surefire uv light...experts advice please

[jax]

HI, i have a question i was hoping someone out there would know the answer to...
here it goes..
when my dad goes to mexico on his trips,he say's that scorpions can been seen at night with a black light,apparently they glow under a uv light.
so anyway i just bought him a nitecore d11 for a gift,which hasnt arrived yet,and just today he mentioned if i could look and see if there was a flashlight that would do what a black light does for him on his scorpion hunts at night..
so i might not give him the nitecore d11,and instead give it to a friend,so this leaves me looking for another light for him that he could edc.
so here it is,can anyone recommed for me a flashlight that fills these purposes....1.small
2.both uv and normal led functions
3.uses aa or aaa power (and can also use 14500)
4.at least 150 OTF lumens and up
5.simple UI,my dad's a bit old school..
6.reliable,good build quality/ipx8
7.a price limit of $250-$300 (canadian)
will the uv work for scorpions? is a surefire model the answer?
thanks to all who may post answers to these questions

[Acid87]

Not an expert in UV lights but yes some scorpion species do glow under UV lights. They make pretty cool little glowsticks.

[Stillphoto]

You'll be somewhat hard pressed to find a light that does both uv and "normal" led functions in one.

And Surefire's Purple Inspector light runs about $450 if I recall...

[CarpentryHero]

There are UV P60 drop-ins Sold at places like deal extreme and Batteryjunction. There are some modders that could build you one, I remember seeing the thread. Had onionring in the title, I remember giggling when I got hungry clicking on the thread.

There was a maglite drop in that had UV and white LED's in it, not sure what the lumen rating was.

[CarpentryHero]

The Streamlight Twin-Task 3C Combo UV Flashlight combines a bright xenon bulb with 6 helpful LED bulbs.

There might be a mote updated streamlight

[gswitter]

Proton Pro UV

The white's not very bright, but it does both.

[Solscud007]

SF Purple inspector is not UV light. it is a special industry purple wave length that was special ordered for a company.

Im not familiar with how scorpions look like under UV light however I do notice blue light filters and blue LEDs from my Kroma make certain colors and plastics fluoresce.

Blue light helps identify blood but it might work for you. Get a SF and a blue filter. It might work.

[wyager]

Blue filters are not ideal for this. You want a genuine UV LED in the 350-375nm range, the lowest a white LED will produce is about 450nm. Your best bet is to hire a modder. I'm sure someone could actually put a UV led in that nitecore if you wanted.

[Icebreak]

I think we aren't supposed to post links here anymore, not sure, but to be on the safe side I'll spell the company and you can google them.

xenopuselectronix

They have all kinds of cool hand held UV products.

I've never bought from them but I think they used to be members here. On the left hand side of their site find the "Matrix" and it will tell what range frequency works best for different applications.

They also have specialized Scorpion hunting lights but I'd just find the range and find a light they offer in that range. I suppose you could find the range and look elsewhere for a flashlight that uses that range and also uses XRE LEDs.

Other members may know of better LEDs but my understanding from a couple of years ago was that XRE was very good at the task. I have a Terrlux in a 2C Mag that works up to about 20' on them and 40' on a tennis ball. Compared to most UV lights it's quite weak as it is not sinked and driven very low.

Some of us had much better luck modifying an incan with powerful lamp and a UV pass through filter. Very inefficient but highly effective for seeing all kinds of weird stuff.

[Icebreak]

I just looked and it's 390nm for scorpions.

[jellydonut]

I've never seen a decent, proper light with both UV and white light. If anyone finds one I'd be interested too.

If you end up on a UV only light Nailbender sells P60 dropins with 365nm Nichia UV diodes and 380nm Cree diodes. There are no scorpions around here so I can't vouch for that but others use them for scorpion hunting.

[jax]

thanks for the info guy's!!

[Sigman]

Premierlight PL-UV has a 20 lumen white super bright led surrounded by 6 395nm UV-A leds with a UI capable of selecting either the white or UV. Runs on 2 123s though...probably on one of the review sites.

Not sure if they're available anymore...I know where I can latch on to one, but not sure he wants to let it go...

[Bozzlite]

As CarpentryHero mentioned, Streamlight makes a 3C Comb light that is selectable between UV and incan. First switch push activates 3 UV Leds, second push activates 3 additional UV leds, third push switches LEDs off and activates the Xenon bulb. This light does not fit into the small category tho

And scorpions do glow green under UV light.

[jellydonut]

Awesome.. This thing is like a jumbo A2! (minus the awesome regulation and two-stage switch of course.. but it's $30) I don't know about you guys but I want one now.

[CarpentryHero]

Multi Ops™

COMPACT, MULTI-TASKING LIGHT W/ C4® LED, UV LEDs AND LASER POINTER

Shock-proof C4® LED design – 2-3x Brighter than a High Flux LED!
Class IIIa Laser Pointer – Up to 100 yards useable range
Five 390 nM UV LEDs ideal for leak-detection
2,500 candela peak beam intensity; 50 lumens
Runs up to 4.5 hours
Powered by 3 "AAA" alkaline batteries
Corrosion-resistant anodized aircraft aluminum construction
O-ring sealed; water-resistant

http://www.streamlight.com/product/product.aspx?pid=160

[CarpentryHero]

That's a snip from streamlight homepage
Looks portable

[Bullzeyebill]

That's a snip from streamlight homepage
Looks portable

Please add a link to your "snip". This per Rule 5, Posting Articles and Links.

Bill

[CarpentryHero]

Will do

[Bullzeyebill]

Will do

Thanks.

Bill

[mgnu]

I can speak from experience. Buy the deal extreme 3W UV dropin. I kill about a half dozen per night with that. The scorpions fluoresce very brightly with it. I also bought the streamlight 3C linked above - while it is decent enough UV, there is very little visible light spill. This is important when you are fumbling around in the dark....

[jax]

I can speak from experience. Buy the deal extreme 3W UV dropin. I kill about a half dozen per night with that. The scorpions fluoresce very brightly with it. I also bought the streamlight 3C linked above - while it is decent enough UV, there is very little visible light spill. This is important when you are fumbling around in the dark....

thanks mgnu...thats exactly what i needed to know

[CarpentryHero]

I ordered one from BatteryJunction and I arrived Friday, I've been playing with it all weekend. I like it because it's working voltage is 3-9 volts.
It's a 3 watt dropin. Faster delivery time than dealextreme and reasonably priced.