High Speed Flasher Into Maglite with additional LEDs

luminator10

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May 21, 2008
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I work in law enforcement, and we often have to flag down other emergency vehicles. In the last two weeks I have had two fire trucks miss my light signal all together, which delayed their response time by about 1 minute in both instances.

Has anyone seen a way to place high intensity LEDs into a maglite, something like a red and blue lights that could flash at a high rate (4 times per second). I still want to leave the existing bulb in place.

I currently use a 4D maglite, and I would like to stick with it.
 

Gunner12

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Would 10 hz white strobe be too much?

I haven't seen any flashling red/blue drop-in/modules for the maglite.

:welcome:
 

luminator10

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I think the strobe could be a little over-powering.

Ideally if I could have a secondary light(such as an bright led flasher), with a separte switch all in the same housing, it would be awesome.
 

StarHalo

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Okay, my Flash-Cap finally arrived today, first impressions; It's actually pretty bright. The business end is essentially six LEDs in a ring, three that point straight out and three within the clear reddish casing that point somewhat outwards at an angle. It's plenty for navigating around indoors with dark-adjusted eyes, and perhaps to some extent even outdoors, as the three straight-out LEDs actually do throw a bit of a beam, comparable in throw to a decent keychain light.

The whole package adds an inch to the length of the Mag, and is its own completely separate circuit powered by four button cells with a very solid/quality feeling center switch. The cabbage-red transparent casing makes for quite the showpiece, displaying the LEDs and IC board/chips within. All of which is mounted atop a remarkably heavy-gauge flat black anodized aluminum cap (it's a single piece of machined aluminum; the endcap that the LED assembly sits on is roughly 5mm thick!)

The light has two modes, click for constant on, click off, click for blink, click off, repeat. Blink mode turns the light on/off roughly three times a second, with the on and off intervals being equal in duration (like a fast turn signal, not an instant flash/strobe). There's a slight delay between the click and the light coming on, so the aforementioned IC chips are clearly not just for show.

Also included is a powerfully magnetic base (also very heavy black aluminum) which screws into the base of the light assembly when it's not on your Mag - theoretically you could store/carry the magnet cap and the stock Maglite tailcap, this would allow the Flash-Cap to instantly become an adhesive work light or strobe while you continue to use your Mag (stick the Flash-Cap on the underside of your car hood to light the engine bay while using the Mag for spot lighting, for instance). There's also a lanyard rope and clip included, if you want to carry it like a flashlight or wear it around your neck.

Overall it's a solid piece of engineering, with a lot of forethought having gone into the design and a lot of quality in the individual components. Aside from the "how many different ways can I use this" factor, this also bumps up the safety use and value of a Mag considerably; in standard use just walking down a sidewalk for example, you now have a complete traffic-compliant lighting system - a headlight up front and a taillight in back. Plus you can always just use the Flash-Cap when the full power of your Mag isn't necessary, saving your primary batteries for when you need them.

Glo-Toob's Flash-Cap is definitely worth the $30 if you think you have a use for it. I can post some pictures if anyone's really interested.
 

climberkid

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if it isnt too difficult i would love to see the pictures. it sounds like a really awesome addition to a mag.
 

prof student

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I think the strobe could be a little over-powering.

Ideally if I could have a secondary light(such as an bright led flasher), with a separte switch all in the same housing, it would be awesome.


Streamlight's Stinger Dual Switch LED has a strobe function on it. Its a good size for a secondary light. I do not know though, at what lumens its strobe lights up at.

If you are willing to let go of your 4D Mag, Streamlight also makes a dimmer/strobe tail cap switch for the SL-20X.
 

StarHalo

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And here are the Flash-Cap pictures:

As a side node, the colors in the images are pretty much dead-on, the Flash-Cap itself is sort of a cabbage/beet red color, but the light it puts out is pure red, which is how it looks in use.

2D Mag with Flash-Cap

Cap1.jpg


Closeup view, chips and LEDs; pic isn't blurry, the plastic is

Cap2.jpg


The stock Mag tailcap fits nicely on the magnetic base, creating the world's most durable magnetic pillcase

Cap3.jpg


Business end, the three holes lead down to the LEDs that point straight out

Cap4.jpg


The beamshot; Lighthound keychain light on left, Flash-Cap on right, distance of 1 yard

Cap5.jpg


The profile at night, plenty of light going everywhere

Cap6.jpg


The whole package

Cap7.jpg


In-use

Cap8.jpg
 
Last edited:

DM51

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Good write-up, StarHalo - thanks. It looks like a useful add-on for a Mag.

However, I wonder whether it would be bright enough for flagging down emergency vehicles, which is what the OP needs. With other vehicle lights around, the light from this might be swamped, or only barely visible.

luminator10, welcome to CPF! You will find quite a few other LEOs here, and I'm sure they will be glad to help you. One unit you might want to look at is the PowerFlare, which is specifically designed for this sort of use.

There was a fairly recent thread about PowerFlares here, and you may also find the PowerFlare website useful.
 

ElectronGuru

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However, I wonder whether it would be bright enough for flagging down emergency vehicles, which is what the OP needs. With other vehicle lights around, the light from this might be swamped, or only barely visible.

I've been researching this question myself DM. According to Streak, this was invented for LEOs:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/124026


BTW, many places are out of of some colors until July 31st. These guys seem to have everything (in stock), with free shipping:

http://www.cfrlights.com/servlet/the-Glo-dsh-toob/Categories
 

climberkid

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have you guys seen the video of the powerflare when they try to destroy it with explosives. if thats not an awesome selling point i dont know what is. i should probably grab a few of these for what i do.
 

StarHalo

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Dec 4, 2007
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California Republic
I ordered my Flash-Cap from Flashlightz.com; they had a grand total of five of these in stock when I ordered. Everyplace else I looked was out of stock and quoting a fall restock time.
 
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