The Perfect Flashlight

Mandog · Sep 10, 2007

My Perfect Flashlight

Would (in no particular order)...

1) Run on standard batteries
2) Be unbreakable
3) Have a rear or neck mounted "clicky"
4) Have a runtime of at least 24 hours per battery
5) Have no funky designs/swirls/lines/indents
6) Be extremely bright, blinding
7) Have at least 100 foot beam throw
8) Have good spill light
9) Have a (preferably) white beam, but slightly off-white (either yellow or blue) OK
10) Be waterproof to at least 50 feet
11) Cost no more then $30 dollars

12) Have output regulation
13) Include a holster & lanyard
14) Have a smooth beam (no dark spots, a few artifacts OK)

The type of bulb/emitter would not matter, as long as it meets the requirements.

OK flashlight companies, get to it! :twothumbs

EDIT: Maybe this should be moved to General Flashlight Discussion...

glockboy · Sep 10, 2007

djblank87 · Sep 10, 2007

This is a light that you would like to see in the near future?

Hmmmmmmm, the only thing I see stopping that is the money factor. I'm sure something with most of the standards you described could be done not all of them but most of them.

Say it could be done right now and it only cost the company $30.00 to $60.00 to make it, in turn that would come to us with a price tag of $400.00 or more most likely.

I would love to see something like this, but I just can't see it happening for a really long time. :shakehead

Happy Hunting:wave:

swxb12 · Sep 11, 2007

'Waterproof to 50 feet' - are you looking for $30 light to go diving with?

lctorana · Sep 11, 2007

OK - let's see how the A$10 (about US$8) Eveready Dolphin stacks up:

1) Run on standard batteries - yes - 4F lantern battery
2) Be unbreakable - yes
3) Have a rear or neck mounted "clicky" - yes - neck mounted
4) Have a runtime of at least 24 hours per battery - yes (if alkaline, ZnC about 16 hours)
5) Have no funky designs/swirls/lines/indents - no - it's quite funky, and has swirls.
6) Be extremely bright, blinding - no (bright, but not blinding)
7) Have at least 100 foot beam throw - yes, easily.
8) Have good spill light - yes very good indeed
9) Have a (preferably) white beam, but slightly off-white (either yellow or blue) OK - yes
10) Be waterproof to at least 50 feet - yes & no - it FLOATS
11) Cost no more then $30 dollars

- yes - less than $8
12) Have output regulation - no
13) Include a holster & lanyard - no, but lanyard holes included and wall bracket included
14) Have a smooth beam (no dark spots, a few artifacts OK) no dark spots, but RIDDLED with artifacts!

9.5/14 is not a bad score!

Mandog · Sep 11, 2007

swxb12 said:
'Waterproof to 50 feet' - are you looking for $30 light to go diving with?

No.

So is 50 feet too much? I just figured that was a good water-resistant depth. It should be 500 feet, because that's the depth I'll be diving to save my $400 flashlight!

paulr · Sep 11, 2007

Princeton Tec Impact

Mandog said:
My Perfect Flashlight

Would (in no particular order)...

1) Run on standard batteries Yes 4AA
2) Be unbreakable Yes pretty much so, rugged plastic light
3) Have a rear or neck mounted "clicky" No -- bezel twisty
4) Have a runtime of at least 24 hours per battery Yes - dimmer towards the end maybe, but a low powered light
5) Have no funky designs/swirls/lines/indents dunno :shrug:
6) Be extremely bright, blinding Not with 24 hours runtime you don't. It's a 5mm led light.
7) Have at least 100 foot beam throw Yes, focusing optic
8) Have good spill light good is a relative term. It has some spill but you give up a lot to get the long throw from such a low powered light.
9) Have a (preferably) white beam, but slightly off-white (either yellow or blue) OK Hmm, probably pretty blue if my PT Attitude is a good example
10) Be waterproof to at least 50 feet Yes, easily, more like 500+ feet, it's a well sealed plastic dive light
11) Cost no more then $30 dollars Yes, around $20
12) Have output regulation No, resistor limited direct drive
13) Include a holster & lanyard I think it comes with a wrist lanyard, not sure
14) Have a smooth beam (no dark spots, a few artifacts OK) Don't count on it

The type of bulb/emitter would not matter, as long as it meats the requirements.

OK flashlight companies, get to it! :twothumbs

EDIT: Maybe this should be moved to General Flashlight Discussion...

paulr · Sep 11, 2007

Really you have to balance your desires for long runtime and a bright light. Around here, a bright light means 100 lumens or more, and the very best leds today produce around 100 lumens per watt, with some efficiency losses due to optics, reflector, etc. Let's be very optimistic and say you get the full 100, so you have a 1 watt light. That means you need 100 WH of batteries which means something like 4 D cells.

So I think you could maybe barely accomplish this with a 4D or 6D PR light (e.g. Mag) and a super efficient LED drop-in. Probably not in your $30 price range but you could probably do it under $100 even with a Mag host. Then you have that big reflector to focus the beam.

Mandog · Sep 11, 2007

Like djblank87 said, it's not something I expect to see any time soon. It's interesting to see what people can come up with though.

Regarding runtime, I think the obvious choice would be Princeton Tec Attitude, at 150 hours on 4xAAAs, but what I don't understand is why they couldn't make a C or D cell version of this light. There is always that awesome flashlight, and then you find that it's 4 or 5 inches long and uses AAAs or some obscure rechargeable type...

I wouldn't even consider taking a flashlight that uses expensive rechargeables out to my fantasy apocalypse shelter in the forest. I might if the recharger was solar-powered.

sysadmn · Sep 12, 2007

lctorana said:
12) Have output regulation - no

Well, strictly speaking this is a yes - turn it off and the output is completely regulated a 0%; turn in on and it is regulated by battery voltage to a random percentage between 0 and 100!

aceo07 · Sep 12, 2007

Get rid of the price limit and you might find it.

Monocrom · Sep 13, 2007

Perfect light doesn't exist. Best you can hope for is to come close.

I love my Surefire L4. But it lacks throw, at least outdoors.
My 2C Maglite w/ MagLED has plenty of throw, but not quite as bright as my L4, and isn't exactly an ideal EDC light.

Spin · Sep 13, 2007

The three perfect lights for me at the present time would be;

1. Very rugged dual mode twisty, 1-AA alkaline/lithium.
A. 12 hrs maximum brightness on high, 24 hrs on low.
B. Waterproof at 10 ft.
C. $40.

2. Same as above using 1-CR123.

3. Inova X5T-Red with a smaller body.

Robstorch · Sep 13, 2007

Streamlight Pro Polymer Luxeon 4aa fits most of it...
1) Run on standard batteries yup any AA, rechargables work great
2) Be unbreakable its pretty tough
3) Have a rear or neck mounted "clicky" yup
4) Have a runtime of at least 24 hours per battery wow just4+hours
5) Have no funky designs/swirls/lines/indents yup
6) Be extremely bright, blinding it is bright
7) Have at least 100 foot beam throw no problem
8) Have good spill light yup, got that too
9) Have a (preferably) white beam, but slightly off-white (either yellow or blue) OK great color LED in it.
10) Be waterproof to at least 50 feet thats kinda deep, maybe 5 ft?
11) Cost no more then $30 dollars

how about $24?
12) Have output regulation Yup, its regulated
13) Include a holster & lanyard comes with lanyard, holsters available
14) Have a smooth beam (no dark spots, a few artifacts OK) yup

sysadmn · Sep 14, 2007

4) Have a runtime of at least 24 hours per battery
6) Be extremely bright, blinding

Assuming that "extremely bright, blinding" means 150+ lumens, you're looking at 700 - 1000 mA. To keep the numbers simple, assume 1000mA. You're asking for 24,000mAH PER BATTERY. A good AA or 18650 runs about 2600 mAH. Given that your car battery probably runs 60,000-72,000 mAH, you're looking at carrying half a car battery around.

If you found a wonder LED that is bright enough at 300ma (and a good bin CREE / SSC might qualify YMMV), you'd need 8,000mAH. That's within reach for a D cell.

lctorana · Sep 14, 2007

Thought something similar, sysadmin.

But remember, he wants it on a lanyard, too.

Saiga · Sep 14, 2007

There's a great old quote from Keith Bontrager, mountain biking poineer, that goes, " cheap, light and strong.......pick TWO." Not quite perfectly applicable to this subject, but you get the point.

Mandog · Sep 16, 2007

sysadmn said:
4) Have a runtime of at least 24 hours per battery
6) Be extremely bright, blinding

Assuming that "extremely bright, blinding" means 150+ lumens, you're looking at 700 - 1000 mA. To keep the numbers simple, assume 1000mA. You're asking for 24,000mAH PER BATTERY. A good AA or 18650 runs about 2600 mAH. Given that your car battery probably runs 60,000-72,000 mAH, you're looking at carrying half a car battery around.

If you found a wonder LED that is bright enough at 300ma (and a good bin CREE / SSC might qualify YMMV), you'd need 8,000mAH. That's within reach for a D cell.

Did I just hear "backpack car battery with modifications for flashlight attachment"? :popcorn:

150+ lumens? Most would probably be happy with 75, even 50 lumens. Am I wrong? I'm still getting used to the lumen/lux measurements... As long as it can clearly illuminate an object at least 100 feet away, it's fine with me.

LEDninja · Sep 17, 2007

Elecktrolumens Anglelux P4

1) Run on standard batteries2D
2) Be unbreakableBased on military flashlight
3) Have a rear or neck mounted "clicky"side mounted slidey
4) Have a runtime of at least 24 hours per battery19+ with new 500mA micropuck, 24 with old 400mA micropuck
5) Have no funky designs/swirls/lines/indentsanglehead not funky enough?
6) Be extremely bright, blindingSSC-P4 at 500mA, my estimate 75 lumens out front, yup
7) Have at least 100 foot beam throwyup
8) Have good spill lightyup
9) Have a (preferably) white beam, but slightly off-white (either yellow or blue) OKOK tint
10) Be waterproof to at least 50 feetI would not go swimming with it but it should be rain resistant
11) Cost no more then $30 dollars

For a custom light?!!! $59.+shipping is a steal
12) Have output regulationsemi regulated
13) Include a holster & lanyarddon't know
14) Have a smooth beam (no dark spots, a few artifacts OK)yup

Re 11) Make your own. Buy any rubber 2D light and swap in an LED upgrade bulb.

Long runtime + bright means BIG batteries. Take a look at the dive lights - Barbolight, Tectite, Underwater Kinetics. They often use D or C cells.

Robstorch said:
Streamlight Pro Polymer Luxeon 4aa fits most of it...
4) Have a runtime of at least 24 hours per battery wow just4+hours

The 3C version should give much better runtime.

Mandog · Sep 17, 2007

Thanks for your input on the Anglelux P4, LEDninja. By the way, I was thinking the same thing about the 3C Propolymer.

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