What is the attraction of Incandescent?

[shane1]

Wow, thanks for all of the responses. Gives me something to think about. Does Surefire still make an incandescent lights? I dont even see the 6P listed on their site.

 

[bykfixer]

The 6p and other incans went out of production a couple of years back. 2016?

But they can still be found new in package at eBay or Amazon and the P60 modules as well. New 6p's go for around $55 and new P60's around $15.

 

[ampdude]

You don't have to pay that. I just got a couple of 6P's NIP for under $40 each. Older style logo too.

 

[RobertMM]

Nice catch ampdude.

I enjoy my incan lights a lot more than my LEDs, which for me are relegated to purely usage/tasks.
My incans are task lights too of course, but a lot more fun to use.

Incan lights, fountain pens, mechanical watches. Love them all.

 

[bykfixer]

Still my favorite flashlight.
A 1980's PA made by Bright Star 2c generic light using a PR2 bulb.
A shallow, shiny reflector causes the 1960's Tung Sol bulb to toss out a nice Maglite-esque spot along with a good spill. All with no donut hole and minimal filament shadow. A sweet little number that is easy to spot in low light. Bright Star sliding switches were a cut above the competition for reliability and they had positive stopping points to allow signaling or for full time light.
A friend of mine bought a few and mailed me this one at a time when I was all into LED lights, but had turned my focus back in time to all things vintage flashlights. Frankly I was surprised it was not made in the 1950's during the so called "machine era" of flashlights when signaling switches, creative stampings and new plastics were being incorparated.

If you are into old flashlights, the Tung Sol or Chicago Miniature light bulbs were top of the line numbers with a slightly frosted globe that really reduced filament shadow. Pre-orange peel technology. Tung Sol were used in automotive applications and radios so durability was first on their mind. Oh, they don't dig on being over driven, but in stock platform they are hard to beat. Chicago Miniature also have a nice beam.

But old Bright Star lights are wonderful. They are still around. Owned by plumbing supply company Koehler now and no longer made in the Steel City state.

But Shane, you really should try a SureFire 6P. It may be just what the doctor ordered for your pier fishing wars adventures.

 

[Lumen83]

No LEDs match the tint quality of incandescent light. There is just something much different about incandescent light. Something more familiar in a way. Maybe in a way that reminds me of the lights I grew up with. Maybe it extends further. Human beings have been staring at the warm light of a burning ember, and deriving comfort from that in the dark for hundreds of thousands of years. I think incandescent burning filament bulbs have the same psychological effect. Its a warm, comforting, natural, familiar beam that I just cannot find a match for with LEDs. After having chased the LED market for years, I've finally reverted back almost exclusively to incans.

 

[Saqibsaeed]

Incandescent bulbs cost much less than their energy-efficient alternatives. Incandescents are inefficient 90% of the energy goes toward heat and only 10% toward light.Incandescent bulbs look so good because they emit all colors of light, whereas LEDs and other more efficient light sources only manage a subset of all the colors of visible light.

 

[ampdude]

The first light I reach for if there are bumps in the night or something crazy going on outside is the Surefire M6 with HOLA that I keep in my top nightstand drawer.

Anytime I've needed it, it's been there, and very it much intimidated those it was aimed at.

It's easy to carry around on the belt too. That 500 lumens just stomps any 3,000 lumens LED light I've owned.

 

[Lumen83]

Still my favorite flashlight.
A 1980's PA made by Bright Star 2c generic light using a PR2 bulb.
A shallow, shiny reflector causes the 1960's Tung Sol bulb to toss out a nice Maglite-esque spot along with a good spill. All with no donut hole and minimal filament shadow.

Very neat light! Any beam shots?

 

[DayofReckoning]

One of the most beautiful beams I've ever seen was my Surefire M6 with LumensFactory IMR-M6 driven by 3 Keeppower 16650's. Absolutley [FONT=Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif]gorgeous.

Compared to my Fenix TK47UE, the M6 crushed the 1000 lumen mode of the Fenix, requiring me to pump up the lumens to 3200 before the M6 was obviously outclassed.

Stock Surefire lamps and primaries are cool and all, but with the abundance of Lithium ion cells, Lumensfactory lamps, and bi pin adapters that take cheap bulbs, I don't see much point in burning up old, valuable, discontinued Surefire Lamps with expensive lithium batteries when there are other options that are brighter, whiter, cheaper, and higher performing. Which is why my Surefire lamps have pretty much been retired for the most part. No real reason to use them other than maybe nostalgia.




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[RobertMM]

Agree, DayofReckoning.

There are even 3.7V P60 type lamp assemblies for running the P, G and C series with single 16650 cells.

 

[DayofReckoning]

Agree, DayofReckoning.

There are even 3.7V P60 type lamp assemblies for running the P, G and C series with single 16650 cells.

Yup, too many options out there now for us incan guys.

Save the Surefire lamps for preservation.

 

[bykfixer]

Very neat light! Any beam shots?

Here ya go.……

From shoulder high

From 20 feet (6m)
This around sunset today.

 

[BigBaller]

All of the above. In addition to the warm fire-like glow we enjoy in our primitive DNA , I enjoy the lag time it takes for an incandescent lamp to dim before shutting off completely. With led it's so quick and digitalized you don't get that warm tingly feeling. It's sort of like snuffing out the flame when I'm finished using my primtive torch. I find it satisfying to my psyche. You all understand what Im talking about. I love this place. 😁

 

[Lumen83]

All of the above. In addition to the warm fire-like glow we enjoy in our primitive DNA , I enjoy the lag time it takes for an incandescent lamp to dim before shutting off completely.

Good point! I also like holding the switch in just the right position to get the beam to dim but not go out altogether. Or to do it so slowly that it gradually goes out.

 

[Lumen83]

Here ya go.……

Thank you! That is beautiful.

 

[bykfixer]

Nice golden sunset beam after using the same batteries nearly 3 years. Needless to say it does not run for long periods, nor every night. But the beam is definitely getting warmer with time. It's definitely a nice little flashlight.

The other day I fired up a big head 1960's 3D Sportsman. Well, I inserted batteries and tried it out. Nothing. They were new batteries. Try three different batteries. Nothing. Change bulb (even though the filament was intact) and……nothing. Take apart front end and back in, clean with deoxidizer……nothing.

Wait a second, what did they do in 1963? Wack to palm and TADAH!! Perfect. Long live the wack-a-palm flashlight.

 

[Lumen83]

Wait a second, what did they do in 1963? Wack to palm and TADAH!! Perfect. Long live the wack-a-palm flashlight.

Lol sounds like whoever made that light made my dishwasher. I've got to kick it to get it to start.

 

[Katherine Alicia]

Honestly to me its that it brings me back to when I was a kid. Playing outside or under the covers with my pitiful 5-6 lumen lights and having a ball and keeping monsters away and walking with my friends. They were good days and incandescence takes me back to a much much simpler day😁

I think that`s the reason for my preference as well, as a child I had many different flashlights (it was a great way to keep me quiet! LOL) I even used to make my own, and as much as I love LEDs as well, nothing feels quite the same as propper bulb light. I tend to keep the LED ones for Emergency lights, but use Bulbs for everyday use, LEDs seem a bit `cold` to me.

So glad I found this place, I was starting to think I was a bit crazy having a love for flashlights, especially bulb types. :thumbsup:

 

[325addict]

All about the quality of the light. Wide spectrum light instead of small spectrum blueish, pale UGGHHH light. I am back to modified Mags and Surefires after a small "outing" to some LED flashlights. For sure, there are legit reasons for using a LED flashlight (small and still decent output and runtime, even on a 10180 Li-ion cell) and finally I found a LED flashlight that could go down to roughly 0.1 Lumens or so, as all others were too bright even on lowest setting to read my watch in a tent... so now, the SRT7 also has it's place in my collection. But the very first one that will be packed into the luggage is some kind of incan (Surefire C3 and/or M6) and even I carried an E1E for a long time, but it ruins the pockets of my quite expensive Fjallraven trousers, so I stopped carrying that one around :-(
Yeah, another point: even when using a high powered incan light, you are NOT blinded, while even a moderately powered blueish white LED flashlight only blinds me, instead of lighting up things so I can actually see them BETTER instead of WORSE.

Did you know Makita also HAD a few nice incan lights with large reflectors? The BML185 (or DML185) use an 18V / 0.6A PR13.5s style bulb which gives a lot of nice light. Combined with a BL1860B battery you have TEN HOURS of runtime! Want longer runtimes? Use the bulb for a BML184 lamp (which is 18V / 0.2A) and get 30 hours of run time. I actually have two BML185s, one with the 200mA bulb and one with the 600mA bulb in it.