Big Womping Lights-Alkaline---UKE D8 vs King Pelican Lite Pro, others?

I dunno. The Brinkmann LX may solve all my problems--and I do have some flavor of plug-in spot in my car which I think is more powerful, but it's a no-name Radio Shack from years ago.

I am quite fond of alkaline cells for price/performance--something with a good shelf life and long run time. Especially in Earthquake Country.

What alkaline light would be good for long-range looking. Two I've found is the UKE D8 and the Kink Pelican Lite Pro. Both are dual filament (Pelican) or dual lamp (UKE). Both are 14W. The King Pelican lists higher light output and longer burn times. Equals narrower beam to my mind.

Anyone have either of these two OR something else.

The Stinger doesn't ring my chimes in this regard. As I understand it, it's rechargeable.

I don't think this should be in Lanterns or Spotlights, should it? Sorry if it should be. I don't really want a "spotlight" I want a big womping flashlight <smile>.

Cheers,

Richard

Richard; What distance do you need it to shine really bright? How long do you need the run time to be at this brightness?

As an example, I recently needed to perform a community park inspection at night. We needed to see things very clearly at about 100 to 200 yards away. My PT Surge and another person's SF M2 did project a beam, but it wasn't bright enough. We ended pulling out the $18 Vector 12v 55w from Costco. This gave us more than enough light. These few times, you may have to use one of these cheaper setups with the H3 bulbs and sealed lead acid batteries.

Warren,

Thanks for the info...

I never know what I'm looking for--it's nice to have a far-throwing light handy and that means not too bulky. I saw a BIG thing at Pilot today that must have had an 8-inch diameter sealed beam (looked like sealed beam) and a battery hanging beneath it.

I've actually ordered a UKE SL6 which several people (including Brock) have listed as one of the brightest. In fact, it's the brightest alkaline that Brock has on his Web site. Anything brighter is a Surefire with relatively limited battery life.

Thanks!

Richard

By my experience, dual bulb setup is better than dual filament in long run. You need to replace the dual filament bulb if one of filament was blown in order to keep its backup feature.

Alan

Richard; Your SL6 is a good start! I don't own one, but I know of others who do. When you get it, please repost to let us know if it fits you bill. If not, let us know what part of your wish list still remains. This would give us a better idea of what your perfect light might be...

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by rlhess:
....it's nice to have a far-throwing light handy and that means not too bulky....
I've actually ordered a UKE SL6 ....
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Richard,

The UKE SL6 is indeed an excellent light. After comparison testing its beam, I would describe it more as a medium distance semi-flood, than as a truly far reaching spot. The smallest such light matching that description that I've tested is the SF 9P with SRTH Turbohead and N2 lamp. Of course that is a relatively narrow beam in a one hour light. Also, please take the runtime figures from Surefire and almost all other manufacturers with a shakerful of salt. Just because a filament will give off visible light for a given time span doesn't tell you what % of that time is bright, or even useable. You would be ill advised to try an extended run with a non turbo lexan-lensed Surefire. For that type of non turbo usage you must have a Pyrex lens.

Getting back to the SL 6. It is very compact for its power, but at 22.1oz it is no lightweight, and with a 6C refill you will know that you are carrying it.

The SL4 will actually throw farther, of course with a thinner beam, but at 15.3oz it can be belt carried in relative comfort (I EDC the SL 4 for two weeks just as an experiment) and is a very competent light.

If you want a very bright, very compact, long throw, long burning light I'm afraid you may have to wait a few years!

Brightnorm

Hi, Norm,

Thanks so much for the assistance. In another thread on the Ikelight, This URL for dive light comparison was posted.

What's interesting is that there they show the SL4 with a beam of 32cm and the SL6 with a beam of 20cm (presumably at the same distance) and a hotspot brightness of 128 for the SL4 and 330 for the SL6.

What really surprised me is that Brightguy thought the SL6 was the brightest thing they carried with a long throw. "I feel our brightest non-rechargeable light is the UK SL6. It runs on 6 C cells. It has a fixed focus spot beam making it great for distance.
Its been very popular." I realize brightness and throw are two different things.

I can't wait to compare it to the Brinkmann LX.

I'm not looking for this for EDC by any means. Just something to have close. I was even looking at the UKE 14W D8 in this and that apparently is more floodish and doesn't penetrate as far as the SL6. Cost/Size wise, the SL6 is more attractive.

Interestingly, other than some very expensive Surefires, the SL6 is the brightest on Brock's page. Where he shows it as almost 6x the brightness at 20 feet than the E2. So maybe 5x the brightness of the E2e.

I can't justify the large SF. I just don't need it enough.

I may give up doing measurements as they keep coming out differently and I can't make my readings agree with Craig's ProMetric, especially comparing the E2/E2e to the Lambda Illuminator.

Anyway, the E2e is fitting in nicely for EDC along with the ARC LE (I hope I don't get grounding problems with it). The Lambda Illuminator and the Brinkmann LX sit at hand at home as each is great at a different task. If I need bright, long-run light for many applications, I can use a corded trouble light <smile>.

Oh, and I finally found a use for the Inova X5--it sits in my shoulder bag as a backup or if I need more than the Arc LE and less than the E2e.

Was it you that found the Brinkmann Nexstar lamps work well in mini-mags? That is a trip! I am going to put one in each of my four MiniMags and breathe new life into them.

The PT Aurora is another useful light.

Cheers, and thanks!

Richard

Hi!

I have the Aqua King Pelican Lite Pro with the laser spot bulb. It's brighter than my Maglite 6D, a little bit brighter (maybe) than my 6P/M2 with P61. The beam quality of the laser spot isn't very good, especially with the dual filaments. Neither filament is in the ideal position.

The problem with this light is that it's SOOOO HEAVY. Quite hefty and awkward to use compared to my Surefires. Plus, I couldn't believe how much brighter my M6 is than the King Pelican, and yet the M6 is so much smaller and lighter. Sure, the M6 lasts only 20 minutes, but carrying extra CR123As is easier than carrying extra D batteries.

I've also experienced "outages" where the 8D batteries shifted and the light didn't work. This usually required opening the top and jiggling the batteries a bit, and then it'd be fine.

YMMV.

/mel