Been living in the dark

[jamie1132]

Hi Folks!

I recently moved from a relatively urban area out into the countryside and finally realised that my 15 year old, 2D maglite wasnt actually as bright as I thought! The main problem was early morning/evening dog walking, I have to walk about 200 yards along an unlit country lane before getting into the woods. Cars come flying along the road and the maglite wasnt bright enough for me to make myself seen. After looking around in a few stores I ended up buying an LED Lenser M14. I was after something that had a flashing mode and could switch from focused to flood (although now I think the flood beam is most useful, dont use the focused beam as much as I thought I would) and the M14 fitted the bill. I was really impressed with how technology has come along since I bought my maglite, but when I was looking around to find out the best batteries to use to get the most from the torch (duration and brightness) I found your forum!
I wish I'd found you guys first because from reading here it seems as though I could have gotten a better torch for the same price? I'm curious now as too how much better a torch I could have gotten with my £50 so I've been trawling through the forum and I think I might be a little bit hooked... I just know I'm going to end up spending another £50 on a flashlight I dont really need just to see how good it is!

 

[braddy]

I'll start it off with saying, eneloop rechargeables and the Fenix LD22 flashlight, or even an LD12 if you want smaller.

 

[GunnarGG]

Well, what I would start to think about is how you carry your light.
If you hold it in the hand while walking along the road it's probably more relaxed with your arms along your sides and then a light with a sideswitch is easier than a light with tailswitch.
As braddy said something that runs on eneloops.
I know there is a new EagleTac coming out running on 6xAA that looks cool but I think that is more of a thrower. And a bit over your budget.
Fenix new E-series ligts have side switch but they have a delay for on/off so that's mayby not so good if you want to signal to cars.
If you want to go Li-Ion I guess the Zebralight SC600 would be great.

 

[Swanster]

I'm new to this too
I've upgraded my maglites with a TTS-3WCR45 Maglite Torch Flashlight CREE XPE LED Bulb Upgrade for 2/3 C/D Cell. Bought it from someone called the torchsite on ebay for £11
It's amazing, you definately will get seen walking with this
I also bought a Surefire G2L which holds two CR123 batteries. That's amazing too
Now I'm looking for something which runs on two AA's and has good battery life
I also bought a packet of 4 eneloops from the batterywizard. From what I've read here you need to be careful buying eneloops as there are a lot of fakes around.

 

[braddy]

They do sell a lens set for your light at swissknifeshop.com

Here is a review on your light. http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?299159-Led-Lenser-M14-4xAA-with-focus-adjustment

Here is a review of the Fenix LD41, at about $77.00 US http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?341521-Fenix-LD41-Review-4-AA-XM-L

 

[jamie1132]

Hi Chaps! Thanks for the replies! I'm travelling to the USA in march so ill have a nose around to see what I can get there!

 

[mcnair55]

Surf the net for Eneloops,we have a cracking price off shore in the UK for these.A certain UK shed is offering Evolta batteries(really are very good) at half price at the mo in the UK.Many of the UK vendors do a discount to us lot,just surf for the page.

Word of warning chaps,links will get you a good old telling off.:naughty: