What light do you use in the rain?

It's been raining and thunder storming for the past week and I was headed to take care of some things outside when I came up with this dilemma. I had one of my Mag mods in my hand but had second thoughts about using it out in the rain for an extended period of time. Ended up just taking a Pelican M8 with me but was wondering what you guys use.

If you're going to be out in the rain or in wet conditions for a long time what lights do you use and why?

-LT

Surefire G2, with R2 drop in. Just cause if I drop it or what ever happens its so cheap for a new one.

Insight H2X Typhoon or SureFire M2 (w/P60L). Both flashlights are sealed.

If I have a choice I'll grab any of my Princeton Tec's (Surge, Tec 40, Impact II, EOS) but I wouldn't hesitate to use most lights having O-rigs if that's what's available.

I haven't found a light thats really useable in the rain.

its not the water entry that gets me...its the inherent properies of water and its ability to deflect light away from you.

Perferably something incan and primarily throw. LED absolurely does not do well in the rain. Light rain is okay but nothing works as good as incan. But as would most incans...dont expect a very long runtime

I use my car headlights.

Just whatever I use usually, my seoul magled at home, or whatever my EDC is at the time.

Can't recall the last time I needed a light in the rain, but most any would work fine. If I needed one around the house in a heavy rain I'd probably still grab my old UK eLed 4AA. One you can always trust.

Geoff

Last time I needed a light in rain I was stuck outside for 6 hours in pouring rain and pitch black darkness. My McLux PD-S lit the way the whole time, and I swapped batteries once while standing under some cover.

A2 Aviator W/ LiFePO4 when it is lightly raining outside.

M6 Guardian W/ MN20 HOLA W/ Surefire Primaries for moderate to heavy rain

I use my Coleman 530 lumen CREE XR-E Tristar rechargeable spotlight. I have walked through heavy downpours with it and let it get soaked but absolutely no water got in it at all. It seems pretty water proof. It also has amazing light output and is fun to shine up into the rain at night! None of my other spotlights are water proof like that.

Usually whatever I'm carrying. I don't give much thought to rain, as most of my lights are fairly waterproof.

I used my L1D in moderate rain when I had to walk from my car to the front door. I had no worries about the light getting damaged from the rain.

Pelican Stealthlite or my G2...Although I'm not afraid to use anyof them...they're all rather reliable....

the light that is on my bike and/or im holding my l1d q5 just to let other people know im there

It really comes down to beam pattern rather then the lights ability to withstand the water the tighter the beam the better TIR lights work best for me

For me the first things I think about are is water going to get into it, can I set it down (probably in some water and muck) and not worry about it, and is it physically big enough that I'm not fumbling with it. With rain gear on I'm less likely to use my pockets to avoid getting water in the suit so I'll set the light down when I'm not using it. I've also noticed I like bright bodied lights better my M8 for example is screaming yellow so that after I do set a light down it's easier to see to pick back up.

Also as mentioned above a tight beam seems to work better in rain I guess for the same reasons it's better in fog, less light reflected back at me. Rain is just fat water drop fog anyway right?

I can actually see a patch of blue sky right now but the forecast is for more rain later to day into next week. Looks like I may have the opportunity to test out a few more lights before it's done.

-LT

Light with a lot of blue in it will do best in the rain because it penetrates water best. Fish see blue very well for this reason.

Illum_the_nation said:

...LED absolurely does not do well in the rain...

Click to expand...

Absolutely may be a bit of a genralization. After Katrina Isaac Hayes built a light for me on a 3C M/\G host. It has a Lux III ~490nm driven at 1 amp. This light squeezes it all down to about a ~1° beam as near as I can figure. I added a UCL.

I took it out to post-K St Bernard on a rainy night because that place was so messed up that it was really dark -- no house lights, no street lights, no nuthin'. In the dark, dark I was able to light up the side of houses at 3 blocks away in the rain -- and that's with just one old Lux III.

I think that in general it's true that incans can do a better job, but they should do a better job, as powerful as they are. Brute force may work wonders. I dissagree with the idea that LEDs are unsuitable for this task, however. I have one that does a very good job and it has better runtime than an incan and it really isn't very high tech at all.

Please understand that I'm just addressing the LED issue here and not the watertightness of the M/\G host.

Often, I'll use my Inova XO2. It's waterproof and during rain or fog, a light with an optic works better for throw as rain and fog disperses the light.

I'll use whatever I own, pretty much. Basically everything I have is waterproof to some degree - Surefires to IPX-8 I believe, Mags are splash or dunk resistant, (Mag mods to a lesser degree - thermal stress from cold water on the lens is a killer, and I'm not using borofloat!) Inovas are waterproof... and I've got a Dolphin for incandescent throw (Magnum Star 4-cell bulb) that floats. Only things I won't use in the rain are the Eveready beaters destined for 3x123 mod hosts. Even the Maxfire has o-ring seals.