Im looking for my perfect flashlight

AKCamper · Jul 14, 2008

I am looking for a Flashlight that will produce at least 200 Lumens and has a beam similar to a surefire beam. It can be incandescent or LED and it has to have a run time of around 10 hours. And most of all it has to be able to take a beating. I use the hell out of my flashlights, weather in the oil field or camping in the Alaska backcountry. My company supplies me with free 3D maglights and Free D batteries, so if i could use this housing and this battery that would be great. If any of you know how to build this or of an existing one please let me know. Thank you

ViReN · Jul 14, 2008

200 Lumens and around 10 hours ... you will need a Car battery to do that

kidding apart but 3D Mag Lite with a good single LED Cree / Seoul P4 dropin & metal reflector should achieve it

To begin with... let's start with This.... The Battery

Welcome to CPF

AKCamper · Jul 14, 2008

Im embarased to say but I am very new to this whole flashlight building thing and have no clue what you just said.

Gunner12 · Jul 14, 2008

4D recahrgeable batteres each at 10 Ah or more should be able to power a Cree XR-E Q5 at around 1 amp for an hour. That should give you around 230 lumen at the LED or 160-200 lumen out the front(depending on the optic/reflector).

Check this thread.

I's suggest the Malkoffdevices drop-in because it's the closest to your requirement at 3D cells.

Both Cree and Seoul make LEDs. XR-E is a model of LED from Cree and is one of the current gen LEDs. P4 is a model of LED from Seoul and is also one of the current gen of LEDs. P4 is also a Flux Bin(efficiency/output) bin for the Cree XR-E LED.

You don't have to build anything. You can either get a drop-in or ask a modder to do it for you at a cost of course.

The 3D Mag is around 35-40 lumen.

:welcome:

ViReN · Jul 14, 2008

excellent post Gunner

AKCamper · Jul 14, 2008

Gunner12 said:
4D recahrgeable batteres each at 10 Ah or more should be able to power a Cree XR-E Q5 at around 1 amp for an hour. That should give you around 230 lumen at the LED or 160-200 lumen out the front(depending on the optic/reflector).

Check this thread.

I's suggest the Malkoffdevices drop-in because it's the closest to your requirement at 3D cells.

Both Cree and Seoul make LEDs. XR-E is a model of LED from Cree and is one of the current gen LEDs. P4 is a model of LED from Seoul and is also one of the current gen of LEDs. P4 is also a Flux Bin(efficiency/output) bin for the Cree XR-E LED.

You don't have to build anything. You can either get a drop-in or ask a modder to do it for you at a cost of course.

The 3D Mag is around 35-40 lumen.

:welcome:

Thank you that was very helpfull.
Where would i find one of these "Malkoffdevices" and how much do they usualy run? oooo and where do i find one of those cool Bezels with the glow in the dark dots?

eng_driver · Jul 14, 2008

Hmmm.... who said it first? You can have ... Bright, long battery life, quality... pick any two.

kramer5150 · Jul 14, 2008

eng_driver said:
Hmmm.... who said it first? You can have ... Bright, long battery life, quality... pick any two.

I've always seen it-
Lumens, Run time, small size... pick 2/3.

Excelent reply Gunner... that 200L / 10Hr thing stumped me.

AKCamper · Jul 14, 2008

eng_driver said:
Hmmm.... who said it first? You can have ... Bright, long battery life, quality... pick any two.

That is Not what i want to hear

AKCamper · Jul 14, 2008

What is a "Malkoffdevices"??? and also, what is considerd a "torch"
AND, With these flashlights with say 3 led and reflectors in the head of a Mag Light, wouldnt that just produce alot of light close up but end up lacking in the distance area? (sorry im not down with all the lingo, give me time)

eng_driver · Jul 14, 2008

AKCamper said:
What is a "Malkoffdevices"???

http://www.malkoffdevices.com/

They sell Mag LED dropins...

If you want a mega throw light from a Mag 3D, you could look at this...

http://www.kaidomain.com/WEBUI/ProductDetail.aspx?TranID=4465

Marduke · Jul 14, 2008

AKCamper said:
What is a "Malkoffdevices"??? and also, what is considerd a "torch"
AND, With these flashlights with say 3 led and reflectors in the head of a Mag Light, wouldnt that just produce alot of light close up but end up lacking in the distance area? (sorry im not down with all the lingo, give me time)

See Gunner's link for what/where Malkoff dropins are. For multi-LED lights, it depends on the light. They can either have lots of throw (distance) or flood (close up), depending entirely on what reflectors or optics were used.

A "torch" is just another name for a flashlight, used mainly by people living in countries outside the US.

I HIGHLY recommend reading the Welcome Mat to get some of the lingo.

What temps are we talking about here? Because some battery chemistries (like alkalines) suffer horribly in very cold weather, and will not do very well.

Gunner12 · Jul 14, 2008

The thread I linked to had a link to the various Malkoffdevices drop-ins.

Here's the one you might want.

I think torch is another word for flashlight.

3 LEDs in one head and the throw would depend on the LEDs. But assuming it's using one of the current gen ones and drives the LED at a good current, then the light should throw 100 meter without trouble. 3 current gen LEDs can get up to(and over if you overdrive the LEDs) 700 lumen(before losses through the reflector).

Jarl · Jul 14, 2008

A torch is the UK word for a flashlight. They're both wildly inaccurate for actually describing the hand-held light sources that are talked about on this forum, but such is life.

And yes, 200 lumens for 10 hours is an interesting requirement. Why do you require so much light for so long?

AKCamper · Jul 14, 2008

I need a light that will last about 10 houres because when im working nights thats generaly the ammount of time i will be using a flashlight. And stopping to change battries is a pain in the wind and cold and dark.
As for Marduke's question, The coldest i have ever worked in was about 40 below zero. and the coldest i have ever camped in( a perioud of about 4 days) was around 10 to 20 below.

So i do not see any Good reflectors at this Malkoffdevices page. where do i find those and what should i be looking for?

AKCamper · Jul 14, 2008

Marduke · Jul 14, 2008

In that case, I highly recommend against anything alkaline powered for that cold, as you will only get a fraction of the possible runtime.

For that long of time, a 200 lumen light which will last for 10 hours will be extremely large and heavy. What about a multi-mode light? That way you have long runtime at a decent level (40-80 lumens, about what you are used to) for your 10 hours, but you have the capability to crank up the output to 200+ lumens if you need it for a short while. You can get something a bit more pocketable then.

Gunner12 · Jul 14, 2008

Re: 1

The stock Maglite reflector works fine. You have to cut off the plastic thing that sticks out of the reflector though.

Malkoff does have precut ones if you don't want are is afraid to cut the reflector.

Alkaline batteries don't do well in the cold. I'm not too sure about rechargeables.

Maybe stating the amount of throw and the beam pattern you need would be good. A 10 lumen well focused light can throw further then a 1000 lumen flood light.

Jarl · Jul 14, 2008

Re: 1

You might find a multi-mode light better suits your needs than a single mode 200 lumen monster, TBH. That way, you can choose a light that's still small and "only" has ~2 hours at 200 lumens, but can dim down to a lower level for much longer- primarily I was thinking of a fenix TK11 with just over 2 hours on 225 lumens or about 10 hours of 60 lumens, then another hour of gradually declining output. A 2x18650 host would give you more leeway, though, so is probably a good idea. Anyone know of a 2x18650 body for a TK10?

AKCamper · Jul 14, 2008

Re: 1

Right now i am living in texas, so for the near future, the cold is not an issue. An adjustubul in that range 80-200 would sute me just fine.

And as for the throw and beam pattern, i need something very similar to a surefire type beam, i had a P6 previusly but it was stolen and it didnt live up to what i was wanting, although i liked the beam pattern.
With this Malkoffdevices drop in will i still be able to adjust the beam? If so will it still have the anoying patternn of a standard Mag light?

Im looking for my perfect flashlight

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