Need Suggestions

[Ten Pointer]

I am looking for a LED flashlight for hunting. I have been doing a lot of research and have found that most LEDs do not give the narrow beam as the incandescent bulbs. Also the stronger ones as in the Surefire, the batteries lasts only a couple of hours. Can someone give me suggestions on a LED flashlight that gives a narrow beam so as not to light up the woods that is as strong as a double C incandescent, that has battery staying power.

The ones I have found so far but lack in some ways are:

Streamlight 4AA 7LED
Teklite 300 or CC Crane Expedition
Inova XTM5
Turtle 1

Thanks in Advance

Ten Pointer

 

[Saaby]

Ten, there are 2 beam characteristics that you are looking for. Beam width and throw. You can get some LED lights that have a narrow beam, such as the Turtle 1, but nothing in the LED world quite matches the throw of a Surefire...yet.

If the Turtle 1 was anywhere close to bright enough for you, then lets look at some other narrow-beamed LED lights. I quite like James Meyer's Palight which has a bright, narrow beam--but it's hardly a Surefire.

Welcome to the board!

 

[x-ray]

The Princeton Tec Impact may be worth considering. It also has a very narrow beam.

Available in two versions:

Impact = 4AA Batteries

Impact 2 = 4AAA Batteries & built in pocket clip

 

[INRETECH]

Have you looked at the InReTECH adapter for the 2AA Mag ?

Battery life:

www.inretech.com/batlife.htm

 

[Ten Pointer]

Thanks for the replys. Does the InReTECH adapter for 2AA put out enough light. If so I will buy one. I'll also try the Princeton Tec.

Ten Pointer

 

[Orcinus Orca]

Ten Pointer,

From hunter to hunter, I can tell you that the Inretech should be plenty bright for walking a trail at night. I would reccomend however, that you also consider a brighter incandecant with longer throw such as the Princeton Tech Surge for use as a tracking, backup, or long range illumination light. If you are looking for throw, no LED flashlight will quite match that of an incandecant, especially a Surge, which can be compared in brightness with a 6 D mag. The Surge should run brightly for about tree and a half hours and costs around twenty-five dollars. Not a bad thing to have in your pack when unexpected situations arise.

Respectfully,
Dale

 

[Deleted member 684]

BentHeadTX, I think you got a lil' confuse, Electrolumen's Blaster II 3D flashlight measured 1700 lux, not lumens.... Badboys don't measure 400 to 500 lumens at the hot spot either.... it's lux... lumens is total amount of light given out it cannot be changed by reflector or collimator. Lux is the intensity of the light at any one point.

 

[Ten Pointer]

Thanks again I will purchase the InReTech. I did see another thread where one poster said that one can buy two InReTechs and get two different outputs. But I will buy one.

For the past 4 years I've been using a Legend 2C incandescent flashlight and a Mini Mag 2AA as a backup. This year I was changing the batteries in the Legend every week. It was very cold up here in the Northeast. While looking in the flashlight section of REI I spotted a Princeton Tec Aurora and the literature said 50 hour battery life. I bought it as a backup. I did use it several times walking out of the woods this year. It throws a marginal amount of light. The comment I did get though was I could be spotted a mile away. If people could spot me a mile away then deer can also. The problem I think with the Aurora is the LED's aren't recessed.

Before I bought the Legend I bought a Mag 3D cell flashlight. I only took it once into the woods because of the weight.

And I thought I was the only one with a flashlight collection.

Ten Pointer

 

[Orcinus Orca]

Ten Pointer,

Just a thought, but you may want to consider trying out one of the red adapters if you plan on going with the inretech. It is my understanding that deer have trouble seeing in the red spectrum, and thus one of the red luxeon adapters may be an advantageous solution for stealthy walks through the woods. Also note: The red luxeon adapter does NOT accept lithiums (Perhaps a consideration as you do your hunting in cold weather) Lithiums perform better than alkalines in cold environments.

Perhaps you are not aware, but to put the output of the PT Surge into perspective:

3D Mag: 30-35 lumens (approximate)
Surge: 65+ lumens

P.S.
What part of the Northeast do you reside in? I live in southern Pennsylvania.

 

[RonM]

Does the INRETECH have special optics that give it a narrow beam? I know my Badboy has optics, but still is fairly broad beamed.

An issue with most LED flashlights is that it takes optics to create a narrow beam and it takes multiple regular LEDs to get the output many want, and the two don't generally mix. For example, Surefire's 4AA 7LED would have nice output, but doesn't have a way of focusing the light.

 

[BentHeadTX]

RonM,
Electrolumens just came out with the Blaster II 3D flashlight. It uses custom optics for a nice, tight beam that measure over 1,700 lumens! The Badboys measures 400 to 500 lumens at the hotspot of the beam so we are talking three to four times the brightness

The custom optics concentrate the beam so it will be that bright and it uses 3 D cell batteries. The running time is 24 hours of bright light with another 48 hours of dimmer light as the batteries die.
The single LED it uses is called a Luxeon Star so that explains the bright pencil beam. Hope that helps. Check the homemade and modified lights part of this forum for more information.

 

[ikendu]

I think the advice you are getting about using RED is sound based on other threads about night vision. If you use the search function of the forum and use the terms "deer" and "red" you'll likely find a lot.

The idea of carrying multiple lights (you've already been carrying two) also seems quite sound. The Surge will give you a REALLY bright light in a compact form factor with decent run time for those times when you must see really, really well (tracking a wounded animal?).

A great, compact backup light is either a Photon ('bout the size of a quarter) or an ARC AAA (smaller than one AA battery). Both are available in red. Might be just the thing when you are lying in wait and need just a little light to check something without giving away your position. The Photon runs on Lithium...so is great for cold weather.

In any event, I'm sure we'd all love to hear back about your actual experience using whatever light you decide on!

 

[Ten Pointer]

Thanks for the red led suggestion. Unfortunately I purchased the InReTech white led last night. I too was thinking about the red but was thinking if the ground is full of red and brown leaves in the fall how effective would the red light be.

I will also purchase the PT Surge as a backup.

For tracking though I would want a wide beam light so I may purchase a Teklite 300 and leave that in my car. Though, I have never tracked a deer at night they tell me for some reason a Coleman latern works the best.

Thanks again, this forum has been extremely helpful.

Ten Pointer

 

[ikendu]

If you get a Surge, you'll find that it is a wide beam type light.

 

[txwest]

Ten Pointer,
You said you had a Legend 2C. I recently converted my 2C Mag to a 3 123 driving a 5D Mag Krypton bulb. Works very well & you have lithium batteries for the cold. For a bright, tight focus LED, I'ld recomend the Rebel on AA lithiums. TX

 

[Ten Pointer]

txwest,

Can you give me a link or explain in more detail on how this this done. I am new to LED's and am not familiar with the terminology or names. For example 3 123 or Rebel.

Thanks
Ten Pointer

 

[logicnerd411]

3 123: 3 CR123A batteries (3 volts each)
Rebel: Brinkmann Rebel (one LED flashlight)

 

[txwest]

TP,
The conversion is easy. Find something to fill the space around the 123 batteries & 3 fit perfectly. Then get a 5D Krypton bulb & you'll be driving it with 9V. Nice & bright. I'll probably try a Xenon bulb when I find one. The filler I used was a piece if foam sleeve you used to buy for the handles on 10 speed bikes. This piece happens to be 1/8" thick & is perfect. The ID was a little large, so I split the side & took off a strip about 3/16". It fits perfectly in the light & the batteries fit perfectly into it. I understand 5/8" fuel line will do the same, as long as the thickness is right.

The Brinkman Rebel is carried at Walmart. TX