Top 5 lights with best spill ???

I walk every night per doctor's orders and have gotten damn tired of dodging the cars in the neighborhood walking the streets . I have found some cool 4 wheeler trails in the woods close to the house, but the downside is there are no streetlights to help with seeing where I am going. I would like to obtain a light with a good amount of spill . What would the top 5 lights be with the best spill? My walk time is about an hour and a half.

Valmet62

I belive this one is ALL flood (120 lumens.)

http://www.malkoffdevices.com/shop2/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_14_19&products_id=52

I think that's the best price per power deal you'll find. (Although you do need a Surefire/Solarforce host. These are about 15-25$)

I would also recommend the Fenix E20, which has a focusable head like a maglite. Another light with this feature that is popular is the led lenser.

How bout a diffuser, you can get them for most lights and this will give you a broader range to choose from.


Just my 2cents.

I, too, walk nightly and use several LED flashlights. The best one for me thus far is the current (2008) version, 100 lumen Inova T1-MP because it has such great spill and 4+ hours runtime. The golden tint makes objects look more natural than bluish or neutral tint lights.

It never gets warm to the touch during prolong use.

4D or 5D Mag with Malkoff P7 and the head removed.

Well if you are walking 1.5 hours you will want something that you can run rechargeable on.

If you don't mind a bigger light, I would recommend a Magite 2C with a drop in LED from terralux.

If you want to keep it in the pocket, the Fenix E20 and 2AA MiniMag (again with terralux drop in led replacement) lights would be good picks.

Any of the 3 there will run you around $40, and they are all focusable so you can decide how wide you want the beam to be.

A battery charger for AA and C batteries will run you around $25
Then four batteries for the AA is in the $10 range and about $20 for four C's

I'd say get a Zebralight H50 and use it as a headlamp or just clip it to your shirt or coat. All spill and bright enough for walking. Use rechargeable batteries (1x AA) for low cost. You could always have a small "throw" light in your pocket, too, just in case.

Geoff

+1 on the INOVA T1(2008).Plenty of spill but still has some throw and is reasonably bright at 100 lumens.

+1 for Zebralight, H50, H60 or new 501, best with warm Tint LED!

Jens

If you use a light with a removable reflector try removing it and reassemble the light. You might be surprised by the flood. It does kill all throw however.

Personally, I think you will still want something with a bit throw for walks in the woods. All flood in the near view can kind of blind you to what's in the distance. A traditional light with regular throw - and a diffuser tip - could be a good combo.

I would recommend a light that runs on 18650 with multiple outputs (and potential for 2xCR123A for back-up). Something like the new broad-voltage JetBeam Jet-III ST could be very good (also Olight M20, etc.). You'll see examples reviewed in my master list in my signature.

If you want to stick with 2xAA (which is also feasible), check out my 2xAA round-up review in the sig line.

Either way, make sure you have extra batteries with you and ideally a back-up light (something small like 1xAA or 1xCR123A you can stick in a pocket and forget about until you need it).

i don't own one, but have often heard that the SF L4 has great spill.

might need its own separate thread, but on a similar note i'd be interested in hearing which single CR123 lights have the best flood/spill.

Outstanding flood: Nuwai TM-301X-5

I just typed out a nice response to have it eaten by setting the wrong user agent...grrr....

In order to help us help you, it would be most beneficial for you to provide the cell type you prefer. If you own a cylindrical lith-ion charger, my firm recommendation would be to echo the above suggestions in favor of the Inova T1 2008 model:

Pros:

-built like a tank, without the weight
-threads on the tailcap are probably the best I've ever dealt with
-throws far enough to see what is ahead
-has some of the most beautifully even spill, reaching all the way out to the corner of your vision
-works great off two protected RCR123 cells

Cons:

-if you don't own a charger for these cells, it would certainly add to the cost
-you need to make sure to get the right cells for proper fit; I believe AW's cells in this size are okay

That would be my recommendation.

headlight, with lotsa available battery, so your not tied to a cord every day
with 25* optics, or difuser over tighter reflector or optics, even a zebra say
a simple piece of scotch (type) transparency tape can be place ontop of most of this stuff to instantally "fix" it for free, you tab the edge, and can rip it off anytime you want.

and a small aspherical hand spotter, that doesnt need major runtime, but grand brightness and tight spot ,preferable momentary switch style (aka not reverse clickie) for things that go beump in the night.

take 2 thier small.

Reading you post, I think you'll need a light that has both a strong hotspot and a good spill, like selfbuild said.

Many of the lights recommended here are floody lights, which IMO don't necessarally mean good spill. You can have an optic which gives you a wide beam with no spill, look at LEDlenser. It annoys me when newbies and others call the spill "flood" because it will easily confuse people. Flood is a beam pattern, spill is the light around the hotspot.

You would probably like to see far down the road too, so a strong hotspot would help. How much spill do yon need? Enough to avoid things next to you or have not hotspot and be using a flood light?

Almost all of the lights have enough spill to see what to avoid around where you stand.

I'd use a SureFire G2L, you can use 2 AW protected rechargeables in it because the voltage on the P60L is from 6-9 volts. It has great spill.

For walking in the woods or just inside the beaten path, I prefer Novatac, Ra, and LiteFlux to the other lights in my ever growing collection. Their beam patterns have the perfect balance of throw and flood for my night time adventures. The variable outputs allow me to adapt to my changing environment.

ichoderso said:

+1 for Zebralight, H50, H60 or new 501, best with warm Tint LED!

Jens

Click to expand...

Where can you get a Zebralight with a warm tint LED?