Any flashlight guys?

I have a couple of the Dorcy lights. I keep the metal gear 1 watt on my fireplace mantle and grab it when the dog and I go for her evening constitutional.

My EDC is the Dorcy super 1 watt with luxeon bulb. It cost under $20.00, is regulated and very compact.

Here it is next to an AA minimag light.

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Here's a beam comparison of the two lights.

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Yeah, im going to take a pic of the Light I have tonight. Its a Noma led, and very styleish I think :rolleyes:

It has a very tight beem, which I like. But, I want something more powerful.
 
Dumped my Mini Maglight in favor of the Fenix L2P, like others have stated, this is a great light. Same size as the mini maglight and uses AA batteries. Much brighter than the maglight. Has two light output levels and comes with a nice belt sheath, spare rubber cap and o-rings. Now the bad news, you can buy four maglights for the cost of one L2P
 
of all the flashlights i have the daily users are 3 and a 4 cell Maglights. the 3 cell i put a 3 watt LED in it and have a LED for the other. they work great.
because i'm in the outback and out after dark everyday and with the bear, mountain lion, rabid small game, and snakes when it's warm, i have found these work very well when i'm looking for eyes 400FT out.
 
Fonly said:
What is a suitable Lumen level for wanting to see something 30-40 meters (100-130ft)?

I like the idea of having a powerful light upto 150 ft, something that would iluminate someone that far away. Or is that too much to ask of with a led light of this size in power?

Is a Lumen of 80-90 a good powerful light?
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not in my opinion.

I believe the tigerlight is around 300 measured in a fairly wide beam. It sure is bright enough to see foxes and deers, etc. 2-3 hundred yards away. My z2 is only 120 lumens in a wide surefire style beam and it will not show detail at 100 yards away...you can see but not well. I have an ultrastinger that is rated at around 290 at a tightly focused beam that will not touch the tigerlight at the same "lumen level."
 
So, say 150-200 lumen would make for a powerful light?

So that would make 70-90 a good edc.
 
Fonly said:
So, say 150-200 lumen would make for a powerful light?

So that would make 70-90 a good edc.
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it depends on how the beam is composed for the measurement of lumens, but yes I would be pretty sure of that for 70-90 feet.

I guess it all depends on how clearly you would like to see things
 
Yeah, I know I sure like the mini mag's ability to change the beam spread.

Is their any way to put the out put of a minimag incadesent into lumen's terms, as in the mini is equal to 50 lumens or something?
 
Fonly said:
Yeah, I know I sure like the mini mag's ability to change the beam spread.

Is their any way to put the out put of a minimag incadesent into lumen's terms, as in the mini is equal to 50 lumens or something?
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Not sure, that is where the experts at candlepowerforums can be a huge help. They were for me. They conduct so many test over there just for the fun of it.

sorry
 
hey its ok, I've signed up over their but they havent sent me a link to activate my account yet, its been a few days :confused:

Im still far behind on understanding flashlights and the way the new led's work, I know there are these Cree things being used and the are awsome in the new led lights, Also various power settings is why the Fenix L2D CE interested me so much.
 
Fonly said:
hey its ok, I've signed up over their but they havent sent me a link to activate my account yet, its been a few days :confused:

Im still far behind on understanding flashlights and the way the new led's work, I know there are these Cree things being used and the are awsome in the new led lights, Also various power settings is why the Fenix L2D CE interested me so much.
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I think I have told you the limited info that I know so good luck in your search!
 
Surefire. Carry an E2E Daily in my left pocket. An aviator xenon/led combo during hunting season.
They have a great line up of LED units out now that really make them cost effective. AA battery lights are ok and easy to get batteries for. However you will never get the light output that you do from a lithium.

knivesandbox2007.jpg
 
Fonly said:
Well, I've been looking around for a new flash light....
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I got a Streamlight Task-Light 2AA model and I'm happy with it. I also have a Gerber Infinity Ultra. For hiking, I carry either a Gerber Tracer headlamp or a Black Diamond Nightray. I include LED micro-lights in all my PSK's. County Comm sells a couple great versions for $1.00-$1.50 each, so there's no reason not to have them sprinkled through all your gear and kits. I have an Inova Microlight too-- about $6 at Target, IIRC. There was some talk about the Atom Cyclops headlamp on an ultralight hiking forum and I picked one up on sale for $5 and that went in my day hiking kit.

What to look for? Size, weight, lamp type, battery type, battery life, beam pattern, light output, waterproofness and durabilty, and cost.

To answer your question, the Streamlight was ~$20 on Ebay, uses two AA cells and puts out a good white beam with a decent beam spread. Size and weight aren't bad, but the handle is just a little bigger than a Maglite AA, so it won't fit some Maglight holsters. It has a pushbutton switch near the head and two lighting levels plus a strobe setting. I carry it everyday in my urban PSK in my day-pack sized backpack. It is not my first choice for hiking.

In the woods I prefer a headlamp. Walking down a trail in the dark is the most demanding task I use a headlamp for and that's why I went to the weight and complexity of the Black Diamond rig. It has 5 output levels plus strobe, so I can adjust it to task and comfort level as well as battery life. Reading or kitchen duties don't require high light output as they are close at hand. The Gerber Tracer is great for that and is compact and light and uses just one AAA battery at a time. The Cyclops has a mean beam pattern and uses two C2016 coin cells, but it would be okay for general use and weighs just an ounce, so it's a quick and dirty step up from a micro led flashlight.

Battery type is something I've tried to integate. I'd love to get all my gear using all AA or AAA batteries. So far I have a little of each. With the micro lights, it works out that you might as well carry another whole light. Trying to open one to replace the battery and dealing with four tiny phillips screws in a survival situation would be a sad comedy. The Inova Microlight excels on battery replacement as it snaps open and there are no small parts that go flying.

The number of batteries and battery life is something to consider in a survival light. The Gerber Tracer uses one AAA battery, where my Black Diamond light uses three. If the Gerber runs out, I can take one battery from my kit to get it going again, so I can carry a couple spares and know when I am running low. With the Black Diamond, I need three spares each time I refill. Having one dud in three leaves me without a light, etc. The BD lamp does have good battery life on the lower settings, so the trade-offs aren't all bad, but I need to carry six spares to get the same level of security as two spares with the Gerber. It's the same kind of deal with the Gerber Infinity (one AA) vs. multiple cell flashlights-- in both cases light output and battery life is less per "round" -- it just depends on the perfomrance you want.

With hand-held flashlights, I like AA batteries. Some use CR123 cells and give great performance, but the CR123's cost a lot more. CR123's do give higher horsepower to weight in the field and shelf life is good. If you are using the light at work and your employer is buying the batteries, CR123 lights work well :D.

Beam pattern is the real toughy in choosing a light and you darn near need ot have them side-by-side in a dark room to really tell the difference. Buying them on-line or untried, I guess finding reviews with beam pattern photos is the best bet.

Good luck!
 
Fonly said:
Yeah, I know I sure like the mini mag's ability to change the beam spread.

Is their any way to put the out put of a minimag incadesent into lumen's terms, as in the mini is equal to 50 lumens or something?
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more on the order of about 15 lumens. I would think. I like the older ones as they are shorter than the new LED ones. For 24 bucks you can get a led bulb upgrade from battery junction and it will outperform the newer led ones and be more compact. I tried the nite IZE led upgrade but the Terrastar outperformed it and it kept its focus ability, unlike the nite ize. http://www.batteryjunction.com/aaminimag.html
 
I have to give a big thumbs down for Inova :thumbdn:

I bought myself an X5 and an X1 for a friend as a gift at the same time. The tailcap switch in the X1 failed within the first month. The X5 began to fail intermittantly after 2 years, again problems with the tailcap switch.

I have no idea what the warranty is like as they are cheap so the postage costs (UK to US) would be disproportionate, plus the best they would do would be replace them with 2 more Inovas :barf:

I now have some surefires (Kroma, 6P Defender, M3, M6) and they are awesome. Most surefires are tactical lights in the strictest sense of the word - blinging brightness but battery life measured in minutes, which I wouldn't recommend for camping. The Kroma is very nice all round though and is amazing how much they have incorporated into it.

For camping I'd either second Pitdog's recommandation: Petzl TacTikka XP, or recommend the new Silva XP headlanp :thumbup: (taking along a surefire for good measure :D )
 
I agree with Darkaz, Inova is a no go for me. I am a huge flashlight guy, with 7 Surefire Lights, and many others. They are the best light to buy. They are bright, great foucsed beam, and damn near indistructible.

Just for camping, and general use, I would HIGHLY suggest the Surefire G3. at $36 (average), it is 60 lumens, a tought synthetic kyndex like exterior, and the cool factor is way up there.

The ONLY drawback to a quality tactical light is the price of the batteries. Surefire uses the cr123 lithium. DONY buy their batteries, way to expensive. These style batteries are the best, high performance, and a 10 year shelf life!!!! But a high price... up to $5 a battery!!! (G3 takes 2, lasts about an hour at full brightness). I buy 50 batteries, at $50 at http://www.lapolicegear.com the best price around, they are a generic brand, but they last and perform just as well as a surefire, duracell ect... I buy from them quite often, and many differnt products, and they are great to deal with!
 
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