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Gear Reviews
Documents
Tools
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| Biographical Information |
Name:
|
Mark
Wood
|
A Brief
Introduction
I grew up camping with my
parents and had taken a few short backpacking trips, as well as a
couple of 10-day trips before I got married. While my wife and I have
enjoyed car camping and day hiking for close to 6 years, this year we
have decided to make backpacking a permanent part of our lives. Our
trips are generally shorter (2 - 5 days) over rocky, hilly terrain. My
general pack weight for a 3 day trip is around 25 lb (11.4 kg) including
food
and water. |
| Age
/ Sex: |
26 / Male |
| Height: |
5' 11" (1.8 m) |
| Weight: |
250 lb (113 kg) |
| Email
Address: |
mwood_bgt at frontiernet dot net |
Webpage:
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http://www.markandkc.net
|
| Location: |
Chenango County, NY, U.S.A. |
| Product
Information |
|
| Manufacturer: |
Nite Ize |
| Year of Manufacture: |
2006 |
| URL of Manufacturer: |
http://www.niteize.com |
| MSRP: |
$15.00 US |
| Listed Weight: |
None Specified |
| Weight as Delivered: |
3.5 oz (100 g) |
| Listed Dimensions: |
None Specified |
| Measured Dimensions: |
Length: 8 in (20 cm)
Width: 1.4 in (3.5 cm) at the widest point
|
Materials:
(From Web page) |
Body: Poly-carbonate
Wand: Acrylic
|
The Nite Ize L.E.D. Wand is designed to transform an Inova Microlight
flashlight into a wand -- usable as a signal marker, dive light, spot
beam or beacon. The wand is advertised as being shockproof, waterproof,
durable, buoyant and submersible to depths of 1000 ft (300 m) and have a
1 mile (1.6 km) visibility. The wand is shipped with an Inova
Microlight and a wrist lanyard. According to the included
documentation, the L.E.D. Wand carries a 2 year warranty for defects in
materials and workmanship.
For more information, please see my Initial Report.
|
| Field Report |
Over the last two months, the
Nite Ize L.E.D. wands have seen quite a bit of use. I've used
them as flashlights, strobe lights and have taken out the Inova
Microlight to use alone. My overall impressions are as follows:
Ease of Use
While I find the concept of the Nite Ize L.E.D. wand to be quite good,
there are some inherent problems with its use. To start with, the
back cap has to be removed to activate the light or turn off the light
after use. Not only is this inconvenient, but it seems quite
impractical as this is marketed as a suitable diving light. Since
the waterproof seal would be broken when the back cap is removed, you
certainly could not do this underwater.
My other major problem with the usability of this light is the light
output. Alone, the Inova Microlight produces plenty of light for
most simple camp tasks. However, the Nite Ize wand does tend to
cause the Microlight to loose a bit of its power. Couple this
with the fact that the Microlight will turn off after 4 minutes if left
on high (presumably to prevent overheating of the LED), you find
yourself having to remove the end cap, turn the light back on, and
re-attaching the end cap every 4 minutes in the darkness. Not
ideal.
However, even with these two flaws, I find the wand to be very durable
and easy to hold. When exposed to water, I never found any
moisture inside of the wand. The waterproof seals seem to do a
good job since even a good soak in my sink overnight could not
penetrate them!
Functionality
I quite like the Nite Ize L.E.D. wand for a variety of uses.
Primarily, it provides great visibility. Set on low, the
wand can be seen for quite some distance. I did notice that the
green wand seemed to be visible for greater distances than the blue
wand. However, this is most likely due to the fact that the green
light seems to be brighter than the blue. Either make an
excellent emergency strobe when set to blink. I could see these
as very useful for roadside emergencies as well as in the wilderness.
Since the wand turns off after 4 minutes of use in its brightest
setting, I tried to use the wand on low as much as possible.
Unfortunately, I found that when hung from the inside of my tent,
it did not shed enough light to read by. Instead, it maintained a
glow throughout and a single focused beam pointed straight down.
I was really hoping that the wand would diffuse the light a bit
more for a general tent light. However, in some respects (such as
using the wand as a flashlight), I found that the amount of light which
escapes through the body was enough to somewhat ruin my night vision.
I must be clear here. I feel that the Nite Ize L.E.D. wand is a
great
for use as a signal or beacon device. However, I found that it
really
did not excel as an illumination device. Basically, it is very
easy to
see, but very difficult to use to see. More often than not, I
found myself removing the Microlight to use alone when I wanted a task
light. It should be clear that neither the microlight alone nor
the Nite Ize wand produce enough light for me to hike at night. I
especially found this to be true with the blue light as it seemed to
simply become absorbed by the darkness.
As far as nighttime excursions around my house and small hobby farm, I
found that the blue Nite Ize Wand was perfect for checking on the dog
and chickens. The blue light does not disturb the roosting
chickens nor upset the dog. However, I did find that the wand was
not quite enough light for detailed work in the dark.
|
| Field
Conditions |
I try to get out in nature at least twice a month
either car camping or backpacking. Most of the trips involve two nights
of camping. The Nite Ize L.E.D. Wand has accompanied me on all such
excursions and will continue to be used as a light source during the testing time frame.
Most of my hiking and backpacking trips center around the Adirondack
and Catskill regions of New York as well as numerous overnight trips
along the Finger Lakes Trail which passes within 10 miles (16 km) of my
home.
Due to the timing of this test, the Nite Ize has been exposed to a
wide range of weather conditions from cool spring to warm summer
months. Precipitation is very common in this region and thus far, we
have seen our fair share! Average elevation for the areas
surrounding my
house is 500 - 2500 ft (150 - 750 m). Average temperatures during the
testing time frame will range from 50 - 90 F (10 - 32 C).
Also, the Nite Ize L.E.D. Wand will continue to see almost daily use around the
house and our small 13 acre hobby farm. Frequently I am called into the
darkness of night to perform chores such as walking the dog or feeding
and watering the chickens.
|
| Test Results |
In my initial report, I detailed a series of questions
which I wanted to answer. Below, I have attempted to answer these
questions from my first two months of use.
Ease of Use:
- Since the cap of the wand can also house batteries and the
clip for the Inova Microlight, will removing the cap allow these items
to fall out in the woods? Can this be performed in the dark?I
found that the screw cap was somewhat inconvienent in the dark. I
have never bothered to carry the clip for the Microlight or extra
batteries in the cap since it just seemed that I would drop them.
- Is the included Inova Microlight easy to use? Can I cycle
through all 4 different functions (High, Low, Strobe and Signal)
without any trouble in the dark? The
Inova Microlight is quite easy to use and the included instructions are
very good. I never had any problems cycling through the functions
nor using the light in signal mode.
- Does the included lanyard provide an easy way to attach the light to the ceiling of my tent for nighttime reading? The included lanyard has been very useful and easily attached the light easily to the ceiling of my tent.
Functionality:
- Does the Nite Ize L.E.D. Wand provide sufficient light out the polished end to act as a normal flashlight? Not
really. It is fine to use on a focused task, but it really cannot
illuminate any significant area for navigation or to see what is "over
there."
- Will the light pouring out the sides of the flashlight body be problematic for my night vision? When
trying to navigate by the Nite Ize L.E.D. Wand, I did find that the
light pouring out the sides of the body somewhat decreased my night
vision.
- Is the High mode bright enough to use for scouting large open spaces such as searching for a suitable tent spot? Not
for regular use. In a pinch, and if you were taking your time,
you could use the wand for this task. However, I preferred to use
the Microlight alone as it provided somewhat more usable light.
- Is the Low mode dim enough for camp chores without blinding all those around me? Yes.
It also allowed others to easily see me as I did my chores.
Since my wife and I camp mostly in remote campsites, we found
this feature very helpful as we wouldn't lose track of each other
easily.
- How well does the wand serve as an emergency flare? Does
the strobe mode provide a sufficient amount of warning to those
approaching while walking the dog at night? I
really felt that the Nite Ize wand excelled at these tasks. The
strobe is bright enough to be visible and the colors really make the
wand stand out from its surroundings. I feel that this would make
an ideal emergency strobe.
Durability:
- How scratch resistant is the wand? If it gets scratched, will it still function properly? So far, the wands have received no major scratches. Any minor scuffing that has occurred has not effected function at all.
- The manufacturer claims the wand could be used as a dive
marker. Do I have any problems with water entering the wand during
normal outdoor use? As
I stated earlier, the rubber seal on the end cap does its job very
well. I have no concerns about water entering the wand.
- How long do the batteries last in the Inova Microlight? The claimed 15 hours, or less? Are they hard to replace? The
batteries in both of the Microlights have held out for the past two
months. I did follow the instructions provided with the wand to
remove the batteries and found it very easy to accomplish.
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| Summary |
After using the Nite Ize L.E.D. Wand for two months, I
have found it to have definite strengths and weaknesses. Overall,
it is quite fun to use!
Likes:
- Very easy to see from a distance
- Very durable
- Well sealed against moisture
Dislikes:
- Having to remove the cap to turn the wand on and off is somewhat cumbersome
- Provides insufficient light to be used for navigation
- The included Microlight turns off when left on its brightest setting for 4 minutes.
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I
would like to thank Nite Ize and
BackpackGearTest.org for the opportunity to participate in this test!
Read more reviews of Nite Ize gear
Read more gear reviews by Mark Wood
|
