pivot44
Newly Enlightened
Hello all! First of all I'll echo what I have read from several other postings from newbies on this site – I never knew there was such a large selection of lights out there that could do so many things (and can cost thousands of dollars!)
So I'm hoping that some of you may be able to help me. I'm a member of a wilderness Search and Rescue team in the Appalachian mountains, and I'm looking for a lighting solution for navigation and searching for clues. I guess the best way to explain is to lay out the challenges and see if we can come up with a solution that will improve my effectiveness at night.
I know from reading a lot of posts here that there is no one "magic" light for all of my needs, especially in this price range. I've got a decent headlamp and a 4 AA streamlight xenon that I carry that work pretty well.
My budget is limited, as I pay for all of my own equipment (we're volunteers). Is it possible to find a light in the $50 – $100 range that will work well (less would be awesome, but I know that you usually get what you pay for)? What about the lights from Dealextreme?
We use a lot of Orange flagging tape that needs to be found in areas that contain pretty thick foliage. Does one type of light show this better? Does LED or Incan wash out this color?
I'd like a nice balance of flood and throw. It would be nice to be able to stand at the bottom of a ravine and shine the light up the mountain to locate the flagging tape, while at the same time lighting the immediate area in front of me so I can locate clues like candy bar wrappers, clothing, etc.
Size is not a huge issue, but since I carry two lights already it would be nice if I could keep it to a tactical light size that I can clip to my radio chest harness. If this isn't possible, a two cell would probably be the max that I would want to carry.
Any advice you can give is greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!!!
So I'm hoping that some of you may be able to help me. I'm a member of a wilderness Search and Rescue team in the Appalachian mountains, and I'm looking for a lighting solution for navigation and searching for clues. I guess the best way to explain is to lay out the challenges and see if we can come up with a solution that will improve my effectiveness at night.
I know from reading a lot of posts here that there is no one "magic" light for all of my needs, especially in this price range. I've got a decent headlamp and a 4 AA streamlight xenon that I carry that work pretty well.
My budget is limited, as I pay for all of my own equipment (we're volunteers). Is it possible to find a light in the $50 – $100 range that will work well (less would be awesome, but I know that you usually get what you pay for)? What about the lights from Dealextreme?
We use a lot of Orange flagging tape that needs to be found in areas that contain pretty thick foliage. Does one type of light show this better? Does LED or Incan wash out this color?
I'd like a nice balance of flood and throw. It would be nice to be able to stand at the bottom of a ravine and shine the light up the mountain to locate the flagging tape, while at the same time lighting the immediate area in front of me so I can locate clues like candy bar wrappers, clothing, etc.
Size is not a huge issue, but since I carry two lights already it would be nice if I could keep it to a tactical light size that I can clip to my radio chest harness. If this isn't possible, a two cell would probably be the max that I would want to carry.
Any advice you can give is greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!!!