New member with new toys: surge/U. stinger/arclight/ledcorp pro series bulb

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**DONOTDELETE**

Guest
Hi all, new member here. been lurking for the past 2 months.
smile.gif


I feel so at home here. My friends gimme that look when I mention I have flashlights that are more than $10.

Lights I own before I found this board and LED museum:
-3D maglite. my workhorse
-2aa mini mag. my dim pretty blue light that never gets used.
-2aa Craftsman. What my mini mag should have been.
-photon 2. Ahh, the light that started my new collection.

Lights since the Photon and this board and LED museum:

-PT Surge
-Ultra Stinger
-Arc AAA LED light
-LedCorp Professional PR bulb

after getting the Photon in white, I was very impressed at how much light it put out...so...in an effort to brighten up my 3D mag and falling hook, line, and sinker for LEDCorp's "...300% brighter..." line, I bit the bullet and bought their pro series Luxeon star PR bulb.
I was extremely dissappointed in its light output. The only benefit of the bulb was the fact that it cured the horrible optics of the mag in the spot setting. Thats the only setting that worked well with that bulb's light output. And the fact that I have about 50hrs on one set of batteries...dunno how long it will last since I just turned it off. Should go for 20+ days on a set of batteries?
BTW, that bulb is for sale. PR-3 . email me if interested.

I have an affinity for mag's and bought the 2aa on a whim. It has about 10hrs on it since I despise using it cuz it's so dim. Enter the Craftsman 2aa. Looks like a mini 3D mag. Much better light than the mini mag. this light got abused. Light output is much whiter. The bulb in it is about 2x the size of the one in the mini mag.

Photon II in white. first impression...WOW. Bright little bugger. It ended up falling off my keychain along with a swiss army knife about 2 weeks after I got it.:-/ So then began my search for a replacement. I found this forum and the talks about surefire E1, E2's/scorpions/etc got me really wanting a small light with output equal or better than my 3D mag but I found that these lights had really short run times/used expensive batteries/or short bulb life. So I went and got a Green Photon II in the mean time while I was continuing my search for lights.

I found tons of favorable reviews of the Arc AAA LED light, PT Surge, and Ultra Stinger.

The Arc was appealing cuz it used cheap and readily available batteries and would be easier to find on my keychain than the Photon. I'm actually disappointed in the Arc's light output in comparison with my old white Photon. My green Photon easily outshines it along with the old white Photon. Anyone do a direct comparison of a white Arc AAA and Photo II? I'm curious if anyone has the same experience or its just mine. This thing might be for sale too. :-/

I was looking to replace my 3D mag with something brighter that used alkaline batteries. Rechargeables are worthless if electricity gets cut in a natural disaster. Earthquake country, you know.
smile.gif
Lots of searching lead to the Surge. First impressions? WOW. Even comes with batteries. lol. I consider it a very close 2nd to the Ultra Stinger.

I've always wanted a magcharger but couldn't part with $90 for one cuz of its bad optics. The reviews of the ultra stinger were very favorable, and I am very happy with it. Lightweight and very bright. Can't wait for the fast charger to come out.

I just received all these lights yesterday and have only played with them for a few minutes each, but i'm looking foward to playing with them in the dark.
rolleyes.gif


6061
 
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**DONOTDELETE**

Guest
Hello,

I've only been here a couple weeks myself. I'll tell you what these guys sure know there flashlights!
smile.gif


Take care.

Eric
 

txwest

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 30, 2001
Messages
1,773
Location
Houston, TX
6061,
Don't judge the ARC AAA to quickly. Keep it handy when you go to bed & try it after you eyes have become dark adjusted. You'll be amazed how much light it puts out. And it doesn't mess up you night vision. Same thing on the LED PR3.

On the MiniMag, get a Brinkman Nexstar bulb for it. Then if you can get some WrightRight plastic for the lens, you'll have a good usable light.

For the 3D Maglight, do a search on this forum about the best bulb for the Maglight. Get the right bulb & some more of the WrightRight & you'll have another good usable light. Sometimes makeing what you have into a good, usable light is almost as fun as buying new ones.
rolleyes.gif
Well, maybe not, but at least cheaper.
xyxwave.gif
TX
 
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**DONOTDELETE**

Guest
6061;

You mentioned the Surge is a close second to the Ultra Stinger. Really?
I just got my Surge from Brightguy yesterday
and I though the same as you....WOW!!!
All this and WITH Duracells!
But I would have thought the US would blow
the Surge out of the water with it's spot
capability delivering 75K CP. I'm asking because I'm considering a US.
Thanks
 

geepondy

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 15, 2001
Messages
4,896
Location
Massachusetts
In my experience with several arcs vs. photons: The Arc LE is very close to the brightness of a photon with new batteries. Within a half hour of use, the arc is clearly brighter. Regular arcs vary a bit and usually start out dimmer then the photon but again this deficit in brightness is erased very quickly with usage.
 
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**DONOTDELETE**

Guest
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Scott S.:
6061;

You mentioned the Surge is a close second to the Ultra Stinger. Really?
I just got my Surge from Brightguy yesterday
and I though the same as you....WOW!!!
All this and WITH Duracells!
But I would have thought the US would blow
the Surge out of the water with it's spot
capability delivering 75K CP. I'm asking because I'm considering a US.
Thanks
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Scott, if I compare both the lights on their spot settings, the Ultrastinger is brighter. Noticeably brighter but not "WOW" brighter.

On the tightest spot setting, the Surge hot spot is about 3-4x bigger than the U-stinger at 5ft. The light of the surge looks slightly whiter but not as bright as U-stinger. I want to squint when I shine the stinger against the same white wall that i shine the surge onto.

Shining both onto the top of a tree approx 100-120ft away, 50ft high, the stinger has more punch into the tree while the surge stays on top of the leaves.

Lemme know if you have more questions.

-6061
 
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**DONOTDELETE**

Guest
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Scott S.:
6061;

You mentioned the Surge is a close second to the Ultra Stinger. Really?
I just got my Surge from Brightguy yesterday
and I though the same as you....WOW!!!
All this and WITH Duracells!
But I would have thought the US would blow
the Surge out of the water with it's spot
capability delivering 75K CP. I'm asking because I'm considering a US.
Thanks
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Scott, if I compare both the lights on their spot settings, the Ultrastinger is brighter. Noticeably brighter but not "WOW" brighter.

On the tightest spot setting, the Surge hot spot is about 3-4x bigger than the U-stinger at 5ft. The light of the surge looks slightly whiter but not as bright as U-stinger. I want to squint when I shine the stinger against the same white wall that i shine the surge onto.

Shining both onto the top of a tree approx 100-120ft away, 50ft high, the stinger has more punch into the tree while the surge stays on top of the leaves.

Lemme know if you have more questions.

-6061
 

txwest

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 30, 2001
Messages
1,773
Location
Houston, TX
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Scott S.:

But I would have thought the US would blow
the Surge out of the water with it's spot
capability delivering 75K CP. I'm asking because I'm considering a US.
Thanks[/QB]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Scott,
Don't let the fact you own a Surge stop you from getting an UltraStinger. I haven't gotten my Surge yet (on order), but I have the US & it's a great light. So is the Surge. They each reach their greatness at different ranges. These lights deffinately compliment each other. TX
 
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