Klarus FL1A UV keyring torch

I'm yet to find the perfect keyring flashlight, and the Klarus FL1A UV caught my attention.

I bought mine from Rubber Monkey in Wellington, New Zealand, and love their friendly customer service (and the dog they have in their showroom sometimes)

The Klarus FL1A attached to my keyring with the provided locking S-binner

What caught my eye:

• Ultraviolet light:
• Not really a feature most people find useful, but in a former life I used to examine official documents for signs of fraud or tampering, and printing with ultraviolet ink was a common security feature.
• Banknotes sometimes have UV printing, and I've travelled to some dodgy parts of the world where currency fraud is not uncommon.
• Diffused head:
• I thought this would be useful when getting in and out of the car, walking at night and as a personal marker, so that people can see me.
• Coloured light (Red and Green):
• Good for preserving night vision, and there is also a red/green strobe.
• AA battery:
• Cheap and easy to get.

The verdict:

I really wanted to love this torch, I really did. But I don't. I like it. I like it, more than many of my other torches, but I just don't love it. 

Maybe because I'm using a 1.2 volt rechargeable battery, I'm not getting great performance from it, and battery life seems pretty short.

Maybe because I'm used to using 1000 lumen beasts, that 65 lumens is underwhelming, but a classic 2AA  Mini-Maglite was about 14 lumens, and that used to be plenty, back in the day. 

Maybe because I'm a big fan of Nitecore's Selector Ring technology, that I find it difficult to remember keypress sequences.

Maybe I have to remember when I'm walking at night, to hold this torch at my side, rather in front of me, or to switch to red or green, so not to fuck up my night vision.

Maybe because it's knocking around with my keys, it has got pretty scuffed up, and the head is a little chipped (see photo below).

Wanna chip, bro? 

But it serves its purpose pretty well.

The diffused light has a pretty good spread, especially the white light.  The low setting doesn't seem much dimmer than the high setting, so I don't use it that often.  I'd prefer if it would default to low.  Yes, I know it has a memory function, but I can never remember what the last setting was with all the button pressing I do to switch between modes.

The red and green lights are not so bright, and is more suited to closeup illumination. 

The locking S-binner is great, although sometimes a little tough to lock and unlock.

As it's IPX8 rated, it should also be ideal as a personal beacon on my Project Jonah Marine Mammal Medic kit, when I attend a whale stranding.

Update November 2020:

So for the last two and a half years I've had this as the torch sitting next to my bed. During the week I get up pretty early, and my partner is still asleep.  I find the green light to be the perfect balance of being bright enough for me to navigate our bedroom and not being too bright to disturbing my partner.

So I kind of love it more than I used to.