Good flashlight for wheelchair

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nick__45

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Please recommend some flashlights to be mounted/duct-taped to wheelchairs. I know there are some already available from medical suppliers but they cost $300 for a quality easily achieved by a $20 light and they usually only have on and off button. Basically, someone just have a regular flashlight glued to a mounting bracket and charge the disables tons of money because they know either insurance will pay for it or the disables would have to swallow the cost.

This is why most wheelchairs don't have flashlight. Many people may feel that wheelchair are meant to be used indoor or easy surface of the mall. This is actually entirely incorrect. Many active wheelchair users actually don't stop living when the sun come down. This is especially true with people who were born disable such as our disabled veterans.

I would like to keep cost under $100 and prefer features such as strobe, SOS, ultra low (not moon .2 lumen), and extremely long run time. Batteries should either be AA, AAA, or CR123A which are easily available. A light that can take various batteries through adapters is a big plus. I saw one light on DX but not sure about the brand quality. It could take AA, CR123A, and 18650.

Also, please feel free to suggest any feature you feel needed as well as a good mounting location or device. I know the scenario is similar to bicycle light, which I simply duct-taped to my handlebar and wheel spokes. I park my bike outside and don't want my expensive lights to be snatch off.

Thank you.
 
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Depending on the chair construction, a bike mount could work. Something like the Fenix bike mount and an LD20 Or Quark AA^2 would be simple.
 
Don't know about the light itself, but as for the mount: I'd recommend a bike mount, such as the Fenix flashlight mount.
EDIT: Although the fenix mount doesn't support easy on easy off. It ain't a quick mount or dismount, it is held together by four screws. See the pics to get what I mean.

http://www.fenixlight.com/viewproduct.asp?id=54

I'm getting one :) ..... sometime :shakehead :whistle: needless to say, I ordered it from DX :ironic:

PS: If he or she is a veteran or formerly in the service tell them I said thank you for your service :)! If not then w/e lol
 
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I am not a veteran but the lights will be donated to disable veterans at Walther Reed, Bethesda Naval Hospital, as well as some other underfunded VA facilities. This is the reason why I am trying to keep cost down because it'll come out of my own pocket. However, I don't want to get them junk that would break on them. Higher lumen rating is a plus but I don't think chasing lumen is a wise investment. A decent throw to 50 meters/yards and long run time CRITICAL. I also would like to have a strike bezel just in case it needs to be used as a defensive tool. Believe it or not, a lot of bad people do target the disable for mugging since, in addition to cash and personal belongings, a wheelchair does fetch some pretty dollar at the pawn shops.

The reason I want to do this is I saw a lot of accidents waiting to happen while supporting the bass tournament. The wheelchair veterans zipped back and forth across the parking lot while we were directing truck/trailer traffic and none of them had a light. I also highly doubt that they would go for a headmount light like those used by miners and climbers due to macho factor. Keep in mind, these are people who were *** kickers in their days so that testosterone is still there and that could get them hurt by ignoring safety precaution. A good macho light would be something they want to use.

Since I am broke as is, I can only donate a feel and will personally be installing it or watch them do it so I know it goes to a good person and not end up being traded for cigarette or given away.

If anyone interested to help the veterans, please visit PVA.org. No, I am not asking for donation since I am not from Nigeria. I am also not PVA member but I do want to create some awareness. Wheelchair people need flashlights more than us folks.
 
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Romisen RC-K4 3~8V Versatile Cree Flashlight (1x18650/3xAAA/2xCR123)

This is the light I was referring about that could take different type of battery. It doesn't have multiple mode and DX won't list run time or lumen rating. I also have no knowledge about the company.
 
I have some dx light mounts, number 8274, these really did surprise me just how solidly built they are, they are a universal fit, they cost $1.54c but the bit the light goes in is in such a way that it snaps in and snaps out, so no need to have it pikied!!
I would suggest having a look and doing a bit of research on dx prices versus the lights you are interested in, some just chuck out loads of light, but beam is rubbish, but for $20 you can get amazing amount of light, no doubt in this price range a CREE led would be best bang per buck.
I am disabled over here due to a DD, (DUI in us speak), and know only to well how they are taken advantage of, the uk is pretty disgusting in this way, more so the way they treat there ex forces, I'm ashamed to be english, it really is that bad, I have mates here who are GI's, some retired here as well.
tabetha
 
Instead of a normal flashlight, I'd recommend getting a bike light or some kind of bright headlamp. Both are easier to mount and will give a floodier beam that will be much better for short range ground lumination. Four Sevens has the dosun bike light, and a few months back it was on sale for half off, dont know if that coupon is still active. Currently it is listed at 79 dollars, but I'm sure you could get cheaper ones.
 
You might also want to think about something as simple as reflective tape. I have used a wheelchair all my life and when I was younger I ended up putting reflective tape in a few key spots on the wheelchair (so it could be seen from all angles at night). You don't even notice it during the day but at night when a light (car headlight, etc) hits it you light up like a christmas tree. It works wonders. I used to travel a very busy county road at night before they put in a side walk so I had to go in the traffic lane. I put the reflective tape on the wheelchair and also carried a cheap flashlight that I simple put between my leg and the arm rest facing forward. I noticed a HUGE difference in how cars reacted after I put the reflective tape on. Before they would usually not see me until they were very close. After I put the reflective tape on you could them move over way in advance because they had seen the reflective tape. They may not have known it was a wheelchair at first but they knew SOMETHING was in the road. For mounting a light you might also want to think of a light mount for a rifle or shotgun. Some of them have a mount which clamps over the barrel or the tubular magazine on a shotgun. It would be about the right size to fit over one of the bars either on the arm rest, part of the leg rest or the frame. The reflective tape though is a VERY cheap and effective solution for being seen at night with a wheelchair bike for that matter.

Kudos Nick_45 for trying to help others! :twothumbs
 
Thank Soulrider. You are absolutely correct about the reflective tape. Surprisingly, I did not see one single wheelchair with reflective tape. Actually, only 4 chairs were power while the rest were manual. Again, this has a lot to do with pride and testosterone these heroes have. Safety takes backseat to macho-ism. I am sure we all do things we shouldn't because we think we can when there is obviously a better way to go about it. The old say that "we are our greatest enemies" still rings true, I guess.

I did make a recommendation to the local PVA chairman and he indicates that most guys would laugh at reflective tape. I think if reflective devices don't look like reflective devices they would use it. I see a lot of macho looking decals at Pep Boys and Harley stores that I could look into.

You guys give me a lot of good leads on bicycle mount and I'll look into that. I used to commute to work on bikes and don't think there are a lot of good lights out there made specifically for bikes. Most commuters just jerry-rigs something together using their good lights. I saw two kids ridding in the wrong direction last night around 0200 hr and one kid has a super bright light on strobe mode. I saw them from at least 1 mile away. There is a pretty chance that he just duct tape that puppy on there as it looks quite large for a typical mount.

Thank you everyone for your help. I'll check on some lights this weekend and report back. I think giving someone, who ensures my freedom, a flashlight is the least I can do since a lot of guys coming back disable are around my age. If it wasn't for my parents' money to put me through college, I could have joined up and may get hurt myself.
 
to offer something completely different.. freelights.co.uk

or google for more pricier alternative of Reelight.

that freelight version could be done DIY too.. but that diy kit they have for sale is also rather cheap in my mind. (and i think one could increase the size of the cap for longer runtime.. and maybe upgrade the leds too if they are too dim :) )

might not be as convinient in wheelchair use as in bicycle. but basically they would light up as you move, also wouldnt be too expensive set up, and not easy to steal quickly.

**clamp style mount for 2AA light would be my suggestion too.. an idea i had flying in my head once when i thought of quick release was to have the mount hinged on one side.. and put the light on the mount.. close the clamp.. and it would hold fast via couple superglued magnets one on base part and other on top part. for casual onlooker the mount would look solid but still be easy to yank the light out. (maybe attach an lanyard to it to make sure it wont fall to ground or something)

**remember people not only need to see you coming but going too. should have atleast some red leds in the back or reflector tape.. and also have that reflector tape on sides and flashlight foward.
 
Well first of all this sounds like an awesome thoughtful project! I would say for a mount if you wouldnt mind mounting them for the guys or if you think theyd go through the trouble you could use a small piece of picatinny rail and a universal gun mount? That could also add to the "macho" factor! And you would also probably want to make it a multimode light to conserve battery life and id say go with an AA or rechargeable battery (most people would probably gawk at having to spend the $1.50+ per battery on a CR-123a) If you mention what your doing this for to whomever you purchase the supplies from they might offer a discount or work out some kind of deal with you? Sadly I cant think of any lights off the top of my head that would be price friendly. And yes I would also suggest giving them a sheet of reflective tape with their light or if you dont think theyd use it look at getting a reflective sticker made at a local shop that could say "WWII Veteran" or something along those lines that they could slap on the back of the chair? Or even better yet a reflective American flag sticker (im guessing you are in the US but if you are making these for someone different then go for your countrys flag) ?
 
Quite a few people on the bicycle forums say they like this mount better than any commercial one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrfZhEzjWwg You can evidently adjust it to fit anything with a little experimentation. If you could get a local bike shop to give you a few busted bicycle inner tubes it would save you some bucks to learn to make these. And I'm sure they would fit the macho requirement.
 
Picatinny rail would be great. I didn't think about that and that makes you a genius.

I am not interested in any light that requires a lot of work to install, especially those lights that runs off the wheels as they spin. Those lights are a pain to install, turns off when the wheels stop, and are overall pain in the butt. I am not familiar with wheelchair but after being around them from 0300 hr to 1900 hr I know there isn't much area that are ideal for mounting for the front. Mounting the light on the rear is quite easy but reflective tapes can solve that problem. The only areas I could think off are the vertical and horizontal parts of the arm rest. If need to I can super glue a piece of the picatiny rail to the flashlight itself so that it can be slide on and off the main housing. For this, low price Chinese rails would be fine as there isn't much stress on them. I am going to hit a few gun show to see what's available.

The hope is to keep the light thin but not too short/small that would limit run time. One issue with wheelchair is weight load and the goal is to keep things as light as possible since the rider need to self-power it. While some people would have the money to buy those fancy featherweight chairs costing several thousands, most veterans only get run of the mill chair that aren't that light to begin with. Any ounce I can save them would go a long way.

It is rather unfortunately that there isn't any good flashlight brick and mortar store beside Gander Mountain that carries a variety of good lights and even it does not always have lights with strobe and variety of mode since their target is the tacticool crowd. The only place to find good lights to review is gun show but their price is often off the wall but they do provide the opportunity to play with the Chinese clones to see how good they are.

On the topic of reflective tape, I may be able to get a stencil and cut out some cool lettering in hope people would use them. It would be nice to able able to get them pre-made like reflective decal sticker without going the custom route.

A light that I am looking at now is: Fenix Digital LD20 Black Premium Q5. It doesn't have the striker bezel and has every lighting feature I am looking for and it use AA, which has reasonable price rechargeable selection. The price isn't too bad though I wish they reduce some features and lumen output a little to bring the price lower.

A feature I haven't seen is the ability to replace the tailcap with a pressure cap like those use for weapon light. Pressure cap is much easier to press since it requires almost zero hand and wrist coordination and articulation. We are talking about convention self-power wheelchair so the riders do have reasonable strength but I have seen some riders with very hard time dealing with coordination and articulation.
 
Haha yea ive seen rail used to mount all kinds of stuff on the forums, mostly light mounts for bikes though. Here is a decent priced universal flashlight rail mount on Ebay. And heres some rail section! Ive seen smaller pieces of rail around but cant remember where?

And as far as the reflective stickers I would seriously go with a reflective American flag sticker since as you said many of these would be for war veterans and they may to too manly to admit they need reflective materials all over their ride but being proud Americans wouldnt be able to turn down a reflective American flag or POW sticker! Ask a local decal shop and let them know WHY you are doing it and if they have half a heart they will probably do it either for free or really cheap. OR since I was bored you can check these, these or these out :rolleyes:

And heres my one suggestion for a relatively cheap nice light. Its only one mode (multi-mode is available but the modes arent reliable or easy to access for alot of people and would probably be thrown in a drawer) but its called the Solarforce L2. That particular one is about 200~ lumens and can be used with a rechargeable 18650 battery or CR123a's and the best part is its $25 shipped :)

With the stuff ive listed you should be able to build these for less than $45 shipped and then add some reflective flag stickers and you should have your stuff all together. I would really go to a local decal and graphic shop and let them know what you need and your intentions and see what they can do for you.

EDIT: Just noticed in post #4 your donating them within VA. I live near Richmond, where are you located?
 
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Those are some nice decals though they are a little smaller than what I was looking for. I would have to get two then. The price is actually pretty high for such a small decal because my redneck bumper stickers were only $3 at the gun show and these are actually pretty cool stickers with much better art work. They are a little reflective because you'll tend to see them first before you see the bumper but that are not as reflective as those reflectors on bikes or in front of people's yard. The big American flag decal is better but I wish they have more design such as service insignias and such.

You really have to be there to see how dangerous it was for these veterans to zip back and forth across the parking lot when those giant pickups with the bass trailers were pulling in. I am going to a bike shop tomorrow to see if they have reflective paints. The dimension of the wheelchair wheel is about 26 inches just like most 10-speed wheels. I hope the medical companies don't make it just a tad different so they can charge disabled people 15 times as much. If they're the same, there are glow in the dark tires that I could look into in additional to flashlight, which is meant for the front.

A concern I have regarding decal is a good location to stick them. Many riders have a their backpack behind the seat and that would cover the decals. The decals would be great on the side panels though.

Another light idea would be to install those flashing bulb on the air valves. I know it's illegal for cars but wheelchair would be fine. Some of the newer ones actually are up to 5 lumen in output.

Yes, I am in the U.S. although I am living too close to D.C. instead of El Paso or Florida like I really want to.

Thank you everyone for your help. You make my role much easier. I also like to thank a member here who will hook up with me to advice me on flashlight. I am sure I'll learn a ton from him as I am very new to modern flashlight, having been stuck in the Maglite universe all these years.
 
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gsxrac said:
Haha yea ive seen rail used to mount all kinds of stuff on the forums, mostly light mounts for bikes though. Here is a decent priced universal flashlight rail mount on Ebay. And heres some rail section! Ive seen smaller pieces of rail around but cant remember where?

And as far as the reflective stickers I would seriously go with a reflective American flag sticker since as you said many of these would be for war veterans and they may to too manly to admit they need reflective materials all over their ride but being proud Americans wouldnt be able to turn down a reflective American flag or POW sticker! Ask a local decal shop and let them know WHY you are doing it and if they have half a heart they will probably do it either for free or really cheap. OR since I was bored you can check these, these or these out :rolleyes:

And heres my one suggestion for a relatively cheap nice light. Its only one mode (multi-mode is available but the modes arent reliable or easy to access for alot of people and would probably be thrown in a drawer) but its called the Solarforce L2. That particular one is about 200~ lumens and can be used with a rechargeable 18650 battery or CR123a's and the best part is its $25 shipped :)

With the stuff ive listed you should be able to build these for less than $45 shipped and then add some reflective flag stickers and you should have your stuff all together. I would really go to a local decal and graphic shop and let them know what you need and your intentions and see what they can do for you.

EDIT: Just noticed in post #4 your donating them within VA. I live near Richmond, where are you located?
Click to expand...

I am in King George, VA. The plan now is to donate them to disable vets either just coming off service or those with the financial need. Please keep in mind that this will be coming out of my pocket, which is empty most of the time anyway. For example, it wouldn't be right to donate a expensive light for a person who buy a brand new pickup after service and has no issue racking up those credit card bill. I am sure he deserve that pickup and all those things he buy with his credit card but, unlike Uncle Sam, my budget is very limit and should go toward someone who really need them and can't afford them.

Is Solarforce a reliable brand. I see a lot of fancy looking lights with good feature for under $50. Aurora and those lights ending in *fire come to mind but I don't know anything about them. I hate to spend the money and have them poop on me. Honestly, I really like the Tradecraft lights I got from BJ's. They are only $15 each and are rated at 140 lumen. They are bright and have long run time. The build quality is tough as I dropped them on concrete a few times while bringing in groceries and stuffs from the car. I prefer their coated aircraft aluminum body over Surefire plastic any day of the week. Once of these day I am going paint them OD Green or Hazard Orange. I am thinking about donating one of my Tradecraft to this fellow who walks to Food Lion strip mall for shopping at night. I am not sure if he has ever held a job but I know he's a little off upstair and walks from his apartment to that strip mall area twice or three times a day. It is only about 2-3 miles but he does walk in the dark often. Originally he had one of those Dollar Tree light then he upgraded to those light you shake to recharge, possibly because the C or D alkaline batteries were costing me too much to buy. I figure I can give him a real light along with 6 rechargeable AAA and tell him to exchange them for fresh battery once a week. The Tradecraft has very long run time on 3 AAA and is rated at 140 lumen unlike his 5 lumen self charging junk. Guys like him should really invest in a good light instead of spending money on cellphone and other things. His usage environment is something most of use envy as I know some folks here would probably be running those 900 lumen lights if we have to walk in the dark.
 
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