My son and I just returned from an excellent flashlight adventure. We packed up a few flashlights for each of us(Xtar Warboy headlamp, Modded Eagletac with XPL HI and Drjones Lucidrv2; Modded Olight M22 with XPL Hi; Surefire 6P with XPL Hi drop-in; and Solarforce with M3 head), and we hiked up a small mountain that has a view of our house. When we got to the top we looked around and tried to guess who could see us.
We realized a friend's house was in our view so we called him up. He said, "You're where?! Doing what!?" but he stepped outside and started laughing because our lights were blasting through the tree tops. His house is about a mile away and he said he could see the tree canopy clearly. He went in and got the Convoy S2 with XPL Hi bulb that I made for him, and we could see him no problem.
Next, we called home, and my daughter and wife stepped out into the yard with a 3 D cell Maglite modded with and XPL Hi bulb. It is 1.75 miles from our mountaintop to the yard and we could see it like a small sun. The instant my daughter turned it on, we could see it over all the other lights in the neighborhood. My wife took a picture of us with two lights going and it is remarkable how bright it is even from 1.75 miles and on a cell phone pic. I can't post a picture yet, but it is impressive how much light shows up even over that distance.
When my daughter and wife got bored and went inside, we crossed to the other side of the mountain and shined our lights on a ridge about .5 miles away. We could see into the gaps in the trees and I think we startled some unsuspecting campers.
Next time, we are going to have three groups spread out over three mountains and see if we can communicate. This was the most fun I've had with a flashlight since I blinded my little brother in our tent when we were teenagers.
We realized a friend's house was in our view so we called him up. He said, "You're where?! Doing what!?" but he stepped outside and started laughing because our lights were blasting through the tree tops. His house is about a mile away and he said he could see the tree canopy clearly. He went in and got the Convoy S2 with XPL Hi bulb that I made for him, and we could see him no problem.
Next, we called home, and my daughter and wife stepped out into the yard with a 3 D cell Maglite modded with and XPL Hi bulb. It is 1.75 miles from our mountaintop to the yard and we could see it like a small sun. The instant my daughter turned it on, we could see it over all the other lights in the neighborhood. My wife took a picture of us with two lights going and it is remarkable how bright it is even from 1.75 miles and on a cell phone pic. I can't post a picture yet, but it is impressive how much light shows up even over that distance.
When my daughter and wife got bored and went inside, we crossed to the other side of the mountain and shined our lights on a ridge about .5 miles away. We could see into the gaps in the trees and I think we startled some unsuspecting campers.
Next time, we are going to have three groups spread out over three mountains and see if we can communicate. This was the most fun I've had with a flashlight since I blinded my little brother in our tent when we were teenagers.
