Could use some help

Alright well heres my situation.. Im currently in the Army deployed to Afghanistan, I am staying on a blackout FOB, so at night there are no lights allowed except blue or red beams.. I really know nothing about lights, so was wondering if anyone could help me find the brightest light thats affordable probably $60 or less, just need to find out what to get ASAP due to all the poisionous critters coming out at night now that its warming up. Thank you in advance.

JayseG8812 said:

Alright well heres my situation.. Im currently in the Army deployed to Afghanistan,

Click to expand...

Oh my Gosh! I hope you're alright!

Does the Army provide you with free batteries? What kind? That'll help us in finding a light for you.

Well they are actually supposed to provide us with a flashlight believe it or not, but they wont issue us any, so I probably won't be able to get batteries, maybe at the most I could get my hands on some AA's i could always just order a few off the internet also, if worse comes to worse.

How tough does it need to be? Does it have to emitt red or blue light(Can it be white with a Blue or Red filter)? A Red Inova X5 (Blue) might work. Not the brightest and runs on CR123s but is very tough. A Glo-Toob might work as a marker but runs on specialized batteries.

Not the brightest but bretty tough, Gerber Infinity Ultra in red.

Some one might be able to modify a AA light for you.

Welcome to CPF and good luck.

It can be either red or blue, with or without filters, all im concerned about is that its as bright as i can get it haha, with the price I can afford

If you need more light than 1 red LED Peak makes a 5LED 1AA kilimanjaro. If you order directly from Peak they will install redL EDs for you.
http://www.peakledsolutions.net/

If you can scronge D batteries this is probably the brightest flashlight with red/blue filters.
http://elektrolumens.com/AngleLux/AngleLux.html
order page
http://www.king-cart.com/cgi-bin/ca...ser-id=&password=&exchange=&exact_match=exact
Or you can order the unmodded version. It will be a lot dimmer & the incan bulb will burn out so order spare bulbs as well.
http://www.actiongear.com/cgi-bin/t....ctx=flashlight&backto=/agcatalog/results.tam

Many LED headlamps come with a red LED or a red/blue filter set. Read the description on the sales page. Problem is most of them run off 3xAAA. Same problem with LED flsahlights that come with a red/blue filter set such as the Dorcy Hawkeye.
http://www.brightguy.com/products/Dorcy_HawkEye_1_Watt.php

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Red is used to preserve night vision - not yours but the sentries'.

Blue is used to track blood stains. So unless U are in the coumtryside tracking wounded Taliban stay with red.

(Double post due to server goofiness, mods please delete)

If you can get your hands on CR123's, the X5 in red's a good choice. Great runtime, and it only runs on 1 cell (the other colors run on 2). With 5 LED's it's pretty bright for a 5mm-based light, too. So a Red X5 and a box of cells should last you a while assuming you're not running the light all night long.

Otherwise, it's tough to get good brightness out of a red-filtered LED because there's so little at that end of the spectrum to begin with. Ideal would be a red-lux, but I'm not aware of too many off-the-shelf models like that. I think there's a Terralux Lux1 drop-in for a minimag that comes in red. That might be your best bet inside your budget w/ AA's.

(edit: Yup, here)

Hope that helps, and thanks for serving!

--> Andy

I'm with Wyeast, if you can source CR123 cells, the red Inova X5 is a great shout, rock solid, rugged light that you can rely on. Just under $30, so you can get a stack of CR123 cells as well.

Inova X5...

http://batteryjunction.com/inx5blnivire.html

Cells...

http://batteryjunction.com/20crliphbacr.html

Good luck with your tour!


CFU

At least some scorpions fluoresce in ultraviolet light. Whether they will fluoresce in the frequency available from a LED I don't know (anyone know?), but this has the advantage of being a black light, and as such will not give much away. Of course it's no good for walking around, just for finding bugs. You can sure get a fluorescent tube lantern and replace the tube with a UV one,which almost certainly puts out the right frequencies but will not be as stealthy, having a pronounced blue glow.

If you can't get a light off the shelf (I think they have them for examining currency), I'm sure someone here on CPF will mod one for you. I guess the dollar sign means you're not a Brit, it's probably less complex postally to deal with someone in the States.

Good luck.

w

How about a SureFire G2 with a blue flip up filter?

Blue Filter

SureFire G2

DealExtreme sells UV lights for very cheap that run on 3 AAA batteries.
(If you can get through to their site)

The SureFire 6P would be right on budget if we could just figure out an inexpensive way to get it to shine blue or red.

SureFire 6P

:bump:

This thread is not getting the exposure I had hoped it would. I'm thinking the thread title is not that catchy. It should've been. . .

AMERICAN SOLDIER NEEDS FLASHLIGHT!

That might've been more like it. I still can't understand why The U.S. Army can't provide their soldiers with a flashlight though. I remember when I was in the service, it was the supply guys that always had plenty of stuff. If the rest of us wanted something like a fowl weather jacket, we had to fork over some cash to the supply guys. Of course it was a 100 percent profit for them.

I'm surprised there isn't more in the way of coloured lenses for flashlights. I know the MAG-LITES have a kit you can get that comes with a clear, amber, and red lens though.

Anyway, while the OP is slugging it out with the Taliban , I'll keep searching the web for a good flashlight.

I carry a Peak Killamanjaro (1AA for $45) 7 UV LED light with me when I was in Iraq, it worked very well. Throw a spare 7 red LED head in the holster so you can switch them out for blackout (if you need brighter red) Generally, a Peak Matterhorn (1AAA for $30) on a neck lanyard is plenty bright for walking around.

How about a Green LED for a MAG-LITE? That with a 2C MAG-LITE might work.

Okay, we're getting closer.

Peak LED Solutions

BentHeadTX said:

I carry a Peak Killamanjaro (1AA for $45) 7 UV LED light with me when I was in Iraq, it worked very well. Throw a spare 7 red LED head in the holster so you can switch them out for blackout (if you need brighter red) Generally, a Peak Matterhorn (1AAA for $30) on a neck lanyard is plenty bright for walking around.

Click to expand...

+1 on this set-up

Lumapower M3+ Keymate Filters kit?



http://www.brightguy.com/products/Key-Mate_Filter_RED.php

This might work. I believe it shines a blue beam, but I'll go make sure. . . hold on.

EDIT: Check this X5 out.

EDIT: IT SHINES BLUE!!! HERE'S A DIRECT LINK !!!

Just click on the tab that says <Choose LED Color>