IR LED Illuminator Flashlight Zoomable 940nm Infrared Flashlight Night

This thing is awesome! So surprised and blown away by how well this thing works! Took a chance on it, and thoroughly impressed. Powerful. Spot to flood control works outstanding and the optics must be quality because it focuses the spot to a crystal clear square - the shape of the Cree LED. Haven't done a lot of testing so far, but it will most likely reach the distance benchmarks it claims. I looked 150 ft away in low starlight, and it lit the area up like I was using a sizeable spotlight. The spot beam covered I'd estimate 24 inch x 24 inch at 150 ft. Using Gen II NODS, it is a HUGE improvement over my built in illuminator. Good capacity battery too. I'm buying another for a backup!

Here's what you need to know about this particular flashlight before buying, and why it's a better choice than many other IR LED flashlights. Plus a few useful tips on how to use it. First and foremost, this is a terrific flashlight. Practical if you're just trying to shoot video in the dark, do some critter spotting in the outdoors, or for hunting. Just keep in mind that the light this emits isn't visible to people, in the dark or otherwise. So if you need a standard flashlight, this aint it.So Why is this 940nm PERFECT for hunting and night animal spotting?Night vision security cameras usually run on an 850nm infrared wavelength. And plenty of hunting supply places will gladly sell you an 850nm flashlight to mount to your rifle. You get a lot of clarity with 850nm, more than 940nm (what this flashlight is). Except there's just one problem with that. While IR light might generally be invisible to people, deer, boar, and plenty of other animals can spot a faint glow from an 850nm wavelength flashlight. So unless you plan on buying an IR bypass, you're gonna spook whatever you're watching.More to Keep in Mind When Buying.You're able to zoom in and out by rotating the head. The battery area unscrews, and you're able to add the rechargeable battery with ease, whole thing is waterproof. The charger for the battery kind of threw me for a loop for a second, because it actually emits a color when the battery is in it, even when it's not plugged in. But it goes from red to green when your battery is fully charged, and ready to be inserted.Other big thing to remember - DON'T stare at infrared light directly. This flashlight could be on, pointed at your face, and you wouldn't realize it. KEEP IT AWAY FROM KIDS. Here's a little trick that will make it easy to know if your IR light is on or not. Turn your smartphone camera on, point it at the flashlight when you switch it on and off. Your phone camera can see the beam the flashlight throws, even if your eyes can't.Great Quality for the Price Range.I've seen 940nm tactical lights that can throw a beam 300 yards. But it will also cost you twice or more what this one does. You'll get a really wide beam up to 100 yards with this one (good for night vision goggles), 200 yards tops if you're using it as a spotlight for hunting or animal sighting. It works well for the cost, the range. You'll also come across 940nm flashlights for something like twenty or thirty bucks, but they'll either not come with a battery, or the quality is otherwise spotty.Other things worth mentioning. This one comes with decent carrying case, many others don't. Though for some odd reason, the sticker on the outside of the case isn't in English, even if the instructions are. Thankfully it comes with it's own charger for the battery, so you don't have to worry about looking around for a charger box to plug into the wall (others will send you a cord but no wall plugin). Rugged, reliable, waterproof, not too heavy, throws a decent beam picked up by nightvision goggles and scopes. Not the best IR LED flashlight on the market by a country mile, but that's because the price is competitive.If you want to record video on your phone in a pitch-black room or outside, get the flashlight. If you ever use nightvision goggles, these will make a huge difference. If you want to check out critters in your yard or in the woods at night without getting your attention, spring for it. And if you're hunting at night, definitely a smart investment. I'd recommend it, if anything changes with the function over time, I'll report back here.Update: This is a five-star product. I did notice one other reviewer gave it one star, but I don't think she realized that it's infrared, and that the light isn't visible like with a regular flashlight. I'd say don't let that review discourage you from buying, if the reason why she rated it low was because she couldn't see the light with the naked eye.

At first, it did not appear that this was working at all. I checked the battery and it was nearly 100% charged upon arrival. So I pushed the on/off button multiple times, and mis-counted, ending with the device actually being left on. THANKFULLY, I happened to pick it up less than 5 minutes later and it nearly burned my hand. It was too hot to hold - literally! I saw that there was indeed a faint red glow in the LED behind the lens, so obviously it was on. I also made sure that while I'd set it down, nothing was in front of the lens (it was laying on its side, not lens-down) to reflect infrared HEAT back into the device. No - this thing just heat up severely and could not be held in a person's hand for more than perhaps one minute before it would have to be turned off. If that's not a safety issue, someone will have to provide a good explanation as to why it isn't, and why it shouldn't be expected to be used continuously for more than perhaps 60 seconds.Next - before I realized this device was actually operating after all (the LED does not instantly glow a slight reddish color but slowly brightens over several seconds), I started looking for warranty information. While the almost useless little folded piece that comes with the device says it has a warranty, there is no company name on the box or the light or the tiny paperwork, nor any address or phone number or website through which a warranty claim could be submitted. It's made in China, but has a different foreign language (believed to be Italian) label on the front of the box that offers no further clues as to the company of origin or how to contact them.NOW: make sure you understand how this works, and what it will work with. I took it into a completely dark room once I realized it was working and attempted to light up ANYTHING with it, using a FLIR device. NOTHING! Except that when I pointed the FLIR device directly at the light itself, it was glowing brilliantly due to the heat it was generating, and the LED behind the lens overpowered the FLIR sensor. But then I realized I cannot use this with a FLIR device - they measure heat OUTPUT, not reflected light. And infrared light is, after all, still just plain ol' light. Our eyes and brains just can't "see" it because it's slightly beyond the range of frequency of the light we CAN see. So, for my purposes, this was a useless acquisition.This would have to be used exclusively with the type of night-vision devices commonly mounted on firearms, for example. And make sure it picks up infrared light in the 940nm wavelength.But even if I had a gun with a night vision scope on it, I would absolutely not consider this device, even though I suspect it would probably produce some results. (The label on the box rates it as 800 "light distance" per the Google Translate translation of that label.) Why? It's clearly unusable for more than a matter of seconds. A minute or more would not allow it to be held in one's hand. And when there is no way provided to actually contact the company within the one year warranty period. And if a "problem persists," the owner is directed to, "Contact us for a replacement." - DUH! Where and/or how?!?Worthless.

As an I.R. light it's invisible to the naked eye - you may see a slight red glow on the LED but that's it. If you look at it through most digital cameras you'll see a weak beam. Look through I.R. equipment and you'll be amazed. Photo 1: Looking at the light with my camera. 2 and 3: with the I.R. zoomed tight - the square glow is the I.R. light. 4 and 4: tree without and with the I.R. zoomed in. Both are at least 100 feet away. Those are photos of my night vision goggles screen.The build quality is decent. The pocket clip is so thin it broke off on the first use, so I used a T6H Torx to remove it. I also added a decal to the light so I remember it's I.R. - I have several flashlights that look identical but are not I.R.If you need an I.R. light, you can't go wrong here. 18650 battery and charger included.