What flashlights do you take with you?

ras said:
Fortunately for the survival situations I envision, I don't need need a death ray, just enough light to moving without falling through a hole. My old UnderWater Kinetics 4xAA eLED has a near flat output for 20 hours on alkaline batteries, plenty to get you through a bad night. A light I really like a lot is the old Gerber Infinity Ultra -- only two modes, On and Off, but it holds peak brightness for about 25 hours and then continues at diminished brightness to over 100 hours; that on a single AA alkaline. Relatively inexpensive too. Fenix lights are nice, but simple is nice too.
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Come on Ras, damn, I had convinced myself to try out a fenix, my ultra is still going strong and IMO gives off just enough light, but it is starting to lose it's cool factor. Now you have ruined it and I will probably just stick to my ole beat up ultra. ;) :D Chris
 
Get one of the new Infinity Ultra military models. They put a lens over the LED to tighten up the beam and protect the LED, and I think they added a second O-ring. Still just On-Off but it works. I've yet to have one fail. These are my good enough lights that I can just drop in my pocket. I have one of the new Fenix 2xAA w/ the Cree LED and (wow) is it a nice light, but you know it doesn't feel solid -- maybe it's just too smooth, maybe I need to use it more. Nice light though, just avoid the Turbo mode setting.
* General Mode: 9 lumens (55hrs) -> 40 lumens (10.5hrs) -> 80 lumens (4hrs) -> SOS
* Turbo Mode: 135 lumens (2.4hrs) -> Strobe

9 lumens and 40 lumens is plenty for most jobs. The high and Turbo modes are there if you need them but that should be rare.

I have three lights in my EDC backpack: the UK 4xAAeLED, the Infinity Ultra and the Fenix L2D CE. The Infinity Ultra gets the most use.
 
I use the following four Fenix lights, L1D CE, L2D CE, P2D CE, and P2D CE. All of them have the new CREE LEDs which are SCARY bright. I also use a couple of Underwater Kinetics eLED Zoom's, along with a bunch of Photon Microlight ll.
 
How do you like the Underwater Kinetics eLED Zoom's? Mine are the older fixed focus models, relatively bulletproof.
 
For hiking I carry the Nightstar II. It's lightweight, tough and no batteries needed.

I am working on a kinetic flashlight that uses a magnet suspended by a spring instead free floating. That way if secured upright in a pack, car or horse the movement will keep it charged so you should not even have to shake it. It's the same concept that the kinetic watches use of employing passive motion.
 
runningboar said:
ras said:
A light I really like a lot is the old Gerber Infinity Ultra -- only two modes, On and Off, but it holds peak brightness for about 25 hours and then continues at diminished brightness to over 100 hours; that on a single AA alkaline.
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Come on Ras, damn, I had convinced myself to try out a fenix, my ultra is still going strong and IMO gives off just enough light, but it is starting to lose it's cool factor. Now you have ruined it and I will probably just stick to my ole beat up ultra. ;) :D Chris
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That's no reason to avoid a Fenix; they are multistage (low, medium, high, turbo), and every single brightness setting is regulated! (electronically maintained constant brightness)! A 2xAA Fenix, for example, will hold a CONSTANT Mini-Maglite brightness for 90 hours in real life tests..
 
znode said:
That's no reason to avoid a Fenix; they are multistage (low, medium, high, turbo), and every single brightness setting is regulated! (electronically maintained constant brightness)! A 2xAA Fenix, for example, will hold a CONSTANT Mini-Maglite brightness for 90 hours in real life tests..
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Yeah I know, but my gerber ultra that rides in my left breast pocket on a lanyard with a fox 40 mini has been around the world and back. It would be like replacing an old friend. :D Chris
 
ras said:
How do you like the Underwater Kinetics eLED Zoom's? Mine are the older fixed focus models, relatively bulletproof.
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ras - They are sooo much better than the original eLED's. The difference is like night and day. If you get one, you will immediately sell your original.
 
skammer said:
MY Apex headlamp is 60 lumens stock and I modded it for $12 and now its 100+ lumens with a 7 hr burn time on high.
Skam
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I have the Apex Pro that uses 2x C123 batteries. I like this light so much it is semi-permantly attached to my SAR helmet. How did you modify it? Do you still have the ability to toggle through the different settings.

I carry two back up lights. A Inova XO for me and a LED modified mini mag if the subject does not have a light. Last year I started converting to all LED lights and common battery types so I did not have to carry spare bulbs and a half dozen battery types. I'm down to just C123s and AAs which is fine as the GPS and other items use the AAs also.
I also have a patient exam light and a couple of Inova mini lights in white and red for night time map reading. I have spares for these at camp but don't consider these lights as mission critical and don't carry spares for them.
My home/around town lights are a Surefire G2 or a Streamlight Scorpion. Small, easy to carry and very bright.
 
skammer said:
It is isn't it.:eek:

MY Apex headlamp is 60 lumens stock and I modded it for $12 and now its 100+ lumens with a 7 hr burn time on high. My Surge for $35 is cranking out 115 lumens but only has a 4.5 hr burn time. Its used more as a spot light that fits nearly in the palm of your hand.

This stuff just keeps getting better each month it seems.

Skam
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Just wondering, how did you mod your Apex? I plan on picking up a headlamp soon, and having one run like yours would be very nice :D
 
Been wearing an older cmg infinity ultra around my neck for 5+ years, still going.

I've noticed that the older princeton tec headlamps, namely the matrix series were listed as h20 proof to 500 feet. But the newer models appear to only be H20 proof to one meter.... seems odd...

thumbs up to the matrix lamp in 1 watt LED. burn time is only 6-10 hours though. weights about 9 oz with 2 AA's and stuffsack.

take care, J
 
studio said:
I've noticed that the older princeton tec headlamps, namely the matrix series were listed as h20 proof to 500 feet. But the newer models appear to only be H20 proof to one meter.... seems odd...
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Could it have something to do with the heatsinks required to handle the higher voltage/amps produced by lithium batteries? I noticed on my older Yukons that the LEDs burned out when using Lithium AAs. It took a couple of years for that to happen but it did. My Apex is designed specifically with Lithium batteries in mind.
 
Mentioning heatsinks and lithium batteries makes me think of "flashahol?". Do lithiums actively offgas to the point of negating an h20 proof seal....?

IIRC the packaging on the matrix HL suggested not to store the alkaline batteries for long durations inside the lamp due to the possibility of compromising the seal.

J.
 
Ludwig said:
Just wondering, how did you mod your Apex? I plan on picking up a headlamp soon, and having one run like yours would be very nice :D
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Its not hard to do if you are careful.

I removed the stock 3 watt luxeon and replaced it with a Seoul P4 3 watt.

All you need is a solder gun and some thermal paste.

The P4 is going for 9$ approx on line. This can only be done with a few headlamps like the APex as its heatsink is huge. This is one screaming bright headlamp, it was super bright before the mod:eek:.

How to do it hear.

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=141392&page=2&pp=30

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=171344

Skam
 
Sam Salvati said:
MAG light the one that takes the 4 D cells, the very best flashlight ever made.
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I cringed when I read that.

OK for simple home use, beyond that I wouldnt trust it for anything. Many SAR groups ban it for good reason.

Skam
 
a gerber infinity 1aa
princeton tec 3 aaa
gerber takes 3aa
maglite 2aa led conversion.


I usually take my infinity, and head lamp as primary. Whatever shines light and that is dependable, uses common batteries, is what works for me.:)

Maglite best flashlight ever made- I like mags too. Good club, my cousin killed a porquepine with a d cell one.

-Scottman
 
i keep a fenix l1d ce, arc AAA and princton tec headlamp in my survival pack. fenixes are nice light for the money but theyre smooth and easy to drop, the on/off switch feels cheap compared to a surefire. a headlight is great to have for camping and power outages. i take a surefire l4 and c3 for most tasks, m3t if i need more throw. all the surefires use rechargeable lion cells.
 
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