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

- Sleek and industrial aesthetic. A contemporary hand-held flashlight. Geomerty is a bi-laterally symmetrical round cross-section/featuring 2 opposing flat milled sections, strategic & functional knurling and 'cooling fin' accents.
- Entire flashlight profile is geometrically a nearly uniform diameter cylinder with cut-in (turned & milled) accents.
- The flashlight feels lightweight (with batteries) yet it gives the impression of having respectable heft.
- The aluminum wall thickness of the battery tube is 2 mm.
- All sections fit precisely and threading action is fast & smooth.
- Anodizing throughout (presumably) makes highly corrosion resistant -it exudes detailed quality.
- There is no 'play' or rattle anywhere. 'O' rings provide shock absorption, a snug fit and a seal against the elements- especially water.
- Rugged look & feel with handsome and minimalist contours. It reminded us of the Hummer automobile and the milling suggests that this light would make a nice partner to the Extrema Ratio 'Nemesis' -folding knife. As such, its as elegant in a briefcase as it would be reliable on the battlefield or a campsite.

1- Ambidextrous. Even more pleasant to hold than to behold
2- One's hand easily surrounds the smooth round body of the Mini , with the thumb and first or second fingers- naturally locating the flat milled sections at just behind the head-section.(*3)The body of the light fills an entire medium (*1) sized palm without protruding at the wrist. Its ideal for smaller hands but eminently hold-able by medium or large hands as well. A 'forward hold' on the head section may be used with third finger fitting naturally into the underside flat cut-in. It may be hand-held in various positions including: Harries Flashlight Technique,Rogers hold, forward, upward and downward pointing 'standard' flashlight hand-held modes. The lack of customary knurling over the body section is a refreshing departure from the norm (our tests have shown that knurling shinny anodized metal does not always yield a better griping surface) and is more than compensated for by the grip-ability of the cut-in flat-milled sections. Knurling on the tail cap does seem tofacilitate easier turning and therefore, On/Off functionality.
3-Two dep grooves cut-in at the rear of the head may aid 'indexing' (by aiding in head or tail identification in total darkness) as well as performing the cooling fin function of dissipating heat away from the LED capsule and reducing surface temperature where a hand may otherwise experience discomfort. An imprinted warning on the head section reads 'Caution: Hot Surface' and the international symbol for 'Hot Surface' in imprinted above that.
4-Three attachment points on the tail cap- allow for a variety of attachment options.
-- One 1/4"X20 threaded hole positioned at the center of the tail cap is suitable for lanyard adapter or other 1/4X20 connection.
-- One 1/4"X20 threaded hole positioned at one side edge-90º to the end hole of the tail cap is suitable for tripod/bipod or other 1/4X20 connection
-- One 1/8"D (3mm) smooth & round lanyard hole is positioned diametrically opposite to the side-drilled 1/4X20 threaded hole and is suitable for a ring, spring-clip or cord lanyard attachment
5- Thanks to a flat tail cap and coupled with light weight and excellent 'balance' (center of gravity is dead-on at the midpoint along the length of the light), 'candle/ceiling mode' are very stable with this flashlight.
6- No other native mounting options for fire arms , though the mid-section lends itself to dedicated clamping brackets or other improvised and custom designed attachment solutions.

1-Anodizing protects a satin smooth surface that is finely machined along the body section with a series of micro-grooves that make the surface 'feel' like it has a finely tooled pattern engraved into it. It's a pleasure to experience this signature of the manufacturing process. The Hard anodizing doesn't have a glossy look or slippery feel as sometimes is the case with flashlights. As mentioned in the section (Ergonomics & Mount Options), The light's contours and machined profile seem designed to be held securely in ones hands. We did not perform a 'pull' test but it was obvious that the light was both easy to manipulate with one hand - and not about to slip away from it's operator.
2-The lack of a holster (useful for protecting the light and especially its lens) is more than made up for by the attachment points previously cited. As such it operated very well as a 'tethered' light- hanging from this reviewer's personal neck lanyard (via a 'lobsterclaw' clip + split ring)- and was at the ready and not easily losable or drop-able. An accessory coiled & tangle- free lanyard would be a welcome accessory for those that prefer to tether the light away from thier neck. In addition, Longbow are releasing a 'Button' style belt clip for belt carry - a belt-carry solution borrowed from the mobile phone industry.
3- The lightness and compact form factor make it suitable for pocket carry (depending on the type of pocket). It may also be ostensibly used as a Kubotan/Baton light . It is certainly suited for outdoors, water-sport and rough environmental exposure- where reliability and toughness are of paramount importance.
4- In using it continuously for a 1/2 hour in 70ºf ambient , I barely sensed that the head was too warm to touch by any means. I suspect that the warning imprinted on the head is more to protect against potential liability than as a caution of any significan heat issue.
5-The tail cap (twist on /off ) switch needs barely a few degrees of an anti-clockwise turning to switch the light 'Off' . Turning it a little more ensures that the light doesn't accidentally come on by itself for any reason (untested) . A tail cap push-button switch would facilitate easier single-handed operation (untested)as well as afford the use of momentary 'On' mode, arguably a useful option in certain situations. As an example, on a nightly walk with this light I typically turned it 'On/Off' about 6 or 7 times in the course of 10 minutes - so as to conserve battery power by avoiding 'drainag' on well lit stretches of road. The firm turning motion required to operate the twist switch mechanism of the Mini,makes is inconvenient in situations that involve a lot of repetitive on/off cycles within a short span of time. For such situations, a click on/off type switch would be the more conveinient option.One advantage of the Longbow designed twist on /off tail-cap is that a lanyard may be attached to allow for direct downwards pointing beams- ideal for tracing ones steps through a dark passage with both hands otherwise occupied, or for tent or other directly down-ward pointing illumination.
6- The color of the 'Olive Drab' sample Mini we reviewed is actually more of a warm & dark gray- The colors Anthracite and Carbon spring to mind. Its nearly identical to Pantone Matching System color #405(MC)(*4). Tis nearly neutral Gray camouflages & blends in well with a variety of 'Olive Drab' or 'OD' products that we sampled at a local military surplus store. It also compliments warm grays,breen or greeninsh browns,titanium,carbon,bronze,gold,brass,raw aluminum,black, tan, sand and white.

1- The beam is square shaped, though with softer edges than we've seen from similar optics/lights. The narrowness of the 6º hotspot capitalizes on the clean brightness of a premium Bin 1 Watt Luxeon emitter, while still delivering a useful spill of around 12º beam angle. I would characterize such a beam as 'tactical' -as its very similar to the beams put out by several tactical weapons lights.It would serve admirably for search/rescue, ems, law enforcement, military and extreme outdoor sports.
2- The square-shaped beam didn't affect our ability to use this light normally for searching or to create ambient room lighting through ceiling bounce or candle mode modes. It creates a subject illumination in a category that we've codified as a Context Inclusive Illumination Window (CIIW) as compared with a Context Exclusive Illumination Window (CEIW) (*5)
3- For one test, I mounted the Mini in my preferred holder- a Nite-ize headband, and ran a local woodland trail for 2 miles. It easily illuminated the blue blazing on trees as far away as 320 feet (about 100 Meters), creating a subject circle of about 2 meters in circumference.
4- The beam lacks any artifacting or anomalies that might adversly affect the judgment of illuminated subjects at normal distances for this type of a light. Simply put - it works perfectly -right out of the box.
5- While the supplied optic is probably ideal for a wide range of uses- accessory heads extend the functionality of the Mini to more specialized contexts- a welcome approach to user and task centered design.
6-To test the throw of the Mini, we conducted a Maximum Distance for Object Identification or MDOI (*2) 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 145 feet (44.2 Meters) with the subject area in near total darkness and the evaluators and flashlight in a moderate level of street sodium vapour 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 145 (44.2 Meters) feet away, the Mini 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.The estimated contrast ratio was 3:1
Beam-shots Page >>

I don't possess a light meter but the findings of other reviewers are hereby underscored and confirmed- It's as bright or brighter than any 1 Luxeon light we've experienced to date. It's brightness was such that it properly exposed the reference color chart for 50% Gray at 1 stop smaller aperture than the only competitor on hand, a Vortex TC2 ( W/Fraen ) . This is corroborated by the fact that the Vortex TC2 scored Maximum Distance for Object Identification or MDOI at only 100 feet (30Meters) versus the further (and better) 145 feet (44.2 Meters) from the Longbow Mini (*4). That Longbow Mini optic has reach and punch.
Beam-shots Page >>

1- We only had this light to test for 24 hours and our first impression was that based on the beautifully crafted and designed presentation box we felt good about it even before the box had been opened. It's easy to overlook presentation and branding in the niche products market. The designers of the Longbow and it's packaging, clearly spared no expense in talent or materials. We suspect that a lot of these flashlights might well be marketed through the high-end retail channels and we see them being offered as gifts. The build quality coupled with raw performance thus frames a picture of a handsome, rugged, verile and well dressed flashlight- eager to punch light into the darkest labyrinths or to reach out across a distance and illuminate an obscure subject. (*4)
2- This light provides intense 'close-up' illumination and it delivers a bright diffused overhead light when used in ceiling/bounce mode (optics on- pointed at a light colored ceiling). For close-ups there are lights that contain variable resistors and circuits to reduce the output to manageable levels. Another option would be for Longbow to offer an accessory Lantern Attachment or Filter that would diffuse light from the stock optic, without the need for removal of the head assembly
3-Value. With new flashlights in the 1 & 2,CR123 / 1W Luxeon market space -being released weekly- it's hard to define a relative value when comparing non-comparables. At this point in time, the Longbow Mini rates as our top choice in it's price and quality class - for it was hard to fault the package or product. We've award it 5 stars out of a possible 5 stars.
4- Our minor gripes were... A) The milling of the flat cut-in sections- on the sides of the body section (Battery tube) showed the faintest tooling marks from the milling bit used to cut the insets. This is a very slight 'finishing' issue... un-obstrusive and hardly mentionable. B) The package we received, depicted a Longbow Micra, even though it contained a Mini. I would not have noticed that at all-were it not for an observant assistant remarking that the serial number sticker on the back of the box was positioned directly over the Mini's description. (#6) Unless future packages match the cover photograph exactly to the contents or some sort of a sticker labels the model clearly for store customers , we predict there might be some confusion at retail points of purchase. These two minor issues were all that kept the Mini from earning a perfect score.

5 Stars- Highly Recommended

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 'Hotpsot' 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 'Hotpsot' and peripheral objects to the target are not sufficiently illuminated to be easily dicernable 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 writen permission is strictly prohibited

All Photographs © 2004 - Imago Media