Modern-Day "Big Jim" replacement.

[lctorana]

Hi, I'm new here, so please educate me gently.
I am fully aware that most discussion here is of upmarket torches, and rightly so, but this is a thread for the average supermaket torch buyer.

In their cars, most of my friends have either:

• an Eveready "Big Jim" (6V 8F lantern battery & sealed-beam) or
• an Eveready "Dolphin" (6V 4F lantern battery and a krypton bulb).

My question, to all those who understand the current market, is:

Name a current model torch, that is a better THROWER than the Big Jim, that is the cheapest you can name.

The restrictions are:

1. The Throw must at least match the "Big Jim".
2. Build Quality must at least match the classic Eveready lights above.
3. Any technology you can name is OK. Nothing ruled out.
4. Battery life must at least approach that of the "Big Jim"
   (that should sort out the wheat from the chaff)
5. Notwithstanding the above, the cheaper the better.

That's it.

Dear and gentle reader, put your thinking caps on and get to it.

 

[paulr]

Vector Banana?

 

[Burgess]

gee, this oughta' be good . . . .






If i may, i'll even "expand" the search by adding:

a Pelican 1010 waterproof storage case,
filled with spare replacement cells.

(that should help in the quest to match 8 type "F" cells from a lantern battery)



-

edited to add:

OK, after giving this a "think",

i'm gonna' suggest the old-faithful,

Streamlight ProPolymer 4AA Luxeon (yellow, for greater visibility).


Certainly one of the best LED "throwers" that i (personally) have ever seen.

While no longer "state of the art", with its 1-watt Luxeon emitter,
it is very reliable, rugged, durable, water-resistant, shock-resistant,
and has a real (non-reverse) clicky-switch in the tail.

I'm suggesting the 4AA version, rather than the 3-C model,
so that you can fill it with Energizer L91 Lithium cells.
Much better than Alkalines, when stuffed in a car's glovebox or trunk.

One set of 4 Lithiums will run about 6 hours.
Fill that afore-mentioned Pelican 1010 storage case
with 4 sets of spare cells, and yer' good for 24-30 hours of light,
even in sub-zero temps.

Best of all, the price is very reasonable:

Streamlight Flashlight.........................$25
Pelican 1010 waterproof case...............$11
Energizer L91 Lithium cells (5-4packs) $35 (at Sam's Club, $20 for a dozen cells)

Keep in mind, this is one set of 4 cells for the flashlight,
and four 4-packs kept as spares.

I've purposely tried to keep yer' costs low.
You can reduce it even more by dropping the Pelican case,
and just stuffing the packages of Lithium cells into your glove box.

But i prefer a bit more elegance. (wink)

BTW, i am very familiar with both of the Eveready lanterns which you've mentioned.

Really think that my recommendation can give 'em a run for the money.

(although you ARE gonna' miss not having a red-blinker) (smile)

 

[jbosman1013]

surefire G2 or a fenix

 

[lctorana]

gee, this oughta' be good . . .

Great post. :thumbsup: I just love these "put the kettle on and have a quiet read" threads.

(although you ARE gonna' miss not having a red-blinker) (smile)

Erm, no I'm not. The flasher doesn't work on my example, and the fact I've never bothered to fix it tells you something.

 

[TORCH_BOY]

The Eveready "Dolphin rechargeable" is the closest

 

[TorchBoy]

Hey, the Eveready Dolphin is a current model. They just keep making it more, um, techy (?) as the years go by. It now has a built in stand so you can point it where you need it and looks much cooler than when I bought mine, maybe 15 years ago.

My first wasn't quite waterproof, sadly, and I didn't air it out after it got water in it so the reflector went rusty. The second lasted quite well, and has proved to be quite rugged, but I haven't really used it in ages because the batteries are so expensive. However, it would be interesting to replace the bulb with a Seoul, with either a resistor or regulator. Pick a current to get the throw you want, and you'd get even better flood, and longer battery life.

[*]Battery life must at least approach that of the "Big Jim"
(that should sort out the wheat from the chaff)

So some sort of wheat cell would be suitable...

 

[Cydonia]

All of the 5 required restrictions can be overcome by a simple flashlight that every average supermarket torch buyer already knows: The 3D Maglight. Upgraded with a MagLED. (Or sold together new as one Maglite at places like Wal Mart and Home Depot.)

• Adjustable focus and narrow beam with excellent range. Only Maglite boasts such a throw you need.
• Build quality - surpasses classic Eveready lights with ease
• Technolgy - regular alkaline D cells
• Battery life - 22hours 50 minutes on 3D (see the charts here at flashlightreviews.com)
• Price? 3D Mag is about $20US and MagLED is about $16US I believe.

Despite what others here will say, for what you're asking and need, you really can't match let alone beat a Maglite with one of their MagLED's for a decent low price.

You can upgrade your 3D (or 4,5 and 5D, or 3,4,5 and 6C) Maglite with another LED upgrade made by TerraLux. It is much brighter than the MagLED upgrade. It is really worth the $24.95 to order. Find it at this page on batteryjunction.com



======================

Hi, I'm new here, so please educate me gently.
I am fully aware that most discussion here is of upmarket torches, and rightly so, but this is a thread for the average supermaket torch buyer.

In their cars, most of my friends have either:

• an Eveready "Big Jim" (6V 8F lantern battery & sealed-beam) or
• an Eveready "Dolphin" (6V 4F lantern battery and a krypton bulb).

My question, to all those who understand the current market, is:

Name a current model torch, that is a better THROWER than the Big Jim, that is the cheapest you can name.

The restrictions are:

1. The Throw must at least match the "Big Jim".
2. Build Quality must at least match the classic Eveready lights above.
3. Any technology you can name is OK. Nothing ruled out.
4. Battery life must at least approach that of the "Big Jim"
   (that should sort out the wheat from the chaff)
5. Notwithstanding the above, the cheaper the better.

That's it.

Dear and gentle reader, put your thinking caps on and get to it.

 

[big beam]

How about a halogen bulb for the big jim(6W).#[email protected]

Get the GE bulb.Very white
DON

 

[lctorana]

The point about the Big Jim is that it has a sealed-beam unit, not a bulb-and-reflector.

So, unless we can find a reflector to fit the housing, we are bound to find a halogen sealed-beam head, which might be hard to find.

Interesting thought, though.

I've recently upgraded ye olde 3D torch to take a Krypton bulb and high-capacity NiCds, so I appreciate the 3D Maglite point.

And as for the Dolphin being a current model, I also saw the "Energizer Hardcase" Dolphin-equivalent reduced from $A49.95 to $A19.44. There's $20 burning a hole in my pocket, right there.

(Oh, and I have a 6D Maglite on order. Why? Because.)

 

[paulr]

I doubt that Mag conversion can come anywhere near a Big Jim in throw. If a Big Jim is what I think it is, it has about 2x the reflector diameter and over 10x the power of the Mag conversion. You need a spotlight. But if you don't mind something the size of a small microwave oven, a $60 Harborfreight HID lantern will pretty near vaporize a Big Jim . For $150 or so, an Amondotech N30 is maybe comparably sized to the Big Jim and will also out-throw it by an enormous margin.

 

[lctorana]

I'll try and post a photo tonight.

 

[Burgess]

Keep in mind that the sealed-beam lamp of the Big Jim Eveready lantern draws 500 mA of current, at a rated voltage of (i believe) 4.8 volts.

This in itself is rather modest, compared to a Xenon Star lamp installed in yer' (soon-to-arrive) 6D-cell MagLite,
powered by Alkaline batteries.

Granted, the sealed-beam lamp does have a larger, more "perfect" reflector.

But the 8F-powered Big Jim lantern was designed for long-battery-life, not for ultimate brightness.

After all, this was from the mid-Sixties. Carbon-zinc batteries were the norm.

I remember this time (and this lantern) very well, indeed.


-

 

[TorchBoy]

The point about the Big Jim is that it has a sealed-beam unit, not a bulb-and-reflector.

So, unless we can find a reflector to fit the housing, we are bound to find a halogen sealed-beam head, which might be hard to find.

"Halogen" and "sealed beam" don't really go together. How hard are they to take apart? (How sealed are they?) If you could get it apart you certainly have a lot more options.

 

[lctorana]

Keep in mind that the sealed-beam lamp of the Big Jim Eveready lantern draws 500 mA... ...the 8F-powered Big Jim lantern was designed for long-battery-life, not for ultimate brightness.

After all, this was from the mid-Sixties. Carbon-zinc batteries were the norm.

Agree with all that.

The Big Jim is not particularly bright, by any standard. An ordinary $3 2D-&-Krypton torch is brighter.
You'll notice that brightness was not one of my criteria.

But the Jim has two unassailable advantages:
1) Throw. It's hard to beat a handheld car headlight for sheer distance (albeit a very low wattage one, in this case).
2) Battery life. F cells enjoy the ultimate in zinc-carbon technology - today's 8F clocks in at 22 amp-hours (up from 14 in their heyday). And 52Ah if you can find an Alkaline one!

I'm sure there will be people all over the world who will keep theirs in the boot until the 8F finally becomes unavailable. I know many personally!

One of the most successful torch designs of all time.

 

[TorchBoy]

I've got a feeling that a Big Jim was the first torch I ever saw the beam of. We were camping somewhere with a really dark sky and it was very impressive to see it stabbing upward.

 

[paulr]

I had no idea the Big Jim was so low powered. I thought it ran at 10 or 15 watts. I think if the 8F batteries dry up, someone will make an 8 D cell holder that replaces the 8F. Maybe those exist already. There are certainly 4D holders that replace the 4F lantern battery. So now I'm thinking in terms of the Elektrolumens Blaster series, the D powered models with the focusing optics, with a modern LED.

 

[dlrflyer]

I use to have the Ray-O-Vac Sportsman equivalent of the Big Jim. I have mixed emotions about it. Yes, it had some throw, but batteries were so expensive, I cracked the lens and ruined the bulb, and so freaking heavy. My fav lantern now is the Energizer Hard Case, but it's heavy too. It has a partially faceted reflector and a frosted spot on the lens to lessen the artifacts too. But if you really want it too cook on 4 D cells, try a KPR139 bulb. It's a 3.85v, 1.33a bulb that overdrives nicely on 4 cells and still has long run time. I'm also working on another option for it that should really kick butt, but I've only found one source for the bulbs and I want to get my supply set before divulging it to the world. Note, it will be a 14.4v(12AA nimh), runtime should be roughly 2-2.5hrs and be good for 10w.

 

[lctorana]

Time to measure the Big Jim's current draw. I thouhjt it was more than half an amp, too.

I will dust off the trusty Avo Model 7.

 

[lctorana]

Model 7 duly fired up.

The Big Jum's current draw is indeed 0.5A, so the power drain is about 2.75W.

To put that in bulb context, a "standard" 4.8V prefocus draws 0.5A, a krypton draws 0.7 or 0.75, and a "super krypton" draws 1.1A.

So the Jim is at the lower end of the Dolphin spectrum.