Why do LED lights still suck and why do I still use incans or HIDs, your opinions or disagreements please.

[Arkman]

Incans are used in tracking for search and rescue. Lower powered lights cast a shadow of a track where the powerful washes it out. Everything has a purpose.

As a friend of mine once said....." Let there be light"

 

[JustAnOldFashionedLEDGuy]

Incans are used in tracking for search and rescue. Lower powered lights cast a shadow of a track where the powerful washes it out. Everything has a purpose.

As a friend of mine once said....." Let there be light"

I have 7+ settings down to a fraction of a lumen on an LED light. Why would I need Incan for low power? This is more about angle and spill.

 

[raggie33]

Incans are so great for easy bake oven.

 

[Ocelot808]

Latest from Malkoff Devices...

120 Watts of pure incandescent power

 

[vicv]

Incans are so great for easy bake oven.

That's true you can't bake a small cake with an LED

 

[Ocelot808]

I so terribly miss the incan hotwire magmod heyday of yesteryear. Those bulbs were epic performers (1111, 1185, 1409). I was heartbroken when Welch Allyn and Carly disappeared and the supplies of the hotrod bulbs dried up.

Fivemega the legend is still around but 15-20 years ago everything he turned out was snapped up in a heartbeat. There was a firestorm of hotwire enthusiasm back then. Softstart regulators, overdriving bulbs, rechargeable liion integration... it was so much FUN! The two greatest lights I owned were a Surefire M6 and FM Elephant.

I really wish there was a crazy performance turnkey incan setup available now but it seems the lack of bulbs prevents it. Maybe it exists and I don't know about it. The only surviving incan I have is my beloved Lightforce 10" 100W handheld spotlight, which is a timeless joy to use.

 

[vicv]

I so terribly miss the incan hotwire magmod heyday of yesteryear. Those bulbs were epic performers (1111, 1185, 1409). I was heartbroken when Welch Allyn and Carly disappeared and the supplies of the hotrod bulbs dried up.

Fivemega the legend is still around but 15-20 years ago everything he turned out was snapped up in a heartbeat. There was a firestorm of hotwire enthusiasm back then. Softstart regulators, overdriving bulbs, rechargeable liion integration... it was so much FUN! The two greatest lights I owned were a Surefire M6 and FM Elephant.

I really wish there was a crazy performance turnkey incan setup available now but it seems the lack of bulbs prevents it. Maybe it exists and I don't know about it. The only surviving incan I have is my beloved Lightforce 10" 100W handheld spotlight, which is a timeless joy to use.

I'm about 50/50 with Incan and led lights. Still use the incans all the time

 

[Ocelot808]

I really long for SCREAMING incan lumens, though. The MN21 in the SF M6 set the bar for me ancient times ago. Is there a turnkey setup using an Osram 64657 HLX with a 3.5"+ reflector and liion power? I'm dreaming out loud but I'm describing my wish for a crazy hotwire.... FM?

 

[letschat7]

Latest from Malkoff Devices...

120 Watts of pure incandescent power

 

[hamhanded]

I really long for SCREAMING incan lumens, though. The MN21 in the SF M6 set the bar for me ancient times ago. Is there a turnkey setup using an Osram 64657 HLX with a 3.5"+ reflector and liion power? I'm dreaming out loud but I'm describing my wish for a crazy hotwire.... FM?

Me too. Would really like something turnkey that takes the halogens available at home improvement stores (for now).

 

[Lowglow]

Just last evening I was struggling to fit a new auxiliary belt to my car. It has to go around pulleys and be seated before releasing the tensioner. All hard to access with limited visibility (only one eye ar a time has clear line of sight). It's a VW PD130 engine for those wondering. I had my High CRI Nichia light with 'perfect' beam but I was struggling. The LED gave a flat wash of light with little shadow detail or depth to let me see where the belt was sitting. Turning it up made it even harder as reflections and glints from polished parts were bright and distracting. So I grabbed my cheap garage rubber torch (with 6 Volt lantern battery) and it was much dimmer and yellower but the beam bought everything into perspective and I had the belt fitted within minutes. I wanted the LED to work for me but it didn't. The incan was 50 lumens top with not that great a beam but without it I would have struggled.

 

[N8N]

That's true you can't bake a small cake with an LED

You CAN, but it'll be really, really bright.

 

[Ocelot808]

You CAN, but it'll be really, really bright.

I don't think anyone would attempt an LED conversion for an EZ BAKE oven

 

[Jean-Luc Descarte]

I don't think anyone would attempt an LED conversion for an EZ BAKE oven

The internet will now take this as a challenge. Remember, someone literally went to the lengths of cooking a chicken by slapping it.

 

[kaichu dento]

Just last evening I was struggling to fit a new auxiliary belt to my car. It has to go around pulleys and be seated before releasing the tensioner. All hard to access with limited visibility (only one eye ar a time has clear line of sight). It's a VW PD130 engine for those wondering. I had my High CRI Nichia light with 'perfect' beam but I was struggling. The LED gave a flat wash of light with little shadow detail or depth to let me see where the belt was sitting. Turning it up made it even harder as reflections and glints from polished parts were bright and distracting. So I grabbed my cheap garage rubber torch (with 6 Volt lantern battery) and it was much dimmer and yellower but the beam bought everything into perspective and I had the belt fitted within minutes. I wanted the LED to work for me but it didn't. The incan was 50 lumens top with not that great a beam but without it I would have struggled.

This is just one of the reasons lower cct is better. Excess blue doesn't just make it hard to fall asleep, it also makes it harder to see through branches in the woods and wires under the hood.

 

[Lowglow]

This is just one of the reasons lower cct is better. Excess blue doesn't just make it hard to fall asleep, it also makes it harder to see through branches in the woods and wires under the hood.

Yet for some reason people push for 'White' 6k + lights. Anything under 5k is 'yellow' and when I asked for a 4k emitter in a custom light they thought I was wrong to even want it. 😶

 

[kaichu dento]

Yet for some reason people push for 'White' 6k + lights. Anything under 5k is 'yellow' and when I asked for a 4k emitter in a custom light they thought I was wrong to even want it. 😶

We live in a bling society and people don't have any compunction about making sure cars coming towards them at combined speeds of 120 or more are blinded.
Incandescent light is perfect and the best I can hope for from my LED's is the exact same look.

 

[Lowglow]

We live in a bling society and people don't have any compunction about making sure cars coming towards them at combined speeds of 120 or more are blinded.
Incandescent light is perfect and the best I can hope for from my LED's is the exact same look.

Good call about automotive lighting. I can't stand the LED lights. Dazzling bright yet with poor definition of natural materials (to my eyes) expecially in the wet. The halogen lights with Philips bulbs in my Skoda 105 on .main beam are 100% satisfying for dark rural roads. Anyway I really value my incan torches. I've tried warm LED's but they end up looking an odd yellow. If you have found an LED light that is very much like a bulb I'd like to know more.

 

[ampdude]

I'm about 50/50 with Incan and led lights. Still use the incans all the time

I'm about 80% incan, 10% HID, 10% LED these days still.

 

[DRoc]

2013 was one of the last years that I recall being able to still somewhat easily acquire all my favourite Surefire incandescent lamp assemblies.
Most sources are no longer stocking.
These days I imagine even a P60 is getting rare.
I still like a P60 on primaries. A P61 is very nice also. My favourite is the P90. Great all round performance in an incandescent.
I've had good success with a P61 on 18650. Not quite as bright and white as a P60 on fresh primaries, but reasonable and rechargeable.