Longest lasting (backpack) low lumen light?

[Jida]

I have thought about bringing wire and a few long lasting bulbs in a pinch as well.

Running everything off of AA (if possible) let's me cycle through 4-8 Eneloops with the solar charger. The reasoning for the long lasting light is so that I can run it 4-8 hours a night for many many nights without worrying about having to swap batteries often.

It is the primary illumination source I will use in general. If I were helping people in a disaster then I could run through 7 Eneloops in the D10 in 1 night. I can also only charge 2 at a time with the solar charger. Although, I opted to get the USB charging option to power the phone and other items.

 

[waddup]

I have thought about bringing wire and a few long lasting bulbs in a pinch as well.

Running everything off of AA (if possible) let's me cycle through 4-8 Eneloops with the solar charger. The reasoning for the long lasting light is so that I can run it 4-8 hours a night for many many nights without worrying about having to swap batteries often.

It is the primary illumination source I will use in general. If I were helping people in a disaster then I could run through 7 Eneloops in the D10 in 1 night. I can also only charge 2 at a time with the solar charger. Although, I opted to get the USB charging option to power the phone and other items.

i like the way you think.



if your out in the world doing good helping people, all you have to do is post here that you need a light and im sure there are several regulars that would send you one.

im good for at least 1 for you.

if your solar charger fails what will you do?

id recc taking a big box of alkalines with you.

 

[Jida]

I come from a long line of people that run towards danger.

Which has always been a mystery as to how we survived till now.

I have thought of getting a box of Lithiums and forgetting them in the car. Maybe packed with another light.

Being in CA there is a very good chance that if a big quake finally lands, it will do a lot of damage.

I remember the last big one and everyone near the wreckage was scrambling to find people in piles of junk.

Even in daylight you will need a flashlight to see.

I am also prone to stop and look for lost animals and such.

Don't get me wrong though, the exterior still looks manly enough on me even though the insides are wearing reindeer sweaters crying over feelings.

 

[Juggernaut]

This one right?

http://www.photonlight.com/Proton-P...ights-Headlamps-p/prpro-aa-led-flashlight.htm

It is a very confusing set of stats on this one,.... got anything converted to lumens and hours?

I read some mixed reviews for the red LED and its placement.

If it hold true then it is by far the best light,...not 100% sure that I am seeing what it actually does.

Yah, that’s the light. The Proton Pro is really the strangest of all the AA lights. I almost never hear about them and they have a strange feel to them. I personally love the side clicky, it is very different and feels good in the hand. I don’t think I have one of the “20% brighter ones” but I estimate it’s output around 75-114 lumens. It’s not a real screamer but it throws quite well and has a nice hot spot. Also it has more modes then any AA lighter “or just about any light I can think of” but the best UI I have ever used, simply hold down the button in white or red mode to cycle through the modes. I sort of don’t like how it starts off at max white and ramps down, but this is very useful for quick tasks. The light does ram up from low red, so really no mater how dead you battery is, it should start on low red. I have never tested the run time but if it can get 250 hours on low white I could see it getting even more then 540 on low red. The red is so low that I wouldn’t be surprised if the PWM uses more power then it! I have EDCed this light in my pocket for 10 months now and it has preformed very well. The light has three down sides I can think of. 1. The PWM is less efficient then just driving the LED lower. 2. The button will eventually need some clear tape over it because it will wear with excessive use. 3. If you keep other things in your pocket they might turn the light on accidentally, though it has only happened to me about once a month.

1 foot away
(Max white)Proton Pro VS. 3xAA LED MINI Mag


1 foot away
(white low)Proton Pro VS. 3xAA LED MINI Mag


(Max red)Proton Pro VS. 3xAA LED MINI Mag


Note: This is only 4" away from wall!
(red low)Proton Pro VS. 3xAA LED MINI Mag

 

[Egsise]

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=182920

That being said, we can say that the Pro, on a standard Duracell, will run approximately 230-hours constantly, producing very useful light.

after noticing the light was off when I got home, I metered the battery. It displayed .95 volts. When attempting to re-fire the Pro with the cell, it flashed on for a second or two tops, both a dim RED and dim WHITE.

Hard to compare the Proton Pro and the Quark runtimes because of the different cells.
Proton Pro with Duracell alkaline 230 hours.
Quark with ~1700 mAh NiMH 315 hours.

Proton Pro red led runtime is said to be over 500 hours, but I cant find that test anywhere.

There was a small debate between lsd and high capacity NiMH cells and I must say, that my Sony 2700 mAh cells are empty if I leave them in bookshelf for 2 weeks. I believe they are rebranded Sanyo 2700 cells(the positive button is squarish) and have been charged less than 20 times.

 

[Jida]

The Pro 'seems' like it could be a good light but even with the info above, it still seems like it is debateable.

How low do you have to go to get those excessive hours? Put it 1" away from something to see it? Or a dull glow in a 4' circle?

The high is really of 0 interest to me in general. Too bad it starts the white in high and does not remember settings if you last used low.

Red on low is good I suppose if it is useable.

 

[Juggernaut]

The Pro 'seems' like it could be a good light but even with the info above, it still seems like it is debateable.

How low do you have to go to get those excessive hours? Put it 1" away from something to see it? Or a dull glow in a 4' circle?

The high is really of 0 interest to me in general. Too bad it starts the white in high and does not remember settings if you last used low.

Red on low is good I suppose if it is useable.

It is usable on max low red to: read maps, books, etc. The white look 25x brighter then the red on it’s lowest setting, you can easily see the beam on the other side of a room, you could even walk around the house with it no problem “with dark adapted eyes”. I have to admit that most disappointing thing about this light is really the .95 volt cutoff:shakehead. Granted it may take awhile to get there, you can’t really feed this thing dead batteries. I would like to see it run cells down to nothing.

 

[Burgess]

Be aware of it's parasitic drain.

Are you talking about the Photon Proton Pro ?

Does that have Parasitic Drain ?


Thank you for any info you can provide.

:thanks:
_

 

[defloyd77]

I do believe the Proton has an electronic switch, which draws power at all times.

 

[Egsise]

It is usable on max low red to: read maps, books, etc. The white look 25x brighter then the red on it’s lowest setting, you can easily see the beam on the other side of a room, you could even walk around the house with it no problem “with dark adapted eyes”. I have to admit that most disappointing thing about this light is really the .95 volt cutoff:shakehead. Granted it may take awhile to get there, you can’t really feed this thing dead batteries. I would like to see it run cells down to nothing.

Max low red, could you explain that?
Is it the ~500 hour setting?

Quark: starts from 0.2 lumens with loosened bezel, 90 lumens if bezel is tightened.
I just tested is 0.2 enough for reading, turned off my monitor and other light sources.
It is easy to read the text from top half of a A4 sized paper when the Quark is 1,5meters/3feet from me.
And thats without dark adapted eyes.

If you can use the 2xAA tube the runtimes would be tripled, and you could run the cells to 0.45V.

 

[Jida]

I am still seeing the Gerber as the right choice for my application. Ironically, since it only does 1 thing and can't do anything else it makes its purpose easier to work with.

Options are nice, sometimes they muddy the waters.

 

[Marduke]

The GIU is a good choice. Long runtimes, usable output, reversible clip (makeshift headlamp), simple electronics (less to fail), and can run on both AA and AAA cells without modification in a pinch.

It's not well regulated, but for your purposes it really doesn't need to be, and could actually be beneficial.

CFR Lights has a good price on them.

 

[bansuri]

CFR Lights has a good price on them.

Based on the flaslight equation "2=1, 1=0" I had been considering one of these with a lithium in my car packs to get me to "2". A light that I will hopefully never use.
Maybe a couple for the kids also....
Thanks for the tip.

 

[Juggernaut]

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=182920

Quark with ~1700 mAh NiMH 315 hours.

QUOTE]

Does the Quark have moon mode as a setting or is it what kicks in after the light is on for to long “battery dies”. So basically is it selectable? Also the 2x AA one states 30 days. Do they mean straight out or 8 hours per night like a lot of other manufactures do? Because 720 hours of run time would be sick! That’s three months of all night use:faint:!

 

[Marduke]

That is straight runtime. The moon mode on the quark is selectable as a mode, even on fresh cells.

 

[Egsise]

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=182920

Quark with ~1700 mAh NiMH 315 hours.

QUOTE]

Does the Quark have moon mode as a setting or is it what kicks in after the light is on for to long “battery dies”. So basically is it selectable? Also the 2x AA one states 30 days. Do they mean straight out or 8 hours per night like a lot of other manufactures do? Because 720 hours of run time would be sick! That’s three months of all night use:faint:!

Yes the moon mode is a selectable mode, 0.2 lumens according to manufacturer.
I did the runtime test with my Quark AA neutral white version, I used a 2000mAh Eneloop but because my charger is "smart", charge completeness is only ~85%, or ~1700mAh with Eneloop.
I measured the cell few hours after the light went out and the open circuit reading was 0.909V.

The charger that I used is a Sanyo MQH02 at 1090mA, charge completeness is around 85%.
These are the runtimes of my Quark AA neutral white.
During the moon mode test I turned the Quark off after 274h runtime, waited 10sec and turned it back on.

 

[Carnivore]

I came by here with a similar question. I need to pick up some 2xAA multi-mode lights for a 3-4 day backpacking trip in the wilderness. It should have high and low settings to provide a good balance between different usage needs around camp and to conserve battery life. But I'm also trying to keep the price down to around 20 bucks so if they lost or damaged it won't be such a big deal. Any opinions on whether a Romisen RC-N3, or a multi-mode Ultrafire C3, or something else, would be best?

 

[Burgess]

Hey Carnivore --


Welcome to CandlePowerForums !


:welcome:



As for your flashlight(s) . . . .


Perhaps pick up the New Mini-MagLED (multi-mode) at Wal-Mart.


Good Luck.