newbie question

[spyken]

Hi, this is my first post. I don't know anything about flashlights - the only lamp I have is a Princeton Tec solo headlamp which I use for bushwhacking / some multi-sport racing at night - it was sponsored so I have no idea if it's good, bright or anything.

I'm looking for a flashlight that super bright (say can shine superbright and wide for at least 100ft), preferably white light, and can last more than 24 hours on no more than 4 AA/AAA alkaline batteries. It must be waterproof, light (very important), and preferably with a light machined aluminium or rubberised/plastic body with an end-cap/tail-cap on/off button. Should not cost an arm and a leg.

Any suggestions? Should I go for LEDs? Are they brighter than conventional (incandescent) lights? Do they last longer?

Where are the best places to shop online?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Saaby]

Welcome to CPF! You're asking for something we all want too. The only way to get a super-bright beam that will shine 100 feet away is to go with an incandesent light. LED lights are bright but they don't have the "throw" that incandesents have. Incandesents, however, suffer from terrible battery life.

Here are some lights I would recommend to you:
Brinkmann Legend LX (From Wal-Mart) $20
This is a bright bright light! 1 hour battery life

Surefire E2e--$60 If you can afford it, skip the Brinkmann and go for the Surefire

Arc AAA--Quite pobbilby the brightest single 5mm LED on the market. 8 hour battery life off 1 AAA battery. I carry 2 extra AAAs with me all the time for a grand total or 16-24 hours of life.

So you really have to decide what you want here. If you want bright light for closeup work--get the Arc AAA. If you really need the throw, get the Surefire. My recomendation? Get both. Carry both. Use once for close up work (95%) and the other for the 5% of the time you need the throw of an incandesent. That's what most of us do

 

[sunspot]

Yeah, what Saaby said. What to are asking for is only available in the Dream Section.
I am not making light of your question. ;-)
Please check out the Princton Tec Surge. It is very bright and has a long throw beam. It uses 8AA's in a series/parallel configuration and only costs about $24. It has a burn time of about 3 hrs at full bright. The size is about 2"X6". Some people don't like the switch, me included but I do like the flashlight overall. It comes in Yellow and Black and I have heard of a Green one that I have not seen.
I hope this helps.

 

[txwest]

If you find that super bright 100' light that will last for 24 hrs on 4 or less AA/AAA batteries, please let us know. ;>) TX

 

[spyken]

whoops....I thought there would be suggestions for my search. haha, looks like it's still wishful thinking. ok, how about suggestions for (pls no flames if it doesn't make sense):

(1) best led white light flashlight (mebbe around the size of the Inova X5)? how bright is the best?

(2) what about brightest incandescent flashlight at around the same size as the above?

(3) what are good discount online stores?

(4) which flashlights have the on/off button on the tail cap?

(5) should I go for xenon, halogen or led bulbs? xenon and halogen are considered incandescent, right?

(6) I remember my old Petzl Zoom headlamp used to have a really long throw, about 70ft, although it was yellow light....

Thanks in advance. I really haven't a clue about flashlights, but would like to know more.

 

[B@rt]

Originally posted by spyken:
pls no flames if it doesn't make sense.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Hi Spyken,

No need to worry about that, I believe we are one of the more "civilized" boards out here...

We manage this by self-moderation, something seems to be forgotten by lots of people, but not by CPF members.

Must have something to do with seeing lots of bright spots...

About your questions, I don't have an answer to all of your questions, and the anwers I do have are my answers, not necessarily yours, or anybody elses. They are just my vision, and therefore biased...

#1: Arc AAA, closely followed by the LS. Maybe in the near future, (reallity for some already

) Surefire KLx bezel fitted with light of choice (most likely E1/E1e and E2/E2e with KL1 bezel, KL2 and KL3 bezel for the larger (3 cell) lights like the M2/C2, M3/C3 etc.)

#2 Most 2-3 cell lithium 123-based lights. Think Brinkmann Lx , SureFire, UKE, Streamlight, etc.

#3 I don't know much about this,but there are a number of good on-line stores... I've heard good things about Texas Tactical Supply , but I'm sure there are many more. Maybe not discount, but great service...

#4 again, others can answer this better, but most "tactical" flashlights have a tail-switch.

#5 This entirely depends on your needs...
IMHO, single led lights are good up to 10/15
feet. luxeon stars up to 100 yards, and you will need incandescent or HID for anything further.

#6 Not sure what you are asking, but since my knowledge about headlamps is pretty much non-existent, it doesn't matter anyway...

btw, Welcome, hope you have a good time here.

 

[Charles Bradshaw]

Bright for a single Nichia (standard) white LED: Brinkman Rebel (2AA) w/decent throw thanks to colimmator lens. Uses tailcap switch. Available at Walmart for $15.

Very bright single Luxeon Star (LED) and 25 hours per pair of Lithium AA: CMG Reactor. Lifetime warranty and 100% water resistant (not a swim or dive light). $30 available online.

Very bright single LED, 1AA: CMG Infinity Ultra. Decent runtime. $25 available online.

For your Solo: 3 LED module by Princeton Tec, 40 hours on alkaline and 100+ on Lithium AA. Decently bright.

The Solo is rated waterproof to 250 feet. Tec 20 is hanheld version of Solo. Either case: use dimpled reflector and Krypton K4/KPR104 for better runtime than the halogen bulb.

I have the Solo w/LED module and really like it.

The basic rule with flashlights, whether incandescent or LED, is that the brighter it is, the less runtime you get.

CMG's design philosophy is less bright but longer runtime. Made for caving, backpacking, search and rescue, and such.

Tactical and combat lights are design to be super bright with a very short runtime.

The top of the line Luxeon based flashlight, is the Arc LS. See Arc Flashlight section for more info.

LS lights with optics have a throw out to about 75 feet.

2 very good alternates to the Arc LS are the CMG Reactor, and the one from Inretech (uses a minimag body). LS lights run longest on Lithium AA for the AA sized ones (AAA aint worth considering for this). Both are around $30.

I have a Zoom and it sucks. This is a so-called Professional Headlamp!! Mine likes to flicker whether I have regular or LED bulb in it. The reason it is yellow with regular bulb, is that the bulb runs at specified voltage. It isn't overdriven, like most lights.

Xenons and halogens are incandescents. The bad thing about incandescents, is that the bulb burn out, and the filament breaks too easily.

LEDs don't have a filament and NEVER need to be changed!

I like the concept of the CC Extreme: focusable and single white LED (standard Nichia). However, the 2 I had, went into strobe mode before 30 minutes usage, each.

Now, the LS (Luxeon Star LED) is equal to 10 - 15 Nichia white LEDs for the 1 watt LS.

I bought 2 Reactors and gave one to a friend last night. He is really impressed with it (which is saying alot with him).

On CPF, you will get alot of advice. Enough to make your head spin. Still, it comes down to trial and error to find the lights that are right for your particular needs.

Anyways, welcome to our wild and wacky world (CPF)!

 

[webley445]

I suggest checking out reviews of different lights to gain more knowledge about output, beam quality, runtimes, etc. Fellow CPF members have some excellent sites to see alot of the stuff available out there and how they perform.

http://thelightsite.cruxial.com/index.html
http://www.uwgb.edu/nevermab/led.htm
http://www.vicomptel.com/vlights/index.htm
http://thelightsite.cruxial.com/reviews/runtimes_archive/menu.html
http://www.geocities.com/da_shwartz/flashlight.html
http://ledmuseum.home.att.net/index2.htm
http://torchreviews.tripod.com/home.htm
http://www.brightguy.com/index.tpl?cart=10311715972717

Hope you have a few spare hours