Lightweight LED or Florescent for walking

[BuddTX]

I really like my Surge, but if I have it on contuniously for 1-2 hours a day, I will go through batteries (and bulbs) pretty quickly.

I carry it for light "as needed" not for an "always on" light. If I were walking in the country in complete darkness, I might want to keep it on all the time, but there is enought ambient light in the field that I waalk.

From reading here, I think a LED light might be the answer to an "always on" light while walking. I was even considering a cap mounted light, or a light that can hang from my neck.

I even have an Energizer ArcWhite light that I am going to try out tonight to see how that flashlight will work (it has the mini florescent lamp installed).

It has a hole for a lanyard.

Any other suggestions for an LED light?

Should I wait for the Luxeon bulb to work it's way into lights before purchasing an LED light.

Based on the positive reviews so far, I think that might be the way to go, wait for the Luxeon.

But then, I think the battery life of the Luxeon is not as long as even a multi led's.

Any comments.

 

[Mike]

I have an Energizer ArcWhite also. The fluorescent tube puts out a nice light for walking when you don't care about seeing anything in the distance, but it isn't comfortable carrying in that position. The light also appears to be very fragile.

Somebody could make a nice light if they took that little tube and coiled it up with a reflector behind it.

 

[Spork]

there are many led lights that would work well for you. if its going to be your walking light then it should be lightweight. the cheapest and brightest you will find is the princeton tec attitude. one of my favorites and is very light and pocket size. An arc aaa would also be a very good choice.
I don't think the luxeon will wipe out the 5mm led flashlights. its nice and bright but it eats batteries faster and just take a look at how much trouble people have with heat in their mods.

 

[ikendu]

Try the Energizer Folding LED lantern (Walmart for about $9).

It puts out a nice, diffuse light that is adjustable (either 1 or 2 LEDs on). It is easy to hang from a neck lanyard (hands free) and can be positioned to light up the area ahead or down by your feet. Batteries should last for 100-200 hours (4 AAs).

We use one for night time walks and really like it.

You can't go too far wrong for $9.

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I recommend a Princeton TEC Attitude. It is a 3 LED handheld light powered by 4 AAA batteries. Long Life, simple, tough.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by BuddTX:
I really like my Surge, but if I have it on contuniously for 1-2 hours a day, I will go through batteries (and bulbs) pretty quickly.

I carry it for light "as needed" not for an "always on" light. If I were walking in the country in complete darkness, I might want to keep it on all the time, but there is enought ambient light in the field that I waalk.

From reading here, I think a LED light might be the answer to an "always on" light while walking. I was even considering a cap mounted light, or a light that can hang from my neck.

I even have an Energizer ArcWhite light that I am going to try out tonight to see how that flashlight will work (it has the mini florescent lamp installed).

It has a hole for a lanyard.

Any other suggestions for an LED light?

Should I wait for the Luxeon bulb to work it's way into lights before purchasing an LED light.

Based on the positive reviews so far, I think that might be the way to go, wait for the Luxeon.

But then, I think the battery life of the Luxeon is not as long as even a multi led's.

Any comments.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

[X-CalBR8]

Mike: I agree with your comments. The Energizer Arc White is a great flashlight, but the body is pretty much crap. One of the worst things that I don’t like is the fact that it isn’t waterproof. I definitely would not want to get caught in a rain storm with only this light. It’s a real shame to because the fluorescent tube is my favorite of any that I’ve ever tried. I think you are correct when you said that the tube would make for a really cool mod to put on a better quality (as in body) flashlight. Another thing worth noting about the Arc White is that it is very nice to read by for those times you are camping or there is a power outage. I read a book for over 8 hours straight once during a power outage before running down the NiMh AA’s that I use in it and most all that time at near full brightness and I’m sure it would have lasted even longer on Alkalines. Those are runtimes that you usually only see in LED lights. Needless to say, I was pretty impressed by it.

 

[WarrenI]

The PT Attitude should suite you fine, as I gather that you do not enjoy changing batteries each week. If you can afford the addition weight and size, I would go with a LightWave 3000. I got my brother one for Christmas and he uses it for at least 2 hours every day. On top of this, he left it on for a burn test from 7pm on a Friday till 10pm on a Sunday. After all of this, he is still on the original set of 3Cs. The light can still hit 30+ feet easily. We're not sure when we will need to change the batteries, but it may be within the next month or two.

 

[DArklite]

Check out the Turtlelite II.
Not "lightweight" in the sense of an Arc AAA, but not heavy to walk around with either.
I find myself using it as my "default" all-around LED flashlight these days.
If you say you would use it 1-2 hours a day, then you should only have to change the batteries (4 AA's) once a month, at most.
No worries if you drop it, either.
You can order it here: http://www.ledcorp.com/
Craig rates it highly on his site, too.

 

[Lux Luthor]

I agree the Surge is not for constant on use, and an extra (preferably hands free) light is the way to go while walking.

I ordered an LS amber high dome, and my intention is to put it into a Tec 20 for exactly that purpose. I thought about a headlamp, but I don't want something on my head while walking through the park.

My idea is to construct a clip of sorts and hang the Tec 20 from the side of my pants pocket. Any swinging of the beam while walking shouldn't be too noticeable if the beam is wide. If I can see 10 to 20 feet in front of me I'll be happy.

 

[Silviron]

I use my PAL light on a lanyard around my neck- The always on level is good for not being run-over by joggers or bicyclists.

The medium setting is good enough if the trail is just little rough and the bright setting is good enough to see if that is a skunk or just a kitty-cat fifteen feet ahead.

Been using mine in this way for 3-4 months on the same battery, (although I very rarely use it in any more than the low setting)

If I were running, I'd probably pick something brighter though- a runner could "out-run" his light with one of these.

 

[DavidW]

I got 20 Rayovac Maximum AA's at Wal Mart for $8.97.

That should feed the urge to Surge.

The Arcwhite is a nice light. But I found a new toy to play with. It's a 2AA flourescent pocket lamp from Radio Shack. I thought I saw a review on Craig's site a while back. But I can't find it now.

It's bright but I worry about runtime. I'm on the first set of batteries. It's not dead yet but they're having a hard time lighting up after about 6-8 uses. Maybe better batteries than the Radio Shack brand would give better performance.

 

[BuddTX]

Guy,

You read my mind!

I used the Energizer ArcWhite this evening and it worked out great! I put it in that "little innerpocket" on your jeans and it worked out pretty well, so I went to the Hardware Store and bought two belt clips, and hooked it to the lanyard hole, and it pivoted the wrong way, so I linked another key ring on, and it works great. I have three of them, so I will hook one on each side. (I did this before reading your reply!)

I agree that it is not well built, the plastic will get dinged up pretty quickly, but oh well. for 15-20 bucks, it fits my needs and I already own it (3 actually).

I am going to wear two, one on each side. AND, my dog can see me, AND because it is a gentle white-blue, I do not loose my night vision, but I can see the ant hill that I am "fixin t" step in (as we say in Texas!)

And as DavidW says, I saw the 24 pack of Rayovac AA's at Lowe's for 9 something. Sounds like a little less at Wal-mart, but I did not see a 24 pack there.

Actually, there are a lot of good recomendations here. As this is a fun little hobby, I could buy one every month or so, and check them out!

I find that if I am "playing" with a flashlight or whatever, my exercising goes by quicker, and I actually walk for a longer period.

Man, I am going to hate it when summer comes and it stays light until 9:00 !

I was thinking the same thing about the Luxeon LED (almost said bulb!) more powerful but uses more power. That Lightwave 3000 sounds nice, for the run time.

I think someone else (or even Energizer!) needs to use that tiny florescent bulb in a better built light. During the big flood that we had in Houston, and my work (a large hospital) had absolutely no power, I used that little ArcWhite lite in the florescent mode for several hours to clean out my office before they ripped everything out of my office. It even makes for a make shift lantern, buy standing it on it's end (the bezel bulb end actually works better than the other end!)

So it's not a prestige brand, it's not made of Tititanium, doesn't cost big bucks, can't scuba dive with it, wont survive banging around the bed of a truck for a week, can't check your tire pressure with it, can't light up the world, won't double as a hammer, but it works well and gives a very even steady, nice light, (perfect glow for walking), it's light weight, 8-10 hr run time on 4 AA's and I already own it! I am actually going to take out the incandescent bulb in the light.

Plus, I do think it looks cooler hooked on to my belt side, rather than wearing a headlamp!

Let yall know how it turns out tomorrow.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Guy Guyer:
I agree the Surge is not for constant on use, and an extra (preferably hands free) light is the way to go while walking.

I ordered an LS amber high dome, and my intention is to put it into a Tec 20 for exactly that purpose. I thought about a headlamp, but I don't want something on my head while walking through the park.

My idea is to construct a clip of sorts and hang the Tec 20 from the side of my pants pocket. Any swinging of the beam while walking shouldn't be too noticeable if the beam is wide. If I can see 10 to 20 feet in front of me I'll be happy.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

[The_LED_Museum]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by DavidW:
The Arcwhite is a nice light. But I found a new toy to play with. It's a 2AA flourescent pocket lamp from Radio Shack. I thought I saw a review on Craig's site a while back. But I can't find it now.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The only fluoro I've reviewed was the Arc White. I checked the page just now only to find it missing. Somebody hacked my site right after last year's earthquake, knowing my computer had also been destroyed and that a full recovery would be next to impossible.
But they didn't realise I had much of my LED Museum files stored on a drive that wasn't even in the computer at the time. So I didn't lose more than a few scattered pages.

Ok... I fished the Arc White's review from last January 30th off a backup drive, ran it through my "new format" script, and just uploaded it to my server... so there ya go.

It got pretty good marks overall except for durability... surprise, surprise.

 

[flashfan]

The Target store in my area is selling a 10-pack of Energizer Max batteries (AA or AAA) for $5.14. Buy two packs, and with the coupon on the pack, you get $5 "back" via a Target "gift card," in effect giving you 20 Energizer Max AA or AAA batteries for $5.28--seems like a pretty good deal for batteries with an expiration date of 2008. (Stocking up for the Surge that is on my wish list...)

Regarding the Radio Shack compact fluorescent light (Osram?), I like them a lot, but burn time is an issue for me. The light seems to run through a set of batteries pretty quickly when left on for "extended" periods of time. I tried lithium AAs, but after being on for awhile (30 minutes?), the light gave off a burning smell, so it was back to alkalines.

 

[Bmccue1964]

I take my evening walks with a Brinkmann Long-Life (1 LED) with unique optics. Throws enough light to walk by and will illuminate something easily 50+ feet away (skunk?). It uses 2 AA batteries and runs for 48 hours on one set (continuosly). It's light weight and has a belt clip built onto it. It also comes with 3 colored lens caps (blue, amber, red).

Fairly rugged with switch built into end cap.


Price about $11 at Wal-Mart.

 

[Mike]

Buddtx, why are you going to take the incandescent lamp out of your arcwhite? Seems like it would be handy on a walk if you need to see something a little further away than the tube can light up.

The belt clip is a good idea!

 

[vcal]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Mike:
Buddtx, why are you going to take the incandescent lamp out of your arcwhite? Seems like it would be handy on a walk if you need to see something a little further away than the tube can light up.

The belt clip is a good idea!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Another idea I like is to substitute the PR/LED lamp (like LEDcorp sells-6v.)-I bought the Dorcy Cool Blue ($8.@ Wally's) just to get that LED

. It puts out an extremely tight spot in my ArcWhite, and would probably go 2-3 weeks straight on fresh AA alkalines

 

[Empath]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by vcal:
Another idea I like is to substitute the PR/LED lamp (like LEDcorp sells-6v.)-I bought the Dorcy Cool Blue ($8.@ Wally's) just to get that LED

. It puts out an extremely tight spot in my ArcWhite, and would probably go 2-3 weeks straight on fresh AA alkalines

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Heh! I've bought about five of those Dorcy Lights just to get the LED at that price. The first one I removed the LED from got a new PR bulb to replace it, since a flashlight without a bulb is a very sad thing. I seem to have become callous though now. I striped the LED out of the others and discarded their bodies, as if flashlights had no feelings at all.

 

[BuddTX]

Because I also cary two Surge's with me!
One in each hands for the weight.

Also, the switch is UP - middle - down. When turning off the flourscent, I often turn on the incandecent. To make the batteries last longer, I didn't want to be turning on the incandenscent bulb every time I turned off the light.

I used to carry Mag-lite's and liked the weight. I am walking for exercise, so the weight IS important. After the "flashicolic" in me tires of playing with the Surge, I will still carry it, but probably go back to the mag for the weight. (Still keep the Surge in my pocket) Either that, or get wrist weights.

The more I think about it, the more I like wrist weights.

I tell you what, for the first time in six months, she ran into the street. Now I have two pelican mini flashers, and a blinking luminus strip on her collar, but the cars go by very fast, even though it is posted at 30 mph and is a very short street.

With the Surge I was able get the car driver's attention and to get them to slow down. I was very glad to have the surge, because she could have gotten hit by a car very easily.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Mike:
Buddtx, why are you going to take the incandescent lamp out of your arcwhite? Seems like it would be handy on a walk if you need to see something a little further away than the tube can light up.


The belt clip is a good idea!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

[brightnorm]

When I walk on country roads at night in rural Ontario I like a lot of light. I own the Trek 7LEDS and 14 LEDS and also the Lightwave 3000 and 4000. The 4000 is just too durn big and heavy (though it'll run longer than the life span of most small animals). The 3000 is an excellent light, though I dislike the very blue color. I find that the Trek 1400 is an ideal light. It's significantly brighter than the 3000 for the first few hours and has a more "natural" color temperature. It brightly illuminates a large swath of dark road in a way that somehow makes me feel less isolated and vulnerable out there. It's lighter and smaller than the 3000 with that remarkably comfortable rubber tube-covered lanyard and can be conveniently operated with one hand. (Don't tell me it can't; it can! If the bezel is well-lubed and you practise a little you'll find it easy.) It's still not as convenient as the 3000's body switch, but it's really not bad. I haven't used it past 3 hours at one stretch, but it kept its brightness very nicely. My incandescent back-ups include:ASP TACLITE, Surge, Surefire 6P or D3, or UK SL4-C (not all at one time of course)

I'm sure many other Flashaholics would not need so much light but but it's great to have it.

Brightnorm