T18 Artemis

R3,690.00

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I'm not a great fan of "zoomers" – torches with adjustable beams – because most can either throw far or wide but not do both at the same time, which is what you actually need in many situations (see my illustrated article on beam profiles to see why).

However there is an exception which can be expressed in two words – game watching. Animals don't react to light shining on themselves, only on their surroundings, so a narrow hot-spot with little or no spill-beam is less likely to spook them.

In addition, zoomers lend themselves to use with (relatively) low-powered LEDs because they can focus a modest amount of light into an intense beam that goes a long way. Less output means the torch runs longer and cooler – both key considerations in the bush.

And then there's coloured light. Some LEDs produce frequency-specific (very pure) coloured light, but they are not as powerful as many white LEDs, so a zoomer is the perfect host for them, throwing their light far, or spreading it wide, to suit your needs.

When it comes to coloured light, red beams are great for responsible game viewing – animals appear not to notice it and it doesn't affect our own night vision – while ultraviolet (UV) is very popular for a variety of tasks including spotting scorpions and other nunus.

Green light also doesn't spook animals, and looks brighter than red, but it doesn't preserve night vision, while infrared (IR) is invisible to humans and other animals without (expensive!) night-vision equipment.

I used to sell a zoomer with interchangeable LED modules for all of these colours (and white, of course) which I called the Bullseye. It built up quite a following among game watchers and hunters, but it was not upgraded for years (although the price kept going up) so I went looking for something better.

And (tara tara) here it is! It's called the T18 Artemis, after the Greek goddess of wild animals and the hunt, and a lot more besides.

It's a significant improvement on the Bullseye in several respects, although the basic formula is the same – a torch that takes a full range of screw-in modules fitted with premium LEDs delivering frequency-specific light through a big 50mm resin lens. 

Screw-in modules may sound like a klutzy solution but they allow you to upgrade and expand your choice of colours just by buying new modules, and these modules position the emitter exactly on the focal point of the lens unlike some multi-emitter designs.

Like the Bullseye, the Artemis is a "tactical" torch which is operated from the tailswitch, and it's small enough to fit into a good-sized pocket. It can also be mounted on a rifle with a standard scope mount or clamp, and there are springs at both ends of the battery tube so the light should not "blink" during recoil.

But that's where the similarity between the Artemis and the Bullseye ends...

- the Artemis takes a 21700 lithium ion (Li-Ion) battery holding 5,000mAh of energy instead of the Bullseye's 18650 cell which maxes out at 3,500mAh, so you get longer runtimes.

- the standard battery features a USB-C charging port so you don't need a separate charger, although you can also use any 21700 Li-Ion charged in an external charger.

- the Artemis comes with a rechargeable wireless remote so you can operate the torch from the forestock of a rifle or, indeed, anywhere up to 10m away from the torch.

- the wireless remote allows you to silently turn the torch on and off, and ramp the brightness up and down to very low levels for moving around without drawing attention to yourself.

- the Artemis features regulated output for constant brightness, along with a range of features including IP66 water- and dust-proofing to safeguard the torch and battery.

- it has an unmistakable feeling of quality in its build and packaging, compared to the Bullseye which was more... workmanlike.

- the Artemis comes with a three-year factory warranty and 18-months local support, during which time I will manage any claims on your behalf.

Lumens and candela (i.e. brightness and beam distance) vary with each module, and are difficult to compare objectively to fixed-beam torches, but by way of example the Cree XPL V3 white module delivers 650 lumens over an ANSI beam distance of 630 metres which, in the real world, is around three rugby fields end to end – it's far!

With the red module I found I could also see objects two rugby fields away. The UV module delivers radiation that is at the very limit of "visible light" so you can't judge its effectiveness by looking at the beam itself but rather how well it highlights objects that fluoresce under UV light. A good example is the number plates on cars, which fluoresce brightly at 100m or more

In addition, Brinyte have managed to produce a passable spill-beam from a zoomer – no mean feat! It's not as even as a fixed-beam (reflector-based) torch, but it's enough to support peripheral vision, which is key to locating objects (and animals) in the black of night.

The Artemis white module is designed to step down by 30% after about seven minutes to avoid overheating, but since our perception of brightness is logarithmic most people won't notice this, and most won't run it that long in one go. And when you turn it off and on you're back to 100% brightness!

In future I will stock a full range of modules and accessories, so you can buy only what you need and nothing you don't want, but initially I'm offering the Artemis as a starter kit with white, red and UV modules (the most popular colours), wireless remote, battery and courier delivery for just R3,690.