NiteCore MH27UV 1000 Lumens USB Rechargeable LED Flashlight with Red, Blue, and UltraViolet
|We walk our dogs every day rain or shine and often—either because of the heat or because we come home late—we do so in the dark. Because our neighborhood’s limited street lighting, a flashlight is essential, to see what’s in front of you, to be seen for personal safety, and to pick up after our dogs. We get a lot of thanks from our neighbors for being responsible in this way. Folks have told us they appreciate our flashlights making driving a lot less stressful for them.
There is today an abundance of LED- and lithium battery- flashlight makes and models to choose from. Many are rugged and last a long time. Designers try and find new ways to make their models stand out because the competition is fierce. We have used Nitecore’s excellent batteries before but this is our first Nitecore flashlight. If you’re looking for a mid-size flashlight that takes a single 18650 battery and is choc full of features without compromising quality this might be just what you are looking for.
The flashlight bundle comes with:
The flashlight itself
USB charging cable
A 2300mah rechargeable 18650 battery and two disposeable CR123A batteries
Two 5v adapters one for your wall outlet and the other for the car
A carry pouch
A plastic water resistant battery box that can hold two of the larger 18650 batteries.
Bag of spares and small accessories including Pen style steel spring clip, adjustable lanyard/wrist strap and spare O rings and rubber switch covers.
The Nitecore MH27UV has a lot of features built into its premium tactical style case. The flashlight is medium sized and a good fit for a grown man’s hands though it is a little large for Inna when holding a leash in the same hand. There are no chrome parts keeping reflective shine to a minimum. It has an anodized black finish with knurled barrel and butt for easy grip even with wet or greasy hands or wearing gloves. It has a tactical ring towards the rear of the barrel that prevents rolling on a flat surface and also works as a pommel preventing it from slipping forward through your grip. The body gradually flares out from about the halfway mark to the lamp bezel at the front. Partly to encase the lamp but also to incorporate cooling fins that prevent the powerful lamp from overheating. The extra thickness at the front prevents it from sliding backwards out of your hand.
The flashlight offers several options but has simple, intuitive controls. The on/off, push/push switch is on the butt end of the flashlight protected by a slotted bezel you can easily attach a lanyard to. The bezel prevents the switch activating if you accidentally drop it on relatively flat ground. The switch has a rubber cap and a spare is included.
Towards the front of the flashlight, mounted in the center near where your thumb naturally sits is a rocker switch that cycles through the many different modes. On the opposite side to the rocker switch you have a rubber flip lid that reveals the MicroUSB charging socket. One nice thing with this flashlight is that you don’t need a charger. Any USB power source will work with the microUSB cable included in the bundle giving you lots of potential charging options. I can charge the flashlight from a solar panel, power bank, my car’s accessory plug (Adapter included), Computer USB port or from an AC wall outlet thanks to the included adapter.
Flashlight Modes
Instead of being cheap and incorporating as many features into as few LEDs as possible, this flashlight has separate LEDs for each light type and an extensive set of modes, including alternative flashing modes and combination shortcuts.
The on/off switch also has a momentary feature if you half press the button. This allows you to manually signal.
Once the flashlight is on, you have your basic illumination settings. The flashlight remembers which mode was last used and will start up in that mode even after you’ve replaced the battery.
There are 7 initial modes. I typically use the low beam regular flashlight as a default which is roughly in the middle of the 7 modes you can cycle though. From left to right the modes are:
UV: an ultraviolet light that can tint organic matter and makes some materials glow brightly. Check out your driver’s license or paper money to see watermark images not visible in normal light.
Red: A red light that might catch someone’s attention (e.g., that of drivers) who are used to looking out for brake lights.
Blue: A blue light I typically don’t use.
Small focus moonlight: It’s similar to a key light for picking out things at close quarters without ruining your natural night vision.
Low beam: You can use it for general walking around and lighting what’s directly in front of you.
Medium beam: This is for looking further forwards and checking ahead when moving at speed.
High beam: This is for traveling at speed, picking out things in the distance or blinding a potential threat.
The extra function modes are accessed by pressing the toggle switch in the middle enabling up and down simultaneously. This turns on alternate modes which can be disabled by pressing the middle again.
Alternate modes from left to right are
Flashing Blue strobe
Flashing Red strobe
Flashing Blue/Red police strobe. I’m not sure how legal this one is. But it could potentially divert a crime or draw attention since it looks a lot like police lights.
Bright fast strobe Disorienting strobe that is super bright and great for disorienting a potential threat as well as yourself so use with caution.
Blink roughly every 1.5 seconds like a warning buoy
SOS Standard Save Our Souls Morse code for getting help in an emergency.
Combination shortcuts
While the flashlight’s off, if you hold the Up [+] side of the toggle switch and then press the on button, the Flashlight starts in full bright turbo mode. If you hold [-] instead before turning it on then you will jump directly to UV mode.
There is also a combination to lock the flashlight in the off position to prevent you accidentally activating it either on your person or when stowed away in a bag.
Conclusion
In use, this is a very nice flashlight that is by far my favorite. We use it daily without any problems. It’s also very easy to charge: just plug in a micro USB cable. Most people with android phones, tablets and other mobile gadgets probably have several lying around the house already. If you attach the included clip it can be stowed on the waist of your jeans or shorts whether you have a belt or not.
The included pouch has a D ring at the back fastening to a carbineer hook. The pouch holds the flashlight securely with a Velcro fastened flap and the flashlight seats firmly while still allowing moisture and dirt to fall down though the bottom.
The included lanyard loops around the wrist making it less likely to drop to the ground if you fumble and drop it. It’s rugged and easy to use. We primarily use it as a flashlight but the other modes can be handy around the house. With three small dogs the UV can help determine whether a damp patch is more serious than a simple water spill.
It has been used extensively for the last 10 months and has proven to be a very nice and dependable flashlight indeed.
Disclaimer: I received this flashlight in exchange for an honest and fair review. The opinions expressed are my own.
Product Name: NiteCore MH27UV 1000 Lumens USB Rechargeable LED Flashlight
Product Description: Five levels of Bright ness for white plus Red, Blue, and UltraViolet
Offer price: $94.95
-
Design
-
Features
-
Battery Life
-
Value