Need help finding the right light

LEDBE
C

charliek

Enlightened
Joined
Aug 28, 2003
Messages
735
Location
Bergen county NJ, USA
Let me see if I can stump the flashaholics..... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Here are the requirements:
This light is for a friend who is a doctor-

The light needs to be "Shirt pocketable" and use standard batteries.
(AA or AAA...... AAA is probably preferred due to size)

It needs to be as white and bright as possible.
It should be commercially available (no mods please)

AND it needs to have a tail switch (Clicky preferred)

********
The two that I have found are the Streamlight Propolymer 2AA
And the Streamlight Junior with Switchmate

What is the best between these two, and are there any others that I may have missed?
 
There will be many suggestions for this light but IMHO the choice is limited. I have not found any commercial light which is the ideal Dr's/Nurses penlight, perhaps the SL Stylus being the closest in terms of carrying versus use.

However by the criteria you use the one which would provide the best buy would be the Invoa X1. Why? Well it uses a single AA battery. It does have a clicky switch, and it is pocketable, albeit rather large! The light quality of the white LED is still rather down to the 'Luxeon lottery' but is very bright/white in several examples I've seen. The beam from this light is ideal for throat and eye inspections and colour definition is excellent.

I personally find it too large and simply keep an Arc AAA on a neck lanyard (with breakaway)! The advantages of this setup have been proved by me to be more than acceptable in everyday use when dealing with routine examinations on patients. Of course being a flashaholics sight I'm sure many will chime in with their opnions and it will be interesting to see others suggestions.

Doug
 
Agreed with Doug on size and brightness. I mean, how much brighter do you need the light to be when, for example you're looking into the patient's eye? Imagine using an Arc LS to look into the patient's eye... Ouch... Unless of course you're running an eye clinic next door...😉

All I can think of that fits the criteria, although I'm not sure how bright they are, are the Dorcy Led lights... or maybe the Pelican LED (L1 I think) but I think thats a momentary switch... Oh forgot abt the batteries... never mind that...
 
I wouldn't want it in my eyes, but for throats I bet nothing beats an Arc LS with AA adapter. I use it to check myself before bothering to call my doctor.

The only thing it doesn't have standard non-mod which might be good for shirt-pocketing is a clip. (See LS4, coming soon! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif )
 
Pelican L1 is momentary and lock on switch.
Do any of the Streamlight Twintask fit the bill?? There switches are on the side I think.
What about the Batonlite?? Nevermind, that takes N batteries.
Hmm...


Blades
 
What about the Streamlight Jr.?? AA batteries, tailswitch, and has a clip. I don't know if it locks on, but I'm sure someone here will know.



Blades
 
For checking ear, nose and throat, the Streamlight Stylus is ideal....about the same diameter as a #2 pensil and fits in the shirt pocker. True it uses AAAA batteries, but they are available from Radio Shack. The runtime to 50% of max brightness for the Stylus is about 10 hours of continous operation.
 
Charlie,

Please remember the term 'Halogen' infers gaseous filled bulb, i.e. incandescent bulbs which will need to be replaced! My experience of warranties is that the term 'Lifetime' will only extend to the light housing. Consummables like bulbs and batteries aren't included. Unless I'm mistaken I bet the bulbs for the penlight from WA are not easily come by?, not counting the cost!

Doug
 
Yeah- $8 each for the lamp....
I'm sure the warranty doesn't cover lamps or batteries. The problem here is, LEDs *may* effect the way tissue color is displayed and may cause problems is diagnosis of illness...
 
Charlie,

As a UK paramedic I feel reasonably qualified to argue that I have found white LEDs to be infinitely preferable to incandescent light to illuminate oral/nasal pharynx and other anatomical areas of the human body. Both my own and colleagues observations seem to indicate that no loss of tissue colour or texture is misdiagnosed by using a LED light. I suspect that once you become accustomed to using a LED, you 'adapt' to the differences in colour rendition between a LED and incandescent light source.
I have never seen any evidence to suggest that a white LED gives less accurate tissue colour leading to problems with correct diagnosis.
If you have a white LED light handy go to a mirror and illuminate mouth and throat, then try a incandescent. tell me which is better?

Doug
 
[ QUOTE ]
dougmccoy said:
Charlie,

As a UK paramedic I feel reasonably qualified to argue that I have found white LEDs to be infinitely preferable to incandescent light to illuminate oral/nasal pharynx and other anatomical areas of the human body. Both my own and colleagues observations seem to indicate that no loss of tissue colour or texture is misdiagnosed by using a LED light. I suspect that once you become accustomed to using a LED, you 'adapt' to the differences in colour rendition between a LED and incandescent light source.
I have never seen any evidence to suggest that a white LED gives less accurate tissue colour leading to problems with correct diagnosis.
If you have a white LED light handy go to a mirror and illuminate mouth and throat, then try a incandescent. tell me which is better?

Doug

[/ QUOTE ]


Thanks Doug- I guess I may have fallen victim to the advertising on the site selling the incandescent light. I'll try to inspect my mouth with a LED light justas soon as I pull my foot out of it... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif
 
If incandescent is ok, the traditional Eveready 2aaa penlight sounds like just the thing.

If you want something bright, white, and LED, and don't mind larger size, there's the Arc LS with 2AA TSP tail. You could probably put a Minimag pocket clip around it. Kind of big though. But find one with a good LED and it's probably the ultimate for this kind of thing.
 
Doug,

Thanks for helping me come to my senses. LEDs have poorer color rendition, no argument, even you admit they take time to get used to. But, this little difference is unlikely to be clinically significant. As a paramedic you need bright light, period. As an ENT, you need bright light, and if you find something you're just going get a better light or get an MRI or CT anyway, you're not going to base your entire diagnosis on some subtle color rendition.

But, you haven't committed to a particular LED. Are the little 5 mm LEDs really good in the field?

What about Dr Guptas recommendation
 
Charlie, No problem about the foot.....I've often had the same ailment! I'm just trying to help.

Cheesehead,

Interestingly enough the 5 mm LEDs such as used in The Arc AAA are more than adequate for 'routine' ENT investigations. I have found that the Arc and indeed the Infinity Ultra illuminate these areas much better than most of incandescent lights. Some of this IMO is due to the way that LEDS put out such a great sidespill of light. Everyone I know who had used my lights clinically expresses the same opinion that they have improved the visual field of view.
Although as we have both observed colour rendition 'can' be poorer this is usually compensated by the uniform lighting provided by the LED's as the hotspot is (at the distances we hold the light) quite wide.

I make a supposition that my counterparts in other countries are as hard on their kit as we are in the UK and consequently the tools of the trade must be (A) reliable, (B)rugged, (C)water resistant/waterproof, (D) cost effective . When we talk about illumination, it means it must work, first time, every time. It must be able to do the task asked of it and be capable of being abused. When we are at the roadside following an (RTA) Road Traffic Accident there is no time to fiddle about with lights which are either unreliable ot tempramental. There is also the requirement for most personal lights to be pocketable as if you dont have the light with you when you need it,what use is it?

For me at the moment, I carry a SF G2, SF E2e with KL1 and my trusty Arc AAA. If I could afford to replace the G2 I'd plumb for a SFKL4 as it would provide for the ideal compromise for throw and wide area light. I wouldn't however give up my KL1 due to the long runtime. All these lights have been proved (at least to my ideas) as meeting the requirements stated by me previously. I recently got caught out by not having the KL1 with me and found out the hard way about the necessity of this light as a back up.

Sorry to have rambled on but you did ask!

Doug
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

W
General Flashlight Discussion: Choosing the Right Flashlight for Every Need
Replies
6
Views
550
wayben
W
batman
Need help with finding an O-ring for a discontinued 4Sevens Mini CR2.
Replies
6
Views
686
batman
batman
Sabrewulf
Help me find a light.
Replies
13
Views
728
Sabrewulf
Sabrewulf
J
The Next T-Mobile Tuesday Giveaway Will Help Light The Way
Replies
6
Views
971
Monocrom
Monocrom
G
Still need a TOOL light, convinced but not persuaded.
Replies
3
Views
337
ghostguy6
ghostguy6

Latest posts

Back
Top