Work flashlight needed!

Matthew88 · Jul 18, 2014

Hi all new guy here. Have stumbled across this website and looks amazing with very switched on members.

Work in the train industry and I need a flashlight for use at work.no idea about technical terms sorry.

preferences

NEEDS to be able to have good throw to around 1km. Not as worried about flood. Joining up trains/bins from a distance so the further I can see the less walking I'll need to do

Looking to spend around $150-$250, unsure if this is reasonable?

Would prefer the use of AA batteries but open to suggestions

not sure what other info is needed but any recommendation and advice is much appreciated

I'm sure nothing can be worse than the led lenser I am currently cursed with

Bigblue · Jul 18, 2014

Matthew88 said:
NEEDS to be able to have good throw to around 1km.

Looking to spend around $150-$250, unsure if this is reasonable?

Would prefer the use of AA batteries but open to suggestions

I don't know of any AA lights that can throw 1km. If this exists, I would like to know.

For a around $50 more than $250, you can get TK61vn v2 (link here), which I think would have more throw than v1 as reviewed by Selfbuilt below, but I don't know how much more and it's merely my estimation. You will need 18650 batteries and charger.

TK61vn v1 is rated at 1,547 meters so at 1km, light may actually be useful.

Here's the link to Selfbuilt's review of TK61vn and below is the chart on some big throwers with distances. Note that at these max distances, lux is only 0.25, which is just slightly more than darkness.

mcnair55 · Jul 18, 2014

You need something special to hit 1KM and that will cost.Try army surplus and get a second hand nightsun the type they use on police helis.

gravelmonkey · Jul 18, 2014

You can actually do a lot worse than the Led Lensers, despite what the general attitude on this forum would suggest. As Bigblue has mentioned, unless you build some AA powered monster yourself, you're not going to get 1000m out of it.

The ANSI FL1 measurements are down to .25 lux, which (in many people's opinion) is a bit misleading. For an example, a full moon on a clear night will give 0.27-1 lux; Unless you're superhuman, you're going to need more light on the surface to see what the heck is going on, especially at distances you want.

A general rule of thumb is to half the ANSI FL1 distance (giving distance to 1 lux) but at 1Km you might need to be more conservative.

Which LedLenser do you currently use? If you know the model, it's easy to find the rated specs to compare what you have at the moment with what you want in a new light.

Maxabeam are the only commercial manufacturer I am aware of that offer lights with the distance you are after. WAAAAY over $250 though!

Member Vinh is probably the most active modder creating absolute monster searchlights, his list of lights is in this thread.

You could also have a look at onestopthrowshop.com.

Bottom line is, you can get a nice light, batteries and charger for $150-$200 but it won't reach 1000m.

mcnair55 · Jul 19, 2014

+1 Led Lensers are often given bad press on here usually because of non regulation but as one of the worlds best selling makes they are still the number one choice of many professional users.The 7.2 version is a real work horse in many trades.

Str8stroke · Jul 19, 2014

I am always reluctant to post a long reply on new posters who only post once and never follow up on their original post.

So, I ask. What do you need to inspect on a train? Meaning do you need to see colors true?? Like hoses, cables or wires?? If so, you may want to be cautious as to what color led you get. I prefer the warmer colors lights for working on cars. It makes all the wires look the proper color. This is important when looking for the Purple wire in a harness full of dark wires. Some lights can make all the wires look dang near the same.

Anyways, welcome to the forum & good luck.

Matthew88 · Jul 24, 2014

Thanks for all the suggestions! Given me plenty to look into, had a feeling that budget would be unreasonable. So much choice

Matthew88 · Jul 24, 2014

Str8stroke said:
I am always reluctant to post a long reply on new posters who only post once and never follow up on their original post.

So, I ask. What do you need to inspect on a train? Meaning do you need to see colors true?? Like hoses, cables or wires?? If so, you may want to be cautious as to what color led you get. I prefer the warmer colors lights for working on cars. It makes all the wires look the proper color. This is important when looking for the Purple wire in a harness full of dark wires. Some lights can make all the wires look dang near the same.

Anyways, welcome to the forum & good luck.

Colours are not an issue, just needed that sort of distance rating to save me walking. Joining up one lot of carriages/bins to another from a distance of up to 1200 metres or so, makes it easier not having to walk the whole way and being able to see them join. Hard to describe.

TEEJ · Jul 24, 2014

Matthew88 said:
Colours are not an issue, just needed that sort of distance rating to save me walking. Joining up one lot of carriages/bins to another from a distance of up to 1200 metres or so, makes it easier not having to walk the whole way and being able to see them join. Hard to describe.

What we are trying to establish is how much light on what you are trying to see, is enough light to see the details you need.

Are you just confirming that two cars are close enough together to be joined, or, do you need to see the coupling itself? At ~ 1,200 meters, I'm not sure what level of detail you'd see in daylight, let alone at night with a flashlight, etc...but if you try to describe the scene you need to resolve, it would help a lot.

The context is that to see that something is "there" at that range, you'd need at least 1 lux on your target. To see anything ABOUT your target, in my world, that might be telling a man with an arm load if firewood from a man armed with a firearm, etc....which can require closer to 15 lux on your target.

To put 1 lux on a target 1,200 M away, you'd need a light rated at ~ 1,500,000 cd (candela). That would allow you to see that there WERE two cars next to each other, and about how close, etc.

There are no lights with 1,500,000 cd in your budget.....and even if you blew the budget there are no AA lights that get even close no matter what.

There are lights in your budget that are closer to ~ 300,000 - 500,000 cd, that are hand sized, etc. There are used lights that are not in your budget (Closer to $800 - $1,000 -ish) that CAN throw that far...if you want to expand your budget to that range. :devil:

For perspective, a light rated at 500k cd would put 1 lux on targets ~ 700 m away, and one rated at 300 k cd would put 1 lux on targets ~ 540 m away.

A flashlights rated THROW in meters for example, is to only 0.25 lux, which is about 4x less then the LEAST amount you'd need. So, you'd pick one (Based on the light's ad) with the knowledge that you'd need to be at HALF their claimed range to see anything.

Matthew88 · Jul 26, 2014

TEEJ said:
What we are trying to establish is how much light on what you are trying to see, is enough light to see the details you need.

Are you just confirming that two cars are close enough together to be joined, or, do you need to see the coupling itself? At ~ 1,200 meters, I'm not sure what level of detail you'd see in daylight, let alone at night with a flashlight, etc...but if you try to describe the scene you need to resolve, it would help a lot.

The context is that to see that something is "there" at that range, you'd need at least 1 lux on your target. To see anything ABOUT your target, in my world, that might be telling a man with an arm load if firewood from a man armed with a firearm, etc....which can require closer to 15 lux on your target.

To put 1 lux on a target 1,200 M away, you'd need a light rated at ~ 1,500,000 cd (candela). That would allow you to see that there WERE two cars next to each other, and about how close, etc.

There are no lights with 1,500,000 cd in your budget.....and even if you blew the budget there are no AA lights that get even close no matter what.

There are lights in your budget that are closer to ~ 300,000 - 500,000 cd, that are hand sized, etc. There are used lights that are not in your budget (Closer to $800 - $1,000 -ish) that CAN throw that far...if you want to expand your budget to that range. :devil:

For perspective, a light rated at 500k cd would put 1 lux on targets ~ 700 m away, and one rated at 300 k cd would put 1 lux on targets ~ 540 m away.

A flashlights rated THROW in meters for example, is to only 0.25 lux, which is about 4x less then the LEAST amount you'd need. So, you'd pick one (Based on the light's ad) with the knowledge that you'd need to be at HALF their claimed range to see anything.

happy to go with other battery options if it will help.not much to no detail is needed, the bins have roadside reflective material on them so very visible, just making sure that everything we join onto comes with us when we leave

TEEJ · Jul 26, 2014

Matthew88 said:
happy to go with other battery options if it will help.not much to no detail is needed, the bins have roadside reflective material on them so very visible, just making sure that everything we join onto comes with us when we leave

OK, so just needing to see that the cars all move together/you're not leaving one behind...as opposed to seeing if there's damage or a shabbily dressed hitchhiker with a bag dangling from a stick over his shoulder....Gotcha.

That also sounds like the light will only be on for a minute or so at a time, when things start to move, so you can scan the line of cars for a break in continuity, etc...and that when the cars are all seen to be moving together, you can douse the light.

If you ONLY need to see the reflectors light up, and not the bins themselves, you can do that with less light/a lower cd.

I think I might go with Vinh's SLUT, as while its not going to have the cd to let you see a car clearly at 1,200 meters, it WILL make a reflective sign flash brightly enough to see with authority.....while actually letting you see the bins themselves out to ~ 500 m or so. This is a light that takes a single 18650, puts out ~ 250 k cd, and would be practical to carry clipped to your belt or even in a reasonably loose fitting pant pocket, etc.

If a larger (Fatter) light was OK, Vinh's K40vn or K50vn, etc....would be another option, with closer to 400 - 600 k cd, so cars out to ~ 630 - 750 M would be visible...and you could use a belt holster for this sized light with no problem, but not a pants pocket unless you wear pants like Charlie Chaplin, etc. A coat pocket is still an option though.

Work flashlight needed!

Matthew88

Newly Enlightened

Bigblue

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mcnair55

Flashlight Enthusiast

gravelmonkey

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mcnair55

Flashlight Enthusiast

Str8stroke

Flashlight Enthusiast

Matthew88

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Matthew88

Newly Enlightened

TEEJ

Flashaholic

Matthew88

Newly Enlightened

TEEJ

Flashaholic

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