Advice needed please.

[Bograt]

I work in pest control and most of it is rodents in industrial premises therefore my torch burns up a good few hours per week. I have always used maglites up to now, long ones 4 -5 D they come in handy when something unpleasant needs a poke. I am trying to choose a new one. I want it to be a long one 4 or 5 cell for poking things ( you learn very early not to use fingers when poking at debris and holes ), it must be LED for battery life and as bright as poss without being silly (200-300+). Do you informed people think I should stick with mags or is there something better fitting my criteria. All the powerful LED's I have been looking at (900 lumens one !) are all AA size and aren't so good at exploring crevices. The further from the teeth end the better i.e. 325mm torch length min. I was going for a C cell this time because they are lighter and easier to grip (thinner) but would need to use an aftermarket LED upgrade. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Gunner12]

Have you seen this thread?

I'm a bit confused at what you want.

Do you want a long light with good output and runtime?

The further from the teeth end the better

What does that mean?

Those "900" lumen lights(most are around 500 lumen max, also quality can be iffy) are much larger then AA sized. Around Minimag length but much wider(and brighter).

Would you like single mode or more?
What type of beam pattern?

:welcome:

 

[Bograt]

Long overall torch length as in 12 inch minmum, spot beam rather than flood. In a nutshell I am looking for an alternative to a 4 or 5 C cell LED maglite.

 

[deusexaethera]

How big is the Fenix TK40?

 

[jabe1]

I'd get a Zebralight, or a Fenix in a headband and a long pointy stick!

 

[tx101]

how about a Mag 5 or 6 D cell with a Malkoff LED dropin
according to his website with a 4 cell Mag, your looking at over 240 lumens
for 8 hours

 

[Bograt]

I'd get a Zebralight, or a Fenix in a headband and a long pointy stick!

I have a headband for attics, basements etc. I dont like it, it feels wrong. The pointy stick thing I've done, but on site we have to carry our service holdall with baits and stuff, plus the torch, plus the stick= not enough hands. The mag with a glass break tail cap is a pointy stick and torch combined. Thanks for all your advice it looks like being a new 4 or 5 cell C mag then with an easy drop in LED upgrade. So my next question is "best LED"? and easiest to fit. Many thanks

 

[Bograt]

I tried the pointy stick approach, a headband is used in attics and basements but I dont like them. We have to carry a service holdall with baits, poisons etc on site, plus a torch and a stick is just another hand tied up. the 4D is what I use now, its good but heavy and a little thick in diameter. A large 4 or 5 cell mag with a glass break tail cap is a pointy stick and lamp combined. It looks like being a C cell mag 4 or 5 which means fitting an aftermarket LED. So my next question is "which LED"? I want an easy plug and play (drop in), I want to keep the focus beam and as bright as poss without sacrificing too much battery power. many thanks for the response.

 

[Bograt]

I just read that thread from post 2, very concise. In all basically I am better off sticking to my 4D Led mag with pointy tail cap and just get some kind of grip for it to make it feel more comfortable when carrying around. Thanks. I will now get something cool in UV for finding traces of rodent urine. i know the job stinks, but at least I get to play with torches all day in dark basements and old factories.

 

[Gunner12]

The Malkoff drop-in will give you much more output then the MagLED provides (It uses a current gen LED vs the previous gen Luxeon, 2x or more the efficiency). Might be of interst to you.

What about a smaller UV light, or maybe a mod?

 

[seaside]

Every pest control guy I've seen had big bulky MagLite. I thought that is their standard issue or something. I never knew they use it to poke something. Thanks for letting me know.

In that case, I think MagLite with after market drop-in modue is the way to go. If you think your current Mag is too thick, you may want get smaller Mag and Malkoff drop-in that fits in it.

 

[Bograt]

The UV light will be a small one to slip in my pocket, I saw some on a post somewhere on here they were around £15.. ($20) or so. To buy a "pest control" one from our suppliers is around £60 its a little tube like thing same as for scanning fake money and looks crap. We had a portable UV light years ago and it had a huge battery pack and the light discharge was very feeble and it cost a fortune so we never bothered again, till I saw the ones on here. Surefire I think was one on here? cant find it now

 

[Marduke]

Here are your UV choices for cheap. This or this one in particular will be fairly bright (first being brighter). Keep in mind that the wavelength will be longer that your "expensive dim" system, which is why it was so expensive.