I commute 26 miles round trip by bike twice a week, and at least one direction is in total darkness. I purchased a NightHawk Raptor 10w light as a primary, and it works adequately, but the lead acid battery is heavy, and installing/removing the light is more involved than I'd like. (I don't always ride the same bike, and I don't want to have the extra stuff on the bike during daytime weekend rides.) I may eventually replace the NightHawk battery with Li-Ion, but I'd prefer to get a simpler, more versatile light.
I could simply get a better bike-specific light, but the idea of a regular flashlight that could be used for other purposes has great appeal. I already have velcro/rubber mounts for a handlebar installation. My criteria are that it should be fairly small and light (e.g., 8 inches, 8 oz.), have a minimum of 60 mins. runtime, use rechargeable batteries, have an appropriate beam pattern, and cost < $100. Oh yeah, it's got to be bright, too!
My ideal light would use AA NiMH cells, since I have a couple of chargers (one for work, one for home) and be LED, so there'd be no bulb failure worries. The Streamlight ProPoly Luxeon looks to be a value leader here, but I'm worried about the beam pattern being too tight, and the overall brightness being inadequate. What else is really bright, running on AAs?
The Streamlight Strion has also caught my eye. It's not LED, and I'd prefer a non-proprietary battery, but it's got the right form factor, and there's no complaint about brightness. Runtime is just adequate for me--I'd need two chargers. My big question about this model is the beam. When focused, it looks like it's too tight, but it's advertised as adustable. However, someone in another thread said rotating the bezel might pull out the bulb, since there's apparently a gasket of some sort between the bulb and reflector.
Can anyone tell me how well the adjustable beam works on the Strion? Flashlightreviews says, "Although the reflector is textured, the predictable 'holes and rings' do appear once the light is unfocused past a certain point, however they are not as bad as would occur if the reflector were smooth."
That sounds acceptable to me, but I'd like to hear more.
Thanks!
Jack
I could simply get a better bike-specific light, but the idea of a regular flashlight that could be used for other purposes has great appeal. I already have velcro/rubber mounts for a handlebar installation. My criteria are that it should be fairly small and light (e.g., 8 inches, 8 oz.), have a minimum of 60 mins. runtime, use rechargeable batteries, have an appropriate beam pattern, and cost < $100. Oh yeah, it's got to be bright, too!
My ideal light would use AA NiMH cells, since I have a couple of chargers (one for work, one for home) and be LED, so there'd be no bulb failure worries. The Streamlight ProPoly Luxeon looks to be a value leader here, but I'm worried about the beam pattern being too tight, and the overall brightness being inadequate. What else is really bright, running on AAs?
The Streamlight Strion has also caught my eye. It's not LED, and I'd prefer a non-proprietary battery, but it's got the right form factor, and there's no complaint about brightness. Runtime is just adequate for me--I'd need two chargers. My big question about this model is the beam. When focused, it looks like it's too tight, but it's advertised as adustable. However, someone in another thread said rotating the bezel might pull out the bulb, since there's apparently a gasket of some sort between the bulb and reflector.
Can anyone tell me how well the adjustable beam works on the Strion? Flashlightreviews says, "Although the reflector is textured, the predictable 'holes and rings' do appear once the light is unfocused past a certain point, however they are not as bad as would occur if the reflector were smooth."
That sounds acceptable to me, but I'd like to hear more.
Thanks!
Jack