Well here they come, folks!
The P7’s are coming!
Are you ready?
Wolf Eyes appears to be first manufacturer of known high quality lights to release a quality P7 on the market and they busted out of the gate in high gallop leaving the rest standing still!
The Wolf Eyes P7 Sniper
This is a real flood monster but the throw isn’t bad either.
Allow me to take you on a verbose journey into this great, new light (don’t worry, there will be plenty of pictures too!).
Manufacturer’s features and specifications (from WE’s site):
- Features a Seoul Semiconductors SSC P7 LED Emitter
- Up to 580 lumens of brightness when powered by 1 x LRB168A battery
- 2 modes function:
Default mode: Maximum brightness (100%) -> 30% brightness ->lowest brightness (2%)
Concealed mode: Strobe -> SOS-> Beacon signal
- P7-Sniper bezel is compatible with wolf-eyes sniper and defender, explorer series flashlight
- Aerospace-grade Aluminum body, HA III Military grade hard anodized in black
- Lanyard attached and candle function, it can stand up on a flat surface as a candle
- Waterproof: IPX-8 standard
- Runtime: full brightness stage:1 hour with regulated output ; 2 hours with unregulated output.
Body: Aerospace grade aluminum construction.
Reflector: High temperature processed, layers of alloy coating films.
Finish: Low temperature (-20℃) hard – anodized (HA) finish treatment.
Lamp: SSC P7 LED Lamp Assembly 3.7-6.0V
Switch: Rapid switch between Morse-on and lock-on with over 50,000 times life cycle.
O-ring sealed: Splash proof.
Beam: flood beam with good combination of throw
Weight without battery: 185g
Length: 150mm
Body diameter: 25.4mm
Head diameter: 47mm
Color: Tactical black
Package: gift box
Initial Impressions:
The quality is evident right from the start with a nice, sturdy gift box with custom cut foam.
My light arrived complete with a charger and battery.
The lanyard was already installed on the P7.
The build quality and finish exude the high grade quality and craftsmanship any Wolf Eyes owner is used to.
I was surprised by the small form factor.
The head is large but WE did a nice job transitioning it to the Raider/Sniper sized body with some radiator style fins.
The material in the head seems slightly thinner than the main body allowing for excellent balance.
You can even tailstand this puppy with surprising stability.
It appears rugged enough but I wouldn’t rate the head suitable for “defender” duty due to the head’s lack of real mass.
For it’s designed purpose as a flashlight, it’s just right.
Of course one of the very first things I did was turn it on and WOW.
This thing has OUTPUT!
Now I’ll let you get a real feel for the size, which is one of it’s “biggest” attributes!
Makes me love it even more!!
From left to right: WE Raider, WE P7 Sniper (this review), Dereelight CL1H V3, Surefire A2, 18650 battery.
You might notice a little “sheen” on the P7 Sniper.
If the Raider has a flat finish then I would call this one “semi-gloss.”
It’s one step shinier than the Raider, which is my only other WE light.
There are of course O-rings all around, the threads are VERY smooth and came well greased (almost TOO well!).
UI:
None of the functions of this light are programmable.
I don’t find that to be a negative because they made some good choices for you.
The three preset intensities are very diverse and I feel most people will be pleased.
The SOS, strobe and beacon are contained in the “hidden” menu and I’ll get to those below.
This light has a forward clicky, which I believe most people prefer. I’m one of them myself.
I feel they are better suited for tactical use and allow for manual signaling and simple momentary use.
If you grab the light and turn it on, it comes on HIGH.
You get all 580 paint peeling lumens.
If you want it to come on medium or low, you have to half press (or full press fast enough, if you’re into that) until it arrives at your mode, then fully click to lock it on with the chosen intensity.
If you subsequently want to change the mode while it’s on you would need to turn it off then either half press or just turn it on and off repeatedly within two seconds.
Wolf Eyes has come up with an excellent system to please both the SOS/STROBE lovers AND haters alike!
It would be extremely difficult to accidentally end up with the strobe, sos or beacon (this light has all 3).
To enter the “hidden” menu, as they call it for strobe/sos/beacon, you have to press/cycle 7 times.
For example if you want strobe from the light being off you would half press through TWO cycles of HI-MED-LO then the seventh press would give you strobe. Once you do this you are now locked into the hidden menu and it will cycle STROBE-SOS-BEACON instead of HI-MED-LOW. At this point the ONLY way back to the other world is to shut it off for 2 seconds.
Here’s a little surprise for Y’All (I’m not from the south . . . is that how they say it? Gene? Anybody?)
Here is a 15 second movie of the SOS in action.
I feel WE got the timing right on this one and I wanted everyone to see it.
Click HERE and hopefully you’ll see the “movie.”
You get one full cycle and part of the next one so you should be able to get a feel for the complete cycle.
They could have made the S’s a tiny bit longer, but I seriously doubt anyone would mistake this for anything else.
Here’s a look into the eye of the beast:
Now we’ll move on to what you’ve all been reading for . . . the BEAMSHOTS!
Okay, disclaimer time: My camera is so old the Smithsonian is asking for it for their “Stone age of Digital” display.
I have a much better camera coming as soon as I can decide which Canon DSLR I want (experts welcome to PM me on this) but I wanted to get this review to “press” so here they are.
I believe they’re good enough at least for you to get an idea.
The P7 will be first in single shots and on the left in dual shots.
The other light is my good old CL1H with the 1.2 amp 1S pill.
Both lights on 18650′s.
(Captions will now be BELOW each photo.)
P7 Sniper at 50 feet.
CL1H 50 feet
I had to include this . . . P7 on MEDIUM at 50 feet!
Here’s both at 50 feet (P7 on left)
P7 at 100 feet
CL1H at 100 feet
P7 vs CL1H at 100 feet
P7 on MEDIUM at 100 feet
P7 at 150 feet (high only, no medium shot at this distance)
CL1H at 150 feet
P7 vs CL1H at 150 feet.
*At this distance it becomes evident that we are just starting to run out of range but the light is quite usable.
P7 ceiling bounce – wow, warmth and lumens!
CL1H ceiling bounce
Stuff:
I’m sorry I don’t have a runtime test for you but I did do some current measurments and it draws 2.2 amps on high, which is what Mike at PTS told me is exactly what it’s supposed to be doing.
They claim 1 hour regulated and based on my measurement, I would bet it’ll do at least 1 hour on high, regulated.
I wonder what this would look like with 2.8 running through it but I trust Wolf Eyes didn’t push it all the way for a reason.
Maybe heat management (doesn’t get any warmer than the CL1H on high for 10 minutes) and perhaps longevity.
I got the same 2.2 amp reading from fresh primaries and a lower reading from a Tenergy battery (1.9 amps).
I would recommend sticking with the premium brands for this one and a protected cell is a must, according to Mike.
Medium and low outputs: I included a couple of medium shots to help you get a feel for it.
This thing is so powerful that medium fooled me a couple of times thinking it was on all the way!
That’s NOT to say they set medium too high, rather high is so HIGH that medium can’t help it!!
Low falls right between high and medium on my LOD with a nimh battery.
Conclusions:
I have to say I’m impressed.
The tint is warm and beautiful, as you can especially see in the ceiling bounce.
Until I did those shots, I was going to say it was your standard white with no tint but you can see just how warm it is (against the CL1H anyway) lighting up my living room!
The size is nice but some might find the larger head takes a little getting used to.
I wish it had a belt clip but then again, with that larger head, the logistics might not work out very well.
The lanyard is nice but a brisk walk will start it swinging and it gets in the way quickly.
A holster is a must but I don’t have one made for this light.
The output is incredible for it’s size.
This is a flood MONSTER for sure!
With all of those lumens screaming out of the front, it can’t help but throw 150 feet or more, but if you want real throw (several hundred feet), plan on bringing your DBS with you too (of course everyone here would have several lights nearby anyway!).
