Olight M1T Raider Flashlight Review

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Olight M1T Raider Flashlight Review

The Olight M1T Raider is a CR123 flashlight with a forward clicky tail switch. It uses a Luminus SST-40 emitter. Read on for testing!

Official Specs and Features

Here’s a link to the Olight M1T Raider Flashlight product page.

Versions

I think there’s only one version of this light.  However, there are some product shots that show a smooth bezel.  Most product shots show a crenelated bezel.  I’m not sure which is available or how to be sure which one you receive. But generally, you should presume you’ll get the crenelated version.

Price

This one’s going for $40 right now.

Short Review

This is a very simple light.  I don’t care for the user interface (always going through High to get to Low) and the tint isn’t great.  I like the size and shape, and the TIR beam profile suits me, too.

Long Review

The Big Table

Olight M1T Raider
Emitter: Luminus SST-40
Price in USD at publication time: $40.00
Cell: CR123A
Turbo Runtime High Runtime
LVP? No
Switch Type: Mechanical
On-Board Charging? No
Claimed Lumens (lm) 500
Measured Lumens (at 30s) 570 (114% of claim)^
Claimed Throw (m) 97
Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s) 152lux @ 4.351m = 2878cd
Throw (Calculated) (m) 107.3 (110.6% of claim)^
All my Olight reviews!

^ Measurement disclaimer: Testing flashlights is my hobby. I use hobbyist-level equipment for testing, including some I made myself. Try not to get buried in the details of manufacturer specifications versus measurements recorded here; A certain amount of difference (say, 10 or 15%) is perfectly reasonable.

What’s Included

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  • Olight M1T Raider
  • Lanyard
  • Manual

Package and Manual

Consistent with the new Olight packaging, this M1T has a tear strip to open, a photo of the product on the front, and specs and features on the back.  It’s a nice package.

The light is in a tray that slides right out of the box.

Here’s the pdf manual.  It’s a good enough manual.

Build Quality and Disassembly

Nice build quality, with anodizing that seems a little shinier than normal Olights.

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The “double helix” is the new thing Olight is promoting.  That’s the spiral wrap around the sides in the middle.  I have to say that the double helix doesn’t really do all that much for me, but it doesn’t hinder my usage of the light.  It provides some grip, which is enough.

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I didn’t take the light down further than this.  I thought the bezel would come off fairly easily, but it did not.  The crenelations should help with that, but I still couldn’t remove the bezel.

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Interestingly the contacts aren’t how they look, below.  The tailcap is a button, but springy.  The “spring” on the head isn’t actually a spring, but is just a coiled wire.  Not a big deal, just a funny anomaly.  The light didn’t seem to flicker upon moderate impacts, so the tail button spring seems to work just fine.

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Close up of the tailcap button spring.

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Size

Officially this light is (L)91 x (D)21 mm.  It’s a small light, but not really all that small for a CR123 light.

Below view the M1T with the venerable Convoy S2+.

Retention

A pocket clip comes on the light.  It’s removable, but not reversible.  The “reversible” aspect of this clip is that it can be pocketed in either orientation, while just clipping to the light in one place.  I like this clip when being used button-up, but I don’t care for using it in the bezel-up orientation.  Much harder to use.

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The clip attaches to the light very securely.

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The included lanyard may be attached on a cutout hole in the tailcap.  That’s the only option; there is no spot on the clip (which is fine with me, since I don’t ever like that option anyway.)

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Power and Runtime

Officially supported cells are CR123 cells and RCR123 cells.  I tested the light with an Efest 700mAh 16340, which works fine.

This light has only two modes, and I tested a runtime for only the Higher mode (I don’t believe my logger would even cover the time of the low mode, and it’s a little too low to be tested reliably on my setup.)

After a number of minutes (5ish), the light steps down from ~550 lumens to around 325 lumens.  At this point it’s very stable for another 50 minutes or so.  Then output drops dramatically.  The light never seems to shut off, indicating a lack of low voltage protection.  That’s probably better in a tactical light anyway, so no real concerns there.

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User Interface and Operation

The M1T Raider has a single tailswitch.  It’s a soft press forward clicky, allowing for momentary usage of either mode.  The button is extremely proud (again, something you’d want on a tactical light).  I like this switch quite a bit, particularly for the momentary function of it.

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Here’s a user interface table!

State Action Result
Off Click High
Off Two quick clicks Low
Off Hold Momentary High
Off Tap then hold Momentary Low
On Click Off

That’s right, just two modes!  No strobe, no nothing else.  I will say that I do not like having to go through high to get to low (it’s almost like a preflash, which is universally hated).  And many users will complain that a tactical light should have strobe.  Since I won’t use it as a tactical light, that’s of no concern to me, but worth mentioning.

Modes

Mode Mode Claimed Output (lm) Claimed Runtime Measured Lumens Tailcap Amps
High 500/300 5m/2h 564 0.77
Low 5 100h 10 –

LED and Beam

The emitter chosen here by Olight is a Luminus SST40.  I have not loved this emitter in the past, and unfortunately, the tint here is quite green/blue.  I do love the beam profile, though, which is mostly spot.  It’s a broad spot though, with little spill.  (This is my favorite beam profile, in fact.)

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Beamshots

These beamshots always have the following settings:  f8, ISO100, 0.3s shutter, and manual 5000K exposure. These photos are taken at floor level, and the beam hits the ceiling around 9 feet away.

Tint vs BLF-348 (KillzoneFlashlights.com 219b version) (affiliate link)

I keep the test flashlight on the left and the BLF-348 reference flashlight on the right.

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Random Comparisons and Competitive Options

Here’s a relevantly filtered page on parametrek.com. SST-40’s are “rare” enough that that’s all the qualifiers I need to get the list to “quite manageable.”  There are two other tactical lights on that lights.  Both JETBeams – RRT1 and RRT2.  They are both 18650 lights.  So if you desire the SST-40 in a CR123 format, this M1T Raider is a great (your only?) choice!

Conclusion

What I like

  • Great built quality
  • Very simple User Interface
  • TIR beam profile of this style is my favorite
  • Outdoes throw claim

What I don’t like

  • Tint
  • Underdoes runtime quite dramatically
  • user interface is equivalent to “preflash” when accessing low.

Notes

  • This light was provided by Olight for review. I was not paid to write this review.
  • This content originally appeared at zeroair.org. Please visit there for the best experience!
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