Tigerlight experts, I need you...

[bigred]

Hi guys. I am considering purchasing a Tigerlight and have a few questions for you. Here they are.

1. Is the 8" version as bright as the long version?
2. How many lumens is the 8" Tigerlight?
3. How is the throw on it?
4. How would an 8" Tigerlight compare to a G2 Nitrolon?
5. How hard is it to change out the battery pack?
6. Is there a place in Canada I can purchase a Tigerlight?
7. If not, which US dealer has the cheapest shipping to Canada?

Thanks for any info guys.

 

[JasonC8301]

1. Both the 8 inch FBOP TL and the 11 inch OC TL use the same battery pack and bulb. The output should be the same. Only difference is one outputs OC spray and the other does not, plus 3 inches in length and less weight for the shorter one.

2. I would estimate the lumens to be 250-300. Its very bright. Beam quality isn't like SF though. Pretty nice beam for a smooth reflector though.

3. The throw on the TL is nice. I can light up tree tops and buildings about 75-100 yards away in VERY low ambient light conditions.

4. No comparison.......

5. Pretty straight foward in the manual. But you would only change the battery pack once it reaches its end of service life. You have to charge the battery pack while its in the light. It takes 10 hours to charge it fully.

6. www.tigerlight.net to find a dealer

7. I got mine from Tactical Warehouse. Not sure if they ship international. Meridian Tactical may ship international.

EDIT:

The picture isn't all that great but it gives you an idea of how strong the TL is. I will work on lighting up walls in the darker part of campus soon, got about 50 yards of distance form a 4 story brick wall in a really remote area of campus with little lighting.

Thats the size of the 8 inch TL compared to toehr lights I have (thats a 2C mag at the very right.)

 

[Floating Spots]

I can help on a few...

1) The 8" is the same light as the 12". The length difference come from the lack of the ability to hold pepper spray on the short version. Other than the peppre spray, the rest of the light is the same.

4) The TigerLight would win. Someone will probably come up with pictures.

5) Its not terribly difficult. It not something I would do every day.
The battery is rechargeable and recharges in the flashlight.

 

[bigred]

Wow, thanks guys. Darn, I thought by purchasing an extra battery pack I could charge it while using the other. That means if I don't have 10 hours to charge the battery, the light is useless. I want to use this flashlight as a spotting light for hunting, and my generator only runs 5 hours max at night before we go to bed. I would run the light for the full hour everyday so there wouldn't be enough time to recharge the light when we get back to camp. Does this mean that I would have to purchase a second Tigerlight to always have a fully charged light?

 

[darkgear.com]

Don't hesitate just buy it! Awesome light.

4. Here are more beamshots to give you an idea of the power. The G2 is 60 lumens. The 9P in the shot is supposed to be 200 lumens

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB16&Number=206580&page=&view=&sb=5&o=&fpart=&vc=1&PHPSESSID=

I would only add...

5. Possible but I'd hate to do it in the middle of a hunting trip like you describe. Might be better to buy a battery eating light for that. OR use the generator to charge a car battery an charge the TL off of that??

Best regards,
Randy

 

[JasonC8301]

The Tigerlight also comes with a DC charger but I doubt you'll be using the car for 10 hours.

A Tigerlight sounds like won't fit your situation well.

Randy recommended a battery eating light. A Streamlight TL-3 xenon might be a good option with spare batteries on hand. From what I heard, this light can throw well.

 

[brightnorm]

[ QUOTE ]
bigred said:
...I would run the light for the full hour everyday...

[/ QUOTE ]

bigred,

I'll assume that you want a powerful light that's brighter than a G2/P60 and will run at fairly constant brightness for an hour and which can be recharged in less than 5 hours. There are a number of lights that meet these requirements including the Streamlight Stinger “family”(look into “piggyback”charger) with the possible exception of the UltraStinger which is not recommended for fast charging, the Pelican M9, the Pila G3R/GL3R and Gl4 which are dual operation lights operating from LiION rechargeables or lithium 123’s, and other lights. These are all “relatively” small light-weight lights. The Pila GL4 is probably the brightest of these lights though still not in the Tigerlight’s class.

The question remains; how bright a light do you want? If it must be at or near Tigerlight power then your options are more limited and both size and weight increase considerably. How big and heavy a light are you willing to carry? You can check dimensions , weight and claimed power of some well know lights here:

INSTANT SPECS FOR 54 POPULAR LIGHTS

The Magcharger is a very bright far throwing light, though with less total output than the Tigerlight. Using 5 x 2.5 Mah Powerstream NiCADs will give you a solid 2hrs of runtime when fully conditioned. I haven’t been able to find information on MagCharger fast charging, but if you carry an extra precharged bettery stick you will have about 4hrs of good runtime. Will you need to change batteries quickly? I have changed Magcharger sticks in less than 30 seconds but since the PowerStreams are much cheaper loose than custom “sticked” you’ll have to allow a little longer. I mentioned that the UltraStinger is not recommended for fast charging, but an extra precharged stick will give you about a 2 hr run. Unfortunately the battery must be charged in the light. Other options include the Pelican M11, Streamlight SL-20X and SL-35X. Some of the big rechargeables can be fitted with brighter bulbs but will have reduced runtime.

I’m not aware of any commercially available LED light would meet your criteria of high brightness, long throw and excellent bright run time. Mods like the SN II are more than bright enough but have limited runtime and aren’t rechargeable.

Brightnorm

 

[paulr]

The Powerstream cells are designed for battle robots and should accept fast charging, like even 30 minute charging. Next question is where you're going to find a powerful enough charger. Also, the Magcharger is an awfully heavy light to lug around hunting. Borrow someone's 3D Mag and carry it around for a while before you decide you're willing to tote around a Magcharger. Maybe you're best off with an Ultrastinger and the Streamlight fast charging kit, even if it won't throw quite as far as a Tigerlight or Magcharger.

 

[brightnorm]

[ QUOTE ]
paulr said:
...Maybe you're best off with an Ultrastinger and the Streamlight fast charging kit, even if it won't throw quite as far as a Tigerlight or Magcharger.

[/ QUOTE ]

Paulr,

My Streamlight instructions say that fast charging isn't recommended for the US which is why I didn't get a fast charger. Should I reconsider, are you sure it's OK?

Brightnorm

 

[paulr]

I'm not an Ultrastinger expert and don't have one. I just know they sell a fast charger for it:

http://www.brightguy.com/detail.html?sku=STR78021

That's a 2.5 hour charge so maybe it doesn't count as "fast" by 1-hour standards.

Another idea might be use a 12 volt charger and charge from a 12V marine battery that you top off with your generator.

 

[DieselDave]

I wouldn't think charging the TL off the car would drain the car battery all that much, don't really know though.

Do you really need this much light for hunting? Are you spotlighting, tracking game, or navigating back to camp?

I carry a Tigerlight 8", a Surefire L4 with 2 spare sets of batteries, and an ARC AAA when deer hunting. If searching for a deer I would typically use the Tigerlight for 5-30 minutes, until we located a blood trail or the deer. Once I locate a trail I switch to the L4 and only use the TL sporadically when I need long throw. The ARC AAA is only there as an emergency back-up if all else fails. I wouldn't have a problem humping 2-3 miles out of dense forest with the AAA.

 

[bigred]

Thanks a lot guys, great info here. First, I won't be lugging the light around walking in the bush. I will more or less be using the flashlight as a "headlight" when I'm navigating my small aluminum boat through a creek in the early morning and when coming back at night. The ride in is roughly half an hour, so I would need at least a one hour runtime for the round trip. How bright a light do I need? I'm not sure. I tried using my brother's G2 Nitrolon this fall and it fell a little short, though honestly not by much. I'm starting to think I don't need a light as bright as the Tigerlight. The Ultrastinger with 2.5 hour charger would suit my needs just fine I believe. I was checking the Streamlight website and saw that the Ultrastinger was listed as having "75 000 CP". Approximately how many lumens does this equate? I can't help but feel that Tigerlight would sell a lot more flashlights if they figured out a way of charging their batteries in under five hours. Personally, I can't imagine using a light for an hour and waiting 10 hours to use it again. Anyway, I guess I'll do a little research on the Ultrastinger's throw, beam quality, water resistance and overall feel. Keep the comments coming guys...

 

[paulr]

If you're using it as a "headlight" maybe you want a wide beam rather than super long throw. Perhaps you should look into a motorcycle headlamp, or something like a Litebox:

http://www.brightguy.com/detail.html?sku=STR45104

Note the 12 hour charge time is for a full charge of the 72 WH battery. If you're using it for just 1 hour, 3 or 4 hours of charging should top it off.