[carrot]

I just received this light from the Pila passaround by JSB, who conveniently happens to sell Pila lights and the better known Pila batteries.

First off, let me say that I've never had the pleasure of being able to use a 3-cell lithium light before at nighttime, and the only lights I've compared it to are my Surefire A2 and E1L.

I make references to the Surefire A2 (similar type output as any other 2-cell Surefire, but with low-output LEDs as well), Surefire E1L, Nite-Ize 3-LED Minimag drop-in upgrade and the Fenix L1P. It would help if you were familiar with

The Pila GL3 is solidly built and well-designed. Jon's assessment of the Pila lights as being "built like a tank" is spot on. I could see myself beating the [insert favorite expletive here] out of an attacker with it -- it feels like a club. Not a single part of the light feels "cheap" or fragile. I walked around with it in my pocket for awhile, and it is surprisingly comfortable despite its weight, no doubt in part due to its curvy shape. It does not roll off my table like my Fenix L1P tends to do.

The Pila has very long threads, which means it's a little slower to replace the batteries than on lights such as my A2, but it also means that you're less likely to completely unscrew something when you really don't want the light to be unsealed... such as in wet conditions. It is a little bit slippery in wet hands but a firm grip is enough to hold the light securely due to the milled rings around the body tube. It is very comfortable to hold, but a combatgrip-type hold does not feel suitable for this light. For such a comparatively hefty light, the GL3 is very well balanced and a joy to use.

The Pila GL3 in the passaround came with two tailcaps, one with a clickie switch and another with a LED tailcap. The tactical-style clickie switch has a less solid "click" than the Surefire tailcaps, as on my E1L, but the textured rubber button has a nice feel to it and is quite usable just the same. It must be fully depressed to "click" on. The tactile feel of the clicking action is considerably nicer on the Surefire but the Pila clickie works well. A half turn locks out the tailcap from accidental activation, and I think it would be much harder to accidentally activate constant-on with the Pila clickie tailcap than on the Surefires or Fenixes (both of which have come on in my pocket at one time or another).

I am not so much a fan of the LED tailcap as I feel it is more awkward to use than my Surefire A2's LEDs, but it works as advertised and could come in handy if you want a single light to take care of all your illumination needs. The GL3 is also considerably cheaper and brighter than the A2. I was originally skeptical that the tailcap LEDs would work as well as they do, as it seems to pass current through the filament, but it works flawlessly. Switching between LED and incandescent use requires you to flip your wrist around to aim the bezel in the opposite direction lest you wish to blind yourself with the powerful incandescent beam. The LEDs provide sufficient illumination to read and walk around with and appear to have slightly better tint than that of my Surefire A2. The output of the LEDs remind me of the Nite-Ize with their surprisingly tight "flood"-type beam (it does sound like an oxymoron...), but with a whiter tint and brighter. No artifacts are visible in normal use. However, I prefer my A2's LED beam for walking around, as it is more floody, but it does not mean the GL3's LEDs are unusable.

It is somewhat awkward to use the LEDs on momentary activation, but I suspect this will not bother most people, and it certainly does not bother me because I just end up twisting the tailcap. Momentary activation of the incandescent causes the LEDs to flash as you depress the button, but this is only bothersome in the first few minutes of usage. I got used to it after awhile. I would not want to use the light in a "tactical" situation with the LED tailcap, but otherwise it is very usable, and I expect it would be as versatile in day-to-day usage as my trusty Surefire A2.

Now to the meat of the light-- the incandescent output. I walked around in my driveway in the humid NYC summer weather shining the GL3 around. I think I scared some guy walking down the driveway with its powerful beam. Whereas the A2 and E1L seem very dim at distances, the GL3 easily lights up trees and buildings that are dimly lit (but still fairly visible) with the A2 and E1L. The GL2 has a tighter hotspot than the A2, and has slightly yellower beam (though it doesn't look yellow on its own), making colors stand out brilliantly on trees and other such foliage. Never having used a 3-cell lithium light outside in the dark before, I was simply blown away. When I was fooling around in the morning with the light indoors I was still impressed. The GL3 illuminates what my 2-cell Surefires struggle to light up, and I could very clearly see the beam in the humid night sky. I would say the output of the GL3 is perfect for spotting and general use, if not a little bright for close illumination. It's definitely a "wow" light.

The Pila GL3 from the passaround also came with Pila 300P rechargeable batteries, which smell like electronics I used to play with ten years ago (a good smell) and do not look like low quality cells, although looks don't tell much about the quality of cells. I've got a multimeter somewhere but I'm not really sure what I would be looking for with the cells, so I'll leave that to requests if anyone's got any within 3 days of this review. I have not compared the output with these rechargeable cells with that of primaries but Pila's site claims better output with the rechargeable cells.

I am very impressed through and through with the Pila GL3. It's bright, solidly built, and well-designed overall. It definitely feels like quality, and the black finish is beautiful. I suppose I would purchase it with the LED tailcap simply because it makes the light more versatile, although I don't think I'd particularly miss the LEDs if they were gone. In fact, it impresses the heck out of me so much, that I am considering it over the Streamlight TL3 I would have bought otherwise. It is priced fairly at around $65-70 at JSBurlys.com (for LED tailcap, no rechargeables), and a light I will miss using when I ship it off to the next guy in the passaround. There's absolutely nothing I would change on the light to make it 'better' -- it's fantastic as is. I absolutely recommend this light if you're looking for a solid 2-cell flashlight or a light to blow away your unenlightened friends and neighbors.

Thanks for reading! carrot's take on the Surefire E1L to come soon. Pictures too... maybe.