Flashlights

[Andre Leblanc]

Pydpiper, now I hope your job calls for the use of flashlights! If not, well... nice collection.

Andre

[Pydpiper]

It does..
I do wildlife control and often find myself in dark places at inconvenient times. Dead batteries or fried bulbs in my job could quickly result in unwanted tooth marks, more unwanted tooth marks.

Ray, I just bought a half dozen Luxeon flashlights last week, if you want one shoot me your address and I will send you one down to play with (and keep).

[Normous]

Nice lit up shelf in that pic pydpiper.
Incredible collection.
Norm

[DrDan]

Man and I thought I was out of control with a measly 4 Surefires You just had to do it to me... I "had" to order two Fenix's the P3D 100 and the P1D Natural for the girlfriend. Of course I have two LightForce spotlights for coyote hunting. The Predator mounts on rifle or shotgun and the SL240 is handheld. Talk about light up the woods! That SL240 throws out 1,000,000 candlepower and actually will light things up at 800 yards. Gotta carry batteries, but I use them out of my ATV so carry a big wetcell on board. I am absolutely blown away by the Fenix P3D - 100 though. 200 lumens in turbo mode! My gosh my Surefire 9AN only puts out 140 Lumens and it is big! I also carry a Surefire E1e at all times. For a single 123 cell light it does a nice job and you never know you are carrying it.

One of my favorite lights is a Garrity 1,000,00 cp rechargable with pistol grip that I got at Walmart for $35. It is just an incredible light. I don't know what kind of battery it has but it stays recheged for "years". I didn't use it for over a year - just sat in the shop and I picked it up and it was full of charge. I finally put it on the charger just to say I did it. I can't even remeber when I last had it on the charger and I use it almost every night for ten or 20 seconds checking out deer in the woods around me. Nice light!

A man can never have enough lights - especially if he hunts nights.

DrDan

[Pydpiper]

Dr Dan, the battery in your hand held is a sealed lead acid. Glad to hear it is a good light for you. The standard protocol for maintaing them is to top them up after each use or every 6 months if not in use.. Looks like you blew that theory out of the water!
For spotlights I have a $15 500,000 CP that doesn't want to die, and a modified Thor 15,000,000 CP handheld (handheld, yeah right) that I use for signaling spaceships.. I often consider converting it to HID, but with the price and size of HID's dropping so quicky it hardly seems worthwhile.

Another good sight to get lights (Fenix, Surefire, Pelican and other high end ones) is www.lighthound.com I have dealing with him for years on lights, knives and other fun stuff.. This is likey to be my next and last light for a while.
http://www.lighthound.com/index.asp?Pag ... rodID=2766

I use mostly Lithium based 123A batteries, they last a long time, very dependable, 10 year shelf life and the cold weather had no effect on them. They are costly off a store shelf ($10 each) but I use rechargable 123A's called lithiuom ION haven't bought a battery for years, that lighthound link has all the rechargable stuff for a very good price, not something you will find in a store!

We can't use a flashlight for hunting around here (Canada), tears me up but it is still the law, a guy getting a chance to combine his 2 passions would be a real treat!

[DrDan]

If you understand the concepts of "lumen" vs ""candlepower" vs wattage it sure would be nice if you could explain it. Each manufacturer has their own rating and to tell you the truth you never know what you are getting until you light it up.

Yes it is fun night hunting. You just have to make sure you have all your ducks in line. In Ohio you need signed permission forms for anywhere you hunt or you can get a $500 fine. We have forms signed for nine to ten farms for coyote hunting and we always call the owner when we plan to be night hunting their place. It still frequently brings in the law...

It's happened so many times that we joke about it and "hope they bring donuts"! No actually they know me and my hunting partner and leave us alone now.

Are those HID lights really that good? Have you tried the NighForce spotlights?

DrD

[Pydpiper]

Lumen vs Candlepower..

Imaging pouring a bag of sugar on the table, as you pour the bottom widens as the top grows in height. Think of candlepower as the height of the pile, while lumen is the mass of the pile.. Tough concept to get your head around, but lumen's is a far more accurate way of measuring light output.

[saxman]

I love flashlights,for hunting I was givin as a gift the Buckmasters (STREAMLIGHT) Camo Headlamp and hand held.I have a light clipped to the brim of my cap,another for seeing inside my pack,a couple of these have a white light available but I usually use the colored lights.I use a cordless spot light for track hunting with my dad,He cooks breakfast and I ride the woods looking for and marking sign.
I have lanterns in all the room for power outages.

[BigTiny]

I have a small xenon flashlight that clips to my hat. It is made by UK (Underwater Kinetics, I think). It is very bright and takes up less room than a lighter. It uses 2 AAA batteries, but they don't last too long powering that bright light, so I use rechargeables and carry an extra set of batteries.

[raydaughety]

The Pelican flashlight that Rich was kind enough to send me is without a doubt the brightest compact flashlight that I've ever owned. Thanks Rich!

[Pydpiper]

Pelican makes awesome flashlights, they are very durable, extremely waterproof and one of the few lights that can be used in environments where "sparks" can no be present..

[gad]

Flashlights used to use bulbs, then came LED's, them came Luxeon Stars, now the newest, brightest most efficient emitter is called a Cree.
I own almost every model Surefire makes, great company, great warranty, overpriced illumination tools. They are now falling behind due to their unwillingness to jump on the Cree wagon.
Fenix has almost as good of quality as Surefire at a fraction of the price, just as bright, just as waterproof, just as small.
As with anything else you have to decide what you want, I carry a Surefire E1l and Surefire L4 at all times (along with others), one is an immense wall of light the other is better for throw, either is noticable in a pocket.. The Fenix gives the best of both worlds plus they have variable output, very very important in the woods! Nothing like hitting the button on a 120 Lumen flashlight to get a quick peek around, blind as a rock once you turn it back off..
Batteries are another issue, AA and AAA are inexpensive and readily available but in alkaline they have no performance in the cold. If you need a cold weather light buy one that uses lithium, the weather has no effect on it's ability to dump current out. If you want rechargable you can get Lithium ion.
The best part of todays luxeon/Cree lights is they are regulated, this means that from the second you turn them on they remain at a constant brightness until the batteries are depleted.
This shelf used to be above my bed, my last light cost $1300 US and fits in the palm of my closed hand, once that arrived the wife decided the shelf needed to be moved, it's now in my home office . I spent more money on flashlights in 2006 than I made in 1997. I tried them all, own most of them and still say the Fenix line is the way to go.

I bet you are also a member of candlepowerforums.com.

For another members who really wants to go to the last technology available on flashlights, check that forum.

www.candlepowerforums.com/vb

I am another long date member from that forum.

A tip for a good flashlight: a maglite modded to host a cree + one aspherical lens cannot be beat, neither in durability, neither in the wall of light.

Check:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/sho ... p?t=161748

Small, powerfull, rechargeable, waterproof. What more someone could ask for?