U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- ASP makes nice products. Everything that I have ever tested from them has performed great. So, when I saw the Asp Raptor DF Flashlight, I knew I had to test it out. The older I get, the more particular I am when picking out a flashlight. There are four things that I look for/demand out of a flashlight.
- Size
- Brightness
- Rechargeable
- Ease of handling
ASP Raptor DF Flashlight
Let me expound on the above four requirements. The Asp Raptor DF Flashlight is 6.5-inches long and 1.57-inches thick. That falls within my acceptable size limits. Sure, if a bear is in camp, I’d like the biggest light in the world but the truth be known, if it is too heavy or bulky, I just won’t carry it.
I hunt, fish, and backpack in bear country. When a bear comes into my camp at night, I want to light up the woods. Same with when I’m trailing a wounded animal in the dark. I take a lot of kids bear hunting. Who do you think gets stuck with trailing wounded bears? I don’t want one to be laying on the side of the trail in wait and me not see it. For that matter, I don’t want a deer or an elk to blindside me either.
The Asp Raptor DF Flashlight on high beam blast out 1,900 Lumens. That’s bright. Also at home, I want to have a good flashlight laying by my bed. If someone breaks into the house, I want to be able to blind him when I hit the button and have the upper hand. If you blind them enough, they are taken out of the fight. I’m on a plane right now and have the Asp Raptor DF Flashlight in my backpack.
I’m not a big movie-goer but once I took my wife to a movie. It barely got started and the power went out. They gave us a coupon for another movie. Ok, that’s a one-time deal, right? A few weeks later we go to another movie. The show barely gets started and once again, what do you think happened? The power went out again. I’m not paranoid but now I carry a flashlight fairly frequently.
Now for the third requirement. Granted, my wife says that I’m the eternal tightwad but I don’t like to burn through money buying batteries. I don’t want to spend a fortune on batteries so I like that the Asp Raptor DF Flashlight is rechargeable.
The Dual Fuel designation comes from its ability to operate on a rechargeable 18650 battery or two CR123A batteries. I’d suggest buying an extra 18650 and carrying it in your pack also. The kit comes with a cord for charging. To charge, just turn the bell of the light counterclockwise. Doing so will reveal the charging port. The light beside the port will indicate the battery’s charge. Green 50-100%, yellow 20-50%, and Red 20% or less.
Many lights have these first three characteristics/features but don’t stop critiquing your next flashlight purchase there. Look for one more feature. What is the ease of use? I just finished testing a light a while back and it just had too many buttons. What if you hit the wrong button in a panic situation and blinded yourself instead of the intruder, field mouse or whatever is attacking?
The Asp Raptor DF Flashlight basically has three operating features. On the butt, a knob can be turned to three positions. The first is to turn it on. The second lock the light so even if you hit the on button, it won’t turn on. This is a big feature. What if you’re carrying your light in your backpack and it gets turned on? I’ll tell you what, when you need your light, the battery will be run down. Turn the knob to the third position and if you depress the knob the light will come on, but release the button and it will shut off. That can be nice in certain situations like spotlighting and so forth.
To use the low beam or strobe options turn the light on. Open the bezel which will reveal a small grey button. Click it to go through the options.
The MSRP on the ASP Raptor DF Flashlight has a suggested price of $197.00 and as is usual, we will close with the specs.
- Run Time: 1.5 hours
- Beam Distance: 240m
- High-performance ASP 18650 rechargeable battery and accessories included
- Length: 6.5″
- Diameter: 1.57″
- Weight: 9.2 ounces (with batteries)
About Tom Claycomb
Tom Claycomb has been an avid hunter/fisherman throughout his life as well as an outdoor writer with outdoor columns in the magazine Hunt Alaska, Bass Pro Shops, Bowhunter.net, and freelances for numerous magazines and newspapers. “To properly skin your animal, you will need a sharp knife. I have an e-article on Amazon Kindle titled Knife Sharpening #ad for $.99 if you’re having trouble.”
