what a long name for a torch. It's made by Orb which is a UK company Raw NS is the name of the torch (NS standa for nickle silver) and Cree XR-E is the type of LED it uses. I posted the review on britishblades but think that since the low power gives you almost 30hours of use with the high power in reserve this might appeal to bushcrafters who don't want to carry something as big as a Mag Solataire, with a spare battery this could be all you need for a camping/bushcraft trip.
In the beginning was the RAW using an aluminium body with a rather nice LED, which gave out an insane amount of light for its size, it had a few down sides in that it wasn't waterproof and only lasted for 12minutes. Over time a smaller rechargeable battery has come out and so the RAW NS came into existence, this was made of nickel silver (thus the NS on the name) and had O-rings making it more water resistant. A two stage switch is also present (now an option on the raw) which means that you still have the high power you had with the original RAW but you could have a less light and the battery would last more then 12minutes. Then a new better brighter LED was created and you can have even more light for longer, its not included in the standard price but I figured if your getting a torch like this you may as well get the best one. The Cree LEDs have been causing a huge stir over on candlepower forums where members are overheating their keyboards and selling their grandmothers to get one of the few lights being made with these LEDs. I've had this running for 20minutes and it still wasn't getting dim but was rather warm, it warms up quickly but stops getting hotter after a few minutes.
In the RAW NS package you get
The RAW NS
A 14250 lithium rechargeable battery
A nanno charger (requires an adapter to use in UK plugs but its only 65p from Wilkinsons)
6magnets (you need three to allow you to change the extra tiny battery)
I got an extra battery and the torch also has the optional Titium locator, you can choose numbers and colours of these, mine has a single blue one. These help you find the torch at night, the ice blue is a rather pleasing colour if not the one that looks brightest
Early reviews mentioned lots of tiny white balls making a bid to take over the world when you opened the packaging, when I opened the Jiffy bag I found a Pelican case nicely containing everything in a very orderly way. This case would ensure that the package could be used in a game of football, the delivery van could get washed away in a storm and when recovered your package would still be safe and dry. If storing kit for the end of the world, as we know it, this would be a good option. It also makes this torch unique in being the only thing Ive bought where Ive ended up playing with the packaging in the sink whilst waiting for the battery to charge.
The torch is inside another little plastic tube, which has a screw fitting. The torch then has a little bit of foam at the end where the lens is protecting it further, before you even get to the torch you know its going to be something special.
When you get the torch out you realise just how small this thing is, the 14250 cell that powers this torch is 14mm across by 25mm long, the same diameter as a AA cell but half the length.
This allows the torch itself to be about the width of a mini Maglite and just a bit shorter then a AA cell. I suggest you read that again whilst holding an AA battery or your car keys and think just how small that is. Since its made of nickel silver is feels like it has a bit of weight to it, its not that its heavy but rather feels solid. It comes with a lanyard, which is a plastic coated metal wire with a small clip on the end. I really like the unpolished finish, its not hiding anything about how it was made, there are two ridges at the front which give it a bit of texture and I think might help with heat transfer. It also has raw ns cut into the body and ns at the rear end of the light; the writing on the body is slightly unusual. When reading the information sheet that came with it I found out it was Swiss CNC made body, this makes me want to get a Swiss watch!
Leaving the instructions to one side I promptly dismantled the torch, I then realised that with this torch to switch it on you turn the front section anti clockwise (or the back half clockwise) which is the opposite of a Maglite. Turning it the correct way suddenly gave me a rather pleasing amount of light, quite a bit more then a mini Maglite or my Streamlight twin task on low. I thought this was a very respectable amount of light for a torch this size. If Id never seen a RAW before Id think that was what it did and would still be quite happy, turning through another 60degrees or so takes you to a whole new world though, the torch was pointing at the ceiling of a room 13ft by 12ft and the low power gave me enough to see things in the room, the high power was enough to light the room. In a power cut Id be quite happy using this to light a room to carry on normal activities.
I went into the kitchen to get the torches Id brought back from uni, a QIII which was for a time a highly popular torch for output and beam pattern and a Streamlight twin task 2l which is a good users torch offering two light settings and what I have in the past used for camping and walking since its own low power setting runs for a claimed 28hours or a 72bulb lumens for about 2hours. The Raw NS makes the QIII seem large and dim. I still cant get used to having this much light from a small package and Im trying to find ways to show just how much light your getting. The twin task is a tad shorter then a mini mag and uses 2CR123 cells to power it, the low power setting claims 28hours while the brighter Raw NS uses 10ma from a 300mah so in theory you have 30hours, since you have to be careful not to drain the cells completely lets say it lasts for the same time whilst giving more power at a fraction of the size. On high the Streamlight quotes 72lumens, I assume this is bulb lumen since people have said its not as bright as a Surefire G2, which has 60torch lumens. This doesnt put out a bit more light then the streamlight. It puts out a LOT more light and is a really nice white light. So compare it to a Surefire running off two CR123 with a HALO would give you about 120lumens for 20minutes. This tiny light will do that whilst being rechargeable and is smaller.
Not only does this torch put out a huge amount of light, the beam pattern is also rather pleasing due the orange peel reflector. Sadly it doesnt stand on the end with the lanyard attached and it was difficult to photograph this so maybe Cones can do a better job. The torch does start to feel warm even after a short burst of light but I will be doing a run time test later on and Ill see how it fairs with that
To summarise this torch is a compact powerhouse in a sturdy case, its small enough to go in the compass pocket of my jacket with enough run time on low to use when walking home through woods and can go into a ultra bright mode should I loose something. It does cost a lot but you do get a customised torch that not many others will have. It feels more personal then any other torch I have and I like that sort of thing, it will be my EDC along with my William Henry Legacy.
I would like to thank Rob for making such a great functional piece of art, Cones for showing me first incarnation of the RAW and Raoul Duke for telling me that I really really need a Raw and it must be this one
In the beginning was the RAW using an aluminium body with a rather nice LED, which gave out an insane amount of light for its size, it had a few down sides in that it wasn't waterproof and only lasted for 12minutes. Over time a smaller rechargeable battery has come out and so the RAW NS came into existence, this was made of nickel silver (thus the NS on the name) and had O-rings making it more water resistant. A two stage switch is also present (now an option on the raw) which means that you still have the high power you had with the original RAW but you could have a less light and the battery would last more then 12minutes. Then a new better brighter LED was created and you can have even more light for longer, its not included in the standard price but I figured if your getting a torch like this you may as well get the best one. The Cree LEDs have been causing a huge stir over on candlepower forums where members are overheating their keyboards and selling their grandmothers to get one of the few lights being made with these LEDs. I've had this running for 20minutes and it still wasn't getting dim but was rather warm, it warms up quickly but stops getting hotter after a few minutes.
In the RAW NS package you get
The RAW NS
A 14250 lithium rechargeable battery
A nanno charger (requires an adapter to use in UK plugs but its only 65p from Wilkinsons)
6magnets (you need three to allow you to change the extra tiny battery)
I got an extra battery and the torch also has the optional Titium locator, you can choose numbers and colours of these, mine has a single blue one. These help you find the torch at night, the ice blue is a rather pleasing colour if not the one that looks brightest
Early reviews mentioned lots of tiny white balls making a bid to take over the world when you opened the packaging, when I opened the Jiffy bag I found a Pelican case nicely containing everything in a very orderly way. This case would ensure that the package could be used in a game of football, the delivery van could get washed away in a storm and when recovered your package would still be safe and dry. If storing kit for the end of the world, as we know it, this would be a good option. It also makes this torch unique in being the only thing Ive bought where Ive ended up playing with the packaging in the sink whilst waiting for the battery to charge.
The torch is inside another little plastic tube, which has a screw fitting. The torch then has a little bit of foam at the end where the lens is protecting it further, before you even get to the torch you know its going to be something special.
When you get the torch out you realise just how small this thing is, the 14250 cell that powers this torch is 14mm across by 25mm long, the same diameter as a AA cell but half the length.
This allows the torch itself to be about the width of a mini Maglite and just a bit shorter then a AA cell. I suggest you read that again whilst holding an AA battery or your car keys and think just how small that is. Since its made of nickel silver is feels like it has a bit of weight to it, its not that its heavy but rather feels solid. It comes with a lanyard, which is a plastic coated metal wire with a small clip on the end. I really like the unpolished finish, its not hiding anything about how it was made, there are two ridges at the front which give it a bit of texture and I think might help with heat transfer. It also has raw ns cut into the body and ns at the rear end of the light; the writing on the body is slightly unusual. When reading the information sheet that came with it I found out it was Swiss CNC made body, this makes me want to get a Swiss watch!
Leaving the instructions to one side I promptly dismantled the torch, I then realised that with this torch to switch it on you turn the front section anti clockwise (or the back half clockwise) which is the opposite of a Maglite. Turning it the correct way suddenly gave me a rather pleasing amount of light, quite a bit more then a mini Maglite or my Streamlight twin task on low. I thought this was a very respectable amount of light for a torch this size. If Id never seen a RAW before Id think that was what it did and would still be quite happy, turning through another 60degrees or so takes you to a whole new world though, the torch was pointing at the ceiling of a room 13ft by 12ft and the low power gave me enough to see things in the room, the high power was enough to light the room. In a power cut Id be quite happy using this to light a room to carry on normal activities.
I went into the kitchen to get the torches Id brought back from uni, a QIII which was for a time a highly popular torch for output and beam pattern and a Streamlight twin task 2l which is a good users torch offering two light settings and what I have in the past used for camping and walking since its own low power setting runs for a claimed 28hours or a 72bulb lumens for about 2hours. The Raw NS makes the QIII seem large and dim. I still cant get used to having this much light from a small package and Im trying to find ways to show just how much light your getting. The twin task is a tad shorter then a mini mag and uses 2CR123 cells to power it, the low power setting claims 28hours while the brighter Raw NS uses 10ma from a 300mah so in theory you have 30hours, since you have to be careful not to drain the cells completely lets say it lasts for the same time whilst giving more power at a fraction of the size. On high the Streamlight quotes 72lumens, I assume this is bulb lumen since people have said its not as bright as a Surefire G2, which has 60torch lumens. This doesnt put out a bit more light then the streamlight. It puts out a LOT more light and is a really nice white light. So compare it to a Surefire running off two CR123 with a HALO would give you about 120lumens for 20minutes. This tiny light will do that whilst being rechargeable and is smaller.
Not only does this torch put out a huge amount of light, the beam pattern is also rather pleasing due the orange peel reflector. Sadly it doesnt stand on the end with the lanyard attached and it was difficult to photograph this so maybe Cones can do a better job. The torch does start to feel warm even after a short burst of light but I will be doing a run time test later on and Ill see how it fairs with that
To summarise this torch is a compact powerhouse in a sturdy case, its small enough to go in the compass pocket of my jacket with enough run time on low to use when walking home through woods and can go into a ultra bright mode should I loose something. It does cost a lot but you do get a customised torch that not many others will have. It feels more personal then any other torch I have and I like that sort of thing, it will be my EDC along with my William Henry Legacy.
I would like to thank Rob for making such a great functional piece of art, Cones for showing me first incarnation of the RAW and Raoul Duke for telling me that I really really need a Raw and it must be this one
