Pizza Delivery Flashlight Advice Needed...

[Pizza-Driver]

Hi folks my spare job is delivering Pizza at night. Can you give me some suggestions for a good flashlight? I just found out that there is a whole world past an incandescent Mag-Lite.

Some perspective for you to consider before you make recommendations:

* Delivery can be unsafe as you are alone in an unfamiliar place, often inner city, and some think you have 600 cash in your pocket.

* A flashlight is a tool of the trade and so if there is an event it is legal to use a hefty light as a weapon even if the attacker is not armed (you did not escalate). So a tiny penlight and a 4D old school mag-lite have different protection potential.

* Besides security you need to see. From spotting addresses from in a moving car…you will shine from the car interior through the windshield or side windows. The side windows may be 35% tinted. Excess light bouncing back off the glass or interior back into your vision can be unsafe or uncomfortable.

* Legibility is key and some very blue cheap lights I have seen may be bright but the cooler colors seem to hurt finding addresses compared to a warmer incandescent. Some people put up white house numbers on a white house.

* Mostly you use bursts of light to spot an address and just a few seconds out of the car walking.

* Maybe 100-200 feet address spotting, sometimes while moving.

* It's okay if you need two units…say an in-car which can be for "throw" and could even be car powered. And a carry unit which would be more of a flood device.

* Around the neck or wrist loops or belt clips would rock.

* Can't do head mounted due to wearing the chain's logo hat.

I presently use a 4D maglite with the stock xenon incan. bulb…think it is 60-80 lumens and tends to yellow especially as the batteries fade. The pencil beam focus is actually decent in-car with out much bounce back off the glass and dash. But compared to a friends LED mag-lite it led me to realize I need to improve.

So…what is better than an LED mag-lite give the above noted? A Malkoff conversion LED? A mag-lite LED bulb? Or (my guess) either a combo (inside the car and carry while walking) unit or perhaps one for in-car and one for walking from a better brand.

Not overly worried about cost as long as it is under 200 or so.

Thank you kind sirs!

 

[Norm]

:welcome:

Flashlights are a lighting tool not a weapon, discussion of a flashlight as a weapon will be deleted. - Norm

 

[tobrien]

you may wanna check out the Surefire Fury lineup. they're all very powerful for the price, however, they're not necessarily distance spotters IMO

 

[Pizza-Driver]

:welcome:

Flashlights are a lighting tool not a weapon, discussion of a flashlight as a weapon will be deleted. - Norm

Oh yes, that makes sense, thank you and sorry for my oversight.

One last thing on suggestions…the LED maglite I borrowed triggers my radar detector about 90% of the time. That is not acceptable! My incandescent 4D mag never does this. So apparently some of the light produced is outside the range of human sight which is what the detector is picking up in its "laser" band. So any light I'd want to use should tend not to trigger a laser alert, or be modifiable in some way to end that distraction.

Thank you!

 

[Pizza-Driver]

you may wanna check out the Surefire Fury lineup. they're all very powerful for the price, however, they're not necessarily distance spotters IMO

Thanks I will look into them. I heard good things about that brand from a local cop.

Don't need search and rescue potential…just to be able to aim at a house to find the street number…through a windshield without the stray light messing me up. Maybe 100-200 feet max. The 4D mag set to pencil beam is actually quite decent there…very little of the light loads the car interior and so you are safe and sound. So with the mag i am using just the little dot of light in the center and any excess fill is low enough to be ignored. Outside the car I can live with that fill or rezoom the collar to gain a larger sweet spot. But it is weak and very yellow even with new batteries compared to a modern flashlight.

 

[Vortus]

A malkoff would be fine, the older xpg is a pure white and currently on sale at malkoff. It also allows you to keep your adjustable beam if you care to. Just make sure its close to the glass. The out put is roughly 250ish otf lumens and would have reflect. Cutting the reflector to fit is no problem. Just make sure yours is one of the models it fits. The malkoff will last as long as the light, prob longer. Mine has been used to beat semi trailer doors open and shut, thump tires, breaking ice....all kinds of stuff and they are all still truckin. If you use it a lot, i'd recommend a set of D nimh cells and a charger. I have a few D cell lights and using the same sets of D cell nimhs now for close to 3 years or longer. As to a smaller light, barring an aspheric, hard to beat the throw of a big deep reflector. That being said, some of the smaller power house lights out there now running on anywhere from 3 to 8 AA cells are pretty nice. Eagletac, Fenix, Sunwayman and others all have nice ones. Any of the 3+ battery lights would fit your needs. Along with some AA nimhs and a charger and your off. You might want to fill out the check list at the top of this forum for more options though. IE there are clip lights, buckle lights, lights with reversible clips so it can be clipped to your hat brim etc etc.

 

[Pizza-Driver]

Enough of the defense chat - Norm

From what I can gather, my old 4D xenon is around 70 lumens. It goes down in brightness and yellows as the batteries fade. The LED 3D model is much brighter and the light is wider. When I did my comparison I had mid-life batteries which widened the gap. It was not even close hence my looking into handling that issue.

I am leaning towards a much brighter / modern unit. Defensively I figure it would help to discourage a thief by being able to shine into their face and so help avoid an issue before it goes too far. A light several times brighter than my present maglite along with the more steady brightness of the LEDs should make that possible whereas it is not really possible now.

That way I will keep my 4D too, and add some nimh Ds and a Malkoff LED upgrade. The Malkoff should be brighter than the mag led so I will one-up the other pizza guy heh. Do you know if the regular and extra large Malkoffs both allow focus changes?

Still worried about the laser detection freaking on me as I have little experience with LED flashlights. Maybe a warmer LED would behave differently in the right way? Another LED flashlight I tried a lil cheapie did not affect the laser detector.

 

[DMitchell]

Fenix E40 or Surefire E2DL Ultra.

 

[arcadesdude]

I've posted in this other thread my reasons for using the Foursevens Quark QTLC ~250 lumens cr123

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/4220188

Sent from my ThL W8 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[Vortus]

You mean the older XPG and newer XML by regular and xl? JUst re-read the specs, noticed they are using the newer xpg2 on the lower lumens ones, so they upgraded. So the xpg2 will be a little brighter than the stock (new version of the magled). The XML version is a different monster. Much brighter but at a cost of run time. Best if you read the specs and decide. Both retain the adjustable beam, though tbh, I just leave mine focused. Make sure your light has a D in the serial number, if not, you will have to get the adapter sleeve. There are other options as well, Fivemega sells a triple kit, Elektrolumens has both single and triple drop ins, and some others who for some reason I cannot remember the names right now. Then there are options like having yours modified by a custom builder, vestureofblood does them, jayrob also.

 

[nine204]

I'd recommend a Fenix LD41. Quite bright and takes AA batteries.

http://i44.tinypic.com/1ikk9e.jpg

 

[Lurveleven]

I would recommend Eagletac SX25L2, preferably in natural white. Perfect size, weight and grip. And with an excellent switch that works perfect in both underhand and overhand grip.

 

[mesa232323]

It's seems that you have a preference for a Maglite sized light. Go with a Mag charger. Don't let the low amount of lumens fool you. It's very bright. Sometimes too bright for lighting pathways in very dark spaces.

The Sipik SK68 is a aspherical lens flashlight that would work great for finding addresses on homes without lighting your interior. It's a zooming light so it goes from extreme spot to flood in a second. It's a budget light and I've seen them on Amazon for less than $5 so you could grab a few and toss them if they break.

 

[tobrien]

Fenix E40 or Surefire E2DL Ultra.

ah E2DL Ultra would be a good choice too

 

[bshanahan14rulz]

the LED maglite I borrowed triggers my radar detector about 90% of the time. That is not acceptable! My incandescent 4D mag never does this.

Anybody know if any of the LED maglites had PWM, and perhaps could this be the trigger?

 

[Cereal_Killer]

A simple camera phone or cheap digi camera can see PWM, put the camera lens directly on the light lens and if you have a shutter/blinds effect on the camera its PWM.

 

[stienke]

Go with a Malkoff XML2 drop in , very bright and will last forever , you give your old mag a second live.
Buy some good NiMh batteries and you are ready to go!
I have a lot of lights and I have also big Maglites with bright drop in's and when at home they get the most use of all.

 

[Etsu]

Anybody know if any of the LED maglites had PWM, and perhaps could this be the trigger?

None of the LED Maglites I have show any sign of PWM, but I don't own any that are multi-mode. (Just full brightness.) Some of the later regulated ones might use it? Or should I call it, anti-regulated, since Maglite seems to intentionally dim their lights over time, which is the reverse of what you think regulation is used for.

 

[alpg88]

i used to deliver pizza when i was a kid.

1 don't cary more than $50 on you. hide the rest somewhere in your car. and try not to leave it running, we had one car stolen like that. be aware of adresses that ask you to bring change of 100.
2 lower the windows when using your light.
3 just get magnum star bulb in your 4-5-6d. 6d is around 200lm. don't go crazy on lights, they sometimes get lost.

as for small light, i would get something that you can clip to your shirt,or jacket, cuz sometines you may have pizza bag in one hand and bags of other stuff in other. pelican makes some angle lights

 

[Zigo45]

Right now on the Marketplace there is a 4D maglite w/ malkoff xpg2 dropin with new reflector, glass lens, glass breaker tailcap, and 4 D Nimh batteries for $85 or $65 without the batteries. That xpg2 would be great for spotting addresses.