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Tester
Bio |
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Name: |
Bob Dorenfeld
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I'm an active hiker, snowshoer,
skier, backpacker, amateur geographer and
naturalist. Home base is the Southern Colorado
Rockies, where I usually journey from 7000
ft (2100 m) to above treeline, with occasional
desert trips to lower altitudes. Six to
12 miles (10 to 20 km) hiking in a day is
my norm, including elevation change of as
much as 4000 ft (1200 m) in a day. Most
of my backpack trips are two or three nights,
sometimes longer. Often I hike off-trail
on challenging talus, snowfields, or willow
brakes, with occasional bouldering.
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| Email: |
geartest(at)sageandspruce(dot)net
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| Age: |
55
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| Location: |
Salida, Colorado, USA
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| Gender: |
M
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| Height: |
5' 6" (1.68 m) |
| Weight: |
135 lb (61 kg) |
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Product Overview
Manufacturer: Energizer
Year of Manufacture: 2013
Manufacturer's Website: www.energizer.com
MSRP: US$19.99
Listed Weight: None
Measured Weight: 7 oz (200 g) (with batteries installed)
Measured Size: 1.25 in (3 cm) wide x 2 in (4.5 cm) deep x 7.5 in (19 cm) long
Brightness: 75 lumens (directional), 100 lumens (area)
Maximum run time at lowest setting (mfgr specs): 10 hours (directional), 100 hours (area)
Non-slip hand grip
Water-resistant
Batteries: Four AA (included)
Lighting Type: spot light and area light, with dimming capability
Color: black case with orange control button and band around edge
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Energizer LED 2 In 1 Package
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The Energizer LED 2 in 1 Light combines a flashlight and lantern in one
hand-held device. Patterned translucent plastic forms the lens for the
front directional lamp, and for the area lamp along most of the side.
The light feels solid and fits well in either hand, and its exterior is
constructed entirely of seemingly durable plastic. Normally I try a new
product without reading the instructions (unless a safety hazard might
be involved) to see how well-designed it is; in this case, I learned
the operation of the on/off button and associated functions within a
short time, enabling both the directional and area light plus dimming
and brightening. At first use the light seems substantial and
well-made, and the four included AA batteries appear fully charged. The
light was received in fine condition, and as described on the packaging.
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First Impressions
The 2 in 1 Light rests comfortably in either hand, but since I'm right
handed that's the one I'll use. I like the non-skid orange plastic that
keeps the light from slipping out of my hand. The flashlight is about
the weight I'd expect for its size and four AA battery capacity. Its
operation button is easily pressed by my thumb and the action is
positive and responsive. Pressing once activates the directional light
at the front, and pressing again within about three seconds switches to
the area light at the left side (when holding in the right hand).
Pressing the button a second time after three seconds turns the light
off, in either directional or area mode. Also when on in either mode,
pressing and holding the button causes the light to slowly dim to its
lowest setting over about seven seconds, when it'll blink to let me
know it's reached lowest brightness. Similarly, pressing and holding
the button again will raise the lamp's brightness over seven seconds
and a blink again alerts me to its brightest setting. To turn off the
flashlight I just press the button once (in either lamp mode).
That's a long description of a fairly simple sequence of operations,
but nonetheless I found the operation easy to remember without having
to think about it much.
The 2 in 1 Light's front package picture shows the light standing on
its front end to provide hands-free area lighting, but in that position
I found it to be rather unstable and easily knocked over. The same goes
for resting the light on its bottom side - didn't take much to tip it
over.
Reading the Instructions
 My
first reaction to the instructions: they're printed way too small! I
estimate a 5 point font for the body of the instructions, somewhat
bigger for the headlines: but a larger page would easily have
accommodated 8 point type for the body. Font size aside, I found the
instructions clear and easy to understand. They are printed in French
and Spanish as well as English. If I hadn't tried the light out first
before reading the instructions, I would have been able to follow them
easily. In addition to operation, the instructions include information
on replacing batteries, disabling the Try Me mode (more on this below),
Lifetime Guarantee, and battery warning. I found one discrepancy
between the specification sheet that came with my light and the
packaging. The former claims a light output of "Up to 150 Lumens" for
the area light, while the package says "100 Lumens"; I don't know if
I'll be able to measure the flashlight's output this accurately.
I found the Try Me feature mystifying: what was that for? But following
the instructions, I disabled it by removing and reinserting the
batteries, and didn't notice any difference in operation. Perhaps Try
Me is for preserving battery life while packaged on the store shelf,
since customers are encouraged to operate it before purchasing; a quick
look at Energizer's web site for this product didn't clear up the
mystery.
I was able to easily remove the battery cover by twisting a small
button with a coin or key and lifting it off, and the batteries came
out and went back in without a problem, using the usual spring-tension
arrangement. Reattaching the cover was just as easy.
Initial testing shows a very bright light both indoors (day or night)
and outside (night): the directional is fairly wide but definitely
forward, and the area lighting is broad and illuminates a wide space. A
hanging loop at the back end of the flashlight is large enough for cord
or small rope, but perhaps not for larger clips.
This concludes my Initial Report. The Field Report will be amended to
this report in approximately two months from the date of this report.
Please check back then for further information.
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- Long Term Report [February 4, 2014] -
I
have now used the Energizer 2 In 1 Light for four months - on one
backpacking trip, three car-camping trips, two walks at night, and
around the house for miscellaneous tasks.
Here's how it has performed for me in each type of situation:
Backpacking
 The
2 In 1 light is not the usual kind of lamp I take backpacking - at 7 oz
(200 g) it's a bit heavy for me, and I prefer the headlamp style.
However, I wanted to test its usefulness and took it along on a
three-day trip. First, I found the light to be very bright at its
highest setting (default when turned on), so I almost always
immediately turned it down to about 50% brightness. As when I was
trying it out, operating the light was intuitive and I didn't have to
think about it
much between uses, with one exception: to turn down the
brightness, I needed to wait a couple of seconds after turning it on
and then repressing the button, else holding down the button had no
effect. I used the area lamp feature more often than the
directional. It was great at lighting my entire (small) campsite
and tent near the fire ring, including a log I sat on to read.
Because the lamp case is not very stable I had some trouble getting it
to lay on a log to point in the direction I wanted, but finally it
stayed propped up between a couple of rocks.
Next I tested its usefulness inside my small dome tent by attaching a
short cord at each end of the light, then hanging it by the tent's top
interior loops to provide an area light for inside. The hanging
loop at one end of the light was useful, and at the front of the light
I just wrapped a cord several times to hold tight so that I was able to
hang the lamp horizontally. It was like having a flood lamp
inside the tent! Turning down the brightness helped make the
atmosphere friendlier, and it was easy to see all of the
interior. Unfortunately, hanging this light (or any lamp, for
that matter) from the top of the tent usually doesn't provide enough
light to read by when reclining with my head at one end or the other of
tent. Obviously this is not the fault of the 2 In 1 Light, but
for reading inside the tent I found a headlamp to be more useful.
Car-camping
I found the Energizer 2 In 1 more useful for car-camping since weight
was not a concern, nor was finding a space for it in a backpack.
The extra light not needed while backpacking was appreciated in the
larger space around a car and the extra gear I inevitably end up
spreading out, such as a hammock, coolers, chairs, and for a picnic
table if present.
I liked being able to easily switch from area light at the table or
chair to directional when walking through the woods at night. One
drawback, as noted the Trying It Out section (above), is that the lamp
case is not very stable when stood on the directional-lamp end. I
think that's a design flaw: a larger and flatter flange would have make
the lamp case considerably more stable without taking away from the
lamp's functionality. As with my backpacking tent test, I
attached one cord and clip to the rear of the lamp to hang from a tree
branch, which made a nice reading lamp using either the area or
directional option, depending on the chair/tree arrangement.
Night walking
I brought the 2 In 1 Light with me on two walks where I knew I would be
returning to the car after dark. One walk came down a 2 mile (3.2
km) moderate to flat trail, the other was mostly flat ground. On
both walks I really liked the amount of light provided by either the
area or directional lamps. The flashlight was easy to hold, and
the non-slip
hand grip did just that - didn't slip out of my hand with only a light
pressure to hold it. I loaned the lamp to two friends, and both of them
reported the same experience - lots of light, and easy to hold.
Even when dimmed to 50% or less brightness, there was plenty of light
illuminating the path.
Around the House
Using the flashlight at home was useful in some situations and not so
much in others. I needed to inspect a crawl space in my cellar,
and both the area and directional features worked well, although as
already noted, it could be hard to keep the lamp balanced on either its
edge or base. But on other occasions I needed to take care of
putting away
hoses and other items in the yard, and the bright light was more than
enough to see by. A benefit of the light's rectangular-shaped
case, as a friend discovered, is that the light can be held in one hand
while also carrying something else in the same hand - such as a foam
pad or a laundry basket.
Summary
All in all I like the Energizer 2 In 1 flashlight. Area and
directional functions are easy to switch between. The lamp puts
out a nice bright, white light. And, the case is easy to
hold. Although I found the light more useful for non-backpacking
purposes, it's great for car-camping and other trail trips when weight
and bulk are not at issue. The comfortable rectangular shape of
the case fits well in either hand, and lets me carry another small
object in the same hand without dropping the flashlight.
I've been using the 2 In 1 light for over four months, and it's been
part of my household and outdoor equipment during that time. I
still like the light, and it's still running the original set of
batteries with which it came (since I haven't used it enough to wear
them out, and I'm loathe to waste batteries just for a capacity
test). Although, as noted above, I wish that the case was better
designed to be less tippy when set on its end or side, the light has
proved to be very useful for many types of uses.
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Acknowledgments
Thanks to Energizer and to BGT for the opportunity to evaluate the 2 In 1 flashlight.
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‹
Reviewed By ›
Bob Dorenfeld
Central
Colorado Mountains
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