LED Lenser P2

All this from a single AAA??!! – We are dyed in the wool Led Lenser owners, having a big X21, a P7 (with order just gone in for 2 more for kid's bike lights), and a H7 headlight. Love the quality of them, and their focus system is the best I've seen. Bought the P2 to replace a P3 that some mongrel workmate lost on me. I use these things in my work ... and need to shine them in people's eyes a bit (healthcare), so didn't necessarily want the zombie-blasting power of the P7's.

The P3 was a beaut unit, but I felt that the P2, with its single AAA battery would be better for the application than even the P3 with its single AA.

The P2 comes with a battery, a pocket clip, a lanyard, a decent carabiner, and and a quality nylon belt pouch. Well presented. Battery easily inserted by unscrewing the base, which is protected by a rubber O ring. Switch is incorporated within a rubberised mounting on the base. I like the fact that the battery size is readily available. Very easy to always have a spare on hand, or to buy in some far flung speck of a town..

Switching for this model is simply on or off - there is no boost function ... and I don't need one. It also has the capacity to send morse or to signal by pressing the button lightly.

Focus of the beam is achieved with a one hand (if necessary) sliding in and out of the head - out for spot, in for flood. There isn't a whole lot of adjustment in the focus, however again, this isn't really an issue with such a tiny unit. It is amazing that one can buy a torch this small and efficient which actually has a viable focus function - great for the price!!

The light output is perfect ... and difficult to believe that it is produced via a single AAA battery. Indeed I have now replaced the P7 - which I had previously worn on my belt daily ever since I bought it quite a few years ago - with the P2. Much smaller, slimmer and extremely lightweight. One literally does not notice it there, and it does most of the things that the P7 would do in a general sense - useful for those odd times when you just have to have a quick light source.

For wandering around our 13 acre property, avoiding snakes ... and watching for canetoads (or even the odd hare/fox) to shoot, it is just fine. While the P7, on a new set of batteries, would allow me to reliably pick out a hare at 140 metres+, I would say that this little fella would do the same over around 50 metres .... which is still plenty for me. When out looking for targets I would normally have the rifle with a more powerful scope-mounted light with me anyway, so the P2 acts only as the primary detection unit. Obviously in larger areas one would use a larger torch ... such as the P7 or X21 ..... horses for courses!!

The other reason that this light is invaluable is as an emergency tool to assist one find one's way back to wherever if out hiking, and where one may inadvertently lose track of time (as has happened occasionally over the years by me at least). The unit, as I said above, is no load whatsoever to carry ... and if one forms the habit of simply leaving it on the belt, it will always be there for "those" moments!! I used to always carry a 2XAA cell Maglight for this task ... but these have been well and truly put out to pasture by the LED Lenser series.

The lesser points .... hard to really criticise - but I do wish they wouldn't put the light switch at the base of the unit. Terrific functionally, but a real pain when one DOES keep it always on the belt. Many a time while driving I have discovered the P7 switched on and busily heating up/wasting batteries - from having made contact with the seatbelt latch or the car seat itself due to the exposed position. Maybe if it had a function built in where you could choose to ... say hold it on for a couple of seconds, to make the switching on a very deliberate thing, or even relocate it altogether as in the X21. To be fair though I have not had this problem with the P2 yet - too small to become an issue so far ... but it could still occur under some circumstances.

The other thing I have noticed about this particular light is that the beam seems to have a purplish haziness about it. This doesn't detract whatsoever from its brightness or usability .... it just seems a little surreal and unnatural. The other LED Lensers we have all display just a crisp white light.

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Lastly, like all other LED Lensers (as far as I'm aware) the light isn't "regulated" - which simply means that as the batteries lose power the beam gets dimmer. I would prefer a regulated light ... but in my experience the models on the market tend to have weird batteries that cost nearly as much as the light.

Overall, terrific value for the money, well made, surprisingly efficient, and a potentially very valuable addition to anybody's kit. Soooo light and easy to carry around, genuine one handed operation, great light from a tiny package, quality build.. Not much ... would prefer "regulated" light