Mountain Rescue searchlight - suggestions?

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Al Rescue

Newly Enlightened
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May 30, 2010
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Hi,
I could really use some help here if you would be so good.
I work with a Mountain Rescue Team here in the UK and we are looking to replace our aged search lamps.
We appear to have much less of a choice available to us here compared to the US so would value your input.
We would be looking at an rechargeable, handheld, possibly HID searchlight.
We would tend to rank in importance battery life, light output, weight, and cost in that order.
I like the look of the Titanium Innovations L35 (with 2 hours battery life, 3500 lumens, approx. 3 pounds, $300).
Can you suggest anything to better it?
 
Two hours can go by very quickly in a search and rescue mission. Extra batteries are a must. The weight adds up in a hurry. Here in Washington it rains a lot, so think water proof. My AE light with two extra batteries has worked out very well. Not the brightest nor the biggest. There are now newer and better lights out there, but run time and weight should be considered. A MaxiBeam is cool for about 30 min. but then the weight and burn time become factors. I like the Titanium Innovations with extra batteries, and 4200 Kelvin (4200K) bulb color, but is it water resistant or water proof? Also the weight is going to add up. Just my thoughts.
Dave

I just put the AE light on the postal 3.2 lbs. and only 1/2 the lumens. Hmm, the Titanium Innovations is looking better all the time.
 
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Al Rescue said:
I like the look of the Titanium Innovations L35 (with 2 hours battery life, 3500 lumens, approx. 3 pounds, $300).
Can you suggest anything to better it?
Click to expand...
not really.
it is one of the few hid lights with swapable battery, and long running as well, off the shelf lights that is.
pbly will be your best bet.
 
^ agree completely, I have the older n30 with nimh battery pack, and it runs for an hour and a half :).
The beam is fantastic, huge amount of spill combined with incredible throw, and the LED module is great for walking with and fiddling with gear without digging for a different torch.
I was going to raise the issue of charger compatability with UK voltage but i see the L35 comes with a universal charger and a 12v car charger, so no problems there.
You will probably need a plug adapter though, it only comes with US or european 2 pin plugs as far as i can tell.
I don't think i could think of any reason not to recommend it, battery junction are great to deal with, and UK shipping was quick and pain free.
 
I asked for advice for a similar usage. I opted for the Thrunite Catapult Version 2 and a bunch of 18650 rechargeables. Yes, there are better, brighter lights but they cost at least double. The Thrunite is LED so no lamp changes and gives close to a 1000 lumens. I reckon it's around 100 quid in the U.K.

Dave
Israel Police
 
I work with a SAR Team on the North West coast of Norway and after years of bad lighting equipment we decided to go for the Polarion PH40.
It gives us 4000+Lumen for about 80 minutes. The batteries are easely swapped in 20 sec or so and is of course rechargeable.
The light is waterproof and has a precisely formed reflector that gives an awesome "flood and throw".
I have also had the pleasure of using the Polarion Night Reaper in some operations last winter.
The Night Reaper is stated to give as much as 5500Lumen and the amount of light it produces is hard to explain.
In addition to the internal battery it also has a socket for external power (12-24V DC).
This makes it ideal for use with ATV`s, snowmobiles, RIBs etc.
 
It all depends on your needs. As dwminer mentioned water resistance and ruggedness are great points to consider. Personally the Xenide 15/20/25W aren't bad lights and will get the job done... but there are other lights like Titanium that are much brighter at a lower price.

One should also consider the Xenide 35/50.:devil:
 
N30 is cheaper than L35, weighs a little more, other specs not quite as good, but generally in same league.

Main alternative light I can think of is O-light SR90 "Intimidator", a monstrous SST-90 LED light.

As further alternative, consider night vision scopes instead of a light.
 
I suspect you will need two lights. One 18650 LED light to walk around at night, for a long battery life. Take your pick with any three mode lights. I suggest any XRE-2 LED, to be kept mostly on low. A few 18650 spares will be enough for 6 hours or longer. If cost is an issue, few can beat Solarforce.

Then you'll need something with a really wide and long throw, to be sweep a large area every few minutes. For value, only HIDs can do the job. This way, both lights will last through the night.

You also need to consider geography. If you need to illuminate something more than 1Km away, you really need a short-arc searchlight, such as Maxabeam or the Chinese copy, the Supernova. I wouldn't however risk anyone's life by using a poor quality light.

The infrared option sounds good too. I might add an IR P60 drop-in so you don't trip on something cold.
 
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Obviously if you use night vision for long distance viewing, you need the ($$$$) passive image intensification type of scope, not the active infrared type.
 
tadbik said:
I asked for advice for a similar usage. I opted for the Thrunite Catapult Version 2 and a bunch of 18650 rechargeables. Yes, there are better, brighter lights but they cost at least double. The Thrunite is LED so no lamp changes and gives close to a 1000 lumens. I reckon it's around 100 quid in the U.K.

Dave
Israel Police
Click to expand...

Many thanks for that Dave. You are right, a drop in light output somewhat but very useable - not to mention a lot cheaper. Just waiting for some stock to arrive here before purchasing one for personal use. The Team would prefer the larger lantern-type.
 
JulianP said:
I suspect you will need two lights. One 18650 LED light to walk around at night, for a long battery life. Take your pick with any three mode lights. I suggest any XRE-2 LED, to be kept mostly on low. A few 18650 spares will be enough for 6 hours or longer. If cost is an issue, few can beat Solarforce.

Then you'll need something with a really wide and long throw, to be sweep a large area every few minutes. For value, only HIDs can do the job. This way, both lights will last through the night.

You also need to consider geography. If you need to illuminate something more than 1Km away, you really need a short-arc searchlight, such as Maxabeam or the Chinese copy, the Supernova. I wouldn't however risk anyone's life by using a poor quality light.

The infrared option sounds good too. I might add an IR P60 drop-in so you don't trip on something cold.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that info.
Being a rescue team we normally have our hands full - quite literally most of the time, so use hi-power headtorches for the walkabout part. I carry a spare of these plus a backup Surefire. Its the main search lantern we are interested in. So far nobody seems to have indicated better than L35 without spending an awful lot more money - some suggested are over £1000.
 
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I think the L35 would serve you quite well if the run-time is acceptable. The Polarions are going to be the most durable production HID's available but at at much higher cost.
 
Durability is important in this situation. I second the use of any of the AELights. The 20 - 25 watt versions are exceptional and affordable. I have thrown the AE 25 Xenide on a paved surface to demonstrate its durability. It keeps on ticking. It is waterproof.

For more light the Polarion PH40 or AELight 35/50 are probably your best choices.

And then a smaller, carry easy light of some sort.

aehaas
 
lol, another 2000+$ light.

6 l35 in hands of 6 rescue agents, will be a lot more reliable, and get things done faster (speed =life in sr ops), than 1 polarion or aelight, in hands of 1 agent, even if few l35's fail. -this is my opinion

thou from reviews on l35, it seems like very reliable and pretty durable light. -this is a fact.
 
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In general reference to expensive HIDs, it's ironic to me that in a age where the CPF community won't even consider carrying an EDC or pocketlight that's not Hard Anodized and rated to (IPX whatever) that they'll often suspend their high standards when it comes to a searchlight. Suddenly, plastic housings, generic Ebay sellers, or the inability to dunk a light underwater becomes acceptable.

All that's really happening in this scenario is that the buyer is having to subject themselves to a cost-benefit analysis, somethings they didn't have to consider with the average 1 x CR123 light. What's easy to accomplish in a 3" long, aluminum, LED, EDC light, isn't as easy to do in a larger, more complicated HID package.

The simple fact is, as things become larger there is more material cost and things become more difficult to make water tight. Depending on the technology, there can exist a wider performance gap between the least expensive components and most expensive components. Using the highest quality components will cost exponentially more with HID. Just ask Mac of Mac's Customs who designed and built a beautiful 35-50W variable HID using XeVision components. By the time he finished he decided not to offer the product because he didn't think he could sell them for a profit. At that time many were willing to spend 2K on an HID "dream light" So Mac's costs must have been extraordinary.

In any case, it might be wise to recognize the dilemma for what it is rather than dismiss the most capable HID lights as extravagance.
 
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