So I'm new and need a new light....

I work with our local VFD. The weekend before last we had three days of drizzle/mist and freezing temperatures. Ice formed on the bridges and roads, and we were called out for numerous wrecks throughout period. I had in my bunkergear coat pocket a MiniMag 2xAA light with a Nite Ize LED Upgrade kit installed.

On our first call (3am) the vehicle had rolled over and the driver and passenger were missing. We ended up walking around in the brush for quite a while looking for them. (Turns out they had walked home, but that's another story.)

I was very disappointed with the MiniMag's performance. While it's a winner for blinding the kids, it just didn't have the throw necessary for searching for bodies in the dead of night.

So I need a small, relatively cheap (sub $60) light with reasonable throw and decent sized spot. I'm looking for something like a 10 - 15 foot beam at 50 feet. Remember I'm not trying to find reflective signs or numbers, I may well be looking for a guy handing from a tree.

A Surefire G2 or 6P is within your price range, and are decent throwers. If you are willing to shell out more money, you might be interested in the Surefire A2, about $160 on OpticsHQ (check out the CPF Specials thread in my sig), which is an even better thrower and has a low beam that is, as far as I can tell, just a little bit less bright than a NiteIze.

Another light you might be interested in is the Streamlight Propolymer 4AA Luxeon, which was recommended in another thread for search and rescue as well.

I'd look at a Pelican Super Sabrelite for it all, maybe the LED version?? HL rated, too..

I don't depend on my lights in mission cricital situations but if I did, a Streamlight Strion or the Streamlight TL-3 would probably be my top two relatively small (ie smaller than a Magcharger) light choices. Very bright... about an hour of runtime. The Strion is smaller and more expensive, but it's rechargeable. The TL-3 is a 3x123 cell light that has amazing throw and a brighter spillbeam than the Strion.

Though they have their differences, I think I could happily live with either one.

Though they are less readily available, I'd probably look for a 3D or similar light with 3 or 4 Luxeons as my larger light. I did one with 3 RW0H stars on 3 D cells and the hotspot is absolutely HUGE! If I was scanning fields of reasonable size, but wanting to see as much as possible as quickly as possible, this is the type of light I'd most want.

1. Inova XO3 or T3 (about $55). Tough, good throw/OK flood, flat 2 1/2 hr. runtime.
2. Inova XO or T2 (about $45). Tough, good throw, 5 hr. runtime.

If you can push the budget to $85, get the Pelican 3 watt LED HA (#2390). Tough, bright, great throw/nice flood, flat 2 hr. + runtime.

Greetings and Welcome!

You may wish to check out the Streamlight 4AA ProPolymer Luxeon LED. Great "throw" and decent enough side spill. They can be had for roughly $30.00 or so online.

Hope you find what you're looking for and Enjoy!

Welcome to CPF!

The OrangeOne (carrot) is wise. I'd also look into an Underwater Kinetics 4AA; they have incandescent and LED versions.

For lots of info to make a more informed purchase, you can check out theledmuseum.org and flashlightreviews.com You're certain to find a light that will suit your needs reviewed there. From there, you can find a dealer that offers reduced prices to CPF members (See the "CPF Specials" for a full list).

Hello. I bought some days ago a Streamlight Jr 2 x AA. It's sized like a Mag 2 x AA ( a little bit longer) but it made a very good white led light and is cheap. Think about the batteries: AA size is easy to find and cheap other kind of batteries, like Cr123, are more expensive.

Hello :wave:

A lot of people here seem to like the Fenix L2P. I do not own one myself but the brightness and runtime on 2 AA batteries seem very good.

I don't understand the requirement for "small" since this is not an EDC. Also not clear is how frequently you're going to use this light. I would have thought that you want a Magcharger, which will enormously outthrow anything listed so far, and is not too far from your price range ($75-ish new), but is rather large.

A cheaper and smaller suggestion: use a 2C light (some people like to use the Mag 2C for this but I did it with cheapo plastic light) except replace the batteries with three sleeved CR123A's (they will be the exact same length as two C's) and replace the bulb with a KPR112 or KPR118. That will give you the output of a 6 cell light in the size of a 2C light, with tons of throw because of the polished reflector. This is a fairly popular and very simple mod.

greenLED said:

Welcome to CPF!

The OrangeOne (carrot) is wise. I'd also look into an Underwater Kinetics 4AA; they have incandescent and LED versions.

For lots of info to make a more informed purchase, you can check out theledmuseum.org and flashlightreviews.com You're certain to find a light that will suit your needs reviewed there. From there, you can find a dealer that offers reduced prices to CPF members (See the "CPF Specials" for a full list).

Click to expand...

Yep! UK 4AA eLED or incand. The G2 incand rec. is also good. And like the G2, you could also consider a Brinkman Maxfire LX incand. Do a search - there's another thread on that one. It costs less at $17 at Target and actually has more power.

If you did decide to go larger then one of the Elektrolumens Blaster lights is a good light with very long runtime. It is around the same size as a Mag D size but much better made.

Yeah, I'll also second the MagCharger recommendation if you don't need the light to be so small... I was actually thinking that it'd be the perfect light here, if you hadn't said you wanted a small one.

I would highly recomend the Surefire 6P. It is very bright with the stock bulb, however you can get a drop in bulb, that is even more powerful. But for rescue situations it might not be best because the high output greatly reduces the battery life. And the 6P is right in your price range. Its also the perfect size, it isnt huge and is easy to pocket inside a coat. I find it to big for EDC pocket carry, but lots of people do pocket carry it.

outside contrast = incandescent
regular use/not tactical = rechargeable
low cost throw = Streamlight TL-3
extra reliability, more flood = Surefire 9P

both the TL-3 and the 9P are 9 Volt flashlights, they take two protected 17500 batteries and a charger from AW

It sounds like it needs to go in turnout gear, though, which is something a MagCharger isn't going to do very well..I wouldn't want to drag one into a burning building, either..

ACMarina and Mini-Modder have it right. I want a light that will fit into my coat pocket. I want to be leave the light there for, well, basically forever.

I'll probably use it once a month and probably for less than 30 minutes at a time, but I'd like the option of longer uses.

Since I'm leaving it in my pocket, rechargables are out.

I went to my local sporting goods store last night. (Ok so I live in the sticks, I went to wal-mart. ) And I picked up a Brinkmann Maxfire LX and a Dorcy Metal Gear 1W Luxeon 3xAAA. I took them and the MiniMag light (back with the incandescent bulb) out and tested them on the back of the church behind my house.

I was easily 100' away and both the Maxfire and the Metal Gear were head and shoulders above the MiniMag. I liked the Maxfire's momentary switch, brighter and larger spot at 100'. I like the Metal Gear's Metal construction, belt clip, and better flood up closer (say around 30' - 50').

So how's battery life while on, and the battery shelf life while in my pocket going to turn out?

According to FlashlightReviews.com the Maxfire LX has 44 minute runtime. Lithium batteries have a shelf life of 10 years. The Metal Gear should last 4+ hours.

http://flashlightreviews.com/reviews/brinkmann_maxfirelx.htm
http://flashlightreviews.com/reviews/dorcy_metalgear.htm

Might I suggest that you go to the ever popular
** Flashlight Recommendation Checklist **
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/96884
copy it to here and fill out the questions and we'll probably be able to help you find the right light for you.

You can also pick up AAA batteries in lithium, they'd hold up better under the temperature range..