Which flashlight for backup in cold conditions?

H

Hugo

Joined
Jul 6, 1999
Messages
258
Hi!

I think you guys might be able to help me... winter is coming and I'd like to have a good light in my car in case of trouble (old car, long roads... i.e. no tactical stuff needed
smile.gif
) The flash would stay all the time in the car, and the temperatures can get very low (rutinely -10C and many times even lower -25C). The possible use (hope not) is needing light to repair car or to survive until help (so adjustable beam would be nice). What would be the best option? Keep in mind that if it's too expensive, I would not like to have it stolen (it would not be visible in the car, but nevertheless...)
Currently I'm thinking about 2D or 3D Maglite, but I'm not too fond of the aluminum case - it would probably get cold, even though I would definitely have gloves with me... Also the what kind of batteries work the best in cold conditions, anybody with some experience?

Hugo.
Ps. I always have a ASP led light with me and I'm thinking about getting some Photons, but I think I'd like to have some more power.
 
Hi, well because of the cold, and because you won't be using it regularly I wold really suggest a light using lithium batteries. They have a shelf life of 10 years as opposed to 2 or 4 of alkaline. Also they are not affected by cold.

So this means Surefire 6P, Streamlight Scorpion and UKE 2L. And you want to be able to focus the light, the leaves only the Streamlight Scorpion. They run about $35, but I don't think I know anyone who was disappointed in the light. It is about the same length as a 2AA mini-mag, but about twice as thick. The light so much brighter than the mini-mag it is almost unbelievable. I have more info on the light on my site.

The problem is if you get one for your car, you will want more
smile.gif


I would suggest Tanners, Brightguy or Botach.
http://www.tannersstorefront.com/scorpion.htm

https://www.brightguy.com/detail.html?cart=3051693221175045&sku=STR85001
http://store.yahoo.com/botach/streamlight.html


Brock - http://www.uwgb.edu/nevermab/flash.htm

[This message has been edited by Brock (edited 09-13-2000).]
 
I agree with Brock (and a good thing that is, as he has probably forgotten more about flashlights than I will ever know).

However, the Sure Fire has some significant disadvantages. Run time is only one hour at best, and this is not a good thing if you are stranded at -25 degrees Celsius. Availability of lamp assemblies and the DL 123A batteries may be a problem in Finland.

I would consider a Photon(s). This has a Li battery as well, and is small enough for you to always have one or more with you. They work well for marker lights, being visible for about a mile. It would mark your car well for other drivers. Red would be a good color for this.

Why don't you get a 3 D cell Mag Light and put a neoprene sleeve on it? Check out the Nite Ize Grip and Clip. Brian at Discount Knives has them, as well as Mag Lights and other accessories. http://www.discountknives.com/index.html

Then just keep the Mag Light with you, instead of in the car all the time, so the alkaline batteries don't get cold. There should be no problem with fogging, as the lens is plastic, and the entire light is water and air tight, being sealed with neoprene '0' rings. I can't see why keeping the light with you would be a problem, especially with the prolonged nights you have at your Northern latitude. It would probably be very useful.

Another alternative would be the two AA cell Mag Light; the same outfit makes a neoprene grip for this size as well. Further, lithium batteries of 1.5 V are available in this size, at least in the USA, so you could leave this set up in the car. A xenon Brinkmann lamp would significantly brighten this package. I should be getting some of these soon; original order was lost.

Hope this helps, Walt
 
In my experience, Maglights have been anything but waterproof. If you are in -25C, you would require gloves to handle metal flashlights but you'll have gloves when it's -25C anyway...

So I would suggest a Scorpion as I think it's got a nonmetal outer grip. I also think that a spread of Photon II's are a brilliant idea. You can have various colours and they take up next to no space.

Lithium AAs are significantly more expensive in England than normal. I would go for a Scorpion over an AA light. If you buy a SureFire 12B from Botach etc, then you'll have 12 DL123As in the car and a backup light too.

Get Some Photons at any rate!

Alastair
 
Thought I'd fry up your mind a little bit more with my opinion. I love LEDs for personal area work lamps. Nice white light, long burn times, even on alkaline batteries. They don't throw usable light very far, though the piercing effect of the LED light is visible for quite a distance. So to that effect, may I suggest the Pilot Three. Three LEDs in a simple but robust plastic case that is waterproof for diving purposes. Takes 3 AA batteries, so you can decide if you wish to use the AA alkaline or lithium batteries. (Then get a CMG infinity as a personal light to replace your mini-mag Solitaire so that you can use the fourth battery in the pack.
smile.gif
)

Take a look around the website. Also, you might want so shop around a little. Glow-bug is pretty good in the customer relations department, but may not always have the cheapest prices around.
 
Thanks guys!
Brock - I'm still in the process of reading through your web-page. Good information there. The Surefire (and Streamlight?) has great power, but I don't need ultimate power here, more long battery life... The UKE sound good except that the light can't be focussed. And I would prefer normal batteries. UK4AA might be good with lithium batteries.
Walt - I'm planning on getting many Photons, that's for sure
smile.gif
What is the best (i.e. cheap and good service) place to buy them? Also, I had forgotten about those Brinkmann's xenons... those really make some difference, right? Anyways, it seems that I'm going to go with Maglite as they are rugged and cheap, while not perhaps the best and coolest. (I will take a look at the neoprene sleeves...) And about taking the light with me from the car... ain't that the situation when you forget the light somewhere else just when you would really have needed it...
smile.gif

Steelwolf - thanks for the link to the larger LED lights. Interesting stuff...

Hugo.
 
Underwater Kinetics make a great flashlight for such purposes: absolutely waterproof (as it is actually a back-up diving light), very bright, very durable, and it uses 4 AA alkaline batteries. I think this is the brightest/cheapest/most dependable light that you can buy. I think it is called Mini-Q40.
 
Hugo --

I'm with Brock on this one. I know you prefer alkaline batteries, and I understand why, but extreme cold alone is a good enough reason to go with lithium, regardless of your preference. The run time of alkalines drops dramatically in the cold. And the fact that you'll be using it kind of rarely means an even higher risk.

I'd go with the UKE 2L. No, it can't be focussed, but it's got a present focus that's pretty good for general use. Get an extra lamp assembly or two up front, if they're hard to get there. The 2L provides much more light than a Maglite 2-AA even with the Brinkman bulb, though I haven't tried putting lithium AAs in it.

Actually, re-reading your post, when you say "I would prefer normal batteries", I assumed you meant alkaline over lithium, but now I wonder if you mean AA or other known format (lithium or alkaline) over camera batteries like the CR123A. If that's the case, the UKE 4AA for incredible light, and the Maglite 2AA with Brinkman bulb, are great choices, assuming they perform as well with lithium batteries as they do with alkaline.

Joe

 
I forgot about the lithium AA's (thanks Walt). I would say you almost have to go the lithium route due to the cold. I keep the UKE 2L in both my car and my wife's car, although they are not focusable. I also keep a lightwave 2000 with lithium AA's in both cars, and we both have Photon's on our keys. We also get cold here about -20 Fahrenheit. I can say alkaline's are almost useless at that temp, they will look like a dead battery, the lithium's will work fine.

The Scorpion will run about 1 hour, and the lightwave will run about 36 hours one set of lithium's. I now prefer the Scorpion to the UKE 2L, the Scorpion is about $10 more, but it has a spare lamp built in and it is focusable. The beam is also much smoother, brighter, and no rings.

You know you could even go with a 2 AA Mag with lithiums, that would probably be the cheapest way to go. If you want more light you could also switch the lamp out to a Brinkman Nextstar, and about double the light output.

Brock - http://www.uwgb.edu/nevermab/led.htm

[This message has been edited by Brock (edited 09-14-2000).]
 
Joe - Yes, by normal I meant the size, like AA, C or D rather than any more special. Also I don't want special re-chargeables. Of course all kinds of special batteries are generally available in Finland, but not in every store...

Yes, the lithiums are definitely better in cold conditions (as well as NiCd's and even NiMH's - they lose their charge in few weeks without use though...). I've only seen lithiums in AA sizes, and even though alkalines are not that good, I would think that large alkalines (D) are better than small (AA). So that's where the D cell Maglite came from. ...but if UK4AA can use lithium AA's then that might be one option (without being able to focus the light...)

Hugo.
 
I have two sugestions. First if you really want to use a Mag lite (or any other metal light) in the cold. Go to your hardware store and get some of that liquid rubber that you use to coat tool handles. All the equipement in my truck now has rubber coated handles and it is real nice on the hands in cold weather.

Second, you might look at one of those lights that plugs into your lighter. They provide more light than any handheld flashlight. Also even if you car battery is dead (ie: it wont start you car) it probably still has enough juice to run a light for a few hours. You can get one of these for about $10-20.
 
I like the Pelican Saberlite. Three cells makes it plenty bright, it is waterproof so I don't have to worry putting it down in the snow/slush. I have found the runtime more than 3 hours even in the winter here ( Northern Canada. It is also made of a tough resin. It is much easier on the hands in the winter. Aluminum, when it is really cold seems to suck the heat out of your hands right through the mitts.

Ken
 
Hey guys,
I may have missed something here (certainly wouldn't be the first time
smile.gif
), but wouldn't this be an ideal solution for our friend Hugo:
http://www.techass.com/el/el1.htm

This thing has a waterproof plastic case, 4 white LED bulbs (with a bulb life of like 100,000 hours), is able to illuminate objects up to 80 feet away, can be seen from up to 3 miles away, and can run for hundreds of hours on AA lithium batteries. What's not to like about that?
smile.gif


------------------
Semper Fi

-Bill

[This message has been edited by Bronco (edited 10-04-2000).]
 
Ah yes, the eternaLight! I was thinking about getting the Rave'n - not
biggrin.gif


I think I'm going with Maglite 2D and/or UKE 4AA if it can be used with lithium AA's... I haven't checked with UK yet, altough I can't see why AA lithiums could not be used. Anybody used AA lithiums with it?

Hugo.

ps. cutler34 - NiCds are good in cold, but their "shelf-life" is not very good. I.e. they loose their charge in a few weeks (without use) in all temperatures.. and that's why they would not be good in backup flashlight.

[This message has been edited by Hugo (edited 10-05-2000).]
 
Hugo,
I think those would be good choices as well. I certainly wasn't trying to talk you into anything you didn't want, it just seemed that with the LED flashlights offering such huge increases in run time that they would have been the perfect choice for your application.
Just to give you one last look, here's a 4 LED, AA powered flashlight made by Lightwave that keeps more of the traditional flashlight appearance. The link to the actual page at Brigade Quartermasters was too long for the forum software to recognize, so here's the link to their homepage. When you get there just look for the Lightwave 2000:
http://www.actiongear.com/cgi-bin/tame.exe/agcatalog/index.tam

-------------
Semper Fi

-Bill

[This message has been edited by Bronco (edited 10-05-2000).]
 
Bronco - I know... I just cracked up when I saw the Rave'n!
smile.gif
But seriously, I agree that LED light would be probably the best solution (and the Lightwave 2000 sure looks good!), but I think I will go the traditional way this (last?) time... I'll let the LED's to mature a bit still. BTW, others should also give the option of running those multi-LED lights with partial power (i.e. not every LED on) - not to save battery, but to be able to vary the needed light level.

Hugo.
 
Yeah, the Rave'n would have been the perfect accessory to take to the disco. Too bad it wasn't introduced about 25 years ago
biggrin.gif
.

------------------
Semper Fi

-Bill
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top