Manufacturer:- www.inovalight.com
Purchase Price :- $66.28/£36.47 http://www.xe.com/ucc/
Size:-116.5mm long, 25mm Diameter
Weight (With Batteries):- 104g (3 5/8 oz)
Battery Type / Qty :- 1off 3V 123A Lithium.
Battery Life :- 1.5 Hours
LED Type :- 1off Luxeon LED running at 1.5Watts
Rated Output:- 35 Lumens Manufacturers Figures
Estimated LED Lifespan:- Over 100000 Hours
Colour :- Black
Working Temperature :- -20 Deg C to +50 DEC C
Lens Material :- Glass with anti reflective coating
Optics :- Custom TIROS optical system
Electronics:- Regulation to give constant light output
Body Material :- Aluminium
Finish :- Type III Hard Anodised
Available Body Colours:- Black
Seal Type :- 1off Nitrile O-Rings
Depth Rating :- Not Known but Rated Water Resistant
Manufacturers Guarantee:- Limited Lifetime

This Inova T1 and the T3 I bought along with it are the first Inova lights I have bought with Luxeon LED's. This gives them a far brighter output than the previous Inova X5 I have reviewed and they have an impressive build quality and feature set.

The 'T' series from Inova I think stands for Tactical. Well that's what its says on the Box anyway. This implies that they are suitable for Professional use such as the Police or armed services. I think this is a fair statement as we will see.

The light is constructed from aircraft aluminium. This means that is is usually a high quality aluminium alloy with good mechanical properties. It is finished in a Black Type III Hard Anodised finish. Which is about the hardest wearing finish there is, so it should resist scratching for a while.

The light has a screw on tailcap. This has to be removed to replace the single CR123 cell. The main light body is sealed against the tailcap with a single O-ring and this is well lubricated along with the threads to prevent it from seizing and provide smooth operation.

Once removed the battery can be accessed. Be aware that the positive end of the battery should be installed facing the tailcap switch end of the light. This is the exact opposite of many similar lights I own and seems to be a feature of Inova lights.

Once the battery is installed the tailcap should be screwed back on until it makes good contact with the body of the light. Unscrewing the tailcap slightly will 'Lock Out' the light from inadvertent operation.

The tailcap provides a pushbutton for turning the light on and off. It is the so called 'Clicky' type as you press it firmly and let go to turn on the light and do the same again to turn it off. It makes a positive click sound when you do this. Pressing lightly on the switch allows the torch to turn on in momentary mode, where letting go will turn the light of again without latching. In this mode no click sound will be heard.

The tailcap also contains a substantial hole for fitting a lanyard to the light.

The only downside of the tail end is that the rounded pushbutton precludes the use of the light in candle mode. As it won't stand on it's end and shine at the ceiling.

The business end of the light that contains the Optic, Glass lens and LED module. These appear to all be installed from the front of the light and kept in place with what looks like a stainless steel bezel ring. I am not sure this will allow access to all the light modders out there, but the light is pretty impressive in stock form anyway so this may not be an issue.

The optic is unique as it is a patent-pending TIROS system developed by Inova. This projects the light produced by the LED into a concentrated beam that throws a claimed 150', impressive. It is protected by a glass lens that is with an anti reflective coating to give more light transfer. Claimed to be 90% of that produced by the LED.

You can see the Optic pattern in the pictures. It looks like the rings on a Fresnel type lens see here for an explanation.

The light does indeed throw a long way. It also has a visible set of outer rings around the central hotspot. But these are evenly spaced and do not detract too much from the quality of the beam. The central hot spot is very smooth and even and the LED is a good colour with a very very slight warm tint to it.

The quality of the light as a whole is excellent, better than many other light that I own and probably less money as well.

The knurling pattern is more machined than knurled but it does look good and gives a positive grip without ripping you hands to shreds.

I would buy another one of these if I lost this one. As it is also good value for money I would not be frightened to carry it everywhere and use it as intended. Something that some of my custom lights would not get to do!

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