Help me pick a light(s) for my DAD

[tkl]

just got back from my dad's, he's old school. ain't no light gonna impress him nun.

those cheapo lights that run off the big battery have a super tight spot, nothing else. the spot is so tight it's a waste! but if pops likes 'em who am i to tell him they suck?

i asked him questions trying to feel him out cause i want to get him another light but he didn't seem interested. he uses one on occasion at work to look inside airplane parts so i'm thining of getting him an ARC AAA.

he's one of those guys that doesn't pay attention or appreciate something until he uses it himself.

 

[BuddTX]

I would recommend the Streamlight 3C, 10 LED light or the Streamlight 4AA, 7 LED light.

The run time (with diminishing brightness) for the 3C is 355 hours!

Of course the light looses intensitiy, but remains ultra white, and does not grow yellower as it gets dimmer, thereby giving the impression that the light beam is still very strong.

I would also recommend one of the CCFT lights, like the Energizer ARC White, or a flourscent lantern.

Also, for good reading, check out this link:

http://thelightsite.cruxial.com//storm.htm

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Why not just get him more batteries for the lights that he currently uses. Save him the time he spends going to the store to buy those batteries. If it works for him and it makes him happy to stick with what he is comfortable for him, any atempts to change him will likely compel him to become even more contemptous at your efforts.

Five years into my second career, I tried to
get my dad to try Herr Gaston Glock's newest invention: the polymer, 9mm, high capacity pistol. My dad just looked at me and smiled.
He never tried the Glock unit.

As I near 60, few things surprise me; even fewer things impress me. I am privy to seeing a lot of things and objects most of you on this board would spend months taking about. Yet, the last thing that really impressed me was my oldest sister's youngest grandson: a 16-year old BOY that recently demonstrated good table manners by removing his nose ring, washing and combing his greasy blue and yellow streaked hair, and washing his hands before he joined his grandmother, parents and me at the dinner table. He also managed to keep his dialoue free from the street lingo and profanity for the 40 minutes he was at the table.

Regarding flashlights, I tend to gravitate to the Maglite Magcharger; something that has worked and worked well for me for over 18 years.

Do YOURSELF a favor and buy him more batteries for his anachronistic flashlights. One day you will realize that the flashlight choices you make WILL seem silly to your children.

 

[FalconFX]

Charles, it may have been a dud or something. The Exped 50 and Exped 1900 I had were flawless as far as LED placement and quality was concerned. In fact, when I left the Extreme on all those days, I was worried it would get too hot, since the body was rubber with almost no heat relief whatsoever. My biggest worry on the 1900 was the placement of the LEDs, since lighting all of them up to me would've meant a lot of heat being generated. Heat might have been the cause for why the LED had a cracked head; might've been an especially sensitive emitter...

 

[geepondy]

I got my father a badboy 500 mini mag mod. I didn't but one could include a charger and rechargeable batteries so that would never be an issue again. Due to the constant current regulation, the brightness will be similar whether using alkalines or rechargeables. Of course won't compare with a 6V Latern light but will be more useful in near applications.

I've gotten my parent's a few lights thru the past couple of years including a Surefire E2. The one they use the most though is the Radio Shack pocket flourescent lamp. They like the area type light it provides and the fact that they can set it down to do things like add wood to the fire, etc.

KT, a few years ago when my niece turned 18, I "paid" her not to get her nose pierced. She went away to college and shortly after that defied our agreement. She's a very warm and well mannered person in all regards but whenever I see her, I'm drawn to that nose ring and it just looks repulsive to me. Maybe I'm Old School now I guess....

 

[tkl]

all good advice, thanks guys.

i think i'll get him an arc aaa for work and a nice rechargable for fathers day. it seems he's happy with what he has.

 

[B@rt]

Originally posted by electronics4life:
I am researching the minimag led replacements. Where did you purchase the bad boy mod?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">dat2zip is selling them in "Dat2zip Sandwich Shop" .

 

[electronics4life]

Originally posted by geepondy:
I got my father a badboy 500 mini mag mod. I didn't but one could include a charger and rechargeable batteries so that would never be an issue again. Due to the constant current regulation, the brightness will be similar whether using alkalines or rechargeables. Of course won't compare with a 6V Latern light but will be more useful in near applications.

I've gotten my parent's a few lights thru the past couple of years including a Surefire E2. The one they use the most though is the Radio Shack pocket flourescent lamp. They like the area type light it provides and the fact that they can set it down to do things like add wood to the fire, etc.

KT, a few years ago when my niece turned 18, I "paid" her not to get her nose pierced. She went away to college and shortly after that defied our agreement. She's a very warm and well mannered person in all regards but whenever I see her, I'm drawn to that nose ring and it just looks repulsive to me. Maybe I'm Old School now I guess....

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I am researching the minimag led replacements. Where did you purchase the bad boy mod?

 

[geepondy]

I've gotten three of Bad Boys from Wayne. Except for the usual differences amongst the Luxeon LED tints, I consider them the best Luxeon value for the money. I don't consider my BB500 to be significantly brighter then my BB400 so one could save even more as well as get longer run time by going that route.

 

[tkl]

could someone compare brightness of the badboy 400 to other led's like photon, arc aaa, arc ls, etc.....

 

[x-ray]

Originally posted by tkl:
could someone compare brightness of the badboy 400 to other led's like photon, arc aaa, arc ls, etc.....

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Here you go:

From left to right: Badboy, Arc LS, Arc AAA

Note, the Badboy is much whiter than it appears in the picture

 

[tkl]

sweet, thanks. if you could, describe the color of the bb and ls. folks here always say they're a different color in person than the camera picks up.

 

[tkl]

doh! just saw your note under the beamshot.

 

[x-ray]

Ok I think this will make sense

The Badboy (in real life) is very close to the color of the Arc LS in the above picture.

My Arc has a strong blue/violet tint that seemed to confuse the auto white balance on the camera.

The Badboy is actually the whitest LS light I own, I also have a Madmax which is very slightly brighter but no where near as white

 

[Sigman]

Owning those 3 torches myself, I would agree with x-ray's beamshots and with his statement about it being whiter than the pic. It really is a one of my brightest drop-ins.

However, for the value - I also appreciate InReTechs drop-ins. I'll be ordering more IRTs (I will of course keep one & a couple others will be gifts to "budding flashaholics"), however the BB400 is all mine!

I have to add that I like my BB400 in a Brinkmann Legend due to the tail switch.

 

[geepondy]

Due to the huge variations of the Luxeon's please take the above beamshots as a reference only (very nice to have them posted though). For instance, you could swap the titles of the LS and Badboy in the picture and you would have my lights. I have a Badboy 400 and two 500s along with an Arc LS and a KL1. All of them have widely varying tints and brightness of the beams from a greenish Arc LS to a violet KL1. It really is a crapshoot and I consider myself lucky that two of the three badboys I own have mostly white beams.