newb looking for advice on a camping flashlight that has some distance

ive been wading through the forums and reviews, but cant find exactly what im looking for. Hoping someone might have some suggestions off the top of their head, ill just ask

looking for a handheld, waterproof flashlight with decent battery life, with maximum range in mind. the last is the most important. top 5 recommendations?

its for camping so id like to avoid anything huge like a 4d cell maglight

thanks in advance

maximum range.. hmm HID. but the reasonable runtime is more difficult task for that.

hmm what else on top of my head.. hmm.. good thrower for 2*AA batteries, Fenix tk20.

good thrower for cr123 or 18650 batteries: tiablo a10, eagletac t10, eagletac tc100, dereelight dbs, raidfire spear..

there are few to look at.. i guess there will be soon more people chiming in that know better or other lights to think about

Try any of the Eagletac models...and the new lights by 4 sevens.

what is your price range???
on camping trips you'd need flood more often than throw. a lot more often

alpg88 said:

on camping trips you'd need flood more often than throw. a lot more often

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+1, also two-level lights are pretty much mandatory for what you're looking for, all the single-level high-output lights I took last year were fun but useless - way too bright for most any actual task.

Price range?
Batteries?
What other torches are going along?

In answer to your first post (hand held, some throw, assuming AA as your a newby) I would highly recommend a Fenix TK20.

A good companion to that (ie take as well as..) is the Zebra H501 (also AA batteries, headlight (hands free), lots of nice flood)

A good companion to those two is the Fenix TK40, if you have the money. (again AA, very bright, a bit bulkier than the other two but not massive)

*edit*
If your on a budget the Fenix E20 is quite good for the price also..

You can also look into the single AAA lights as "backups" and infact some of them (ie, the Fenix LD01) are actually quite bright (if your new to the land of high power torches they would "blow you away" i would say..).

Fenix line of AAA is:
E01 <- cheapest, single mode, not particularly bright, but bright enough to find stuff in your pack at 1:00am
L0D <- Multi mode, Low, Med, High, Strobe, SOS
LD01 SS (my pick) <- Stainless steel (doesnt scratch up), multi mode, Low, Med, High.

*edit 2*
Although the LD01 says its brighter than the LOD on the pack, you honestly cannot tell the difference, so if you dont mind it getting scratched, and want the strobe/sos get the L0D

You may consider getting the wolf-eyes pilot whale. It has 1,000 lumens and is 269 dollars at pts. You can read a great review by wattnot over here https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/236315

If you state a price range you will get more useful information. Some people think spending $50 is outrageous, and other people let their kids play with their $50 lights but not their expensive lights. Everything is relative.

Backpacking is different than car camping. If you drive to the site weight and size are less important.

If you already have batteries for your digital camera, GPS, walkie talkies, etc, you might want to get a light that matches that battery type to cut down on the number of extra cells you need.

Waterproof and weatherproof are different. If you need a genuinely waterproof light that you plan to submerge, I'd go with a light made for diving, like those by Underwater Kinetics, Pelican, and Princeton Tec ( among others ). If you just need to able to use it in any weather, most good lights that are taken care of will be fine.

Brightness and run time are often opposite sides of the same coin. By that I mean you can have a lot of one or the other, but not both. Again you'll get better advice if you use specific terms. For example "....that will run for 10 hours" is better than "..will run a long time".

It may seem like I'm just busting your balls here, but I really am just trying to be helpful. The people here have an amazing knowledge of lights. The more specific you are, the better the advice you'll get.

I tend towards the lower dollar lights so I'd suggest a Taskforce 2C light that Lowe's sells for about $30. It's not a masterpiece of machining or elegant in any way, but it's an inexpensive, throwy, and bright, and I've always been partial to C cells. I know you mentioned that you don't want a Mag 4D, but how about a 2D ? The newer LED's are quite bright, also throwy and about the same price. By taking the head off of the Mags, you can turn it into an all around room lighting candle.

Welcome to CPF. It's a fun place with lots of smart helpful people.

whatever GPB said above :thumbsup:

furnish us with budget, followed by battery style, then runtime before we can recommend a suitable recommendation.

personally, i'll recommend 2or3-mode light for throw if you insist, combined with 2nd small light just for flood (AAA lights or zebralight)

:welcome:

Soth said:

looking for a handheld, waterproof flashlight with decent battery life, with maximum range in mind.

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handheld: since you specified that a Mag 4D was huge, i'm assuming you want something smaller, maybe up to the size of Mag 2D?

waterproof: since you're going camping, i'm thinking maybe rain-proof instead of a dive rated light

decent battery life: how many hours is this?

maximum range: how far do you need it to throw? If camping would a 100 ft (roughly 33 metres) be enough?

I own an LED Lenser P14, its focusable and can throw 50m (150ft) easily. Being focusable, it's got the best of flood and spot (though not perfect beams of course). Waterproof? i havent tested mine but apparently it is, there is a review of the P14 here and you can do a youtube search for "led lenser p14" and check out some videos for yourself.

It's got 3 modes, click once for high, click again for low and semi-click for turbo (which isnt all that much brighter than high but it IS noticeable).

Batterylife is supposed to be for 100 hours (i'm assuming that is on low mode).

You could get that light, a few packs of AA cells and be all set but for camping i really would recommend that you also get a headlamp and if you want to standardise your cells, get a zebralight h501 it runs on 1xAA and i love mine, very very useful.

ALWAYS have a backup light, mine is a Fenix E01 and i KNOW that it will work when i turn it on.

thanks for the help guys!

i didnt even think of a price range, but if i can get a few good years out of the light im not too worried about up to $100-$200. I would prefer AA batteries, as i already have a ton of nimh and good charger.

Its for back packing (although i do car camp with my wife) , and i find my petzl headlamps (tikka, zipka, and tactikka) pretty much cover every thing i need except range.

I'll start check some of the ones that have been recommended so far, thx again!

forgot to mention, i doesnt need to be a diving light, so i guess weatherproof instead of waterproof is word im looking for. as long as i can use it in some rain and dropping it in a shallow puddle doesnt kill it , its good enough for me.

hyperloop said:

I own an LED Lenser P14, its focusable and can throw 50m (150ft) easily. Being focusable, it's got the best of flood and spot (though not perfect beams of course). Waterproof? i havent tested mine but apparently it is, there is a review of the P14 here and you can do a youtube search for "led lenser p14" and check out some videos for yourself.

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Led Lenser P14 is not waterproof, just try to change the focus under water or in rain...
The review you linked says it too.

9. Extensive use of O-rings to keep water out. Note however that due to the focusing mechanism this torch is not dunkable.

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+1 to Fenix TK20(buy the diffuser cone too)

Polarion PH50 Helios.

Outdoors Fanatic said:

Polarion PH50 Helios.

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That would be the ideal light, but unfortunately it is just slightly above the OP's stated budget.

The Fenix TK40 is pretty much the only high output (multi die or multi LED) LED light that runs off of AA batteries.

The TK20 might work well. It is apparently very strong and durable, runs off of AA batteries, and has a warm tint that will be better for outdoors.

I say the RX-1 that shiningbeam carries, but my switch is acting up a bit.

It's a reasonable priced, nice thrower.

Soth said:

thanks for the help guys!

i didnt even think of a price range, but if i can get a few good years out of the light im not too worried about up to $100-$200. I would prefer AA batteries, as i already have a ton of nimh and good charger.

Its for back packing (although i do car camp with my wife) , and i find my petzl headlamps (tikka, zipka, and tactikka) pretty much cover every thing i need except range.

I'll start check some of the ones that have been recommended so far, thx again!

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With all this new info i'm going to say Fenix TK40 hands down.

Weatherproof
Robust
TONNES OF LIGHT
long battery life on lower settings
AA batteries (can use 4 or 8)
Within the specified budget
About as big as a 2D mag

What more can you ask for?

Also comes in a variety of colors as long as you want black.

i've left AA for my flashlights quite some time ago. Concentrating on single CR123 now.
Generally others can recommend better than me for AA lights products from Nitecore/Fenix/4sevens/Jetbeam/Olight/Liteflux
buy any product from the 6 brands above and it shouldnt be any wrong move, just minor nitpicking

Eric

More throwers for your consideration:

2xAA = EagleTac P100A2 & Fenix LD20 (although TK20 is highly regarded in this area)

1xCR123 = Dereelight C2H & Nitecore SR3 or Extreme

2xCR123 = Surefire E2DL or LX2 & Fenix TK11 R2

1x18650 = Dereelight DBS V3, Jetbeam M1X or Raptor 1 & Tiablo A10-G

For more flexibility if you feel like switching batteries and drop-ins for different purposes, there's Solarforce L2/L2M.

How about a 6P with either a BOG Cree Super Premium or Malkoff M60W drop in? I have both and both are great intermediate range throwers.

IMHO they are overkill. A Surefire A2 is a great camping light. I like the red LED version. It won't wake up your tent mates when you go on a midnight beer run! The incan lamp really lights up whats in front of you.

BTW, welcome to CPF!!!