Dimensions & Weight
Case Material
Case Features
Case Access Type
Switch Type
Reflector Type
Lens Type
Bulb Type
Circuit
Beam Type
Beam Characteristics
Overall Output
Battery / Power Type
Battery Life (advertised)
Environmental Protection
Special Items of Note
Warranty
Retail Availability & Cost

Form Factor & Build

- Classic Hand-held flashlight with radially symmetrical round cross-section.
- Head of Light is wider than the body & tail-piece which are the same diameter.
-The light has substantial heft but it doesn't feel heavy.
- The aluminum wall thickness of the battery tube, looks to be about 5mm.
- All sections fit precisely and threading action is fast & smooth.
- There is some noticeable 'battery rattle' but a substantial tail-spring should absorb any rear-axis shock if the light is fire arm mounted.

1- Ambidextrous. Familiar feel to users of classic flashlights.
2- Hand surrounds knurled round body of (TC2)light.Body of the light fills an entire medium (*1) sized palm without protruding.TC1 is an inch shorter and ideal for smaller hands but still easily holdable by Medium hands-'forward hold' on Head section may be used - May be hand-held in various positions including: Harries Flashlight Technique, forward, upward and downward pointing 'standard' flashlight hand held modes.Fine & shallow Knurling is provided on most of the body and a knurled bezel facilitates bezel removal.
3- Nine deep, lengthwise slots on the head may aid 'indexing' as well as act as roll stops when light is rested on its side on a smooth surface.
4-This light seems to lend itself to mounting beneath a carbine or shotgun with appropriate clamping accessories
5- Due to the protrusion o f the tail switch button from the rear,candle mode is not possible
6- The conspicuous lack of a lanyard hole or ring , preclude 'hanging' this light from wrist or neck (Head mounting via a Nite-ize head band is possible)

1-A smooth finish and rounded contours makes this light a pleasure to hold. The Hard anodizing makes it feels like a cold piece of metal in ones hands.The knurling aids in indexing the body shaft while the deeper slots on the head, aid in indexing the forward position. There are no dramatic geometric features, textures,points or edges that might encourage snagging. On the negative side is the possibility that the smoothness of the finish could potentially encourage slippage under duress or under cold/wet conditions. Actual field data was not available at the time of this review.
2-The holster is a pleasure to use. With a quick upward motion, the cover flap is easily ( if noisily) disengaged from the loop that holds the light itself. The same hand may then withdraw the light and deploy it with a swift revolution of the light and subsequent activation of the click switch. *Tail switches have the disadvantage that the light must be turned in order to make the switch accessible to the thumb or first finger. head-mounted switches do not require the same motion. The advantage of the tail-mounted switch is that it requires less cognitive energy for the user to index or locate the switch. Head mounted lights can slow users down as they 'search' for the button around a blind side of the head. In addition, Tail Mounted click switches are ideal for tactical use of flashlights, since they allow for activation from the rear of the light.

1- The beam shows a somewhat concentric series of ring section, perhaps characteristic of the optics used- which are designed to favor beam throw over smoothness or great coverage. Beam angle is a utilitarian compromise between a wide flood and a narrow spot. This Luxeon 'square' effect is most pronounced at 1 Meter and exponentially diminishes or smooth's out at greater distances- so much as to be virtually unnoticeable at 5 meters.
2- The attachment of a disc shaped piece of theatrical diffusion such Lee™ 420- LIGHT OPAL FROST over the front of the optic, greatly finished such anomalies with only a 2 or 3 % loss of light and minimal loss of throw.
3-The hot spot shows a characteristic 'squared' shape that mirrors the shape of the emitter. But it is quite slight, especially at further than 3 meters
Beam-shots Page >>

We don't have a light meter .To test the throw of the Vortex TC series lights, we conducted a Maximum Distance for Object Identification or MDOI trial and managed to confidently differentiate our test subject (a Black 33 Gallon (124Litre) Trash Bag) from its immediate surroundings, from as far away as 100 feet (xxx Meters) with the subject area in near total darkness and the evaluators and flashlight in a moderate level of street sodium vapor ambient lighting. This test simulated a person searching for an object of known size -a person for example- but located in an unknown or difficult to spot container -a black trash bag, for example. From 100 (xxx Meters) feet away, the Micra positively lit up the vegetation surrounding our subject enough to clearly distinguish it from the Black 33 Gallon Trash Bag, that lay on the ground.
Beam-shots Page >>

Footnotes:

(*1) Medium Men's glove size- Also, a Standardized Flashlight Hand Size Metric (SFHSM)

		Small A-B = 4.5" or Shorter
		Medium A-B = 4.5"-5"
		Large A-B = 5"-6"
		X-Large A-B = 6" and Longer

(*2) Maximum Distance for Object Identification (MDOI). The maximum distance that a person without the aid of magnification-can with normal or corrected vision, under a given ambient level of light, identify an object of known size, and clearly distinguish it from its surroundings. We have tentatively identified the following scenarios for such measures:

A single average sized person/body identification scenario

Urban (city, inside buildings, dark alley, lit streets)

Rural (countryside,farm residential backyard)

Environmental (dessert, woods, wetlands, over water)

Natural & manmade disaster (fire, flood/mudslide,earthquake, hurricane /tornado,bombing scene, collapsed structure etc)

Small Inanimate Object (smaller than a shoe-box)

Medium Inanimate Object (Black Plastic 33 Gallon (124Litre) Garbage Bag stuffed with a big sleeping bag)

(*5) Context Inclusive Illumination Window (CIIW) as compared with a Context Exclusive Illumination Window (CEIW) .

CIIW describes a subject illumination paradigm weherein the illumination target is the focus of the beam's brightest disc or 'Hotspot' and peripheral objects to the target are more dimly illuminated in a larger disc that surrounds the focus or hotspot. This outer region is also referred to as a corona or penumbra.

(CEIW) describes a subject illumination paradigm weherein the illumination target is the focus of the beam's brightest disc or 'Hotspot' and peripheral objects to the target are not sufficiently illuminated to be easily discernable at the periphery of subject beam's focus or hotspot.

© 2004 - Imägo Metrics - All Rights Reserved
Original standards designations (including acronyms) depicted in this, as well as all of our evaluations are the exclusive intellectual property of Imägo Metrics LLC and subsidiaries. Reproduction without prior written permission is strictly prohibited

All Photographs © 2004 - Imago Media