Poor man's Arc LSH-P?

[milkyspit]

Poor man\'s Arc LSH-P?

The Arc LSH-P by all accounts is a great little flashlight, but it's also pretty expensive. Personally, I have a problem with spending that kind of money on something I'll ultimately stand a decent chance of misplacing. (The main problem being that I don't have the money at all. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif ) I've seen elements of the answer floating around in various posts, so I'll just come out and ask the question: Is it possible to put together a collection of parts and/or an off-the-shelf flashlight to approximate the essence of an Arc LSH-P (nice brightness, good beam quality, small size) at a significantly lower cost... kind of a poor man's LSH-P?

 

[kakster]

Re: Poor man\'s Arc LSH-P?

Just a thought : why not try your luck on one of their factory seconds? $50 is very cheap for a light of that quality. If you get one with a bad beam colour, you can always swap out the luxeon (assuming you have the tools and time to do it)

 

[IlluminatingBikr]

Re: Poor man\'s Arc LSH-P?

Why not just an LSH rather than a premium?

 

[shiftd]

Re: Poor man\'s Arc LSH-P?

Kakster, are you sure on that? I thought the newer Arc head has the body and upper head permanently attached. I have been procrastinating and holding from buying a second because I thought that if i get a bad one, that will be it: bad Arc LS for me /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif .It is true that Arc put a satisfaction guarantee statement, but it is just sounds wrong to keep returning a second to get a second chance for the Arc LS second (duh, too many second's). But if i can change the led myself, that would somehow decrease, if not eliminate, the need of constantly returning the LS.

 

[Rothrandir]

Re: Poor man\'s Arc LSH-P?

a madmax+ q3l should have a very bright and white beam, but it's longer than the arc ls.

 

[paulr]

Re: Poor man\'s Arc LSH-P?

[ QUOTE ]
milkyspit said:
Is it possible to put together a collection of parts and/or an off-the-shelf flashlight to approximate the essence of an Arc LSH-P (nice brightness, good beam quality, small size) at a significantly lower cost... kind of a poor man's LSH-P?


[/ QUOTE ]

You can get a Princeton Tec Blast for $6.50 from TTS. It's about the same size as an Arc LS, weighs noticably less, has about the same total brightness, and aside from the yellowish color (it's incandescent of course), its beam quality isn't that bad. It's not a high tech LED light like the Arc, but it's still a very nice, highly pocketable and functional, completely waterproof light.

 

[milkyspit]

Re: Poor man\'s Arc LSH-P?

[ QUOTE ]
IlluminatingBikr said:
Why not just an LSH rather than a premium?

[/ QUOTE ]

No reason! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif The specific version (LSH vs. LSH-P) doesn't really matter; the point is an approximation of the characteristics of the Luxeon Arc lights (bright, good beam quality, small size) at significantly lower cost. Guess I've seen so many "LSH-P" in recent posts that I just automatically typed it that way. My bad.

 

[jtice]

Re: Poor man\'s Arc LSH-P?

Id say you best bet for small, and bright,,, is a MiniMag with a dropin module.
You can buy the dropins HERE
They are VERY easy to install. Takes about 2 minutes. I would suggest a MadMax Q3+.

 

[Grummond]

Re: Poor man\'s Arc LSH-P?

I’d have to second Rothrandir with the MM+Q3L.
Or a bb400Q3.

Get yourself a mineral glass and tail switch and you will have a relatively inexpensive light to be proud of.
The bb400 is current regulated and the MM is voltage regulated
Personally I do not think of the bb400Q3 or MM+Q3L to be cheaper alternatives to any other lights, but rather I find them to be unique in their own right.
Seeing as they drop in to existing flashlights, if you do happen to drop it down a flight of concrete stairs on the first night you use it and scratch up the light, just drop it into another host and you’ve got a shiny new light again.
I say this as I know myself that if I have not got much money and push the boat out to buy an expensive light anyway I am a little worried about damaging it as I know I can’t afford to buy a new one, so I tend to look after it a bit too well (not use it in situations I’d like to for fear of damaging it).

Let us know what you decide to get. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[darkgear.com]

Re: Poor man\'s Arc LSH-P?

THIS with a MM+Q3L is nearer to the size of and LSH-P and still inexpensive. I know I want one /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Best regards,
Randy

 

[hotbeam]

Re: Poor man\'s Arc LSH-P?

Long time no hear Randy /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif. How's the store? Yes, Roth's MMM is very cool. Would be nice with the MM+Q3L

 

[SilverFox]

Re: Poor man\'s Arc LSH-P?

Hello Scott,

The ARC LSH-P is a great light. If you are afraid of loosing it, buy 2 and hold one for a spare.

Oh, about the money issue... details.

I have seen several of the BB400's and would agree that while the LSH-P maintains the edge, they are great mod's at a more reasonable price.

Tom

 

[CM]

Re: Poor man\'s Arc LSH-P?

Go with an Arc LS second for $50. (did I hear an echo?) I picked up two during the sale and even though I handpicked the two I got, I think that all their seconds are very similar--I had a very tough time picking out a good one since they are all *good*. The LSH with a 123 clickie is the perfect size for EDC. The drop-in mods for the G*g lights are very good but the G*g is too big to EDC for me. Once you carry the Arc with the 123 pack, you'll never go back. Go for the real thing /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[K Horn]

Re: Poor man\'s Arc LSH-P?

Let's see, size, brightness, runtime, quality????
Nope I don't see anything that's close to an ARC.

Let's see YUGO / BEEMER....both have 4 tires, doors, headlights....YUGO 30,000 cheaper....

A mini-m@g is kinda bright.... Lousy company though....
As with tools I learned a long time ago, buy Craftsman once or just resign yourself to purchasing cheap "over and over and over".

 

[LitFuse]

Re: Poor man\'s Arc LSH-P?

Man, sure wish I could rummage through the lot and hand pick my seconds, you're a lucky guy CM. I just ordered a couple of seconds too, I've got my fingers (and toes) crossed for some good ones. Please give us some details on your LS seconds, did you get 2 LSH-P's? What does a "hand picked" Arc second look like?

Peter

 

[Hoghead]

Re: Poor man\'s Arc LSH-P?

I bought 6 seconds.
3 LSH-P, 2 had scratches on the lens & 1 had bubbles around
edge of the lens.
1 LSL-P, yellow tint in the beam.
1 LSH-S, the lens was scratched.
1 LSL-S, I couldn't find anything wrong with it. It has a
purple tint in the beam, but so do 2 LSL-Ss that are not
seconds.
I can reccomend seconds. All work great & the beams are not
affected. Buy some!!!

 

[bluewater]

Re: Poor man\'s Arc LSH-P?

Micro Illuminator! Tiny, bright, great beam ......AAA batteries!

 

[MR Bulk]

Re: Poor man\'s Arc LSH-P?

How about the E1 w/KL1 (oops, dat be da rich man's version)...

 

[CM]

Re: Poor man\'s Arc LSH-P?

LitFuse

I bought (2) LSH-P. I showed one to Peter and asked why it is a second and he looked at it and thought it was mechanical fit since the head didn't screw all the way into the battery tube, maybe off by 1 or 2 mm. The other one Merri thought was too blue. Heck I couldn't tell the difference so I'm happy. I may need to buy a few more for mods but I already have 7 LS's, doesn't count the 3 I gave away for presents. Guess you can't have too many Arcs.


CM

 

[milkyspit]

Re: Poor man\'s Arc LSH-P?

[ QUOTE ]
bluewater said:
Micro Illuminator! Tiny, bright, great beam ......AAA batteries!

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm having a fit of laziness at the moment and haven't looked at the exact prices of the two lights, but wouldn't the Micro Illuminator be in the same ballpark pricewise as the LSH-P?