I Need a Serious Thrower...Your Help is Needed

[Tolly]

Okay boys, here's the deal. We do a LOT of hog hunting at night with catch dogs. We usually do this from horseback which has plenty of it's own dangers without including super bright "Floody" beamed lights that will completely screw up the horses vision. Trust me when I tell you that they don't like that very much. Anyway, what I am looking for is a light that I can use as a long range dog & hog locator with a very penetrating, long throwing beam and spot that doesn't spill a lot of light out right around the immediate area I am in while sitting on the horses back. I apologize for my lack of flashaholic lingo, and I hope you all understand what I am trying to say. If you don't understand, please ask questions and I will try to answer them.

As far as size and price go, I would prefer the light not be much bigger than a 2 or 3D Mag Lite, and I need to buy a couple of these things so I would like to keep the cost of per unit to no more than $150 a piece or so.

Thanks in advance.

 

[LukeA]

Aspheric mag. Tremendous throw, zero spill. Built from any size mag. Even if you buy them from someone here, they won't be over your price.

 

[tekguy]

tiablo a9

 

[MarNav1]

3D Mag w Malkoff drop-in.

 

[djblank87]

The most throw for a hand held light is as follows:

1. Aspheric Mag with a Q5.
2. Dereelight Q5.
3. Tiablo A9 Q5.

These are just the top three floating around the forum right now. I have onwed a Tiablo A9 Q5 and it throws a ton. If you see this thread: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=175386
done by CPF member Nitro. It is well done and shows the throw of a lot of light including the Tiablo A8 and Aspheric Mag.

 

[Tolly]

Thanks for the info. Can you boys tell me where I can buy the above mentioned lights? What all is envolved in modifying an existing Maglite? I have plenty of them, and I can solder with the best of them.

 

[gottawearshades]

Well, your milage may vary, but I like to take my Surefire L1 cree into the woods sort of for the same reason. It has a very intense hotspot, and a fairly dim sidespill.

I can kind of shoot the beam out to spot something kind of far away, but I don't get glare bouncing back at me from the tree branches right around me, if that makes any sense.

Just one man's opinion.

Cheers.

 

[djblank87]

The Tiablo series can be bought here: http://www.lighthound.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2983

The Dereelight here:
http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=171053

Aspheric Mags can be made by yourself or some CPF'ers make them. You can do a search for CPF member Ledean, he is making them.

 

[Tolly]

Are the LED based lights still going to work well when there is a little light fog or haze?

 

[LukeA]

Are the LED based lights still going to work well when there is a little light fog or haze?

Fog penetrating capabilities are based on beam character (throwier with less spill is better), so yes.

To build an aspheric mag, you'll want:

a litemania (or other) heatsink (modified). You could make your own, but this will make it easier for you.
a regulator or resistor
an aspheric lens (50mm dia*35mm FL and 52*37 have been used successfully in unmodified mag heads)

It's really a simple build. Here's a tutorial thread with a 52*37 lens.

 

[MarNav1]

The Malkoff just drops in. He sells reflectors too. Malkoff devices.com I believe.

 

[djblank87]

Fog penetrating capabilities are based on beam character (throwier with less spill is better), so yes.

+1 LED's have come along way but as stated beam character plays a big role and these throwers will penetrate.

www.Malkoffdevices.com Gene Malkoff is the maker of custom drop In's for Mag lights and Surefire lights. While Mag and Surefire in no way shape or form endorse Genes products they are hands down some of the finest products made. I'm a huge Malkoff supporter but if your looking for the most throw, the above listed item will out throw Gene's lights.

But if you want to ramp up your Mag, basically a Mag on steroids go with Gene's product. :thumbsup:

 

[bones_708]

Pelican lights are pretty good throwers also. Not as bright as some mentioned, but they have very tight focus with a long throw. Their beam out of a regular light is very comparable to turbo head lights if not as bright. With the M8, M9, M10, M11, and M12 you have different sizes, rechargeable or non, materials (metal/plastic), ect. Worth a look especially with a lifetime warranty.

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Tolly,

Welcome to CPF.

One of the best "throwers" I have seen in a stock light is the Mag Charger.

Tom

 

[powernoodle]

Before you spend some big bucks, go to Walmart or Target and get yourself a Vector brand or similar rechargeable spotlight. Costs about $15 - $20, and blows away the spendy stuff. If you want to penetrate the night, this is it. Give it a try, and if you don't think its a hunting light, keep it in the vehicle.

 

[lctorana]

Disagree about the halogen spotlight. That would serously affect the horses.

What you need, is a pencil beam with no spill.

IMHO, a sealed-beam lantern is the best choice. How about the Energizer 9101IND? It's old-tech, but I guarantee would outthrow all the suggestions above, put together.

It's not at all bright, but for throw, nothing below 50W comes even close to it.

 

[Wicho]

How about a Surefire 9n with a T3 Turbohead, or the 9AN with the KT3? (I think it's the KT3).

 

[WadeF]

This is the beam from the Dereelight DBS. They have a brighter emitter out now than what I had in it when I took this shot. Although the difference with the new emitter would probably only be slightly brighter. Distance to trees is around 600 feet.

 

[WDR65]

I think the Streamlight TL-3 is a pretty good option. It has a fairly tight beam with some spill at a distance. There are brighter rechargables, but since you sound like you might be fairly far away from the trucks or a power outlet to recharge them I think you should go with primary batteries. The TL-3 is around $60 and while I would love to suggest a Surefire to you, one with a Turbohead is going to run you at least $250. (The TL-3 has a small turbohead and the Turboheads focus the light down further into a farther throwing beam.)

I personally prefer primary batteries when I am hunting as I have no idea when I might get back to my truck or the house. I just carry spare batteries and keep right on rolling.

Also there are a lot of LED suggestions above that are great, but I still lean toward incandescents for long reach.

 

[kavvika]

I don't know how long you want battery life to be, but I have a few ideas that can use a Mag 2C as a host.

5-cell Maglite bulb w/ 3x CR123A's in a piece of heater hose.
For a rechargeable solution for that, use 2x AW's 17500 cells.
For longer battery life, you can substitute 2x AW's 18500 cells, but IDK if they'll fit inside a heater hose without cutting a thin strip from it.
You can swap the bulb, lens, and reflector and make a ROP 2C LE w/ either 2 of AW's C-LiIon cells or 2x 18650's.