FLOOD not throw

I normally do not need to see whats going on in the next county so throw is not practical for me even tho I have several modded m*gs including an 85.

I am thinking that a tri-lux may be the answer, particularily if I can use 30mm optics in a shortened m*g.( won't fit a mag; forget it)

suggestions please

Karl
(I asked a similar question via PM to some members before deciding to post so they could answer here if they come across this thread, thanks)

Depends on how bright and long running your light should be ...
bernie

savumaki,

The Fraen Tri-optic lens has a great blend of throw and flood. I have an Elektrolumens Tri-Star Phazer that uses it. When I was up north VidPro showed me his modded mag with a Fraen Tri-Optic in it. His was modded to be signifcantly brighter then my stock light. This optic has a wide hotspot with an "endless corona. What I mean by that is it
gradually gets dimmer as it goes farther out to the sides but does not have a real harsh edge to it. My Phazer is a great light for the 50 - 200 foot range and can dimly light objects 100 yards away well enough to identify.
If you do your own modding you could mod a mag to be brighter then mine without much trouble.

Another option is 20mm reflectors in a Tri or Quad design.
I really like the wide bright corona of a 20 mm reflector.
Once again if you are doing your own mod, you may want to spend the extra and get some of McGizmo's 20 mm reflectors. I believe they are the Aleph 2 reflectors.
I have several Orb Raws that use these turned down to 18mm and love their beams.
I even put one of the Raw reflectors in my NightCutter M60L (It needed to be sanded down slightly) and am going to put two more into my Elektrolumens Quad. to replace the 17mm reflectors that are in it.

Multi LED lights that use 20mm reflectors have a very nice wide beam
My ELX-6 is currently my favorite carry around the house light. It uses 6 20 mm reflectors.
Actually the reason it gets carried the most is because on low the six leds and 20 mm reflectors put out a nice soft wide light ( about 1 watt equivalent in lux and light box readings) great for getting around a dark yard and full power is just two quick clicks away.

As you can probably tell I am not a big fan of pinpoint hotspot, at the cost of useable corona, flashlights for every day use. If I need a bright spot beam I will use one of my 6 spotlights.

Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:

You could also try to beg, borrow or steal one of the heavy stippled mag reflectors for your 85. They are supposed to trade off a large bit of throw for a VERY wide and smooth beam.

Now, when you say 'flood' are you meaning something that has quite a bit of throw and a wider beam than a Mag-type reflector... ie, maybe something that can throw effectively 200 ft but the hotspot is three times the size of your 85? or do you mean something more like that does a great job of lighting a 20x30 foot room but can't really throw a whole lot past 50 feet outdoors?

If the former, there are MANY options... I mean, almost countless at all kinds of price ranges. If you mean the latter, then something like a Lux V with a small reflector such as a SureFire L4 might be what you're looking for.

Have you checked out the lights by Inretech? They're now being sold by Drumbalaya and they have them in kit form for the DIYers.

Kiessling said:

Depends on how bright and long running your light should be ...
bernie

Click to expand...

More Info;
-I believe that the Tri LUX III should do the job- I'm looking to build a light that will light most things out to about 100 ft or so. I have had the use of an L2 which is great but I would like a touch more.
-run time, somewhere in the 60 min area would be great.
-I would like to use a mag as the host but I'm leaving that open.

cratz2- I would love to. Failing to getting one before, I'll have to wait
untill they come out 'officially'. I had an LOP in the 85 and it was
great, but me thinks its overkill for the short range stuff.

A lot to think about coming out, thanks. Most the the builds and mods seem to strive for throw but when I borrowed the L2 I thought, WOW-just what I need; just more of it.

Karl

With a tri-lux setup with T bins you're looking at 260+ lumens when driven at a full amp. With C NiMH you have pretty much full power for a total runtime of 1hr 30-45mins. Even longer if you used 11,000mah D's (3.6hrs).

Trust me you'll love the combo of a T--K tri mag with NiMH and 20mm reflectors. You could even do a Quad but then you have decreased runtime and more heat. But still over an hour of runtime from C 5,000mah NiMH.

Hi Karl, you should check my Tri-Lux Maglites!

I have a Tri-LUX Maglite. Actually a Minitrois that Modamag helped me build. It is one of my favorite lights with three TWOH in 20mm reflectors. It has a good wide spot that throws well farther than 100' more like 40 or 50 yards but very good at 100ft. I wanted to get a bit more flood with it so I bought an LDF UCL from flashlightlens.com and it gave it more flood and less through so even better for your parameters. Also, it's a cutdown, bored out 2D mag with a 4AA to D adaptor that powers the light at 1A for about 50-minutes ish. So, got for a Minitrois, it will meet your needs for sure.

Surefire L2 or L4. L2 if you want two stage, but the L4 can take a McGizmo switch for two stage too with user defined resistor level. L2 on high draws ~1.5 amps from a pair of CR123's so it is being pushed a little harder but is brighter than a L4 generally (Luxeon Lottery is also a factor.)

Or you can stick with the mentioned Mag mods above.

JasonC8301 said:

Surefire L2 or L4. L2 if you want two stage, but the L4 can take a McGizmo switch for two stage too with user defined resistor level. L2 on high draws ~1.5 amps from a pair of CR123's so it is being pushed a little harder but is brighter than a L4 generally (Luxeon Lottery is also a factor.)

Or you can stick with the mentioned Mag mods above.

Click to expand...

I was going going to say L4 or A19 but they dont really throw that well all the way out to 100ft. Kinda dim that far away IMHO. But an excellent light and very nice flood for sure.

CromagNet - I was thinking this light was to be used in doors and not at that distance. Ah, mentioned to 100ft or more in a previous post. At that distance I reach for either a SF M6 or Tigerlight. Possibly an A2?

I tend to like incandescent for outdoor/distance use. An SF U2 will suffice (my workhorse light) but I tend to always go back to incandescents for color rendition (M6 or TL.)

Yup, the TL will go out to 100ft and even 100yds. I have some good links to the TL mods in my sigline.

I got to thinking and if you want to stick with LED's in a small package, maybe an Aleph A19 with a 3W UX1K NG1000 using two R123 batteries or a single 1500mAh battery should get you almost an hour of runtime. I'd say that would take it to the next level but not as next level as the Minitrois in output and throw.

Icarus said:

Hi Karl, you should check my Tri-Lux Maglites!

Click to expand...

I am lucky to have one of Icarus's incredible TriLux 2C lights with a full dimmer. It is my number one choice as a most reached for all purpose light. I got it on a recommendation from a friend but when I received it was stunned at the massive center size of the beam and incredibly even light distribution. It is my reference standard for a flood type beam, on par with the excellent McGizmo HD45. I've tried an ELX-6 and actually prefer the TriLux setup instead, the beam blending is seamless by comparison with the trio. Awesome results with a Fatman and 3x TWOJ. The dimmer adds an entire dimension, giving the light massive runtime with a nudge to the pot. Very impressive. 3rd Shift's Quad setup seems very impressive indeed from reading about it. I'm conviniced that 3 or 4 way arrays are most efficient and practical in the real world.

How much flood light do you want? If you want a pure flood light I couldn't think of anything better than the Eternalight. The light is very high tech too!

I would say the Eternalight with 4 x 5mm LED emitters is 90% flood light. It makes a fantastic flood light.

The picture below shows what the Eternalight looks like. Ignore the emitters on this particular light.

LuxV with HOP reflector!

Icarus said:

Hi Karl, you should check my Tri-Lux Maglites!

Click to expand...

I'd love to have one of your creations, Freddy; I've watched as you turned out those works of art but short of you giving me one for Xmas or a lottery windfall I'm afraid I'll have to make a poor mans copy.

Jason- 100 ft really isn't that far (the distance to my garage from the house) so its not a job for the 85. The L2 was ALMOST up to the task.

TrueBlue- I'd like to make it myself, thanks.

This would be an outdoor light for those closer tasks- inside I use my Fenix (or the lightswitch :huh
The more I hear (read) the more it sounds like the tri-lux in a 2D w/DD would be the optimum way for me to go.

Thanks-----------Karl

savumaki ... if you wanna light up something at 100ft with a flood-light ... you'll need a pretty powerful one indeed ! ... and IMHO a Mag-host sounds reasonable, but this is really not my field of expertise, and I'll leave that to the experts :wave:
bernie