Tag: review

Posted on

SureFire Maximus

1000 lumens in a palm sized headlamp? It’s a thing, and it’s called the Maximus by SureFire. If you’re the type of person who doesn’t like to stop doing your favorite outdoor activity when the sun goes down, the Maximus has the light output to help you play outside longer. You can ride your bike faster, find your way better while running or hiking, and have an effective light on your helmet that can actually help you out while riding a motorcycle at night. When you get back to the truck or make it into camp, you can adjust the power on the Maximus with just the turn of a dial and set your light output to anything from 1 to 1000 Lumens.  Silly amounts of light in a compact package – it sounds like the world’s greatest headlamp, doesn’t it?

The amount of light that you can get out of the Maximus at full power is quite impressive, but don’t expect to spend all night burning a hole in the blackness.  At full power, the Maximus will only last around 1.5 hours, so discipline is required to make it through a full night of use without killing the battery in the first 90 minutes.  Dialing back the light output will obviously get you much longer runtimes, and with camp duties typically requiring less than 50 lumens of light, the Maximus has the endurance to go multiple nights without recharging.  Adjusting the headlamp to get the right amount of light exactly where you need it is as easy as tilting the body of the light from 0 to 90 degrees down and twisting the knurled dial to control light output.  The dial works great with bare hands or gloves, and the tilt setting will stay where you leave it – making the Maximus quite easy to use.  Yet, charging the Maximus is where things start to get interesting.

64325791

Recharging the non-replaceable Lithium-Ion battery is done from either an AC outlet or the included 12v car charger.  I’ll say it again: Non-replaceable battery.  Make sure to keep that fact in mind, or you could find yourself with a dead battery and dawn still hours away.  Furthermore, you have to use the specific Maximus chargers, so make sure that you pack the chargers with you whenever you’re gearing up for a trip.  SureFire is known for their exceptional build quality and attention to detail, so I was disappointed to discover that the cap for the Maximus’ charging port will refuse to say installed in the body of the light after it’s spent a few miles traveling in a pack or a pocket.  Should your Maximus encounter some real moisture with the charging port open – bad things could happen.  I had hoped this was an isolated issue with my light, but I noticed that the Maximus headlamps that the Expedition Overland crew were using in season three were all having the same issue.  This cover feels like it didn’t get the SureFire design treatment, so hopefully that is something they’ll address in the future.

The only other problem that I ran into with the Maximus was that the weight of the headlamp can cause it to slip down over your eyes if you make a sudden movement during an activity.  While running, or while mountain biking with the light under your helmet, this can make for a painful surprise.  SureFire molded mounts for a top strap into the Maximus, but my headlamp didn’t come with a top strap, and a search of the SureFire website didn’t turn up an official over-the-head strap.  If you’re not moving quickly (say during typical camping) this will be a non-issue for you, but was something I had to engineer a solution for as the Maximus’ light output is something that I had to incorporate into many of my favorite sports.

If you have ever found yourself creeping home in the dark without a light when your ride, hike, or other activity lasted longer than the daylight did, the Maximus is a great tool to have with you.  Toss it on under your helmet, and your mountain bike ride can continue at all but the fastest of speeds.  Likewise, on a dirtbike the Maximus can outshine the crappy halogen headlights on many bikes, allowing you to actually see where you’re going.  If you’re hiking or running at night, the Maximus has plenty of light at less than half power to light your way up like you’re walking down the Vegas strip.  This is where SureFire’s expertise in lighting shines (see what I did there) as the Maximus casts a perfect beam of light that works great at 10 lumens reading a book in camp and at 1000 lumens bombing down singletrack.

Even with it’s faults, the Maximus is a great headlamp.  With the dial control I can get exactly the amount of light output that I want without thinking about making an adjustment.  The dial system is hands down better than using a single button headlamp that has 50 different modes, where I would have to stop what I’m doing to focus on getting the light output I want – and there’s no risk of blinding myself by triggering the wrong mode.  With the Maximus it’s set and forget, and cranking up the sun or dialing it back is just a quick dial adjustment away.

The SureFire Maximus is a very impressive lighting instrument that is exactly what you would expect from something with the SureFire name name on it.  With the exception of the charging port cover and the weight of the unit combined with the lack of an over-the-head strap, the Maximus is a great headlamp.  Its light output is staggering at full power, and the dial system is a great interface over the single button control favored by many other manufactures.   It will be really cool to see what SureFire does with this model in the coming years as battery and LED technology continue to improve.  Hopefully a lighter Maximus with a longer battery life will become a thing in the not too distant future.  As long as you can remember to bring the charger and have enough discipline to use just as much light as you need, the Maximus can work in almost any role in which you place it.  Don’t be surprised if you find yourself playing leader when your group is out after dark – other lights can’t hold a candle to what the Maximus can do to the darkness.

Full Disclosure:  SureFire provided the headlamp reviewed in this article at no cost to the author or American Adventurist. This review and others like it are intended to provide you, our readers, with no holds barred updates on a variety of new gear as it becomes available.
Posted on

Bajaworx Enduro Windshield

While reading the internet one day, I came across a post from Bajaworx seeking testers for an Enduro bike windshield.  Bajaworx was looking for folks to give their product some real world testing, and to put it through the ringer to see how performed and held up to months of riding.  I promptly replied to the post, and a few days later I received a neat, tidy package in the mail.  Like the proverbial porridge, the box was not too big, not too small, but just right.  Maybe it’s just me, but it really irks me when I get a pair of gloves shipped in a box you could live out of.  No, Amazon, I did not like your packaging.

Tear open the box from Bajaworx however, and you get a carefully and correctly wrapped shield, complete with a bag of hardware taped in place (nice!) and a clear set of installation and care directions.   The shield comes out clean and free from blemishes, and they even used high quality Makrolon polycarbonate in its construction.   These guys obviously care about what they make and sell.

Start the installation by removing the headlight mask on your bike to install the shield.  You’ll have to punch a few holes in the stock mask, but luckily this part is only about 20 bucks if you need to “rework” it for any reason.  Removing the headlight assembly is as simple as disconnecting the wiring, removing the brake hose guide, and pulling the two rubber mounting straps.

Here’s my first gripe: I’m a klutz and I want a template, darn it!  I’m also borderline OCD, so I needed to get the windshield installed perfectly straight.  Out come the calipers and the sharpie so that I can scribe some lines of reasonable accuracy.  A paper template that I can lay over the bike’s headlight mask and mark out the drill holes would be a welcome addition to the installation instructions.

One of the more refined features that are included with the Bajaworx windshield are the stiffening brackets that help reduce movement of the windshield while under wind load.  Sadly, they stopped short of the mark on my particular bike, so I wasn’t able to use them.  It should be noted that I installed the windshield on a model year this was NOT designed for, so that’s no fault to Bajaworx.

Yet again, Bajaworx’s attention to detail surprises me – in this case the appropriate hardware comes pre-assembled; no digging through a bag of hardware looking for the “#4:  6mm screw – 30mm”, or some such nonsense.  Just select a long or short screw, and assemble one at a time being careful not to overtighten.  Depending on what handguards and other handlebar accessories you have on your particular bike, you may have to spend some time tinkering and adjusting to incorporate this windshield onto your bike so that vibration and rubbing won’t cause part A to eat part B.

Over the last several months I’ve taken the Bajaworx windshield down many miles of singletrack, climbed mountains, and gobbled up hundreds of miles at full chat.  I’ve taken the windshield into some properly hairy scenarios, and I never noticed it; with one exception.  I bottomed out hard in a G-out and let myself get pulled too far forward over the bars.  My chest kissed the top of the shield, but that’s all.  No harm, no foul.  Otherwise, it’s utterly imperceptible until you get up in speed.

Once you’re looking to cover some miles, you will notice well, nothing – and that’s the point.  The shield takes all that wind pressure that would normally be pushing you over backwards and diverts it around you.  When sitting, you will have practically no wind from the neck down.  Unlike other products, this piece accomplishes this in such a way as to maintain smooth, laminar airflow across your helmet.  This means that while your head is still in the wind, it’s not bobbling around and creating a roar.  There’s some noise for sure, but it’s all quite tolerable.

Last but not least is durability.  Unfortunately (or fortunately?) I did not get the opportunity to crash test this shield, so I cannot speak to its performance in that arena.  I would posit that this shield is the least of your worries in a crash, and that because the headlight assembly is essentially rubber mounted, it would likely survive any encounter with the earth.  One area of improvement I would suggest is the brake line routing.  The brake hose on my bike would rub constantly on the two ridges on the back of the shield, quickly developing a ‘smeared’ section.  It’s a non-issue since the shield in nowhere near your sight line, but it’s kinda ugly nonetheless.  Granted, it’s still the best looking plastic on my bike, so who’s to argue?

All said, this is a well thought out, well made, and made in USA product that can provide some real world relief on those long stretches at speed.  Whether you’re headed to Dead Horse, or you’re in search of some fish tacos and a cold cerveza, the Bajaworx enduro shield is a welcome riding partner and will see you through a day of riding with noticeably less fatigue.  Check them out at bajaworx.com.

 Full Disclosure: Bajaworx generously contributed this Enduro Windshield for review at no cost to the author or American Adventurist.