Flashlight for general snowmobiling?

I have a friend that is a snowmoblie fanatic. He's looking for a durable light to keep on his sled for general use. He's looking for something that uses more common batteries(AA's etc) and isn't too easy to lose yet still small enough for easy carry on the sled.

Sounds like he's in the $30-$40ish price range.

Suggestions please?

Thanks in advance for your time!!!!!!!!!!!

How about a Fenix lights ? It use common battery sizes.

Your friend will find that in extreme cold conditions, commonly obtained batteries (ie alkaline ones) don't work well at all. This wouldn't be a problem if he was getting a small light which he could keep warm by carrying in his clothing, but you said he wanted to keep it on his sled. He should consider lithium primaries, or Li-Ion if the charger could run off the snowmobile.

I carry a 4AA pro-poly, led pt rage and a photon 2. These are all plastic bodied lights with good run-time. The photon is always on the zipper of my snowmobile jacket, the rage is on the snowmobile and the propoly is in my jacket pocket. This year I'm gonna add the EOS headlamp for trail repairs. I have not had any problems with alkalines in the cold weather.

I do like Fenix and similar (Triton) most of all my lights, but in this application there are 2 points speaking against them:

in the cold: no metal housing
in the cold: no small, recessed on/off button

enter the streamlight Propolymer 4 aa or 3 c models
Especially as size / wheigt is not so much a concern
or a headlamp as fish suggests

I just got a Princeton Tec Tec 40 halogen, which I think fits that bill perfectly. It runs on 4 AA batts and is a very nice size. Turn the head for on or off. Yesterday it was on for about 40 minutes straight and did not get hot. It is very bright and throws well. Seems like a very balanced light. Waterproof and very nice build quality. I think the Ni MH batts are supposed to be best in the cold, but I have not tried them. Alkalines do not do well at all. The tec 40 was 20 bucks.

Storm:

"For general use" I take it he doesn't want to use it as a headlight / spotlighting etc?

When I was in Whistler I went snowmobiling and it was AWESOME. I couldn't believe how fast I was going on it. The needle was getting close to 80km/hr from memory.

If he wants to stick with aa type lights i'd definitely recommend using lithium aa's. If not, i'd recommend a Inova X5, T3 or XO3 that use lithium 123's. A 12 pack of $1.25 each 123's would last a looooooooooong time in any of those lights, especially the x5.

I'm not sure what they are but I think Inova has also got aa lights in Target that are pretty cheap? I have no experience with Fenix for comparison...

I recommend the Streamlight PP 4AA Luxeon for throw, runtime and waterproof feature. I'd also carry an EternaLight ErgoMarine for use as a safety beacon in the event you get stranded. Its flashing capability could save your life by allowing a search and rescue team find you at night.

I second the recommendations for a headlamp. Paired up with a Streamlight ProPolymer he should be in good shape.

Stormstaff said:

I have a friend that is a snowmoblie fanatic. He's looking for a durable light to keep on his sled for general use. He's looking for something that uses more common batteries(AA's etc) and isn't too easy to lose yet still small enough for easy carry on the sled.

Sounds like he's in the $30-$40ish price range.

Suggestions please?

Thanks in advance for your time!!!!!!!!!!!

Click to expand...

Streamlight 4AA ProPolymer Luxeon as well. Get the YELLOW one. He'll probably want to use rechargeable batteries since regular alkalines don't work too well in freezing cold climate.

Hello Stormstaff

I doesn't know, about what climatic circumstances we are talking about.

But alkys, nicad and nimh cells will not work as well like lithiums or LiIon's in extreme coldness.

So I would take a look at a light, which will work with Li or LiIon cells. Or, in case of a headlamp, with a batt-carrier seperate from the light (to carry under the clothes).

Also the beamshape is important. Does your friend want to illuminate the front of his snowmobile only with the suggested light?

If so, it should be a bright one capable good throwing with good side spill.
I guess, to find a light with these requirements in his price range is not easy to find. Take a look to bike lights.

Best regards

_____
Tom