I like most things about jobsites. Or at least I don’t mind them. Mud, cold, heat, noise, dust, heavy boards, tight miters and so on.
One thing I expressly don’t like is having to put things in my mouth. The occasional screw, pencil … whatever. But that’s typically where most pencil-style flashlights (check out Matt and Jordan’s “everyday carries” in this BUILD Show video) get lodged. Searching for a shut-off in a utility room or aiming the light beam with my tongue while trying to basin-wrench a soap dispenser under a counter just isn’t my idea of fun.
Enter Panther Vision’s Flateye, what the company calls an “unround” flashlight. By “unround,” of course, it means it’s shaped more like a brick. This shape is what sets it apart.
Flateye F-1000 doing duty under a kitchen sink.
The grip has a knurled imprint.
Upright or Flat. Because it’s short and thick (4 inches long, 1 inch thick, 2 inches wide) with flat ends, it stands up. Combine that with a 1,000 lumen CREE LED and that lights up a lot of cubic footage. So in a utility room, I just set it down so I could look up and trace the tangle of plastic plumbing lines to their proper shut-offs. It’s plenty of light under a sink. And it serves me well searching for tools in my truck when it’s light out for only five minutes a day during daylight savings time. It’s plenty bright to scan the jobsite to make sure you didn’t leave anything behind. Need less light? It steps down to 651 then 56 lumens.
The unit is powered by four Energizer 3-volt lithium button top batteries (CR 123A). They’re compact, and Panther Vision says they’ll deliver five hours of life. As for the slot-head battery cap, if you open it too many times with a nail or multi-tool instead of a screwdriver, you’ll eventually wish you didn’t.
The ¾-inch round LED delivers 1,000, 651, and 56 lumens. Reportedly, the “fins” dissipate heat from the bulb.
Tough. I didn’t exactly beat on it. It’s a flashlight and spends 99% of its life in my truck console. However, it outlasted a brand-X that I had that lived the same life.
It’s reportedly waterproof up to a meter and the website has lots of tough-guy talk: It’s “tactical”; it has a “pistol grip” design; and construction is “aircraft grade.” But the bulb still works and it does what other flashlights don’t do.
It’s big enough not to easily lose under a truck seat or in a box and small enough to fit in a pocket.
Big enough not to lose. Small enough to fit in your pocket.
Cost. As a certified cheapskate, I think it’s expensive: $99. But it works and it works really, really well.
There are less-expensive FLATEYEs: F-700 ($70) and F-310 ($50). You get less light for the dialed-down price—the model numbers are the lumens it outputs.
But wait, there’s more …You do get a free POWERCAP with your purchase. I’ll just leave that here for this group.
Specs
- Light Output: High: 1,000 Lumens / Med: 651 Lumens / Low: 56 Lumens
- Distance: High: 195m / Med: 150m / Low: 45m
- Waterproof: Up to 1 Meter
- Shockproof: Up to 3 Meters
- Battery type: CR123A
- Battery Quantity: 4
- Battery Life: High: 5 Hours / Med: 10 Hours / Low: 30 Hours
- Weight: 7.04 oz.
This article originally appeared in Tools of the Trade.
