General Use LED Light Suggestions

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Jamie_S

Newly Enlightened
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Nov 4, 2009
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Gday All

Im after a general use LED light to use while camping and hunting and would appreciate some of your imput, it seems that there is some great knowledge on this forum, much more than I know as im reasonably new to decent LED lights, I have only owned cheap lights in the past.

The light will be used for walking trails at night and general camp use. It will be carried in a backpack for most of the time.
Im after something around the 200 lumen mark, with a focusable beam as it will be used to spot animals at times, but I like the idea of having a spread beam other times

As for the batteries either AA or CR123 is fine, I can get a good supply of either

Price wise anything up to and around the $100 mark will be fine


I appreciate your help on this


Jamie
 
Very few lights have a focusable beam, so that cuts down on your requirements a lot. When the light source is not at the focal point of the reflector, there will be rings and other artifacts in the beam which decreases the usefulness. Most lights here are fixed focus. They have lower output modes for closer range use and most of them have a good spill, so you can see the things around you when the hotspot is on something further away.

If you don't have to have focusability, then check out Quark, Fenix, Jetbeam, iTP, Nitecore, Olight, Tiablo, and there are a few more I'm missing. Also read the reviews section to get a picture of what some of these lights can do.

:welcome:
 
If you can bump your budget up to $120, I would suggest you buy two lights to fulfill your lighting needs.

1) Zebralight (any of the AA powered models) for a general around camp headlamp. This has a complete wide angle flood light that is great for up close work but it doesn't throw very far.

2) This one has lots of possibilities, but a 2xAA such as a Fenix LD20 or a Quark AA^2 would be a great hand-held light. These lights will give you 170-180 lumens on their highest settings.

You can run both of these very well on rechargeable NiMH batteries.

There is of course a world of other possibilities, but for general use, these would be a great start.
 
Second the Zebralight(get one with a neutral emitter), which will come in handy more than you can imagine, and a separate handheld.
Another option is a light with a fairly tight beam, and a diffuser for close use.
For walking in the dark, and general camp use, it will be hard to beat a floody headlamp, though.
I'd think a Zebralight H501w and Fenix TK20 would make a good combo for use with AAs, and cover all your needs.
 
You could also save some money by getting a Quark AA^2 and the Quark Prism. No need for a separate headlamp.
 
Thanks for all your help guys, ive narrowed it down to 2 lights now from Fenix. Im still yet to look into Quark lights, whats the best site to see all the models?

Where do you guys buy your Quark or Fenix lights from????

The Fenix lights I like the look of are the LD20 and the PD30
http://www.legear.com.au/Fenix-LD20-Q5-Flashlight-Australia-NZ-p/fenix-ld20.htm
http://www.legear.com.au/Fenix-PD30-Q5-BLK-Premium-Flashlight-Australia-NZ-p/fenix-pd30.htm

The LD 20 seems to have some good reviews on it but the PD30 seems to be a pretty good lights looking at the specs too

Will there be much difference between the 2 Fenix lights, any info is welcome

Jamie
 
Jamie_S said:
Will there be much difference between the 2 Fenix lights, any info is welcome
Click to expand...

I don't own either of these lights, so take this with a grain of salt. If this will be your first "proper" flashlight, and/or if it will be your main, everyday light, and/or if if will be your only light (for the time being, assuming the CPF bug doesn't bite you), then I encourage you to look mainly at the 1xAA or 2xAA lights (like the LD20 you mentioned) as opposed to the 1x or 2xCR123A lights (like the PD30). Both of these lights use the same Cree Q5 XR-E emitter and should yield very similar output, and both have similar UIs. But IMHO the flexibility afforded by the AA platform is a better choice for a first and/or only, general purpose light. You have the ability to run plain old AA alkalines or (better yet IMO) NiMH rechargeables, especially the newer "low self discharge" variety (e.g., Sanyo Eneloops) for guilt-free lumens. With a 2x123a platform, you're stuck with either 123a primaries (which I realize you said were in good supply in your location) or the much more finicky Li-Ion RCR123's.

So, my $0.02 is to stick with the AA platform for this light.
 
If you really want an adjustable focus, then I would recommend 2 Coast lights. The P7 is a hand held light, and probably has one of the best focusing mechanisms of any on the market. Mine is nice and smooth without any rings from flood to spot. The other is a headlamp, the H7, and in addition to the smooth variable focus, it also has variable brightness from very dim to bright, just by moving a lever, so it is step-less, infinitely variable. I use this headlamp a lot at night on trails, when camping, hunting, geocaching. It is an awesome light and you can have both hands free with it. Neither put out 200 lumens, but they are very bright, and in use at night outdoors I cannot see a big difference b/t them and lights I have that put out over 200 lumens.
 
Specs are only part of the picture. They usually don't tell you about the beam pattern, what you will think after you get the light, or all the other subjective things. Also, lumen ratings aren't constant for all manufacturers. For example, Quark lights are rated at out the front lumen, which means actual output after optical losses from the window and reflector. Another company might show theoretical max output of the LED at the drive current not taking into account optical losses (much more common with lower price lights) while others might throw random large numbers with no backing (example, 400 lumen R2 drop-in from an ebay seller when the LED can't even hot 400 lumen).

For a starting light, a AA powered one would be good because of the ease of finding the batteries. A warm white/neutral white LED would also show colors better then a cool white ones (don't worry about the difference in output, the better color rendering makes up for it).

Usually how far away are the animals you are trying to spot?

A warm white Quark might work for you.

8% off coupon at 4sevens is "CPF8"
 
Definitely two lights to start with. A 'full size' 2xAA for excellent performance as well as adequate runtime, and a smaller 1xAA or 1xAAA light for a backup - small lights like these can have some pretty amazing performance for their size these days, albeit runtimes will suffer on 'high' with their very limited battery capacity.

Regarding multiple output modes:
  • I have found that multi-level outputs aren't at all necessary on the full-size, general-purpose light. In fact, most of the time I choose a simple single mode over multiple output modes for maximum simplicity & reliability - this light will end up getting used a lot, and it doesn't have to do everything well, that's for your smaller 'backup':
  • Having multimodes on your small, backup light will be great - you'll be using it for everything from tent reading (1-2 lumens is perfect), to needing as much output as possible (~100 lumens) for stand-in duty for your general purpose light if your larger light isn't immediately at hand or if (correction, when :)) its cells are depleted. It wouldn't (theoretically) be as reliable or as durable as your primary light, but it's not going to get the severe use of that role either.
It's always nice to have a good backup, and a 1xAA or 1xAAA is small enough to always be handy in the pocket. :cool:
 
Last edited:
It may fall a bit short of 200 lumens but given the tint, bomb proof constuction and simple UI it is hard to beat a TK20. Also nice to use a common battery type like AA.
 
Gunner12 said:
Usually how far away are the animals you are trying to spot?

A warm white Quark might work for you.

8% off coupon at 4sevens is "CPF8"
Click to expand...

Im from Australia, we can use spotlights to shoot at night.
Quite a few times I hunt deer until it gets too dark then I will walk back to camp from there, with a decent light you can shoot pigs, foxes and rabbits on your way back.
Range could be anything really, as far as your light will see

I looked at the Quark website and seen a light that would suit me better the Quark 123.2 Tactical (the standard 123.2 is sold out)

http://www.4sevens.com/product_info.php?cPath=297_310&products_id=1669

It was one of the few Quark neutral white lights left in stock.

I like this light as it has a very low first setting, something that will help me not spook game walking into my spots before dawn as it wont be too bright.

Sound like a good choice for what im after?
 
For those that have suggested an AA platform light, I agree it would make more sense in most cases. In this case I cant seem to find a neutral white Quark in AA and I also have a stack of CR123 batteries at home.

I use CR123 batteries in my dive torch and change them after each dive, they most likely still have more than 50% charge but I cat run the risk of having them go flat on me while im diving, thats why I have a stack of batteries at home
 
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