Flash Light suggestions

Hi
This is my first post.I would welcome any suggestions as to which flash lights would meet my needs.I have just started driving a taxi and would like to buy several flash lights.1.I do alot of reading while waiting and am thinking that a head light might be my answer.2Alight to shine out the window to read addresses at night.3.A flash light for EDC and one for my key ring.All suggestions are welcomed.

ARC-AA for everyday carry and reading. You could hang it from the mirror.

SureFire E2E to see those addresses from the street.

Ron,
Welcome to CPF.

I agree, and LED light is a great choice for a reading light. We have a forum for discussing LEDs where you can find out practically everything you need to know, and a lot you don't!

You may like to consider those little lights on the end of a flex boom that clip to the book. Not sure if they are any good, doubt they use LEDs, and perhaps you may even be able to get one powered from your cab's fag lighter.

For reading street names, I suggest a rechargeable flashlight such as the 8NX - you can hardwire the charger into your cab, and have a battery always on charge.

My personal opinion is that everyone should have a SureFire E2e. When you get yours, perhaps that will be enough.

Al

For reading, an LED headlamp is good. I recommend either the Black Diamond Moonlight or the Princeton Tec Aurora.

For spotting addresses, you could use a Princeton Tec 40. You can make it brighter by using NiMH batteries and an overdriven 3 cell bulb.

i second the aurora for reading, recomend a Princeton Tec Rage or attitude for edc, an arc aaa for keychain/edc, and maybe an asp taclite for reading house numbers. And everyone needs an e2e. Out of those you *need* an arc aaa, and you can get a attitude for about 10 bucks and put the rage module (incandescent) in it if you think you'll need more light. If you decide you want a booklight the ones that have a head that telescopes out of a sort of v shaped package look best to me. Let us know what you decide on.

- Pete

pjenkins00, where are you finding the Attitude for around $10? I'm into swapping the Attitude LED lamp assembly into a black body Rage to reduce the backscatter from the translucent housing - makes for an almost ideal package for trail walking without killing your night vision. (Hint: get a red body Attitude and a black Rage. Swap lamps, the give the Red Rage to a (non-flashaholic) friend as a light with a built in safety marker - it's not a bug it's a feature!)

ARC AAA LE lives on my keychain always.

For shining out the window - Pelican Stealthlight. Nice narrow beam, waterPROOF, shock resistant, and relatively cheap up-front cost. (I have a surefire 8nx rechargeable... BOTH batteries that came with it are defective - as I get about five, NOT fifty minutes per charge. I haven't gotten around to calling factory customer service yet, but in any event the price difference would buy me a hell of a lot of batteries for my Stealthlight - or probally at least five SETS of rechargeable NiMH batteries for it.)

How about a good ol' Maglite 4D with xenon bulb for shining for finding addresses. Also doubles as a nice legal bludgeon for busting bad guys on the head.

For keychain, a Photon II or Arc AAA.

For reading, a CMG Infinity works pretty well if you have a way of mounting it ie as on a baseball cap. The idea of a 3led headlamp such as the Petzel Tikka is also a pretty good idea.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Stainless:
... (I have a surefire 8nx rechargeable... BOTH batteries that came with it are defective - as I get about five, NOT fifty minutes per charge. I haven't gotten around to calling factory customer service yet...)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I have an 8AX as well, and of the four B90 batteries I had, two were similar to yours. An email to Surefire CS got a quick response with an apology, a confirmation that a short run of batteries had problems and a request for my address to have two more quickly sent out. Three business days later, all was well. Give SFCS a chance to make it right, they're excellent with customer support.

That being said, an 8AX, 8NX, or one of the Stinger series would make a great rechargable general purpose car flashight when matched with an installed quick-charger. With a quick-charger and a couple extra batteries, you'd be all set.

I've tried the Petzl Zipka, and found that in spite of its light weight, that thin cord wasn't every comfortable for me. I exchanged it for a Tikka and am very pleased with how light and comfortable this other light is. It's small enough to have on my head while working on cars (like underneath or cramped under the dash), and bright enough (but not too annoyingly bright) to comfortably read at night without waking my wife up.

Arc AAAs are excellent keychain EDC lights in a LED option, a great combination of size to brightness. Another is the Photon for an even smaller package, but at a reduced output.

Incandescent EDCs I've become very fond of are the Surefire E1e and E2 that I have. I always have at least one of them with my all the time.

Stainless, I just want to confirm what DonL said.

I had a problem with a B90, so I phoned SF Customer Service and it was replaced.

They just asked me for the batch number on the side of the battery, which confirmed that it was one of the dodgy parts.
(The batch number will look something like KR 32 - but it's plain that it's a code subsequently applied after the plastic wrap is printed.)

lightlover