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Captain Ned
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Re: Flashlights!

Mon Aug 02, 2010 6:00 pm

SpotTheCat wrote:
I think I want a red headlamp so I don't completely wreck my nightvision when I need it to retie, untangle, etc.

http://www.petzl.com/us/outdoor/headlam ... ka2-series

I've got an original Petzl Tikka that I've had for years and it's indestructible. Easy on batteries, too.
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FireGryphon
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Re: Flashlights!

Mon Aug 02, 2010 6:16 pm

Captain Ned wrote:
SpotTheCat wrote:
I think I want a red headlamp so I don't completely wreck my nightvision when I need it to retie, untangle, etc.

http://www.petzl.com/us/outdoor/headlam ... ka2-series

I've got an original Petzl Tikka that I've had for years and it's indestructible. Easy on batteries, too.


I have the Taktikka Plus, which has four white LEDs and a red flip-up lens for night vision. I agree that Petzl's stuff is good, and most outdoorsmen I know prefer them, too. I don't know why Petzl doesn't make a headlamp with multiple white LEDs and a red LED.
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Re: Flashlights!

Mon Aug 02, 2010 8:28 pm

Is there some magic reason why SureFire and its copycat brands like using CR123 or odd-style lithium batteries as opposed to regular alkalines or NiMH batteries?
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bhtooefr
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Re: Flashlights!

Mon Aug 02, 2010 8:32 pm

Most likely because of the higher voltage provided by CR123s, and the better endurance and power delivery of lithiums. (Lithiums can deliver a whole hell of a lot more power at a time than alkalines or even NiMH, and deliver it for longer.)

Of course, now, you can get lithium batteries in 1.7 V formulations in AA and AAA sizes, so that takes away a couple advantages of CR123... but you still get higher voltage with CR123.
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Re: Flashlights!

Mon Aug 02, 2010 9:01 pm

No one has mentioned Pelican yet? :o

They make lights for Military, Law, Diving and civilian use, (and cases too!) and in my experience have been at least on par with Surefire. What I like about Pelican is the whole "you break it, we replace it" warranty thing. I had one of their cases, ran over it with a pick-up truck three times, breaking the case. I shipped it back to them and had a new case within a week. That makes trying to break your $200 flashlight more fun, as if you are successful, you get a new light :P

But anyway, I have the M6 3W LED as well as the 2430 MityLite (which has waay more battery than it says in the spec sheet, it's been on nine camping trips over the last four years and the batteries just got replaced a few weeks ago.

The M6 is stupidly bright, but great for intimidating/ beating people if need be. The 2430 is a wide-beam 5 LED light that's great for around the house as well as basic camping.

Wow, just read my first paragraph... I sound like a sales rep... too tired to fix now, but they do make solid products.
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Re: Flashlights!

Mon Aug 02, 2010 10:03 pm

I had forgotten about Pelican. I really like their flashlights, but don't own one. Unfortunately, their website makes it difficult to compare different flashlights from different product lines. I also don't see any flashlights with multiple brightness levels. Thanks for the reminder, though. These are definitely making me want to buy some, especially since they're rather inexpensive.
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Re: Flashlights!

Tue Aug 03, 2010 5:06 am

Not a flash light per say. But I'm a big fan of Krill lights for general lighting i.e. kids rooms, camp sites, reading at night, etc. 180 Extreme is normally the best.

http://www.kriana.com/aa-krill-lights
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Re: Flashlights!

Tue Aug 03, 2010 9:00 am

dragmor wrote:
Not a flash light per say. But I'm a big fan of Krill lights for general lighting i.e. kids rooms, camp sites, reading at night, etc. 180 Extreme is normally the best.

http://www.kriana.com/aa-krill-lights


Interesting site, but I can't find a products page anywhere. How do you look at their stuff?
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Re: Flashlights!

Tue Aug 03, 2010 3:28 pm

Their website was having problems yesterday. The menu should be on the left now but in case the site stuffs up again.

http://www.kriana.com/aa-krill-lights
http://www.kriana.com/aaa-mini-krill-lights
http://www.kriana.com/krill-light-torches

For the hardcore the Infrared ones are very cool, you get IR visibility at several KMs and they last several days. If you have access to a defence ordering system you can use the NSN (group class and niin i.e. Stock Code) orders.

http://www.kriana.com/pdfs/2009%20NSN%20List.pdf
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Re: Flashlights!

Tue Aug 03, 2010 10:23 pm

Surefire is rugged as all get out. Has anyone else seen that ad (in gun magazines mostly) where the cop had his surefire light on him and it got shot? It not only stopped a bullet avoiding bodily harm, but the damn thing still works! Bright enough to stun blind a would-be attacker too. Remember avoiding confrontation is always your first line of defense. Plus I think even my hell-bent-on-destruction young ens would have a hard time tearing up a Surefire!
 
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Re: Flashlights!

Sat Aug 07, 2010 2:01 pm

The thing I love about Maglites is that they are inexpensive, rugged as any Surefire, use regular batteries, and the LED versions are very bright. I'm not sure what the draw is to the flashlights that use exotic batteries that cannot be recharged. They do look cool, I have to admit. Maybe that's it?
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Re: Flashlights!

Sat Aug 07, 2010 2:49 pm

They tend to be more efficient, and there are LiIon options for those lights, as well.
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Re: Flashlights!

Sat Aug 07, 2010 2:55 pm

The Swamp wrote:
The thing I love about Maglites is that they are inexpensive, rugged as any Surefire, use regular batteries, and the LED versions are very bright. I'm not sure what the draw is to the flashlights that use exotic batteries that cannot be recharged. They do look cool, I have to admit. Maybe that's it?


... But they're not. Sure for basic beating around they'll do the trick, but they carry few certifications (for instants, not producing any type of spark when turning on or off is a feature of many Surefire and (I think) Pelicans' as well).

Does that matter to you? Probably not. There are other benefits as well, noticeably: weight, battery life and beam intensity to name a few. You pay for them though, so they're not for everyone.

Analogy? Does one NEED a Ferrari to get from point A to point B? No. Does it have benefits over a Honda? Yep. Will a Honda still get the job done? Of course!
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Re: Flashlights!

Sat Aug 07, 2010 4:45 pm

I've been pretty happy with this one. I'm sure it's just someone else's light with an Ace Hardware logo stenciled on the side. Runs on two AAs (I use a couple of low-self-discharge NiMHs).
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Re: Flashlights!

Sat Aug 07, 2010 5:52 pm

henfactor wrote:
Analogy? Does one NEED a Ferrari to get from point A to point B? No. Does it have benefits over a Honda? Yep. Will a Honda still get the job done? Of course!
Here's how one Honda gets the job done:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8By2AEsGAhU
 
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Re: Flashlights!

Sat Aug 07, 2010 11:09 pm

O.o I just went spotlighting with my headlight...I had no idea how many spiders there were in a given patch of ground
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Re: Flashlights!

Sun Aug 08, 2010 3:48 pm

henfactor wrote:
The Swamp wrote:
The thing I love about Maglites is that they are inexpensive, rugged as any Surefire, use regular batteries, and the LED versions are very bright. I'm not sure what the draw is to the flashlights that use exotic batteries that cannot be recharged. They do look cool, I have to admit. Maybe that's it?


... But they're not. Sure for basic beating around they'll do the trick, but they carry few certifications (for instants, not producing any type of spark when turning on or off is a feature of many Surefire and (I think) Pelicans' as well).

Does that matter to you? Probably not. There are other benefits as well, noticeably: weight, battery life and beam intensity to name a few. You pay for them though, so they're not for everyone.

Analogy? Does one NEED a Ferrari to get from point A to point B? No. Does it have benefits over a Honda? Yep. Will a Honda still get the job done? Of course!


Unless it's for a very special application, Maglites work as well as anything else out there for the majority of people. They're not as sexy as Surefires, but for hurricane defense, a Maglite is great.
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paulWTAMU
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Re: Flashlights!

Sun Aug 08, 2010 8:13 pm

but for outdoors use (camping, hiking, etc) you can get ones that are much brighter than the large maglites and much smaller--which is damn handy. I've got one basic coleman flashlight that's rated at like 75 lumens and uses 3 aaa batteries...bright as one of those big 2 DD batter mags and much easier to carry around.
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Re: Flashlights!

Thu Aug 12, 2010 6:10 pm

The Swamp wrote:
I'm not sure what the draw is to the flashlights that use exotic batteries that cannot be recharged.

If you want the most light output from the smallest possible package, then you have to use a battery that can keep up with the current draw in a small form-factor. That means lithium, usually.

paulWTAMU wrote:
but for outdoors use (camping, hiking, etc) you can get ones that are much brighter than the large maglites and much smaller--which is damn handy. I've got one basic coleman flashlight that's rated at like 75 lumens and uses 3 aaa batteries...bright as one of those big 2 DD batter mags and much easier to carry around.

I've got a Maglite that's basically the exact same thing as your Coleman. Maglite may be best known for producing aluminum baseball bats but they have LED-native versions of their pocket lights as well.
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Re: Flashlights!

Thu Aug 12, 2010 6:59 pm

My keychain has a 4sevens Quark Mini attached to it. http://www.4sevens.com/index.php?cPath=297_355

I picked it after looking at candlepower forum's cheap flashlight reviews. The anodizing does come off pretty easily, and the split-ring is very weak, but it's a solid flashlight that will throw plenty of light. I lit up a tall tree at my friend's house at night, much to the amazement of my spectators :)
 
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Re: Flashlights!

Fri Aug 13, 2010 6:30 am

ludi wrote:
Maglite may be best known for producing aluminum baseball bats


What, like this?

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t63/ ... 0_1680.jpg (not mine)

:lol:
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Re: Flashlights!

Fri Aug 13, 2010 6:38 am

As Rodney King said after encountering those Maglites: "Can't we all just get along?"
 
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Re: Flashlights!

Fri Aug 13, 2010 8:01 am

JustAnEngineer wrote:
henfactor wrote:
Analogy? Does one NEED a Ferrari to get from point A to point B? No. Does it have benefits over a Honda? Yep. Will a Honda still get the job done? Of course!
Here's how one Honda gets the job done:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8By2AEsGAhU

he's driving in loafers. :lol: Not sure why I find that so funny.
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Re: Flashlights!

Fri Aug 13, 2010 9:01 am

derFunkenstein wrote:
JustAnEngineer wrote:
henfactor wrote:
Analogy? Does one NEED a Ferrari to get from point A to point B? No. Does it have benefits over a Honda? Yep. Will a Honda still get the job done? Of course!
Here's how one Honda gets the job done:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8By2AEsGAhU

he's driving in loafers. :lol: Not sure why I find that so funny.


I think it's the combo of loafers and white socks... though the loafers themselves seem oddly out of place.
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Re: Flashlights!

Fri Aug 13, 2010 11:46 am

Loafers, white socks, and he still drove better than any of us ever will.
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Re: Flashlights!

Fri Aug 13, 2010 12:47 pm

I don't know if anyone here has worked in heavy industry, but we get some nice stuff also. I have one of these bad boys and its almost too bright as the reflection off stuff hurts yours eyes, its also certified for use in explosive environments :)

http://www.uwkinetics.com/products/uk4a ... ont-switch

UK = underwater kinetics

Edit
http://www.uwkinetics.com/industrial/ca ... ertified++
http://www.uwkinetics.com/

theys gots da goods.
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Re: Flashlights!

Sat Aug 14, 2010 9:09 am

henfactor wrote:
No one has mentioned Pelican yet? :o

They make lights for Military, Law, Diving and civilian use, (and cases too!) and in my experience have been at least on par with Surefire. What I like about Pelican is the whole "you break it, we replace it" warranty thing. I had one of their cases, ran over it with a pick-up truck three times, breaking the case. I shipped it back to them and had a new case within a week. That makes trying to break your $200 flashlight more fun, as if you are successful, you get a new light :P

But anyway, I have the M6 3W LED


How much do they cost?
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FireGryphon
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Re: Flashlights!

Sat Aug 14, 2010 9:28 am

anotherengineer wrote:
I don't know if anyone here has worked in heavy industry, but we get some nice stuff also. I have one of these bad boys and its almost too bright as the reflection off stuff hurts yours eyes, its also certified for use in explosive environments :)

http://www.uwkinetics.com/products/uk4a ... ont-switch

UK = underwater kinetics

Edit
http://www.uwkinetics.com/industrial/ca ... ertified++
http://www.uwkinetics.com/

theys gots da goods.


Looks like a combo of Pelican and Surefire.
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FireGryphon
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Re: Flashlights!

Sun Aug 15, 2010 9:36 am

The hunt continues. Here are some things for public ponderance:

1. Pelican sells the 2410 and the 2410N. The only major spec difference between the two is that the former is a regular flashlight and the latter is for diving. They both have a single Recoil LED, the same power sources, and are the same size and weight, yet the regular one is rated at 72 lumens for 7.25 hours, and the other is rated at 84 lumens for 32 hours. How is this possible?

2. I found a couple of other flashlight manufacturers and was wondering if anyone has used them: Underwater Kinetics and Streamlight. They have some nice models, including some with multiple output levels.
Last edited by FireGryphon on Sun Aug 15, 2010 11:11 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Flashlights!

Sun Aug 15, 2010 11:00 am

I like incandescent because it shows eye shine better when looking for animals

The tuning of LED color is an ongoing effort. Most has been towards lights that provide a good white balance. The requirement for a color that would reflect off the back of an animal's eye could have some interesting market implications. I don't know but perhaps different animals have different retina sensitivities so an LED manufacturer could customize a lamp for a particular type of hunting?

The flashlight I use most now, and keep in my pocket, came with the Leatherman. It is a single AA with 2 levels of brightness. I use a lithium AA and very seldom use the brightest output. Like a column on CCW that promoted keeping it on the bod at all times, I find a flashlight in the pocket gets put to use very often - maybe due to eyes getting weak with age or something.

The 3 AAA LED flashlights I picked up at Sam's Club are a bit bigger but are nice to have handy in various places. I have noticed how they keep coming up with new versions that have brighter LED's.

I also have a 3 AAA head lamp I picked up on a deal to play with. It comes in handy when working on things with small parts and hidden corners.

Then there's the innovation on display: the solar powered garden lights, the puck lights for closets, the over counter battery operated string lights, ... LED's have sure stimulated some creative thinking about lighting.
Bryan

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