Wolf Eyes Seal Hunting 'Ultra'

        

Lumens: 1,620 lumens

Weight with battery: 445 grams

Throw: Way over 600 metres with large aspheric head – spot

(ANSI rating is over a kilometre, somewhat optimistically!)

200 metres on reflector head – spot with flood

Length: 211mm aspheric head, 171mm reflector

Beam Type: Aspheric LED Head – Spot adjustable to flood

Reflector LED Head – Spot surrounded by flood

The new 'ULTRA' versions of the Seal have arrived, we are very impressed!  Giant throw and light output.  Extremely high output LEDs have been out for a while, most manufacturers have met the challenge of managing the huge heat output of these LEDs by running for a couple of minutes, doing limited damage and wear, then dropping down in output. As most of our users are professionals or frequent users, this limited damage would have eventually added up. We now have an LED we can safely run at full output for the full rated time. No dropping down a level just when you need bright light!

The new 'Ultra' are seriously bright, we noticed a third increse in the reflector output and similar in the large aspheric head, it just became harder to rate a usable distance over 600 metres

The Wolf Eyes Seal Hunting 'Ultra' is based on the Wolf Eyes Seal Hunting torch which we designed from the ground up to be the best possible torch we could produce for the man on the land or those who like to control ferals or the general torch user who needs distance. It starts with the 25.4mm (1”) torch body size which suits almost all mounts, this 6061-T6 aluminium alloy body is lined with our brass Thermal Transfer Tube to wick damaging heat away from your high power LED. We then have a huge 83mm aspheric LED head, this can reach out to 600 metres plus so you can see those foxes & wild dogs or check on the front gate or sheds. If you have a vermin or security problem, this is the torch head for you. Also there is the smaller 50mm reflector LED torch head, giving a nice spot surrounded by flood out to 150 metres, great for rabbits or pigs in the lignum – or just for using as a general torch. Some get this torch just for  vermin control, others for security, while some use it for both work and play. Many trades people use this torch during the week for work, then for themselves on the weekend. The nice thing is the Seal Hunting 'Ultra' can fulfil all those roles.

Light Output and Beam Pattern
Of the two LED heads, the main spotlight head catches your attention first due to its 83mm size and huge aspheric (magnifying) lens. You then notice it is approximately the same 83mm back from the outside of the lens to the LED (similar to a magnifying glass lighting paper by the sun, the lens works best when set back the right distance from the LED). Of course all this size and depth of focus is to maximise the throw from the 'Ultra' LED in this torch, beyond what is seen in standard  mounted flashlights or internally powered lights. The LED, lens size and lens focal length all combine to produce usable light at up to 600 metres (ANSI now rate the lihght over a kilometre, though we don't think it is suitable to use  at that distance and find FL/ANSI ranges very, very optimistic). The focussing on this LED torch is rotary, which combined with a spring at each end in the battery compartment, means this LED flashlight can withstand heavy calibres. The large size and fine focussing capability of this torch head means it is even possible to focus for a slightly wider and shorter beam, something rarely effectively possible or recommended with aspheric lenses on LED torches (we still prefer it at the finest setting when mounted on a scope).  One of the huge advantages of the aspheric head if you use your Seal for spotting animals is that the light fills the viewfinder of your scope but isn't so broad - like a reflector lens which provides spot surrounded by flood like below - to disturb any surrounding animals. Very handy.

The smaller 50mm deep set mirror reflector LED head provides a perfect combination of spot and flood light (in comparison to the aspheric head above which is all spot) out to about 200 metres. This makes it a great general use LED torch or for hunting use on feral pests such as pigs or rabbits where distance requirements are usually less than 200 metres and the extra flood light surrounding the main spot is advantageous for fast moving game. The Seal Hunting 'Ultra' LED torch with the reflector head is a very nice standalone flashlight, we can see many choosing to buy a Seal Hunting 'Ultra' torch to use as their general flashlight, and then screw the aspheric lens on for that once a year trip. Others may choose the Seal Hunting 'Ultra' LED torch because it offers the best of both an aspheric LED lens head and a reflector LED head torch - by actually having both heads! We believe the Seal is our best LED torch and one the best LED torches - we hope you do too!

One requirement the Seal torch is often used for is security on small or large acreage. The long throw of the Seal LED torch makes it perfect for checking on gates, sheds or fences and the very light weight means it can be used by people of all ages, sizes or strenth. We would suggest the Seal with Procap tailcap for that application as it makes changing levls of output very easy.

Thermal Transfer Tube and Construction

The Wolf Eyes Seal Hunting 'Ultra' Torch starts with the Thermal Transfer Tube made of brass, wrapped around this is the 6061-T6 aircraft aluminium torch body in 25.4mm (1”) standard size. There are three reasons for the brass liner, one is that it provides better strength for your torch than either material individually, two it provides better electrical conductivity and three, most importantly, it draws heat away from the high output LED and uses the full metal torch body as a heatsink to radiate the damaging heat away from your LED and lithium ion battery.. If LEDs are overheated they suffer permanently reduced output – very bad news for LED torches. While low power LEDs produce very little heat, high power LEDs now produce a lot of heat - as would be expected as they produce much more light than an equivalent size incandescent torch. We build our torches with pride to last.

This standard 25.4mm torch body means you can mount above the scope, to the side, even under the barrel with our magnetic mount. It also opens your options up to exotic mounts.

The Seal weighs 426 grams with battery or 378 grams without, to give an idea that is roughly the weight of a can of Coca Cola (12 grams heavier) - somewhat less than it looks. There is a fair amount of air in the head and we have worked hard since the initial release to lose over 100 grams from the total weight, while still having enogh heatsinking material in the body for a long lifespan for your LED and electronics.

Finally the whole torch body is low temperature (-20o C) Hard Anodized in tactical black for a non reflective durable finish.

Dual Tailcap
The torches tailcap is the Wolf Eyes Dual Tailcap, which means you can use it like a regular tailcap or screw on the included tapeswitch for faster control of your flashlight. With a conventional torch with a single spring, on a heavy calibres the battery (or batteries) can move around violently from the recoil and can cause damage to components of the torch. On the Wolf Eyes Seal Hunting 'Ultra' torch we utilise dual springs, one on each end of the battery compartment to isolate the battery's movement, while always maintaining full electrical conductivity, power to the LED and output. Yet another way we enhance the protection and reliability of your torch.

Procap

The Seal Is also available with a Pro Cap instead of the Dual Hunting Tailcap. The Seal Pro 'Ultra' model, available here, has the same performance with a Pro Cap, the advantage of the Seal with the Pro Cap is that you can pre select the level of output you require before or after turning the Seal on instead of soft clicking through the modes with the Dual Tailcap.

The Seal Pro 'Ultra' version is also suitable to be mounted as it has a spring in the Pro Tailcap just like the Dual Tailcap does.

We would recommend the Seal Pro 'Ultra' model if the torch was to be used primarily for general purposes and only a small percentage of the use to be mounted.

While unlikely that anyone will use the Seal Pro 'Ultra' as a torch with the Magnetic Mount  it is worth noting the magnets in the Procap are not compatable with the magnetic mount, we suggest installing the standard  dual tailcap if using that mount.

Regulation
Almost all Wolf Eyes LED Headlamps and Torches are regulated, and the flagship of our LED hunting torches is no exception. As batteries go flat they lose voltage, which reduces light output, sometimes imperceptibly (especially at the start) but often quite noticeably. Not ideal in a spotlight! The Seal LED  Torch has an inbuilt regulation unit, which means as the voltage is reduced the amperage is increased meaning the optimum current is still being supplied to the LED – and you still have light to see your quarry, even with a ¾ flat battery!

Rechargeable Batteries
The Seal Hunting 'Ultra' uses a LRB168HDB (18650- High Discharge Battery) lithium ion protected batteriy. This is the same size as the rest of the Wolf Eyes LED torch and headlamp range, meaning you can share this batterry between your torches and headlamps. Your other Wolf Eyes batteries are not recommended to use in the Seal Hunting 'Ultra', they will work but not let the torch reach maximum output.  Due to the lithium ion batteries good output only one is required, meaning we can keep the 25.4 mm (1”) torch body size and modest length. These are protected batteries, meaning there is a computer protection chip built into the battery, which controls charging, discharging and most importantly over discharging. Being rechargeable means low running costs for you. Two disposable CR123A batteries will also power your Seal Hunting 'Ultra' LED torch.

LED

We use a new Ultra LED which is designed as an LED to throw.

Cold Weather
The photo showing the Wolf Eyes Seal Torch inside an ice cube shows how well the Seal torch handles cold conditions – we doubt too many like to go outside frozen inside an ice cube, though sometimes it feels like it!

Australian Approved Charger
The provided Seal Hunting Flashlight Charger is Australian Approved which means it is safe and legal for you to use but also means all your farm, building, home, etc insurances apply.

Support
Wolf Eyes Torches have numerous Police & Military (including all of SAPOL) contracts which mean that both contractually and morally we are obliged to keep a large range of flashlight and headlamp spares available in Australia. We also have a 1300 911 007 for questions and queries so help is a phone call away. The Wolf Eyes Tactical Torches 1300 911 007 number has a 24 hour live answering service so you can log calls after hours.

Mount
The Seal Hunting 'Ultra' is supplied without a mount as not all customers require mounting, such as those using the Seal LED torch for security or search and rescue. The mounts which are suitable are available in our mount section.

Distance

Recently we have been asked how we come up with our distance guides for our LED torches. This has also been asked due to some other LED torches being rated at 1km, 10km (seriously!), etc.

We use an A3+ (329 x 483mm) white board which we then place in a dark field and see how far away we can see this visibly light up the board with the naked eye. This is representative of what we would call ideal conditions in terms of use, obviously a well camouflaged animal will be harder to see. Often a well camouflaged animal can be hard to see at 20 metres! Of course the other side of this is that a 50 or 56mm objective scope will actually enhance the amount of light the user sees (unless you are using it on a higher magnification than say 8 to 10X where you will then shrink the exit pupil). So we would reasonably expect these to be accurate for an average user, though some will have better or worse eyes, more experienced outdoors people will have a better recognition of outlines and shapes, etc. For our eyes the large aspheric Seal head when viewed through a 56mm scope seems like daylight at 300 metres. The aspheric (magnifying glass) head has greater throw as it concentrates all the light into one beam, the reflector head gives a spot surrounded by flood beam.

We use this system with a white board as it allows it us to compare between our models accurately. Some have suggested we should test on live animals, the reality is it takes a few hours to test, measure with a tape (not rangefinder) and try different torches. We don't have any tame foxes we can leave there for 3 hours! Knowing our method allows you to assess what range you think you can get out of it, some with good scopes, young eyes and only a dim id requirement may get more, those older (you eyes pupil loses the ability to expand and let more light in as you age, especially over 40 years of age - sorry), using scopes on high magnification or who prefer a brighter sight picture will get less.

To be fair I think when others rate their torches they are not saying how much usable light at that distance - they may be quoting 1 candlepower where most would not consider that enough to see by, especially at long distance. I am guessing the companies quoting 10km are quoting how far away you can see the light when looking back at the torch – though even that is a big ask on flat ground, the horizon is only 4.7km away! If you are 30 metres in the air that rises to near 20km so lets give the 10km claims that benefit as well.

One fair way to evaluate claims is to think about spotlights on a 4WD or truck. Most of us have these spotlights or have been in a vehicle with spotlights ranging from 240 to 300 mm in diameter, with LED, halogen or HID filaments and with the vehicle battery & alternator as a power source. Did these lights shine 10kms? Or even 1km? Maybe 1/2km? This probably gives you an idea of the chance of a torch with a smaller light source, smaller reflector and much smaller power source achieving these figures. Audi has recently released optional Laser high beams on their $400K R8 sports car. This system is so powerful that as well as only coming on above 60kmh there is a camera system to automatically dim, turn away or turn off these lasers when other vehicles are detected. With 4 lasers in each module, the claims are only for 600 metres - less than some LED torches claim :)    - details here Audi Laser Lights.

SAR

Search and Rescue. Recently a number of departments have purchased this torch as a search and rescue light. This torch, while predominantly designed for rural use, is eminently suited for this use due to it's long throw from a very lightweight package. We would recommend a second battery when being used for search and rescue functions as SAR demands longer runtimes than usual of LED torches and lights. One unit in particular purchased the Wolf Eyes Seal due to it's light weight which enabled it be used when abseiling down cliff sides.

Not everyone mounts their Seal torch, but for those who do we recommend the mounts in our mount section. Recommended mounts:

Seal Picatinny Rail Mount

Seal Picatinny Rail Mount Quick Release

Magnetic Barrel Mount

 

 

 

 

 

Magazine Reviews - some independant reviews of the two generations back original Wolf Eyes Seal Torch

                            

Australian S- reviews original Wolf Eyes Seal           Gvn n Game - reviews the original Wolf Eyes Seal

 

A review by 'Flashlight Crazy' of the Seal Ultra is here: Review

 

Blown up centre of a photo showing a Seal Ultra lighting up a woman in a dark jacket at a bit over 200 metres.

 

A video of a Wolf Eyes Seal Ultra lighting the grass in a park at over 700 metres. For size reference the park is lit by a single streetlight and it is a full size plane travelling overhead

 

A video of a Wolf Eyes Seal Ultra lighting up a Royal Australian Navy Vessel at over 400 metres against the lighting from the two wharves.