The head of the Sidewinder is unlike most other flashlights. Firstly, it has multiple LED's, each of a different color. There are 2 LED color configurations available for the Sidewinder. This review sample comes with white, red, green and blue color LED's. The other configuration has an infrared in place of the green LED. Secondly, the head can be swiveled 185°. This is especially useful when the light is clipped onto a pocket or MOLLE straps/slots. The swiveling motion is stiff and smooth. The front end also has operating instructions conveniently printed on it so anyone can get familiar with this light without reading any printed documentation. The switch is on the side of the head. It has 2 parts to it. The first is a push button which activates easily but does not allow for momentary activation. Second is a pull-to-turn locking rotary color selector knob which felt a little tight for my taste. Paired with the fact that the ring is quite thin, switching between colors can be a hassle. The selector ring locks into place for each color selection. If you switch between colors often, you'll soon notice your finger tips getting abrasions. This isn't an issue if you're wearing gloves of course. The head is protected from the environment by a gasket-sealed polycarbonate lens which also has a scratch-resistant coating.

The Sidewinder is available in 2 colors, green and tan. The entire light is connected together in one way or another. None of its parts can be disassembled or removed without permanently destroying it. This is a good thing as it avoids risks of lost parts. The head, as mentioned above, is connected to the body by a swivel neck and the battery's tail cap is tethered by a wire. The body of the light is made of nylon which is very tough and stands up well against high impact and abuse. It can also withstand temperatures ranging from -40°F to 15°F. There are molded battery polarity indicators on either of the narrow sides of the body which makes battery replacement possible even in complete darkness. The tail cap is held in place by a large black thumb screw and has a thick rubber lining. The thumb screw secured the tail cap really well and works in nicely with the overall rectangular shape of the Sidewinder.

There are 4 brightness levels and a flashing mode for each and every LED color. Cycling through the 4 levels is done by holding down the push button. This starts the light out on the lowest, ramps up to highest, then ramps down again. Double clicking the push button activated the flashing mode. The Sidewinder does not have any memory functions though. Which means that every time you turn on the light, it will start on the low level.

As mentioned above, there are multiple colored LED's in the Sidewinder with the following color spectrums red 630nm, blue 470nm, green 520nm, IR 880nm. Do take note that each of of the colored LED's produce slightly different beam profiles. The most outstanding of which is the blue LED which produces a ring of light. The white LED however has a nice smooth beam profile with a slightly cool, violet tint to it. Its nice to see that the advertised runtimes are not inflated and pretty accurate, as can be seen from my own runtime tests below.

The Good - Very well built and tough enough to stand up against abuse during practical usage. Versatile swiveling head with 4 different LED emitters.

The Bad - Colored LED's produce uneven beam profiles. LED selector ring is a little too thin and tight.

The Relative - White LED has a cool tint. Push button does not allow for momentary activation. Comes with a MOLLE compatible clip.

Package.

Head (front view).

Body (side view).

Body (side view).

Body (side view).

Tail cap.