Review of Gerber 22-80107 Tempo Compact LED Flashlight, Metallic Green

When I first put this dandy thing on my keychain, I was delighted. Upon closer examination, however, the bloom came off the rose. Yes, it is a very competent keychain LED flashlight, but not really better than its competitors.

This is, I assume, Gerber's attempt to make a lesser expensive, smaller version of the well-acclaimed Infinity Ultra it inherited from CMG. It uses a 5mm Nichia LED that is unusually bright, even for the Nichia. As such, I was surprised at how strong the light was and, unlike other similar products, surprised at how well it projected its light many feet away; better, the color of the LED was more white than usual.

However, there was much to dislike. The barrel was solid, machined metal but appeared to be anodized. Just the act of inserting the hole onto a standard keyring scraped away some of the colorized coating. The lanyard hole itself was a bit too small: the first 2 rings I tried were too wide for the hole and did not fit; only the third keyring, which is rather narrow in diameter, fitted. It is NOT weatherproof, water resistant, or anything else. Although the end cap has a rubber O-ring, you have to loosen it to turn of on the light so that water can get by the O-ring. Also, the LED head does not appear to be sealed. Do not let this thing get wet.

It uses only one AAA battery and is OK, but a little large for your keyring (2-3/4 inches; add 1/8 inch for the keyring mount); plus, changing the battery is very easy. The light it makes is very bright and very useable. I do not have immediate access to either the Infinity Ultra or Inova X1, its competitors. However, I do have the Garrity Keylight (looks like a stick of gum) and a Photon knock-off, so I compared the Tempo to these. The strength of the Tempo is better than the other 2, but only by a small margin; you probably will not notice the difference. However, the 2 other keychain lights use expensive batteries that are a royal pain in the you-know-what to change. The Tempo uses a cheap, easy to get AAA battery that is easy to change.

In the end, I give the advantage to the Garrity Tempo. I liked it, but I was not overwhelmed.

Postscript. I have had this thing on my keychain everyday for several weeks. I can happily report that it has been a reliable, useful keychain flashlight, and I recommend it highly. You will like it.



Click Here to see more reviews about: Gerber 22-80107 Tempo Compact LED Flashlight, Metallic Green

Product Description:
FLASHLIGHT, 22-80107, TEMPO COMPACT,

Buy NowGet 27% OFF