What's the best light for me?

JB

Enlightened
Joined
Mar 27, 2001
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298
What\'s the best light for me?

I've received good advice that which light is best depends on the intended use. Thanks Brock!

I need a light for camping/outdoor use. It should last through the night if necessary; be weather proof; durable; bright; and can illuminate up at 40-50ft at least. Anything up to 3-4 D-cell size is okay with me.

Okay, so that rules out the lithium based lights (but I'm still keeping my eye on that E2 for other applications
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). Based on my requirements I'm leaning towards a LED light or perhaps a good incandescent one.

Which is the better option? Any models to recommend?
 
Re: What\'s the best light for me?

At the risk of my friends in here throwing me out I might consider a good old 3 cell Mag-light or maybe one of the new Eveready Arc Lights. One of the Expeditions might be a good choice to but would just barly make the range requirements. Of course two lights would be my choice, E-2 and Expedition,...any respectable flashaholic will end up with them anyway...so why not save some money and get them straight off? I understand the Eveready Pocket Trout is a good choice to, it doubles as a lure
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Re: What\'s the best light for me?

I would have to agree with Ken. Your requirement for all night long says you would need standard batteries as opposed to rechargable. There is nothing wrong with a maglight. Just look at the sales statistics on Maglights. They are very popular and for good reason. They do the job for the majority of "consumers". Add in the ability to bring along spare batteries and you are all set.

I agree with the Expedition. I recently got my E2 an that is the next light I have my sights on.
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Re: What\'s the best light for me?

When I ended up out in the woods(they didn't call it camping
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) I always had an everready flourescent/flashlight combination similar to the arc/white. I took and replaced the standard bulb with one of those MAG prefocused ones. It performed flawlessly in every clime and place. So I would go with an arc or a real good flashlight and an eterna-light.
 
Re: What\'s the best light for me?

For this application I would suggest a 3 C or 3 D cell mag. The D cell will give you a bit more runtime. The reason I would go with the 3 cells is you can pop a led in the tail as a replacement lamp and then you would have a light that would run for days if needed. Using even the standard mag lamp a 3 D cell mag is pretty bright and pretty durable, it's not a Surefire or Streamlight, but it sounds like the light for the job. I don't believe they are waterproof, just water-resistant.

My brother in law always takes my 3 D cell hunting with him, the other lights I have just don't have the runtime he need, and the LED's aren't bright enough. I wonder if any of my dive lights could be re-lamped to a lower power and then have a really long runtime? Hummm…..

The only LED light would probably be the new Trek 14, or Expedition with the 14 LED's. It would have about the same runtime as the Mag and probably the same brightness, but would have an unbreakable light source and be totally waterproof.

Brock
 
Re: What\'s the best light for me?

If for camping or backpacking, a headlamp is a must. Petzl Mega Belt and Duo Belt will be good choice. Both of them use C cells and Mega Belt could also take AA cells if C cell is not available around.

Petzl Duo Belt has 2 built-in bulbs (low and high beam) and a dual reflector like Sure Fire's new 10X. You don't need to change bulb for saving energy or dead bulb. This is waterproof as well.

If you want LED, Petzl Tikka has 3 LED runs on 3 AAAs and very small. This one is much brighter than Matrix from Princeton. Frontaled from Switzerland made headlamp with 10 LED with high (8 hours) and low mode (48 hrs) runs on 4 AAs. I haven't used the Frontaled one and doesn't know anyone using it, so I could comment how good this one is.

Alan
 
Re: What\'s the best light for me?

Okay, I already own a 3D Maglite; have had it for several years. Glad to know this old workhorse can still be recommended.

Then again, maybe I was looking for something more "sexy" or high-tech, or just an excuse to buy a new light.
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Heh-heh.

My 3D Maglite is still a good light but sometimes I wish it was lighter or less bulky to carry around. And I wouldn't mind something brighter. I just read about replacement bulbs; I'll start a new thread for this.

Anyone know the runtime on the 3D Maglite? I've never run it flat on a new set of batteries to test.
 
Re: What\'s the best light for me?

Brock,

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>The only LED light would probably be the new Trek 14, or Expedition with the 14 LED's. It would have about the same runtime as the Mag <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The 14 LED light would last about 20 hours (at full brightness), right? Can the 3D Mag really last that long (since you were using them as comparables)?
 
Re: What\'s the best light for me?

I would bet the 14 LED and 3 C cell mag would last about the same time. They should draw about the same power. The only real differnce would be the color temp of the LED (nice and white) and the smooth beam of the LED. But then again you could spot down the Mag and get a long throw beam. The 3 D cell mag should last the longest, unless you throw in a high power lamp. Walt Welch regularly orders them from Carley since Carley has a $50 minimum order. He then re sells them to us, or anyone who emails him and send him the $ and a self addressed stamped envelope. It should about double the brightness and cut the run time in half.

Brock
 
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