Flashlight for Volunteer Firefighter

I am looking for two flashlights actually. One for to mount to my helmet and one right angle flashlight to mount on my PPE. While function, cutting through dense smoke, is the most important to me, all other things being equal I want one Made in America (I'm a union guy tired of everything saying made in china). Streamlight products were recommended to me, but they are assembled here, not made here and the Streamlight Survivor has only has 25000 candlepower while the Responder RA has 45000 to 60000cp, and the pelican advertises 65000.



When a manufacturer states their candlepower, are they all saying the same thing? For example, the Pelican Stealthlight 4AA says 10,000 candlepower and 25 lumens with a 4 hour run time. While the Bright Star Responder 4AA says 35000cp with a four hour run time. The pelican has a Xenon lamp and the responder has a Xenon bulb. So how is it possible that the responder produces more than three times the light and still has the same run time? What am I missing?



Anyway trying to choose between the Brightstar 4AA and the Pelican Stealthlite 4AA for my helmet mounted light. Factory literature would say the brightstar is significantly more powerful. Many web vendors say the brightstar is made in America, but I find no reference to that on their website.



For a right angle light, I initially was looking at the Streamlight Survivor, Brightstar Responder RA, and the Pelican Big ED. The Streamlight seams to be the least powerful and is only assembled here so I have eliminated it, unless you guys can give me a reason to keep it. That leaves the Responder RA and the Pelican Big ED. I don't know if the Responder RA is made here, but the Pelican is for sure. The responder puts out 60000 on 4 C cells and 45000 on its rechargeable battery pack. The Pelican literature just says 65000cp and nothing else. The responder is waterproof and the pelican is water resistant. Anyone have any experience with these lights? Both can be had in rechargeable models, is this worth the expense? We have a fairly low call volume, so usually I will have plenty of time to change batteries.



Sorry for the long post. But I haven't been able to find answers elsewhere and I am glad to have found this site.



Thanks,

Preston

I think my first priority would be safety. You are looking for lights to fill the roll of tools. Find lights that are proven and durable for firefighting foremost. I would choose country of manufacturer last.

um, due to the unpredictability of enviroment you as a firegighter may go through, some flashlights may not be safe in explosive conditions.

Some flashlights such as the Streamlight Propolymer and or a few of Pelican's recoil lights are made for hazardous conditions...might want to check those out

Preston12, I understand your position on the country of origin ... but that will make things significantly more difficult.

Anyway, I was a volley for about 5 years a decade ago. I carried twin 2AA Minimags on my helmet. They worked OK and I was the only firefighter to do so and it made me easy to pick out in a dark, smokey room.

If I were to do it all again, I might take the same approach ... but use Micromags (2AAA) instead as I was suprised how much I noticed the weight of the twin Minimags and their brackets ... probably because they are up so high.

And Maglites are still made in the USA, yes?

Of course, I'd be tempted to try some LED drop-in module in one or both ... but I'm afraid that LEDs will give you more glare in the smoke ... where an incan (incandescent) might cut through better.

You might want to experiment some so I'd keep the price down on the LED lights/parts until you know they are going to work for you. Hopefully that will as I find they provide more usable light for navigating in dark areas ... and drastically longer run-time on the same batteries.

Thanks guys. I believe all of these flashlights were designed specifically for firefighters and have some kind of UL rating on them. They frequently talk about Division 1 and 2, do you know the differences?


What about the differences in advertised candlepower?

I think your focus on candlepower might lead you to disappointment as that is often a function of the reflector design itself rather than the actual lamp output.

One thing that you might want to do is the see what lights are being used by other members of your department, or better yet, see what lights are being used by regular fire departments in your area. The kind of lighting that they may be using is probably more specifically related to the types of situations that you may encounter in your locale.

I think you'll find that the Streamlight Survivor Div2 and Pelican Big Ed 3750 will output the most light, if that is what you are seeking.

Additionally, I wouldn't get too hung up on the Made in USA and Assembled in USA labels, companies may have their own methodology in using such designations. One company may decide to use "Assembled" if they use any imported parts, whereas another company may use "Made" if the essential components are produced in the U.S. Overall, you'll probably find that there are imported components in all of them. As an example, some of the Streamlight batteries are "Made in the USA" and "Assembled in Mexico". Bulbs may be somewhere in Asia. And Luxeon LEDs may be produced in Asian factories by a Dutch company with the headquarters for that division located in the U.S.

Preston12 said:

Thanks guys. I believe all of these flashlights were designed specifically for firefighters and have some kind of UL rating on them. They frequently talk about Division 1 and 2, do you know the differences?

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A good post here regarding division ratings :-
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/1399190&postcount=2

You can check out http://www.flashlightreviews.com for some excellent reviews by Doug.

Based on his review of the Brighstar Responder 4C (not US made but nonetheless prob a good light) here :-
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/brightstar_responder_4c.htm

I think it might be a decent choice. Throws around 115m and puts out about 40 lumens.

I was looking around for right angle lights too, and ended up with the UK Unilite. But being 1w and LED, it's not very bright and doesn't really throw far. Neither does LED do well with smoke/fog.

You may want to check out:
They focus on equipment for firefighters...including lights.

you might want to check out the Pelican Little Ed(3160 recoil LED) we've used them for a while, seem to hold up decently, I just purchesed a new one, absolutley love them

First things first, the best flashlights are made in the US (Surefire, HDS, Arc ect.). Lets not bring customs into this.

LED lights are not better than Incans when in a smokey environment.

If your job is life threatening and requires a good flashlight, there should be no price limit.

Candlepower is not a good way to measure light output.

Rechargeables are not good if you plan on using your light for any extended amount of time. If your battery dies and your away from a charger, you're SOL.

My personal recommendation would be Surefire A2 or any of the Surefire Incan line that puts out more than 65 Lumens. Also the Surefire A2 actually puts out around 70-80 Lumens.

You should check out Flashlightreviews.com for some more info.

Survior Light in LED, and a StreamLight Fire Vulcan. On my helmet is a G2 with a P91 & R123's ,and the std crappy Garrity on the other side

Brighteyez said:

I think you'll find that the Streamlight Survivor Div2 and Pelican Big Ed 3750 will output the most light, if that is what you are seeking.

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Sound recommendation here. I've seen these two particular models and they sure do put out a lot of light. For the helmet mounted ones, there's also Underwater Kinetics.

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

Preston12 said:

Sorry for the long post. But I haven't been able to find answers elsewhere....

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No offense intended, I can understand and respect your loyalty to your Union. But the other guy is right, country of origin should be your last criteria for selection. But I'm amazed you haven't been able to find answers elsewhere. None of your fellow firefighters were able to give you any good recommendations?

No offense taken. Just trying to get educated, before spending my cash. I live in a very small community, where even the busiest departments go on very few calls. However, everyones recommendation was the Streamlight Survivor. Which I don't completely understand since it appears from both manufacturers advertising and from some of the tests online, like flashlightreviews.com, that the Brightlight Responder RA 4C and the Pelican Big Ed have much better numbers in terms of candle power. The pelican advertises 65000cp/72 tested lumens/8000 tested lux, where the survivor is 25000 peak beam candle power. I really wish I knew the difference between all those numbers, but they are all higher than either the Brightlight responder or the streamlight Survivor. So I was hoping you guys could illuminate me as to what I was missing in my comparison of specs(pun intended). All the lights have the same UL ratings, the responder is waterproof where the others are resistant.

Thanks for the link on DIV 1 & 2 I will read it tomorrow.

Bogie, thanks for you help. Is the garrity just there for the traditional look? I am pretty new to this stuff, FF1 test at the end of the month. Second burn building evolution this coming weekend and would like to have something by then. How does the G2 hold up in the heat? and Why an LED Survivor? I thought something with a focused powerful spot beam would be what I was looking for. Am I mistaken in thinking the LEDS provide a wider softer light? I have only seen them on hiking style head lamps.

Thanks again,
Preston

xdanx said:

First things first, the best flashlights are made in the US (Surefire, HDS, Arc ect.). Lets not bring customs into this.

LED lights are not better than Incans when in a smokey environment.

If your job is life threatening and requires a good flashlight, there should be no price limit.

Candlepower is not a good way to measure light output.

Rechargeables are not good if you plan on using your light for any extended amount of time. If your battery dies and your away from a charger, you're SOL.

My personal recommendation would be Surefire A2 or any of the Surefire Incan line that puts out more than 65 Lumens. Also the Surefire A2 actually puts out around 70-80 Lumens.

You should check out Flashlightreviews.com for some more info.

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Basically, I agreed with what you said and also a Surefire fan who own a A2.
However, Surefire flashlights are not certified for uses in hazardous environments encounter by firefighters where flammable gases may be present in the air.

I expect you'd want something with the beam tweaked for mostly throw? Most floody flashlights probably wouldn't make it very far in murky water or smoke-filled air! I figure someone large, brightly colored, and easy to grasp+operate in gloved hands would make sense too.

Edit: Big Ed firefighter flashlight, now that's what I'm talking about! http://www.pelican.com/lights_category.php?Category=Specialty&LampType=%&Submersible=%&New=%

This place carriest mostly Pelican stuff, but also Streamlight and another brand that makes breast clip fire lights: http://www.thefirestore.com/store/category.cfm/cid_113_flashlights/

From the looks of it you just have to decide which design format you personally like best, and since there don't seem to be many firefighters here, get the light that fits your budget

Hello, I have some suggestions for you. I can tell you what I use on my gear and you will not be unhappy. I have a Brightstar 4C nonrechargeable on my bunker coat. This will run you about $60 (www.thefirestore.com) and if you don't do alot a calls you don't need a rechargeable and you get 60,000 CP for 4 hours with a great smoke cutting beam. I have a Streamlight Propolymer 4AA Lux on my helmet and you get 4 good hours with a tight focused beam. You can pick up a firefighters pack for around $39 that includes the light, a rubber helmet band, and a helmet mount. www.brightguy.com. I use a Streamlight Fire Vulcun that I have hanging off my bunker pants. The Vulcan is great for all different calls you may encounter. If you like you can PM me or email for any other suggestions:naughty:

Illumination said:

You may want to check out:

http://www.fox-intl.com/
​

They focus on equipment for firefighters...including lights.

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Good suggestion!

not only does fox-intl make equipment for deputies and firefighters, it has amazing low price for a wide selection of illuminaion equipment.

To answer your question about candlepower measurements, candlepower is a measure of the amount of light in the brightest point of the beam. This is usually not as good of a representation of how bright a light is because it depends greatly on how focused the beam is. The narrower the focus of the beam, the higher the candlepower. Lumens measure the total light put out by a bulb, making the numbers much easier to judge. In your situation, however, both lumens and candlepower are important b/c you need a light that is very well focused, meaning that a light with a higher candlepower rating is probably more what you need.

I also have a Responder hanging on my turnout coat. I love it and it says right on it that it is "MADE In USA". I am using the C's as well, mainly since it puts out more light with the C's than with the rechargeable pack. Another plus for the Responder is that it has extra bulbs in the head, and you get free replacement bulbs whenever you need 'em http://www.flashlight.com/freebulbs/. I've got a Pelican Stealthlite (4AA) on my helmet, its a little heavy, so I'm going to try my Mitylite (2AA) and see how it does in smoke/fog.

Roger

BTW, you can watch a video (pretty corny at times) on their website and it shows 'em running the Responder over with a truck.