Utility Rechargeable flashlight for my mate's house.

[Size15's]

Utility Rechargeable flashlight for my mate\'s house.

These are my requirements:

UK mains powered option has to be available.

Rechargeable flashlight for hard-mounting charger in a house. Useage intended to be utility, not tactical. Runtime must be pretty good - prefer longer runtime if possible.

I'd prefer to have brightly coloured options rather then black.
Must not be too big so perhaps the StreamLite LiteBox is too big.
Must be able to be left on charger.
Beam quality isn't that important.

Cost is not really that important. However, if it's about $100, I'd consider getting five units to try for a "bulk discount" or whatever from the UK retailer. Primary reason is to give one as a house-warming gift to my mate.

My current idea is the Rechargeable Pelican StealthLite, but the Streamlight Syclone looks okay too.

What are my other options?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Best regards,

Al

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Re: Utility Rechargeable flashlight for my mate\'s house.

I am currently recommending the Streamlight Stinger XT HP for general utility application. With intermittent usage, hours of runtime is obtainable.

 

[Size15's]

Re: Utility Rechargeable flashlight for my mate\'s house.

I don't like the grip on the XT.
The idea is that in say, bright yellow, my mate (and his girlfriend) would not forget they have a flashlight on charge in the cupboard under-the-stairs, and may also be able to locate it faster. In that respect, a polystinger would be better.

Runtime. Now for me, I know the limitations of a "Stinger" or "B90" flashlight. I know that they will tell me such flashlights don't last long enough. The Syclone with 2.5 hours runtime would be more suitable I think.

I'm tempted to get them a 10X and be done with it but I don't love them that much (not my mate at least

)

I'm tempted also by the power-failure LiteBox but they indicated a large flashlight wouldn't be the sort they are looking for. It's £170 (GB£) from Traser UK I think.

Al

 

[Chris M.]

Re: Utility Rechargeable flashlight for my mate\'s house.

I was going to suggest the lights made by Nightsearcher (nightsearcher.co.uk) but the lantern style ones that (I believe) have wallmount chargers are pretty big.

There`s their C and D series, but those don`t wallmount and I can`t speak for their light quality. The A series one I have is very poor beam-wise, making the MiniM*g 2AA look almost decent. The bigger ones may be better....? Construction is good though...

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Re: Utility Rechargeable flashlight for my mate\'s house.

I bought the XT HP for my aunt's boat. It sits near the Maxabeam at the cockpit. Both lights are black and can be a challenge to locate.

I found reflective, stick-on, peel and press material in a motorcycle shop designed to be applied to helmets for added visibility. This product is neon green-yellow in color. I placed several on both lights and they do a great job.

A friend in the textile industry has promised to provide me a new product made for application on handgun grips to reduce slippage. I'll post accordingly when I receive a sample.

The Pelican product is OK. I just have a preference for metal-bodied flashlights.

 

[John N]

Re: Utility Rechargeable flashlight for my mate\'s house.

Originally posted by Size15s:
I'm tempted to get them a 10X and be done with it but I don't love them that much (not my mate at least

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Actually I think the 10X wouldn't be a good selection for non-flashlight people. The need to unscrew and screw the light when placing and removing it from the charger and the non-clicky style button are annoyances to the non-flashlight crowd. The Streamlight Stinger HP style probably would be better -- pull it down and click it on.

-john

 

[Size15's]

Re: Utility Rechargeable flashlight for my mate\'s house.

John N,

Good point - but my friends get to try out my torches so they know how to work a tailcap switch. 10X is overkill me thinks.

I'm a fan of the 8NX-YL for it's durability as a utility light, but the runtime is too short for the applications I expect they'll use a torch for, and also, charging the B90 out of the body doesn't make it quick and easy to use. In this respect, the Stinger has an advantage, but the runtime is still too short.

I would supply Glowrings for the light, and charger.

Perhaps I'm going about this wrong?
A StealthLite with LiAAs would be useful for them. It's a shame the Surge can't use LiAAs...
I'm not a fan of Alks. If I was getting a C or D cell, it'd be a UKE I expect.

The idea is that they have a flashlight that works when they need it (and they won't need it that often). Perhaps a StealthLite and a CCT light thingy running Lithiums would be an option.

Still, I would like more rechargeable suggestions please.
Which ones have runtimes in hours?

Thanks

Al

 

[brightnorm]

Re: Utility Rechargeable flashlight for my mate\'s house.

The SL Litebox is a great light but it is heavy. The "Vulcan" is its little brother and might be more practical.

Specs given are for "standard" version of each, with batteries:

LITEBOX: 7.4lbs 8W = 8 hrs, 20W = 3.5hrs

VULCAN: 3.3lbs 3W = 9hrs, 6W = 3.75hrs

Brightnorm

 

[FC.]

Re: Utility Rechargeable flashlight for my mate\'s house.

I have each one of those lights, and Vulcan and NSurvivor have exactly the same output. Vulkan is three times the size of Survivor.
For about $100 you can get a Survivor,dual"piggyback" charger, and two batts. Div2 run time would be about 3.5 hrs
Div1 run time would be about 5.5 hrs

I really like the Survivor- it has a very handy plastic, spring loaded clip with a no-slip notch, so it will never fall off your coat(or belt); top mounted rotary slider switch; stands up and projects beam at 90 to the surface; very "cool"; can be droped from 3-4 feet 20-30 times without any problems

(actually it is rated for a 30ft drop);blah,blah,blah,blah,blah

Vulcan is a child of the first generation of Litebox(1982-1993)with a non adj bezel.
gen3 Litebox's bezel can be tilted up about 135 and rotated 360.

Pic below: two beams in the middle are NSurvivor with smooth reflector and Litebox with 8W spot.

 

[FC.]

Re: Utility Rechargeable flashlight for my mate\'s house.

BTW pic of my EDC candlepower

Brightnorm: Vulkan's grip to beam relation make it the best light for night hiking. Survivor is too hard to hold and Litebox is too heavy...

 

[FC.]

Re: Utility Rechargeable flashlight for my mate\'s house.

Originally posted by Size15s:
the StreamLite LiteBox is too big.

Al

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Oops...

Didn't see that...

 

[Size15's]

Re: Utility Rechargeable flashlight for my mate\'s house.

FC, please can you post/email photos of these flashlights please.

Thanks

For about $100 you can get a Survivor,dual"piggyback" charger, and two batts. Div2 run time would be about 3.5 hrs.

...Now this sounds like it's worth investigating.

BTW, that's five individual units required for various friends and family of mine.

Another thing, if the AC power transformers for the Survivor is the same as the UltraStinger, then I hope I can buy from the States and order the UK transformers from a UK dealer.

Thanks

Al

 

[binky]

Re: Utility Rechargeable flashlight for my mate\'s house.

Tigerlight? No?

NiMH battery, so no worries about when to charge or not; just tell your folks to store it back to the charger.

Okay, it's not brightly colored but it does have a pretty golden ring around it.

Runtime, I'm finding, is pretty close to the 1+ hr, although I haven't really run mine through more than 1 full battery charge yet (I just got it). I guess this falls short of the 2.5hr criterion, but at least it should give you an honest 1+ hrs whenever you yank it from the storage cradle.

It's tough. I've already dropped mine onto my wood floor from 1 meter and it did fine. (Lexan lens). I'm having second thoughts about installing the UCL from flashlightlens.com since I'm so clumsy.

One big drawback is that it is heavy. Much less portable than the 8nx. I can stick the 8nx in my pocket and virtually forget about it. Can't forget about the big Tigerlight being there. Maybe this is actually an advantage, meaning that your friends etc won't wander home with it so easily.

It's very bright. I'm estimating about twice as bright as the fully-charged 8nx.

No? Is it available in the UK? If it's not, maybe you could have someone ship it to you. As for price, I saw that TacticalWarehouse is selling them for about $189 for TWO. "Such a deal" as they say.

 

[Size15's]

Re: Utility Rechargeable flashlight for my mate\'s house.

I'm tempted by the TigerLight and have one for myself on the way. For this application, I really want more runtime - utility rather then duty.

Who knows, my mate may opt for the TigerLite when I get to show it to him.

Al

 

[FC.]

Re: Utility Rechargeable flashlight for my mate\'s house.

I'll take the pics in the morning.

 

[FC.]

Re: Utility Rechargeable flashlight for my mate\'s house.

SL Litebox in orange with flood 8W bulb, clear lens. 8.5hr run time.
Or dual filament 8W bulb(I think it is spot only).

SL New Survivor in orange with half-and-half reflector. Div2 - less runtime, but a lot brighter. 1.25hr run time.

Lights are made to be left on the charger at all times.
Survivor is about $65 without charger, and you can get a 5 port charger base for about $100. Single light with charger is about $75-$85.

Litebox is between $75-$135 depending on lens,bulb,mount/charger.

 

[FC.]

Re: Utility Rechargeable flashlight for my mate\'s house.

LITEBOX

I may be able to find em a bit cheaper.

 

[arioch]

Re: Utility Rechargeable flashlight for my mate\'s house.

My suggestion would be a Craftsman rechargeable Xenon lantern from Sears.

1.)It is slightly smaller than a SL Litebox, but similar shape. It is rather lightweight.

2.)Runtime on a full charge is about 2.5 hours, I believe.

3.)They are available in different colors.

4.)Price is very reasonable - about $40.00.

5.)Rugged design.

I have owned one for 2 years. Although it is not an edc, it is useful for blackouts and other utility purposes.

http://www.sears.com

Search for "lantern".

 

[Size15's]

Re: Utility Rechargeable flashlight for my mate\'s house.

Thanks arioch, but what about a UK powersupply?

 

[arioch]

Re: Utility Rechargeable flashlight for my mate\'s house.

Size 15s:

Concerning the power situation with the Craftsman Xenon lantern; I am not sure, but I believe that Radio Shack here sells a travel A/C adapter for use with European and Asian outlets that might be what you would need to charge the lantern.

http://radioshack.com

Click on "batteries and adapters".