Good delivery light?

Knight of Myth

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Having recently snagged a job as a pizza delivery guy, I figure I could use that as an excuse to get myself a new light. :twothumbs

I currently have a Surefire G2 with both the P60 and P61 lamps and keep a big 4D Maglite in the back seat for back up. I think this is a good setup, but like I said, gotta take every excuse you can get.

What would be a good light for this purpose? It must have a tight beam with a lot of throw. As always, good runtime is always a plus. Any suggestions?
 

DaveG

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How about a Streamlight,Pro-poly 4-aa lux,might work out for you.
 

tedjanxt

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Going back to my paper delivery days (over 15 years ago, wasn't a flashaholic back then :p) I recall tossing maglites (really, best available to general public at the time) out my window and investing in one of those cigarette lighter 1 mill CP spotlights..

Did the trick. Tons of throw, never had to replace batteries, and I don't recall a bulb ever blowing on me...
 

glockboy

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Get this for your G2.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1447

Having recently snagged a job as a pizza delivery guy, I figure I could use that as an excuse to get myself a new light. :twothumbs

I currently have a Surefire G2 with both the P60 and P61 lamps and keep a big 4D Maglite in the back seat for back up. I think this is a good setup, but like I said, gotta take every excuse you can get.
 
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Gunner12

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Do you have a price range?

For $100+
the Lumapower MRV or a Asperical Mag mod(best throwing, recorded 40000Lux at 1 Meter)

For less then $40
Ultrafire C2 at dealextreme with the protected 18650 battery and charger, $35 total.

Have fun at your new job!
 

carrot

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I'll echo the Streamlight Propoly 4AA Lux and throw in a few suggestions of my own:

MagLED 4-cell upgrade -- Mags already throw pretty well, the LED upgrade is icing on the cake.
Streamlight TL-3 -- Not too expensive ($50-60), runs on 3x123, and known for its throwy characteristics.

Feel like spending a lot of money? Track down a rare 3" Surefire turbohead and get a body to go with it.
 

mdocod

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hey! I'm a fellow pizza delivery driver, been doing this for a few years now till I find something useful to do with existence, lol

Part of my reason for being HERE (CPF) was to find better lighting solutions for my job.

I can tell you the following things that I have learned about lighting up addresses.


1. extremely focused lights suck for this because you never know where to look on a house for an address, in some neighborhoods, they are all over the place, sometimes on the garage, near front door, on the mailbox, lol.... (focus is good to a point, you just don't want lazer beams, anything with a slightly textured reflector spreads it out enough)
2. extremely floody lights are also impractical, because they rarely have the punching power to reach out and overcome ambient lighting that may be partially blinding your view of an address.
3. Incandescent light is the only way to go.(the 1W LED lights like the SL pro-poly people are recommending are completely useless in 80-90% of address identification circumstances, the beams are too tight to hold steady and find the address, and the light gets washed out by ambiance most of the time) So many addresses are black on brown, or brown on black, or funky brass reflective on white, etc etc... the wide color spectrum of incandecent is a must for actually being able to read some of these tough situations. The other issue is that often times you'll have a porch light that is positioned such that it blinds you, but does not illuminate the address at all, in these situations, it takes an enormous amount of illumination power to overcome the light that you are looking into (which is constricting your pupils), normal LED lights (there are custom multi-emitter exceptions, but most are too big) just do not have the oomf to over come this issue.
4. Big lights are difficult to deal with with 1 hand on the steering wheel(or possibly also juggling a shifter if you drive a manual). Try not to exceed a "C" body size, or a 3 "C" length... I prefer smaller than that.
5. The switch needs to be easy to operate with 1 hand. I prefer smaller lights that have a standard "clicky" switch on the tailcap, the tailcap position is always easy to locate in the hand regardless of how you pick up the light.
6. The batteries need to be rechargable, because we don't make enough money to replace primaries on a high power light all the time.
7. You actually need very little runtime. In a night of deliveries, you'll turn it on many times, but only for a few seconds at a time, (flash a few houses, pissing off some people, etc, lol), 10-20 minutes would actually be enough. But more is always nice so you don't have to recharge every night when you get home.



Having said all that, I still don't own the perfect light. I've played with some stuff... Honestly, this job doesn't pay enough to afford the ideal light for it.

My ideal light, (which I do not own), would be a Leefbody 2x18500 C tail M head, with a KT4 and a MN16 lamp. this would be the perfect deliver light. perfect size, perfect runtime, perfect focus, perfect OOMF (lots). But the cost of prohibitive at this time.

So in the mean time I have made do with some of the following..

a 2C mag modified with 2 17500 li-ion cell driving a 5 or 6 cell mag xenon lamp... this works pretty decent, the 5 cell lamp is really impressive, but they burn out too often, the 6 cell is lacking a bit in the whiteness department but is doable also... survives forever on this type of battery configuration.

a "4 cell(cr123)" ultrafire with a Surefire P91 lamp and a pair of 17670s... used this one for a long time, good results but too floody, the overall light output is so immense that in most situations it works fine, lighting up the entire front of a house. The MN16 in a SF turbohead would be the same amount of lumens, just tightened down to the perfect beam IMO!

a brinkman maxfire with a LF HO-9 and a pair of RCR123... this is actually almost perfect.. it's got the throw and the oomf for 90% of stuff, you could do this to your G2, (think lumens of the P61, but more concentrated, probably more lumens)

Played with some luxeon 3W throwers (LEDbeam) and found that it works fine as long as there is no ambient light.



Something a LOT easier on the pocketbook than a leefbodied li-ioned SF build.. that would probably work about just as well... would be a Wolf-Eyes M90 with a LumensFactory EO-9L D36 lamp... which is very similar to the MN16 as far as power goes. A pair of 18650s, and that would perfect!
 
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rolling

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I am working as a pizza delivery driver, too. I bought a LumaPower M1 and it works fine for addresses up to 40-50m.
 

scottaw

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Throw is good here, but please don't get anything with a lot of spillbeam. You want a light that has a tight spot for reading addresses, but not to shine in all the neighbor's windows too.
 

Strauss

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mdocod has it right on the money :)

Incan, rechargable, good throw, and no need for huge runtime. The Streamlight TL-3 on a pair of 17500's may be a "cheaper" way out as well....
 

wrathothebunny

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A LF EO-9 on 2X17670s in a SureFire 9P + A19 extender. About 250-260 Torch Lumens

Or for brighter output but shorter runtime

A LF EO-13 in a Wolf Eyes M90-13V Rattlesnake Rechargeable Flashlight. About 450 Torch Lumens. **This will require a glass lens, not sure if the Wolf Eyes uses plastic or glass, so if plastic, replace with tempered glass**
 
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TigerhawkT3

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How about a Mag mod, like an ROP or Mag85, or maybe a MagCharger with WA1160? The TL-3 already mentioned is quite good as well.
 
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mdocod

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whatever you do, please don't fall for the Pro-Poly recomendation. It's a great light, but amazing to be that anyone would recommend a 1W luxeon (which is about 30-35 torch lumens at best) to compete with line powered lighting while in motion.. It's an unexperienced recomendation. (I've tried a number of LED lights)

In total darkness, standing still, a pencil beam 1W LED thrower like the PP or Dorcy Super 1W 3D will light up addresses, but as soon as you are in motion, and competing with any ambient light that is closing your pupils, a 1W LED is about as useful as holding a candle out the window.
 

mdocod

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I've tried the taskforce light too (that 3W one you're talking about there FlyTurtle) and unfortunately, it's not up to the task either. As with most LEDs, works fine in completely dark neighborhoods with easy to locate addresses and limited foliage. I wonder if the projection lens in it would work with the output pattern of a Seoul P4, if it would, then that might be able to do most stuff.
 

jumpstat

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Since you have been using the G2/P60/P61 why not move up a scale and get the G3/P90/P91 ?

Same feeling, huge amount of light......
 

zk188

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Instead over complicated custom build May i suggest a Magcharger You can charge it in your car It is plenty bright and it provides amazing throw with massive side spill if you want it dimmer slip some wax paper over the lense this provides a soft diffuse light that wont disturb other people plus it is affordable.
 

ringzero

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Instead over complicated custom build May i suggest a Magcharger You can charge it in your car

+1

I doubt you'll find anything to beat a Magcharger in the sub-$100 category of lights.

Unless you're in an uber-expensive neighborhood with the houses set way, way back from the street, a Magcharger should have no trouble lighting up any house address.

Magchargers are very durable lights that'll endure years of daily use and abuse. Not glamorous, just very useful.

If a Magcharger is too expensive, check out the 12 volt spotlights with cigarette lighter plugs. Big output and throw for not a whole lot of shekels. Many bright ones available in the big box stores in the 20 to 50 dollar price range. These are a lower cost alternative for a car light that still provide good throw.


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