Just joined the world of LEDs

SilverFoxKnows · Aug 23, 2003

picked up a Princeton Tec Attitude and Pulsar II. I'm amazed how much light the little Pulsar puts out. And the Attitude, WOW! I can't imagine the light a Surefire puts out. This team puts my Mini-Mag and Solitare to shame. And the Attitude is just light enough to go on the carabiner with the Arclite. Very cool. I can see how flashlight money could seriously dip into knife money. The problem is that knife & light money are at odds with car money. So I guess an E2E will have to wait till after I can get a new motor in the VW. Such is life.

Frank

Ming65 · Aug 24, 2003

I've had the Aurora head torch for a few months now. Great bit of Kit! Seriously LED's are a great step forward for outdoors lighting. When I think of what I used to carry when fishing or in the bush, now I just keep the Aurora handy and it makes up for all my other lighting. Great to read with and working with the hands.

In a related issue. The other night I was getting ready for a 3 day whale watching trek I'm doing next week. I took the opportunity to reorganise my gear stash and store some of the stuff that's been replaces. What with light LED torches and the fewer batteries they require, goretex bivvy sacks, lightweight stoves and my new do-it-all spyderco military, I am now carrying almost exactly 1/2 of what I used to take.

John Frederick · Aug 24, 2003

Don't pitch out your mini-mag yet. When you can free up some dough you'll want to put an Opalec unit into that Mag.
10 hours of regulated light makes for a great tool.

Nathan S · Aug 25, 2003

Frank - Some of the finest LED flashlights are made by Arc . Check 'em out. Princeton Tec makes a good product, though. I'm thinking of picking up an Attitude, too, and maybe even an Impact, just to see how they measure up.

I'll second what John Frederick said about the Opalec drop in kit for the mini - mag. Works great. It produces more of a flood light pattern than the mini - mag, and lasts significantly longer. I love LEDS!

UnknownVT · Aug 25, 2003

The best and most useful flashlight - somewhat like knives -
is the one you have on you -
as shown by the recent Eastern Seaboard blackout.

Here's a list of pocketable flashlights - all LEDs
Photon II

http://www.photonlight.com/more_info/tech_specs.html

I like these, it's available in yellow LED - my favorite non-white mono-color - a good compromise between good contrast/definition and not over-affecting my dark-adaption. Low priced about ~$10.
I've EDC'd a yellow Photon I for well over 6 years, still on its original battery.

Inova MicroLight

http://www.inovalight.com/site.html?ML-ov

Nice design and feel - but only available in white, red, green, blue LEDs - white tends to be blueish. Low priced about ~$10.

ArcAAA -

http://store.yahoo.com/flashlight/arcaaa.html

Single AAA battery LED flashlight, very popular.

CMG Ultra-G

http://countycomm.com/light9.htm

Single AA battery LED light - my EDC (in the other pocket)

There's a bunch of LED enthusiasts - "flashaholics" over at the CandlePowerForums -

http://www.candlepowerforums.com//ubbthreads/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=UBB3

dkochan · Aug 27, 2003

Welcome to the world of LEDs. Except for the Pulsar and Pulsar II, Princeton Tec makes excellent, waterproof LED flashlights. The Pulsar and Pulsar II are good keychain lights. I normally take my Princeton Tec Attitude when traveling because it is light and very bright and inexpensive compared to other LED flashlights. I EDC an Arc AAA LE in my pants pocket and Photon II Microlight on my keychain.

peacefuljeffrey · Aug 27, 2003

Like you, I'm ecstatic to have found LED flashlight technology. It keeps getting more affordable, too.

I couldn't decide which Photon Microlight to keep on my keychain, so now there are three: red, white and blue. (Those are Photon IIIs, which I'm not totally decided on yet. The circuitry thing makes them more complex, and I don't really like "complex.")

My favorites are Photon IIs, which, while not really water-resistant, are simple devices, and reliable.

I also carry a Princeton Tec Attitude. I have the Aurora headlamp, which works great for nighttime rollerblading, and the Impact, which I think is awesome. It goes with me in my kayaking vest's pocket.

I'll be saving up for an ARC LS-H-P soon, though. That thing's reputation has me impressed.

---Jeffrey

ArchAngel · Aug 27, 2003

I have carried a Photon Micro2 since they came out. It hangs on my neck with my EKI LaGriffe. I bought an Inova X5T a year ago and that is great also. But the one that has impressed me the most is the replacement module for my Petzl Duo. If any of you have not seen Petzl products, they are a large supplier of caving head lamps. The Duo is a headlamp with two bulbs and a dual reflector, with a lever you choose either the standard bulb or the higher intensity halogen bulb. For years my brother and I have used these for everything from running new wiring in the walls of our houses to mountain biking. Recently I found a LED replacement module that replaces the dual reflector and the low intensity bulb with a newer reflector and 5 LEDs! This thing is AWESOME. It makes the low beam seem brighter than the high beam!

These Duos use 4AA batteries in a watertight unit on the back of your head connected to the front light unit with three wide choth elastics, making a nice adjustable band. This is a kick ass setup!

The new Duos can be had with the LED unit in them already and a 3 position switch for high, med or low light output. One of the great added bennies is that you now get over 78 hrs of strong LED light and close to 200hrs of total light as the power fades. Put that up against the 12 hrs of max light before and you can see a great savings in batteries. We use rechargables, but you can see the point. Check out some of the new head lights at your local sporting goods outlets. There must be close to a half dozen makers now making neat headlight units. Great hands free light right where you want it.

nitrox1 · Aug 29, 2003

I carry the ARC aaa in my wallet. I like them so much everyone on my Christmas list this year is getting one. The thing puts out an amazing amount of light for its size, and since it stores in my mission wallet right next to a small Sebenza, I'm never without this fine emergency light. When I think I'll really need a light, one of my surefires comes along, E1E or E2E.
John...

JDMSMBACPA · Aug 29, 2003

LEDs are great. I've been an LED freak for a while. My first was the original 2 C-cell CCrane Expedition with 7 or 8 white Nichia LEDs. It still comes car camping. I also have three ARC AAAs in turquoise and one in white, and a Surefire KL1 head for their E-series lights. My favorite hands down is the ARC LSH-P. It rides in the coin pocket of my jeans every day. Tonight, I'm going to slip it into my NiteIse headband and use it to hike into a lake after work. I just wish the lense was Pyrex instead of polycarbonate...

UnknownVT · Aug 29, 2003

Originally posted by JDMSMBACPA
My favorite hands down is the ARC LSH-P. It rides in the coin pocket of my jeans every day. Tonight, I'm going to slip it into my NiteIse headband and use it to hike into a lake after work.

Have you tried any LED headlamps?

I was very impressed with the Princeton TEC Aurora -
but eventually bought this one from Energizer:

(shown with a CMG Ultra-G for size comparison.)

The Energizer LED Headlamp has two (lens) focussed White LEDs for some throw/projection, and a single (very) bright Red LED for preserving night vision.

MSRP at about $15 - I've seen it at local Target stores.

I really like this headlamp. Main downside for some is that it is not waterproof - so would not suit uses like caving.

Energizer LED Headlamp