Other than working from your home and talking about your passion in life, the biggest perk of this job is product review. Sure, I love bragging to all of my military buddies that I work in my pajamas in between my son's naps and my marathon reruns of Star Trek: The Next Generation. However, this past month, courtesy of the good folks from Victory Defense, I have had the honor and privilege of reviewing one of the coolest flashlights I've ever come across. In 10 years of service to my country, I have come across some cool flashlights that have everything from "DNA extractors" to strobe effects to disorient non-compliant subjects. So what makes the LumenCam so special?
In addition to making dark places bright, it also functions as video recording device. That's right, folks. It's a camera and a flashlight. I know what you're thinking - what a gimmicky product to sell. I have to admit when I first saw it, the thought did cross my mind. But there are some things about this flashlight that are hard to ignore. Here are a few:
- It's waterproof.
- It records video and sound. Why is this useful? The video can be transferred from the flashlight to a computer and preserved for evidence. It can also be used to give a first-person view during training after-action reviews. Can you imagine if every member of a S.W.A.T. team were equipped with one of these during a critical incident in which loss of life occurred? What if your security personnel were required to have these during their rounds? If you have an incident where they need to respond, this flashlight could mean the difference between a costly civil suit with consequent punitive damages and a successful motion to dismiss.
- It has a USB port to transfer data from the flashlight to a computer.
- It's extremely durable. Other than being made completely of metal, it has a grated surface to prevent slipping due to moisture.
- It has a rechargeable lithium battery. All I have to say is "Holy Long Battery Life". In a test to see if it would hold up as advertised, my two year old son left it on for THREE hours and it was still holding a charge!!! ATTENTION FUTURE COMPANIES I WISH TO SOLICIT LATER FOR PRODUCTS TO REVIEW: My son isn't involved in all product testing. However, I feel if a two year old can break it, then you have some issues. If my two year old can operate it, then your product rocks.
- It's dummy proof - almost. The operations of the flashlight are pretty standard and thus extremely easy to do. Don't believe me? Check out the data sheet below. However, the transferring of files may be a bit too much of an exercise for some of the less technologically savvy of our security and law enforcement brethren.
- Video recording is seamless and the memory storage is pretty decent (4G). I had zero issues with recording video and audio. You could hear a whisper two to four arm lengths away. The video was easily playable and required no special drivers or plug-ins.
- The light has phase brightness. I affectionately called these "bright" and "really freaking bright". I'm sure there's a much more technical and possible professional way of saying that but you get the idea. It's your standard brightness you'd expect from a tactical light with brightness for near and far objects.
- I would like the flashlight to be somewhat smaller. This is a great light if you have the kind of duty gear that has the ring you can attach standard police flashlights to. If you don't, then you have to carry this in your hands the whole time you're on-scene. A smaller light allows for the ability to have the light tucked in or recessed somewhere on your person (i.e. a pocket, inside your belt line, inside a pouch).
- The price was a bit much for a rookie to purchase right away. This is where I believe the smaller size would be helpful. You may lose some memory storage capacity but you would also be lowering the price and increasing your market share.
- If they do make a smaller size, place a trigger button on the bottom of the light if possible. Having the light switch on the top could be counter-intuitive for some operators who have gotten use to tactical lights with triggers on the bottom.
- Make it what I call "rail adaptable". It seems like every light you see these days looks like you can mount on a rifle or your pistol. I'm not a fan of lights on pistols but I would like to see this in a much smaller size on tactical carbine.
All in all I really, really, really like this flashlight. While I wasn't too impressed with its illumination, I loved how easily you could go from having no video to having full video recording. I also enjoyed how easy it was to operate. I hate picking up someone's latest and greatest in security tech and realizing its too gimmicky or complicated for the "guy on the ground" to operate effectively from day one. I like tech that I can give a new guy on his first day without me having to teach him a full-on course. This product is almost too simple.
You can say I didn't become really impressed with the LumenCam until after I finished reviewing it. You see I live in a house with a two year old little boy who loves to bang, drop, drag, throw, drown, drench, punch, kick, bite, and bend anything he gets his hands on. For a solid month, I've had this flashlight and watched in utter amazement as my son did all of those things and more with this light.
Conclusion: If you have a little bit of cash and want to invest in something that's going to last and possibly be the only thing in your arsenal capable of telling things the way they really happened, drop by the folks at Victory Defense and get the LumenCam. Believe me, it's worth it.
Looking to buy one, the wonderful people at Victory Defense are the ones to get it from. Check it out here or at .http://www.victorydefense.com/shop/index.cfm?productID=8653.
Here's a fact sheet about the Lumen Cam:
LumenCam Data Sheet
