[turboBB]

A friend of mine was recently invited to take a tour of Pelican's facilities while he was out in Cali. During his visit, they provided him w/some goodies of which I asked to borrow the 1910 and 1920 so that I may review them as I was curious as to their performance. Read on to see what I think of them.


MFG SPECS



PACKAGING
I was only provided with part of the packaging for the 1910 but I believe both come in the typical soft cardboard exterior w/the lights cradled in a inner plastic shell.



DESIGN / FEATURES
In keeping with the penlight theme, both lights offer a petite profile with a clip that allows it to be held in place in a shirt or other pocket. The head and body are one single piece with only the tailcap and clip being removable.


There is a smooth reflector behind a polycarbonate lens that does a fairly good job of producing a decent mix of hot spot and flood:


The lights share identical designs in that the theme is 5 fluted flat surfaces spaced evenly around the head/body/tail of which all can be aligned perfectly depending on how tight/loose the tailcap is threaded on:


There are three etchings on the body with the manufacturer name and model featured prominently on a flat surface on the body and a polarity indicator and strangely a "Do not dispose in trash" logo:


The tailcaps contain foward clicky switches which allow momentary use. The rubber boot features small nodules to provide for aesthetics and some additional texture but as it protrudes out a bit and isn't perfectly flat, the lights are non-tailstandable:


The threads are neither anodized nor square-cut, nor was there any grease applied. This does contribute to a very moderate friction feel during threading but nothing bad, just not the silky smooth feeling I'm accustomed to w/anodized threads. Also, given the lack of anodization on the threads on both the tube and tailcap, the battery must be removed in order to prevent accidental operation of the light.


I had a heckuva time putting the clip back on thanks to user error as I failed to notice that there is a little notch on both the tube and clip to prevent the clip from spinning freely. I thought this was a nice touch since it allows one to easily clip the light without needing to realign the clip due to it shifting:


While the clip can be used reversed to attach the lights to the brim of hat, it's not the most secure grip but should suffice in a pinch for the 1910 (the 1920 is a bit long and not balanced when mounted this way):



SIZE

From L to R: Energizer AAA | Zebralight H501 | Fenix L0D | Pelican 1910 | Fenix LD10 | Sunwayman V10A | Icon Link | Pelican 1920

Given the additional length the forward clicky switch adds, these aren't exactly the smallest AAA form factor lights out there but they aren't over-sized either. Here is a pic of both in an average-sized shirt pocket:

1920 on left had to be angled a bit to accomodate full length (you can see the tip bulging out the bottom of the pocket) while the 1910 fit very nicely without any issues.

Other than the length, both lights are identical in overall diameter, in which case, the head (.66in/16.8mm) is just slightly larger than the body (.57in/14.7mm) and tail (.62/15.9mm).


FIT & FINISH
This is my first exposure to Pelican products and overall I find them to be really well made. All engravings were very sharp and flawless and likewise with the anodized finishing in which the tailcaps matched the bodies/heads:

(flash intentionally used to help expose any mismatch in anodizing but none were noted)

I did notice that the LED was not centered on the 1910 (L) but pretty much dead-on in the 1920 (R):

This did contribute to some minor flaws with the hotspot on the 1910.

Peering down the tubes, I noted that there is no spring on the anode (head) side:

The only thing that keeps the batteries in place are the springs in the tailcap. I was able to easily induce battery rattle w/the 1920 by shaking it w/sideways motions (perpendicular to the tube) but not so w/the 1910.

About the only thing I can really nit pick on is the lack of anodizing on the tail threads but then that would really be more of a feature complaint and not one of fit and finish. If anything, the off-centered LED is something to keep an eye out for.


UI
The UI is very straight forward on each given that there is but a single mode. However, given this fact coupled with the forward clicky switch, the lights can be used for signaling purposes without worries of changing levels.


RUNTIME
Based on my revised runtime approach, I generally attempt to test mfg claims against whatever methodology they use. In this case, Pelican has listed the runtime on Alkaline batteries according to ANSI FL1 standards (time until output drops below 10% of initial output measured 30 seconds after light was first turned on). However, as those who read my reviews will come to know, I'm not fond of primaries and thus almost exclusively use rechargeables thus I ran these tests on various NiMh AAA's (fully charged right before testing).






So what's the story here? I think the most obvious would be that the Tenergy's are just poor performers especially given their claim of 1000 mAh capacity (which the Sanyo's are also rated at). To be fair, they are older batteries purchased > 2 yrs ago (but then again, so were the Sanyo's). In spite of this, for the 1910 I was able to match or exceed mfg claims using NiMh (slightly longer runtimes can be expected on Alkaline and especially Lithium batteries).

With the 1920, the runtimes fall just short of claims but again, keep in mind that those were conducted w/Alkaline and these are with NiMh so I do expect those claims to be accurate.


TINT & BEAM PROFILE
Looks like there is a bit of a tint lottery going on as the 1910 features a very nice neutral white, albeit the beam is slightly impacted as the LED was off-center, whereas the 1920's tint is noticeably more green NEW 1/2/12:

This shot was taken on a wall that is very light grey and it was very hard to get a good compromise in terms of the white-balance but in reality, the 1920 (R) is a bit more green and cool whereas the 1910 (L) while having a slight greenish hot spot, emits a relatively neutral white. The indoor shots below does a pretty good represenation of the tints on these samples.


INDOOR SHOTS NEW 1/2/12
1910


1920


For details of the shots and comparo vs. many other lights, check here.


CONCLUSION
My first and only AAA light is a Fenix L0D and I used it as my EDC for a short while. Over time, it had fallen out of favor due to the form factor (or so I thought) but after having played around with the 1910, it made me realize it wasn't so much the form factor but rather that I didn't like twisties. For me personally, nothing beats a well made clicky. Understandably, this adds to the overall size of a light a little but I feel it's a worthwhile compromise. Another thing I noticed is that given the smaller diameter vs. my ZL SC30 (current EDC), the 1910 doesn't protrude out of my pocket as much. I am able to shove it to the extreme corner of a pocket and not even notice that it's there especially when seated New 1/1/12:


Last but not least, after having tested some really bright lights of late, given the sub-100lms claim of these lights, I really wasn't expecting much in terms of output but I ended up impressed nontheless (especially with the 1910).

New 1/1/12: Here are shots of the two in actual use while I was helping a friend with an oil change:

1910 (L) | 1920 (R)

There is no fancy UI, multi/variable-modes or a focusable beam. These are just pure and simple "light here, light now" utility lights that should live up to some hard use and if they somehow don't, I just learned that Pelican offers a Lifetime Guarantee on their products which should provide their owners a good peace of mind.