Layman’s Flashlight Reviews

The Gatlight, now in it’s 4th iteration since inception, has taken the simple every day carry flashlight and elevated it to an art form that is as much luxury as it is performance. Every portion of it exudes precision and artistry. Yet at the same time, the Gatlight remains useful as a versatile illumination tool, yielding little function to its exquisite form.

Lumencraft Gatlight Ti

Meat and Potatoes

The Gatlight is assembled from over 80 different pieces, 40 of them being precision machined metal parts, most of which are titanium. This is a far cry from the standard decorated tubing used in most flashlights. The result is, aesthetically speaking, nothing short of astounding. Never before have I seen a light that has been so captivating as the singular beauty of this design. In spite of its myriad of components, the Gatlight is so well crafted and every piece fits together so well that it gives the impression that it is milled from a single block of metal. It is so well constructed that it is durable enough to handle whatever task lies at hand.

Lumencraft Gatlight Ti

Lumencraft has chosen to utilize a focusing lens as the beamshaping element in the Gatlight. Once again I am reminded how much I vastly prefer this method over its reflectored counterpart. I find the spillbeam’s gradual transition to nothing to be far more pleasing in spite of any slight imperfections that arise using lenses like this, of which the Gatlight has surprisingly few. Lumencrafts choice of a more flood-like, wide-angle beam seems quite well suited for the common close range tasks generally encountered by an EDC light, though it does somewhat mask the apparent brightness of the beam due to its more diffuse pattern.

Lumencraft Gatlight Ti

The Gatlight is, however, more about control than just unbridled power. The output on Lumencraft’s flagship production has always been continuously variable down to an incredibly low level of light, rivaling both the moon mode of 4Sevens Quark series and level 1 of the Neofab Spartanian II. The difference between them lies in the focus. The Gatlight’s wider angle creates a vastly more usable beam out of such minimal light, providing smooth, even illumination over a larger area rather than a single tiny hotspot in the dark. The Gatlight’s relatively short rotation control knob makes simple adjustments to the output quick and easy, allowing rapid selection of exactly the right brightness to fit your current needs.

Constructive Criticism

The Gatlight has one particular “feature” which to me feels far more like a bug. At any point during constant-on use, the user has the option to press the rim of the adjustment knob on the tail of the light to achieve a “momentary dim” setting, which slightly reduces the light level as long as you keep applying pressure. While I can see some slight use for this function, in practice it only seems to give the impression of the knob being “loose and wiggley”. Lumencraft has assured me that the equipment used to manufacturer the pieces of the Gatlight is capable of more than enough precision to eliminate any play from these threads, thereby removing this function in favor of a more solid feel. I heartily encourage them to do so in future iterations.

The biggest chink in the armor of excellence worn by the Gatlight is its switch. The momentary forward clicky utilized by this torch is the only part that does not appear to meet the exacting quality standards of the remainder of the light. When following the switches travel slowly the transition between momentary and constant on is painfully obvious by a brief flicker of full fledged “Off” in between. This, unfortunately, only adds to the apparent low quality “feel” of the adjustment knob (even if not low quality in actuality) causing a great disparity with the remainder of the light. With the Gatlight carrying the designation of a Luxury Flashlight, every facet of its construction and operation has to be carefully crafted to not only perform perfectly, but also give the optimum impression of quality to the end user.

Lumencraft Gatlight Ti

One other area that is of minor concern may be one merely of preference. The use of a focusing lens has one property that is both beautiful and slightly problematic. Without a true fully reflective surface containing all of the light and projecting it forward, some of it then is able to escape from the sides of the lens and through the bars of the light. As beautiful as this makes the torch look, it also comes with the problem of slightly dazzling the wielder with backscattered lumens. I wonder if there is not some way to tint the exterior of that lens to both reduce the quantity of light directed back at the users eyes, while still allowing the Gatlight to posses its signature glow from within.

Conclusions

The Gatlight is, in my opinion, one of the greatest flashlights available at this time. Form and function come together into a fantastic tool that borders on a work of art. It is a beauty to behold and a joy to use. While this light may fall a little short of truly spectacular, you can at least see it from here.

Lumencraft Gatlight Ti