Any non keychain experiences with the Olight i1R series ?

Hickory n steel

Hickory n steel

Gold Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2016
Messages
19,930
I'm looking for thoughts and experiences from anyone who's carried a i1R or i1R 2 flashlight in more of a normal pocket light role ?
You know not in a minor use keychain role as intended.

I just ordered an i1R 2 yesterday from BHQ because the price was right and It interested me, but I have started wondering if it may have been a mistake if it's not great outside the keychain role it was intended for. I just don't do keychain lights ( or anything besides a case knives Flight tag and my keys )
I'm not a modes kind of guy either so I know the 5L low will just be skipped right over and I also know that the 15min max runtime isn't going to be a lot, but wonder if it'll even be enough for a days use.


I use my flashlight many times throughout the day for lots of quick tasks ( usually less than a minute at a time ) which that 15min of runtime could potentially turn out to be sufficient for, I just don't know if having to charge it every night is going to be good for it or not.



Has anyone found the runtime on these flashlights to be enough for a normal EDC light ?
 
Last edited:
Don't think you will get a good answer as this really is a keychain light. These are meant for short periods. I have one and like it for its intended purpose.
I guess it depends on what your "EDC" usage is. You also may be surprised at how useful the low mode is. I rarely use the 150 lumens.
 
I've had my i1r for close to two years but it hasn't seen much use, mostly at night going to the car. I would recommend the i3t as a far better EDC light than the i1r as it is a 3 inch light rather than the 1 inch of the i1r and takes a AAA battery (even though I use a rechargeable battery). Specs are similar to both lights and similar in price.
 
colin.p said:
I've had my i1r for close to two years but it hasn't seen much use, mostly at night going to the car. I would recommend the i3t as a far better EDC light than the i1r as it is a 3 inch light rather than the 1 inch of the i1r and takes a AAA battery (even though I use a rechargeable battery). Specs are similar to both lights and similar in price.
Click to expand...

I wasn't in the market for a new light ,I just wanted to try out the little i1R 2.

Looking at the I3t, it's not for me.
Don't like how it looks, or the combination of two modes and a tail switch.

If the i1R doesn't work out I'll will be perfectly happy to stick with my LED Maglite Solitaire.
 
My keychain light is an olight i3e EOS AAA because its awesome for that role. Its appx 100 lumen for about an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes depending on battery. I use rechargeable enloops which you can get with a charger for about $15.

I have an ir 2 (couple actually) but they stay in my pack, one is in the lid next to another i3e EOS. I only have it because I can recharge it with a phone cable anywhere, which I also keep with a small lipstick style battery bank in my pack.

The light works great. Honestly I'm not a "minimal light is best type of light" user. When I want to see something I turn on the light. LoL.
With that said the high on this light is great, especially for its size, but its short lived, which is probably fine for most peoples daily use as long as you recharge it, and assuming in an emergency that 20 minutes is long enough on high.
Low is enough to do a lot of stuff, but to me its more a sustainable light for long term as opposed to being in the dark, or to keep from stumbling around if thats all you have.

So is it practical? Absolutely. Its tiny, half the length of an AAA type light, and its rechargeable anywhere. Would I recommend one? Yep, I have given some away even. I still gibe more i3e EOS away than anything, and thats what my family and parents all have on their keys, but some of them have the i1R2 as well.

If you have a pack you take with you often put it in the lid orcas a zipper pull, or on a jacket zipper, etc. maybe with a clip so you can take it off. Add a small paracord lanyard like a single loop and a small diamond knot so you have something to hold onto.


The i3e EOS takes up no room either, and for $10 I recommend trying one of them as well.

If you sign up for olights newsletter they give away free lights to "registered users" about four times a year, as well as discounts of 40% which is awesome. I only get newsletters from them about four times a year as well, they don't blow up your box. I got two free i3e EOS's and two i1R2's last year and only had to pay $5 shipping, and ordered a second so I'd have had to paid shipping anyway.

Both are good lights. I have no doubt youll be surprised and impressed. Enjoy.

If you want a good rechargeable light with 50/250 lumen, try the streamlight microstream USB. Its like $30 and extremely handy. Its about 1/4" longer (3/16 maybe) than the regular AAA microstream and is a great pocket option.

You never need a light......until you do.
 
Hickory n steel said:
I wasn't in the market for a new light ,I just wanted to try out the little i1R 2.

Looking at the I3t, it's not for me.
Don't like how it looks, or the combination of two modes and a tail switch.

If the i1R doesn't work out I'll will be perfectly happy to stick with my LED Maglite Solitaire.
Click to expand...

Try the i3e EOS. Single mode. 100 lm, 1 hour+ consistent. $9
 
Boxer .45 said:
My keychain light is an olight i3e EOS AAA because its awesome for that role
Click to expand...


Last year for my grandmother's birthday I bought her an I3e which she keeps in her pocket along with the purple Vic classic I bought her and she can't stop talking about how much she loves it.( Bought my mom one t
Christmas and she uses it , but doesn't give it much thought )

They are a great little light.
 
Top to bottom:
● i1r 2 EOS (microUSB rechargeable)
● i3e EOS (AAA)
● Lumintop IYPO7 (AAA)
● Streamlight microstream (microUSB rechargeable)

As you can see, the body is over half as long and wider than the AAA lights. Still a good compact option though.
20200331_132142.jpg 20200331_132205.jpg
 
Hickory n steel said:
Last year for my grandmother's birthday I bought her an I3e which she keeps in her pocket along with the purple Vic classic I bought her and she can't stop talking about how much she loves it.( Bought my mom one t
Christmas and she uses it , but doesn't give it much thought )

They are a great little light.
Click to expand...

My dad is in construction. He and I have been in an attic, WAAAAYYY in the back when his light just died! I pulled out my i3e EOS and we were SAVED. :D
He gets it and uses it daily. My moms keeps going off and on her keychain. She uses if but won't commit. Funny, she has a half dozen keys and all kinds of random crap on there but won't commit to a tiny light.

If you notice I have only my house keys on my keychain, and my motorcycle (vehicle) key is seperate but can attach to my regular keys. They have a light on them. A lot of people carry keys on their keychain for everything they own even if they don't use it everyday. I used to do that, but now if I need keys for everything else I just get the keys from inside, or from the console. So much better after you get used to it. So main keys and a light, small fob for handling, maybe a clip.

Anyway. What I said above. You never need a light...until you do. Then you'll never be without one I don't care who you are. Kinda like a knife. ;)
 
Got it in today ( delivered to the wrong Po box yesterday, but was returned ) and so far there are goods and bads.

First the bad.
I forgot about the ass backwards design Olight uses, seriously loosen for off and tighten for on is not the right idea of you ask me.
If you don't remember to loosen the bezel enough it will activate with pressure and could turn on in your pocket, and when you loosen it too much you get my grandmother telling me that it has unscrewed itself in her pocket.
I can live with it just fine , I simply think it's an inferior design

With a Maglite you tighten the bezel all the way to turn it off and loosen the bezel to turn it on , couldn't be better or simpler.
I can live with it though, and the quality is definitely apparent, the beam is clear and white with no artifacts.

One thing I'm happy to read in the manual is that their runtime is based on full brightness, and that it will actually run for longer than 15 minutes.
I don't know what the actual performance will be or how far the output will drop and how long it will stay there, but I suspect it will be useable for me longer than I suspect.
I however will likely charge it at least every other night so it's not a big deal.

It's nice and I like it, and so far I'm trying it on a bead chain around my neck.
We'll see if I stick to that.
I still need a small gate clip or mini S-biner to put on it, but don't have a metal one small enough at this time.
 
Last edited:
The head shouldn't come off. It is non-detachable. I think you should give it a chance. Nice little light. You seem to want to not like it.
 
Hickory n steel said:
Got it in today ( delivered to the wrong Po box yesterday, but was returned ) and so far there are goods and bads.

First the bad.
I forgot about the ass backwards design Olight uses, seriously loosen for off and tighten for on is not the right idea of you ask me.
If you don't remember to loosen the bezel enough it will activate with pressure and could turn on in your pocket, and when you loosen it too much you get my grandmother telling me that it has unscrewed itself in her pocket.
I can live with it just fine , I simply think it's an inferior design

With a Maglite you tighten the bezel all the way to turn it off and loosen the bezel to turn it on , couldn't be better or simpler.
I can live with it though, and the quality is definitely apparent, the beam is clear and white with no artifacts.

One thing I'm happy to read in the manual is that their runtime is based on full brightness, and that it will actually run for longer than 15 minutes.
I don't know what the actual performance will be or how far the output will drop and how long it will stay there, but I suspect it will be useable for me longer than I suspect.
I however will likely charge it at least every other night so it's not a big deal.

It's nice and I like it, and so far I'm trying it on a bead chain around my neck.
We'll see if I stick to that.
I still need a small gate clip or mini S-biner to put on it, but don't have a metal one small enough at this time.
Click to expand...

Ive had dozens of i3e EOS's over several years now with the same screw head design. It works great. You can unscrew it enough to not come on in your pocket, and enough that theres plenty of room to not come off either. Ive had one experience of the head coming off (open) in the five or so years I've been using them, and I hadn't used or checked it in a long time. My dad has never had theirs come off unintentionally.

Twist heads on lots and lots of designs work like this and lots of people actually prefer them over a clicky. I prefer clicky but for other reasons, but I don't mind a twisty, especially since it means shorter design.

If you use it for a while you will see it works great.

I hope you end up liking it after some use. Give it a chance.
 
You can buy a 10 pack of aluminum gate clips of decent quality on the Rainforest site that ships in a few days. They will cost about $10
 
Venice said:
The head shouldn't come off. It is non-detachable. I think you should give it a chance. Nice little light. You seem to want to not like it.
Click to expand...

I do like it so far and I'll give it a fair chance, there's just the one thing I'd prefer differently but can certainly live with and get used to.

Of course the captive head on this one won't come off , but my mom and grandmother have had the same issue with their i3e's. They're obviously turning them too far when turning them off.
 
D20D535B-883E-40B8-9BB9-A9161306996E.jpeg The clip on my i3E is a little nite ize clip and it works pretty well.
I can switch over from keys to tool belt or harness easily.
 
Boxer .45 said:
No I get it. I am no a big fan either. :)
Click to expand...
Their convenient and all, but I had a hateful experience with one of their tablets.
Every Service or function on it is through Amazon, Amazon adds in your face when you turn it on, half your search results are Amazon listings, automatically downloads random free books or TV show pilots...ect, tracks your search results to advertise products to you.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top