the lights will get brighter, and cooler, but for now, I'm impressed and waiting for more.

February 20, 2008, 11:10 PM	#50
Cold Steel Senior Member Join Date: December 14, 2006 Posts: 100	Good review, but I think you sell the P3D a bit short. The T1 is a decent light and, true, it has a better heat sink, but it's a boxy thing and doesn't offer that much more in my opinion, all things considered. For one thing, if you need to use the turbo mode, you can use your hand as a heat sink, or probably other conductive material. There's been a lot of talk about that over at the Candlepower Forum, where the overall preference is for the P3D. So far, overheating's only been a real problem during warm seasonal months. I do want to get a T1 one of these days, but Fenix is one of those companies that sets prices and enforces them. You can get a modest discount from The fenixstore.com (8% with CP8 in the coupon box, I think), but that's about it. And, frankly, the Chinese no-names are getting pretty darn good with larger reflectors, Q5 emitters and multi-modes. Oh, another thing I like about the P3D is the red filter that's available for it, for about six bucks. Makes maintaining night vision that much better. But there's been a lot of progress made in tactical lights, and LEDs are something I wish I'd had when I was a scout. When I think of those miserable two-cell "C" flashlights that gave me less runtime than a P3D on turbo, and were as dim as the lowest setting on a P3D, and stayed on strobe all the time, but slower (especially when I had to shake the flashlight to get it to light), these new torches are incredible. I expect in the near future that runtimes will increase, the tints will improve, and, of course, the lights will get brighter, and cooler, but for now, I'm impressed and waiting for more.