Thrower required for night hikes

Stevie · Aug 19, 2009

Hi all,

I am a regular night hiker and use a PT Eos headlamp for close to medium range work. I now want a handheld unit for occasional spotting.

I live near the Yorkshire Dales, England and the terrain is open moorland with occassional fences, walls etc and I want the thrower for spotting gates, stiles etc way before I actually stumble across them.

I've been looking at the Fenix PD30, spec seems fine for what I want. But there may be other lights out there with a similar spec that can do a better job...

Can any of you flashaholics recommend anything else for roughly the same cash and help me make some comparisons?

Thanks!

kramer5150 · Aug 19, 2009

Tiablo A10/R2 is the farthest throwing, traditional reflector hand held I have used. To throw farther than this you'll need an aspheric mod ($$$).

Its still small enough for pack carry too, so it won't weigh you down much.

Mjolnir · Aug 19, 2009

The PD30 isn't really a "thrower." You might want to look at the Eagletac T100C2, which throws pretty well for its size. It won't throw as well as a large reflectored light like the A10, but it should be much easier to carry and fit in a pocket.

Mr. Tone · Aug 19, 2009

There are not any real thrower lights for the same price as a PD30 that I know of. Most of the dedicated small thrower lights are in the $110-$140 range. I have a DBS V3 that throws like crazy, and still can fit in my pocket. The PD30 won't even come close to DBS, Raidfire Spear, Tiablo A9+10, and other similar lights for throw. The thing that is great about DBS is you can upgrade/change the driver/emitter(pill) for different tint and/or performance.

Selfbuilt did a very nice thrower review that you should check out.

ateallthepies · Aug 19, 2009

Hi Stevie.

How far is 'way before I actually stumble across them' ?

I have a Fenix TK11 R2 and it will do this to ~150 yards.

I have also a Tiablo A9, and with the smooth reflector it will do this to ~200 yards.

Now use the aspheric head on the A9 and you will see stuff out to ~300 yards.

HTH,

Steve.

SFG2Lman · Aug 19, 2009

i don't know how familiar you are with these forums, but here's what i use for a good thrower: I bought a solarforce L2 kit from ebay that came with an 18650 battery, charger, full light, and a carrying pouch. I purchased a dereelight 3SD drop-in module with a SMO reflector and its a heck of a thrower. The PD30 is plenty bright but has a narrow reflector and is designed more fore sidespill, I hear the fenix TK11 also has great throw. just my .02

Skyeye · Aug 19, 2009

Streamlight Super Tack is all you need.

glockboy · Aug 19, 2009

Take a look at the Ultrafire WF-008.
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/213419

kelmo · Aug 19, 2009

I use a 6P or 9P with a M60W drop-in.

Or you could go nuts and get a M6!

SFG2Lman · Aug 19, 2009

hehehe i have a 6P with an SST-90 drop-in, thats in case you want to burn all the fog away and make it daytime again, doesn't throw quite as far as the M60 i have, but its a real day-maker

Federal LG · Aug 19, 2009

I love FENIX TK20!

Awesome thrower, 2 modes, powered by 2xAA.

I took some pics of mine : https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/212657

It´s an awesome light for outdoor use!

supasizefries · Aug 19, 2009

If you want to go the budget route, KD has a special on their Raidfire Spear Clone, which is a classic thrower. It's called the RQ.

Bushman5 · Aug 19, 2009

Jetbeam M1X with Aw's 18650 li-ion batteries.

nuff said!

Bullzeyebill · Aug 19, 2009

How long are your walks? If you were using rechargeable cells I would suggest a decent incandescent such as a Streamlight TL3, excellent color rendition and long throwing light. Team it up with two 17500 Li Ion cells. Whoops, I just noticed that you posted in the LED flashlight forum. In that case the aforementioned Malkoff in a SolarForce bezel/body would be a great light for you, and better using a warm emitter, an M60W.

Bill

kenneth5 · Aug 19, 2009

Bushman5 said:
Jetbeam M1X with Aw's 18650 li-ion batteries.

nuff said!

i also have this light but was wondering if you could tell me is there a big differance in brightness and throw using 3 123a batteries vs. the 2 18650s??? for now im using the 3 123a batteries until i get the OD extender.

Woods Walker · Aug 19, 2009

Stevie said:
Hi all,

I am a regular night hiker and use a PT Eos headlamp for close to medium range work. I now want a handheld unit for occasional spotting.

I live near the Yorkshire Dales, England and the terrain is open moorland with occassional fences, walls etc and I want the thrower for spotting gates, stiles etc way before I actually stumble across them.

I've been looking at the Fenix PD30, spec seems fine for what I want. But there may be other lights out there with a similar spec that can do a better job...

Can any of you flashaholics recommend anything else for roughly the same cash and help me make some comparisons?

Thanks!

Good pic on that EOS. If you don't have the newer Rebel LED (50 lumen high) consider getting one. It is a big jump compared to the older EOS. I use one all the time night hiking. The PD30 has the same head (I think) as the L2D/LD20 and it offers a good mix of throw and flood when hiking in the woods. My TK20 seems all throw and it is great to pick out trail markers with that warm tint. I like AA rechargable batteries so guess LD20 or TK20 would be the ticket. The TK20 is built much stronger than my L2D-Q5 if that is an issue. Also like the Clicky as I can press it for a fast flash of light.

waddup · Aug 19, 2009

i think everybody reccomended a different light, hows the poor fellow going to choose?

to the op.

look here

http://www.google.com/search?q=thrower&sitesearch=candlepowerforums.com

$300 is amazing.

$150 is excellent

$70 is very good

$40 is the spear clone, puts a 3 foot circle of very bright light on anything 250+ feet away.

any of the popular throwy lights here will be very useful to you.

buy with confidence :thumbsup:

richardcpf · Aug 19, 2009

waddup said:
$300 is amazing.

$300? why make him buy a exotic tritium-filled titanium custom flashlight?

Stevie only wants a nice thrower.

Big throwers: Eagletac M2XC4 or Jetbeam M1X.
Compact throwers: Raptor 2, Fenix TK11, T20C2.

qwertyydude · Aug 20, 2009

I have the recoil light and a UniqueFire HS-802. I have to say the HS-802 throws a tighter beam than the recoil, sure the recoil focuses more into a square but even that square diverges. HS-802 is practically a laser. From What I hear and see on this forum it's beam stays tighter at long range than even the DBS. The only thing really stopping it from being the ultimate thrower is it only powers it's led at 1 amp. Plus at around $35 bucks it's not one you'll miss if it breaks

DHart · Aug 20, 2009

Here's my suggestion, if you want a compact, versatile-powering, great throwing light to easily carry in the pocket:

Jet I Pro IBS v3 with SMO reflector. Runs on any of the AA-size variety of powering options (especially the 14500 li-ion!) has three fully programmable preset levels, and throws amazingly well for a pocket light. There are no doubt even better throwers in bigger sizes and for more money, but for a reasonable price, easy to power, versatile output options, and very pocketable, the Jet I Pro is it.

Thrower required for night hikes

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