Continually Impressed by the RC11 Flashlight

I received the RC11 flashlight as a Christmas gift from my family (as well as buying one for my girlfriend for Christmas). It was one of those pick it out yourself gifts for me. Being the 5th Fenix light for me and I couldn’t tell you how many total lights in my stash; I was excited about it, but didn’t know where it would fall in my specific use category.

Well…It landed in my everything category. Besides it being in keeping with Fenix’s very high quality fit and finish and feeling like a rock solid light it surprised me in a few categories that I was very curious about.

Battery Life

I have charged it twice since December and use it almost every day and the battery is still holding strong on the second charge. Some days its momentary use and some days its hours of on and off on varying brightness. The magnetic charging port was truly a selling point on the light thinking I’ll run this thing down all the time and this will be convenient, but I don’t seem to be needing it much.

Brightness

Over the years I have watched lights get brighter but the size increased with them. Fenix is turning out a multitude of lights that are brighter and brighter and keep getting smaller. For me that is welcome due to needing to stuff it into a pocket or on a belt full of other things and weight adds up. This light lives up to the beam intensity advertised and most times I don’t use the highest setting because it hurts my eyes to look at what the light is shinning on. As usual, Fenix is on target with their ratings and you get what they tell you they are giving you.

Toughness

I hunt, fish, spend time in construction sites at work, and spend a lot of time in bunker gear with the Fire Department and this light has been soaked with water, sweat, and mud on a regular basis. Being the way I am about keeping my equipment clean; I have washed it with a water hose every time it has gotten dirty and still it shows no hesitation to work. The on/off and brightness control button is working fine with no grit to it (I prefer the switch to the dial because I’ve had other brand lights with the dial and one drop in the mud and it is gritty forever). It has fallen on tile floors and I couldn’t find a mark on it. Most importantly to me is that it stays in my pocket under my bunker gear on fire calls and trainings and some days I sweat so much it’s like I’ve been in a swimming pool. Anyone who carries anything knows that sweat has a way of shortening the life of anything carried in your pocket regularly. Not this thing! Last thing I want to mention is that I run training burns and this thing stays in my pocket under my bunker gear and these burns can get up to 800 degrees for 30 minutes at a time. While the light is not exposed to the extreme heat due to the thermal protection of the gear it is still exposed to over 100 degree heat and comes out of my pocket working perfectly even heated up.

You won’t regret buying this flashlight and may throw your other lights in the recycle bin.