Reccomend a moderately priced flood light

Awhile back I gave my brother-in-law an ebay special 9 led light I had laying around.

He loves it, uses it every day as a maint guy while in celings tracing wires, working on machines in poorly lit areas, he's actually surprized by how much he is using it.

Now that he sees the value of having a light, the 9 LED junker I gave him decided to fritz out on him, he's constantly having to whack it to light properly, and 2 of the LEDs have burnt out. He asked me about getting something more reliable.

Here's what I need...
- Standard batteries AA or AAA
- Perfers Girth to length (probably a 4 1/2 inch length max)
- Enough Flood to work with - no super bright hotspot
- Reliable - will be dropped and mishandled due to job condidtions
- Moderately priced - might be able to talk him up to ~60
- At least as bright as his 9 LED light he has now.
- prefer clickie

I was thinking Fenix L1P but from what I've heard it has lousy flood.

If you take any light that has an aluminum reflector, you can just bead blast the reflector and it will make a very nice flood. I did this with the 27mm heads that I have on loclines in my shop for portable lighting. My vote would be for a mini mag with a sammie in it, at about 500mA. Use one of the McR reflectors. I suppose the 18mm would be a drop in with maybe an o-ring spacer to hold the reflector in place. This way, he can beat the heck out of the light and just get another host when needed.

The only thing he'll have to worry about is loosing it. The sammies are tough. I'm actually running one now that was a victim of Katrina and was submerged in flood water for days.

Hrmm... well, the Gerber Trio comes to mind. It's basically an AA version of the Inova X5.

There's also a Task Force light at Lowes with 6 LEDs which I had a Nichia CS-modded version of that had excellent brightness. Never used one in stock form, but I really liked the feel of it... felt like a good, quality piece. It ran on 3xAAA cells and though I liked this light, I'd prefer something that ran on 2AA cells than on 3AAA cells.

For dimmer options, there's always the Nite Ize or Opalec New Beam in a Minimag or minimag clone.

Even though the Inova X5 uses CR123 batteries, it has a really long runtime. So, he wouldn't be going through batteries THAT often. Plus, you can get 'em online for $1 a piece and they last a LONG time in storage. He could get an X5 at Target for $35 and order a dozen batteries online. That would hold him for a while I'm guessing.

I actually offered him an X5, but he is really persistant on the AA or AAA battery... since he uses it at work they provide him with batteries, and they don't have "irregular" batteries.

Would I be able to use a cut-down minimag with a board running a decently binned lux1 off of a single AA battery? I've never bought a sammie and have no clue what is available.

Any floody reflectors specificly designed for the minimag?

Honestly, if he likes the output of the X5 but wants to use AA cells, the Gerber Trio is PERFECT for him!

I use one of these Coast lights at work, it provides a nice floody beam. It uses 3 AAA and fits nicely in the palm. It uses a collimator to focus the beam instead of a reflector. The beam is very even and bright across the entire area. The only drawback is not a lot of throw.

http://www.quality-items-flashlights.com/product_info.php/info/p141_Coast--LED-Lenser----V--Black-Aluminum-Luxeon--LED-Tactical-Flashlight--4-1-2--.html
(I actualy picked mine up for $43 at my local Lowes store.)

Streamlight Propolymer 7LED. Runs a long time on 4 AA's, and isn't costy. Clicky. Bright. Durable.

Edited: ok, compared to that ebay special he was carrying around, the propolymer is slightly bigger. But its still a fine recommendation. :laughing:

peace

I like the Lightwave floods. I use them most of the time as general purpose works lights and they have a VERY Long runtime. Pick your brightness/runtime level using 3xAA, 3xC or 3xD cells.
http://www.longlight.com/en/s_pro/pro_4000.php

have you considered just replacing the one he has with the same thing.... it lasted awhile, he likes it...

For $60 you could buy 12 of them and he could have one in every tool box..

for $60 you could buy a lot of beater LED flashlights, that way when he drops one off a 3 story roof onto concrete he won't go diving after it knowing he has plenty of others in stash.

have a look around at
http://www.axshop.com/products.aspx/category-63/
and
http://www.qualitychinagoods.com/

if you really just want to get a single really decent light... The lightwaves are probably ideal.

Peak Kilimanjaro 7 led. This is more a suggestion than a reccomendation, since I have no experience with this light. It looks to me like a shorter, narrower Inova X5 that runs on a AA. No clickie though.

http://peakledsolutions.com/aa_7LED.html

You're right in thinking the Fenix wouldn't be an appropriate light for him. There's a wide flood, but it's a dim flood, and the spot is concentrated very tightly.

I like the Gerber Trio a lot for what it is. A floody 3 LED flashlight that is really good at lighting up dark corners and as a navigate in the dark kind of flashlight that is superior to single LED flashlights. It's also regulated for 8 hours of runtime making it a good blackout flashlight.

But for work, where there is, often, ambient light, and a variety of situations that happen during the work day in unfamiliar locations, I think that the Streamlight Propoly 7 LED light is better suited for the work that teststrips described as it is considerably brighter than the Trio. The polymer may take to a rough environment better than the sweet looking Trio's powdered finished aluminum.

Both flashlights stand on end for ceiling bounce and while the SL PP 7LED is not regulated, on 4AA, it has about the same quality (over 50%) runtime as the Trio plus a long alkaline discharge curve for emergency situations. Both flashlights are about $20 each (give or take). The SL PP has a forward clickie with momentary on. The Trio has a twistie with momentary on by pushing/squeezing the twistie endcap.

I have these two flashlights.

73
dim

Think I've got the perfect flood light for you.
Coast David 15 (Digi-Tac I). Runs on 1AA battery, aluminum case, momentary and constant on tail-switch, flatter discharge curve and longer runtime than a Fenix L1P, slightly less overall output than the L1P, nice even flood. Forty bucks typical, can be bought at Fry's Electronics so you can preview the beam and tint before buying. Uses a Luxeon I high dome in a medium focus collimator, mounted on a large heatsink slug, so there are no thermal issues to worry about, unlike the Propoly 7 LED which many have reported to have failed most likely due to the insanely high drive currents per LED within a non-metal case. Hope this helps!

I guess i could get him another light like he has... I hate to do it b/c I know it's junk and will probably do the same thing to him, but I'll be continuously watching for a suitable replacement.

I've seen on surefire's website the "F04 Beamshaper" http://www.surefire.com/maxexp/main/co_disp/displ/carfnbr/0/prrfnbr/185 - would i be able to get something similar for a luxeon in my pricerange? Perhaps one for the L1P??

Maybe one of the inexpensive many-LED lights will work for him. I don't have any experience with it but this one uses 3xAA's which I like more than AAA's, and it's only $19 shipped. If he keeps it charged with Nimh's, it could be the ticket for him.

Try some diffusing film.

I have tried sputtering reflectors and this is an excellent solution to smooth out beam artifacts and broaden the hot spot, but it is not the best solution for a true-flood requirement.

I use a piece of clear contact paper (contact brand) as a diffusing film on the lens. Cut out a small square a bit bigger than the lens. Clean and dry your lens. Remove the backing paper from the film and apply to the inside of the lens. Trim off the excess film. Use a soft cloth to firmly rub and press the film onto the lens. Re-install the lens and enjoy. I have also applied this to the outside of the lens when it is difficult/impossible to remove the lens. If you have a high-heat flame-thrower flashlight I would try one of the diffused glass lenses instead.

I have tested many flashlights with the contact paper as a diffusing film and the other solutions don't come close. A nice, broad, even flood.

Some LED flashlights don't lend themselves to sputtering or other methods (no real reflector), but need the beam smoothed out. I have several Dorcy 2C, 8 LED lights. It is a nice compact flood light with long runtime, but has some annoying round circles all around the perimeter of the flood (my kids think it is cool, but I don't like it). I applied some clear contact paper to the outside of the lens and the beam is a perfect, smooth flood.

If you don't like the solution, the film can be easily removed and does not leave a residue. A whole roll of this stuff is only about $5-$6 at wally world. I use the spare as a poor man's laminate to cover important papers in my personal survival kits. Heck, you could even use it for its intended purpose and line your cupboards.

My work lights are all floods and all have clear contact paper on the lens. (three 3D maglites, one 4c conversion maglite, three 2D military anglenecks, three 2AA minimags with nite-ize conversions, three Dorcy 2C, 8LEDs)

It's cheap, it's easy, it will allow you to use any AA or AAA light you like.

Good luck, TR