Fenix P2D Saves the day .. err night

[Phaetos]

Me and the cougar went to a friend's house for the Colts/Patriots game, it was of course dark before we got going home. We took her car as mine has decided it has an electrical problem on a 2 yr old car. Anyway, as we were coming home her headlights decided that they were entirely too bright and dimmed themselves to nearly nothing. She put them on bright, still not much help. Great. Small two lane road with deep ditches for shoulders. I pull out my P2D with a weak battery and turn it on Turbo, and put my hand out the passenger window and point it in front of the car on the road. That light with a weak battery was still hella brighter than her high beams, we drove home all the way like that. I wonder what oncoming traffic thought about the small spotlight coming from the passenger side of a car lighting the road in front of it? I wish I'd had a fresh cell in it to see what it really could have done. And to those who say LED's are crap in fog, there was a light low-laying fog on the way home, didn't make a hill of beans to that P2D.

Now she wants me to figure out a way to mounts some high-power LED lights to her car for headlights

 

[Manzerick]

wow... I never would have thought it would touch a headlight in brightness/fog cutting....Hmmm


What type of car is it?

 

[WadeF]

Awhile ago another CPF'er claimed to have used a P1D-CE as a headlight for his car after hitting a kangaroo that took out his headlights. After reading this story, and some people being skeptical, I decided to try it one night and the P1D, P2D, etc, do put out enough light to drive by. I remember my mother telling me about my grandfather driving them home and having to use a flashlight to see his way. This would have been 50 years ago or more. I'm sure my grandfather would have rather had a P2D than whatever he had back then.

 

[Phaetos]

wow... I never would have thought it would touch a headlight in brightness/fog cutting....Hmmm


What type of car is it?

1986 toyota corolla. It was quite the experience, didn't have to worry about the light getting too hot either or the efficiency loss with it being on for 15 minutes straight on high power, the temp was around 60F outside, then add wind factor and my hand and light were quite chilly :twothumbs

Yes it will touch a headlight in brightness when the lights suddenly dim for no apparent reason :thumbsdow

 

[KevinL]

It's all relative..

If for example, I lost both headlights while driving on a road floodlit by sodium vapor lamps, I wouldn't worry too much about pulling out my LED since it would be next to useless with all the light the discharge lamps are putting out.

However, on a pitch black road, a 100 lumen LED can suddenly feel unbelievably bright.

Once I was finding my way down a pitch black stairwell encased right in the center of a building (emergency lighting, isn't) in the dark after a power outage. I pulled out my HDS B60 and lit up the entire stairwell. Since it was a long walk, I toggled through the brightness modes and was REALLY surprised find that I only had it on 10-lumen mode - it was appearing SO bright to my fully adapted eyes that I thought I had the light running full blast!

(my B60 was one of the 'reprogrammed' ones to allow it to memorize the last brightness mode, thanks to the 250-click trick that HDS published on CPF)

 

[scottaw]

This story i can believe, im thinking an 86 corolla didn't go too fast. The P1D story was a skyline that he claimed he drove at highway speeds. While a P2D may be bright, im sure 65+ you would be "outdriving your headlights" Good to know it can be done in the last ditch emergency.

 

[luminata]

Phaetos,

Stop buying new flashlights and get your woman a new car for cripes sake!!
My vintage Corolla (87 maybe?)was finally sold for $300 cash to a person of questionable nationality after I couldnt keep up with the rust on the rear end (used fiberglass to patch the gaping hole in the trunk)
And how did YOU manage to get the 2 year old vehicle?
I just recently bought a 2003 Honda and guess who has that now and who is stuck with the 99 Taurus with the blown headgasket. (answer: it ain't her)
But I have used a light for this purpose when my motorcycle headlight went out on me. It was a LUX III led and it was adequate at slow speeds. Taped it to the bars . It does work in emergencies

 

[Phaetos]

Phaetos,

Stop buying new flashlights and get your woman a new car for cripes sake!!
My vintage Corolla (87 maybe?)was finally sold for $300 cash to a person of questionable nationality after I couldnt keep up with the rust on the rear end (used fiberglass to patch the gaping hole in the trunk)
And how did YOU manage to get the 2 year old vehicle?
I just recently bought a 2003 Honda and guess who has that now and who is stuck with the 99 Taurus with the blown headgasket. (answer: it ain't her)
But I have used a light for this purpose when my motorcycle headlight went out on me. It was a LUX III led and it was adequate at slow speeds. Taped it to the bars . It does work in emergencies

She bought it for $300 froma co-worker and the car runs great, except for the headlight thing now. No major rusting anywhere. It gets her from Point A to B and that's all she wants.

As for the post above yours, the road wasn't pitch-black, it did have street lights, occasionally enough to sorta overlap their horrible incan bulbs. It was really fun actually :twothumbs

 

[Windscale]

A lesson to us all. Always carry spare batteries!

 

[WadeF]

I keep an extra CR123 in our family car. Some people say having a 100+ lumen light is silly, and you only need 65 or less. Well, in situations like this, it's nice to have something like a P2D that can put out 100+ lumens in an emergancy.

 

[tony22r]

Great story.

I used to drive a lot of long distance in cold weather states.. trunk always had tool kit, flares, blankets, extra fan belts, shovel.. the works.

But one time.. driving around 65mph.. hit a Bird! and it took out one of my headlights!
Luckily, car had fog lights, which i used for the rest of the journey till i could replace the entire headlight assembly.
Driving in the middle of nowhere (well.. I-15 in Idaho).. it gets pretty Dark!