Manufacturer:- http://darkgear.com/mrbulk/
Purchase Price :- $300 (CPF Edition) http://www.xe.com/ucc/
Size:- 78.83mm (3.103 Inches)long 25.42mm (1Inch) Diameter at widest point.
Weight (With Batteries):- 5 oz. 142g Brass Version
Battery Type / Qty :- 1off RCR123 Rechargeable Lithium-Ion (Optimum) or CR123 Primary (Backup)
Battery Life :- Not yet Known but probably about 60 plus Minutes on Full and many hours 100+ on low
LED Type :- 3W Luxeon Bin TX0J
Rated Output:- Unknown but probably around 75 Lumens on High
Estimated LED Lifespan:- Over 100,000 Hours
Colour:- White
Reflector Type :- Plastic Drop in IMS 20.5mm
Lens Material :- Ultra Clear Coated Glass
Electronics:- uController based electronics to allow dimming and other advanced features
Body Material :- Brass, Aluminium and in rare cases (Only 11 made) Titanium
Limited production run of only a few lights makes this a collectors item 100 Black 100 Nat 80 odd Brass and 200 bare Aluminium I think!

Firstly a big Thank you to Charlie (Mr Bulk) for giving me the opportunity to own this special light. This is a very limited edition (Brass) that was only offered to a few of Mr Bulks best customers and friends!

Most people along with myself are still waiting for the production versions of these lights to appear. They will be made from aluminium and be finished in either Black or Natural HA Type III. I will be getting the full rechargeable CR123 kit with these and thus don't yet have the ability to use this light as intended with a RCR123 cell. But I can use a normal CR123 and the light works along with all its marvelous features. It is just slightly dimmer than normal. I can also use the Lionheart PILA tube and get the correct output from the LED. :-)

I though the Lionheart was one of the best flashlights ever made. But I think this one is better!

As it is made from Brass it has a fantastic colour that draws you in immediately. But under the initial gloss there is some excellent machining. Not polished as supplied or photographed but it may be by me in the future, Although the knurling could be tricky to get looking right!

The Knurling on the body and tube is a little more subtle than on previous Mr Bulk lights. But is still done extremely well with five rings on the head and five smaller diameter ones on the body. I like the design, but it does have similarities with a certain Japan made CR2 light!

The head contains an IMS 20.5mm reflector assembly, the type that sits on three small legs. Please observe the instruction sheet if you remove this as it only fits back in one way round! The lens is an UCL type from our friends at http://www.flashlightlens.com/ this gives off a green tint if you catch the light at the correct angle. Just the anti reflective coating doing its thing.

Underneath the lens and the reflector sits the heart of the Lioncub so to speak. The LED. This is the so called Charlie binned Luxeons of a very very good BIN number (TXOJ). This gives an excellent white (very slight blue) that makes my VIP look very slightly green. All these comparisons are very subjective and really only matter if you compare against another light on a white surface. The reality of the light in use is that you cannot tell the difference. Your eyes adjust and compensate telling you that this is the new white. Don't believe me! Go into your garden and shine any two LED light onto the grass. Does it look the same shade of green? Thought so. Just keep away from white walls! LOL

That's enough ranting on LED's let move onto the really interesting bit. The On switch! This is a small rubber covered stud located on the top part of the light. This is where the advanced features of the light start to happen and we must learn two new terms.

1.) Click

2.) Press

A click is a fast less than 0.3 of a second press and release.

A Press is a longer than 0.3 second press and hold.

Got that. Good, lets move on.

Click the button and the light will turn on. Click it again and it will turn off. Easy.

How do we make the light get brighter or dimmer? (Yes this light can do that, that why it's so cool)

Once the light is on Press and hold. The light will slowly ramp up or down in brightness until you let go. If it gets brighter and you want dimmer, just let go and press again. The ramp will reverse direction.

To turn the light off just click. It will remember the last brightness setting the next time you turn it on.

The best and most simple light control system with one button on a flashlight! I love it!

Bored with this yet?

There's more ....

The advanced feature menu can be activated by clicking the switch 3 times whilst the light is on. This is the V2 software from George. V1 was first seen in the Lionheart and was excellent in its advanced features and simple to use. The V2 software is even better and has faster ramping of the light levels and access to all features without having to remove the battery as you did with the V1 version. I like the lock out feature, and the ability to set a preset Force mode (preset light level) when first turned on.

See here for exact instructions on all the advanced features.

http://www.taskled.com/cpf/lh_manual_V2.pdf

Have Fun.

Here are the stats on the LED :-

Lumileds Luxeon III LED

The TX0J Bin code of the LED.

T=67.2-87.4 Lumens
X= 6700K Colour Temperature Tint White
0= 6700K Colour Temperature Tint White
J= 3.27-3.51Vf (Forward Voltage)

I am going to save the rest of the review along with the beamshot's and lightmeter readings until I get the TW versions with the chargers and batteries, hopefully in the next few weeks. For now enjoy the pictures.

Update 30-June-2005

I have added the beamshots and Lux readings with what now looks like to be the standard protected RCR123 cells. Please see pics below.

Update 18 July 2005

Time to add in the other models of the LionCub. First of all the Black HA CPF Version followed by the Natural (Dark Green) HA CPF Version and finally the bare aluminium ST (Secret Thingy) version.

All work just as the Brass one descibed above. But as they are made from aluminium they are considerably lighter and much easier to carry around.

This review will be updated again when the LionHeads show up. These should produce silly spot readings and throw a long long way for such a small light.

Update 5 August 2005

I finally got my LionHeads (Well most of them anyway) :)

These turn the LionCub in to a monster throwing light. They also turn the LionCub in to a very odd looking device.

I can put up with the strange looks though, as the larger head provides a concentrated hotspot to the beam that will make it throw a lot further than the standard head design.

The secret to this larger head is a standard Maglite reflector that has been slightly modified to accommodated the placement of the Luxeon LED in the center of focus. This does mean that the position of the Luxeon Star emitter may need adjusting slightly to get the optimum focus point. Not problem as this is easy to achieve as the star is not permanently attached to the heat sink. Just sort of stuck there with the viscosity of the thermal paste. So pushing carefully from one side with your thumb seem to work for me.

Once centered the beam produces a tight hotspot and a wide corona of far dimmer light. This can be used to great effect for spotting distant objects. This is probably the furthest throwing Luxeon III torch I have seen.

I hope to take some light meter readings at the weekend and produce some more beamshot pictures to show the size of the hotspot.

So far I think this is a very impressive and worthwhile addition to the LionCub range. Just need the Otok 168A battery tubes now for a complete set of parts!

From my previous Mr Bulk creation I said :- (I really think this is one of the very best flashlights I have owned to date).This is a getting to be a repetitive comment for each new generation of lights. But it really is true when it comes to this particular model.

www.candlepowerforums.com One of the best forums of any kind on the net. Lots of reviews, opinions and help for the novice to the expert on anything relating to illumination products.