Flashlights

[_RaT_]

Of all the various flashlights I have had, Streamlight is the best in my opinion. The Scorpion is incredibly bright but the battery will die pretty fast. In a super small flashlight with intense light output, Scorpion is powerful. I have several models, all hand me downs from my wife whi is a cop and must purchase the Streamlight herself. The SL20X is superb. I personally like and have the Stinger with both a car and house charger. Its beam is very strong. The Stinger HP would be my next purchase. The Streamlight 3C LED is also a great flashlight that uses 10 LEDs and alkaline batteries. Its light is more flourescent like and lasts about 336 hours per set of batteries. Rat...

There are various online dealers. Many are police uniform supply type companies.

 

[bgott]

"Sells for between $1300-$2000 bucks!! "

Sooooo...what is included for the extra $700?

 

[F350Lawman]

I have this light for about 8 years now, it is the Surefire 6p. It has the Xenon bulb and takes 2 lithium batteries. It is very small and super bright. It is more of a home defensse type tool as the batteries get pricey and it doesn't last that long but it is great. The little sucker is like a cars high-beams!

The downside with lithium powered flashlights is that when they DO get low on power there is no warning they go from near 100% to 0% without much warning so keep extras handy.

I would highly recommend SureFire as the make a quality item in many style and sizes. Their prices are not bad considering the quality.

Surefire 6p

 

[RHughes]

I was always a fan of Maglights and still have three or four of them. I thought they were ideal until I bought a Streamlight Scorpion. It uses two 3v CR123 batteries and makes a much brighter, whiter light. It is more compact as well; I can carry it in my pocket.
There are several Xenon 6v flashlights available, similar to the SureFire lights, but much less expensive.
Botach Tactical has the Scorpion for about $25 plus shipping.
I have a new Pelican M6 on the way. It has a higher intensity bulb than the Scorpion but is about $10 more. expensive.
Also, the CR123 batteries have a very long storage life, but you only get 1 to 1.5 hours of continuous use.

 

[F350Lawman]

There are several Xenon 6v flashlights available, similar to the SureFire lights, but much less expensive.
Botach Tactical has the Scorpion for about $25 plus shipping.

That's not a bad price I have seen them elsewhere for $30 something but if you put the lights side by side and look at the construction you understand why one is $25 and the other is $60+. Maybe it's me but the Scorpion just feels very light and a little flimsy. I really don't think the quality is comparable.

I have a nasty habit of breaking things /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif and the SureFire has been rock solid. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Surefire now has the 3v lithiums on sale for $1.50 each when you buy 12 at $15. Not bad no matter which light you choose. Lithium batteries

 

[fivestring]

"Of all the various flashlights I have had, Streamlight is the best in my opinion."

I second that, RaT.

I've trusted my life with a Streamlight for over 20 years. Only once has it died on me in the field and that was because I did not put it in the charger when I finished my shift the previous day.

 

[BigIron]

Richard,

I have a Craftsman rechargeable. It was inexpensive, and not nearly as good as the ones others have mentioned, but at least it's <font color="orange"> Big Orange </font> in color!

Now about that 12 gauge wire .... what's up with that?

Paul

 

[Richard]

well.... since I warned you to NOT ask /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif


I live in the country on a dead end road. the road dead ends into the lake. Around here TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) owns all the "waterfront" land and depending on who you talk to, "bought" or "stole" the land couple decades ago. That land is now public. Indeed, my father in law lost 1,000 acres and much of that is now lakefront (that will undoubtedly be sold to a develper in future) /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

The land where I live is a peninsula, with lake & coves on 3 sides of us. We get a LOT of trashy people out our way. IN fact, just last Saturday, I was talking to the TVA police at my house (dont ask why he stopped by... had something to do with SOMEONE /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif and their backhoe /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif dropping a tree along the roadway barricading someone & their vehicle /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif)

Anyway, the cop told me this specific area is one of their top 2 places for arrests. The Wildlife officer once told me HE hangs out in our area because it's on HIS "high offense" list also (hunters/poachers).

Lucky me. We get the worlds trash people out our way.

Back to the wire question...I do not know how/why it was there, but they didn't really use 12-g wire. Seems there was some kind of heavy duty wire (and VERYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY long) that ran along the telephone poles. This wire snapped somewhere and had a great length of it laying on the ground.

Some punk(s) dragged it to this camping area & draped it around a huge oak tree on 1 side of the road, and around some other trees on the other side of road. (road is only about 12 feet wide). Wire was about chest height and doubled back across road. (2 strands)

I'd driven home from work that day at, say.. 5:00 and my brother in law came out to visit at roughly 8:30 and WHAMMO, he hit it. It was not there on my return which means the punks were there doing it while I was at home.

Oh, to have caught them... /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

We've also had another punk bring his car out, stuff it into the woods & all the sudden, the car mysteriously caught fire. (insurance fraud??). He's now in jail.

We've had other punks bring & dump their construction materials (trash) right on the roadside by the house. I mean... these yahoos had to be there on the roadside for 30 minutes unloading the siding, columns, windows... all sorts of trash. (I was at work again). Fortunately, TVA was out there 2 days later (after my call) cleaning it all up.

Couches, tires, beercans, appliances... all decorations these yahoos bring out our way & dump onto TVA land. They drive INTO the land & dump in the woods, rarely on roadside.

These punks wonder why we look at ANYONE/EVERYONE that comes out our way with a jaundiced eye??

I've had no parking signs posted and they park right in front of them... essentially, spitting at the sign.

The Sheriff will ticket them for violating the parking signs...guess who has the Sheriff's dispatch number on speed dial? (my way of fighting back & doing so legally)

/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[hazmat]

<font color="blue"> "Of all the various flashlights I have had, Streamlight is the best in my opinion."

I second that, RaT.
</font>

I'll 12th that (seen lots of recommendations here). Used them back when I was a volunteer fireman, nice units. Might have to put one on my x-mas list /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[TresCrows]

Just bought a Streamlight TwinTask off the Snapon truck. I bought it to use for inspections. It uses 3 AA batteries and is very light and small and very bright. It has a xenon center bulb for a bright white light that lasts several hours and four or five LED bulbs in a circle that can burn for many hours with a softer but still useably bright output. Turning the switch off and then on switches the output from xenon bulb to LED. It is so much better than the the 3C Mag or the 3D Mag I had been using for the same tasks. The beam is more useable and does not have the voids in it the Maglights have because the reflector is faceted which is good for up close and medium distances. This would be an excellent light for flying use as well. With a red cover it would be great for reading my charts at night and with the double lights it has built in redundancy. Cool. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Maglight sure seems to be falling behind. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif J

 

[Bob_Skurka]

My Christmas stocking had one of the new LED flashlights in it last year and I am amazed at how bright it is.

But it is DIFFERENT. The LED flashlights are very bright and throw very white light, but they do not throw a beam pattern, nor do they throw it very far. Mine has 10 LEDs in it, and there is no reflector, the thing is fully coated in rubber armor and it is pretty indestructable and I've used it with the same set of batteries since I got it, the beauty of LEDs is they are super efficient and you can run the light for HOURS without running down the batteries.

The LED flashlights are not suitable (at least mine is not) for scanning the distant tree line for critters. But if you need an emergency light to work by or for anything within maybe 30 feet of where you are standing, the light is amazingly brite and very white and is great to work by. They will sit in your glove box for a couple of years and still be brite. They are great for indoors or for emergency work under the hood of the car.

But do not look into them because they are so brite they will blind you temporarily, they are super brite, they just don't cast a long focused beam.

 

[GaryM]

Some of the lights using the Luxon Star LEDs actually do throw a beam. But you are correct in that they are not good for scanning a distant tree line. I'm interested in the Streamlight Dual Task light. I'll have to keep an eye out for it.

I have a German import Luxon Star powerd light I bought last month at a ham radio swap meet. Really broight and runs on 3 Lithium N cells. Throws a pretty good beam out to about 50 feet or so. The brand is Coast.

 

[_RaT_]

They sell them here among many other locations.

Streamlight Twin Task Lights

 

[GaryM]

Thanks for the link. I now see that they have several models. Decisions, decisions!

 

[BigDave]

I had to wait a couple of weeks for my order to get here, but I found a cheap alternative/improvement for your MagLite: A MagLite Zenon bulb to replace the OEM Kryton bulb. You can ugrade your Maglite for about $4.00, and you can get these bulbs at Home Depot. Your 4 D-Cell MagLite will go from 24,000 candlepower to 32,000 candlepower. I don't understand why they don't supply these bulbs with the lights in the first place. I tried the new bulb on my 3 D-Cell Maglite in the woods this evening, & I see a difference. The 3 D-Cell goes from 22k to 28k. I wanted a long running light for evening walks, so I picked-up a couple of small Streamlights for LED use, but the jury is still out on them.

An alternate source: Action-Lights.com

 

[Egon]

Dave:

Long evening walks--- have you considered any of the headlamps such as petzl?

I have one petzl headlamp setup that uses a 10 watt halogen bulb and runs off of a rechargeable 6 volt sealed rechargeable lead acid battery. It will have at least 10 hours between recharges. A 6 watt bulb would be better as it will not produce as much heat.
All Ive done is switch the bulb over to bicycle headlamp type. The battery is heavy and about the size of a liter oil container. I put it in a water bottle holder and wear it on my belt. There is a large choice of different size and weight batteries. Mine was picked for dual BLT 10 watt cycle headlight system.

Egon

 

[BigDave]

Thanks for the suggestion. I've considered the headlamps, but I like the technique I have used in the past. I usually carry the light generally pointed forward to provide somelight in the direction of travel. If a car approaches from behind, I just start rocking the light forward and aft so that is clear to the driver, but I can maintain my stride. I bought Twin Tasker from Streamlight with the LED lights since they are good up to as many as 150 hours on a pair of batteries. The only problem with them is that they don't project the light in a focused beam in LED mode. The zenon bulb that it has provides a more focused alternative, but that really diminshes the battery life quickly, so I have to avoid the temptation to switch to zenon everytime I want a good look down the road.

 

[Caddyshack]

If your interested in an "illuminating" discussion site all about flashlights checkout this link.

Candle Power Forums

 

[Mrwurm]

That's a great board. Over 5,000 members who like nothing more than flashlights ! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif That's about as odd as a board with over 7,000 members who like nothing more than tractors /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[GaryM]

BigDave,

How bright is the Zenon part of the light? I'm trying to compare it to my rechargeable Stinger. On the Streamlight site they indicate the power of the TwinTask in lumens and the Stinger in Candle Power. I know that they're not the same and don't know if there's a conversion factor.