Checking on my motorcycle from 300 yards away.

The bigger question is I'm looking for an all around flashlight with variable outputs but 1 of the more powerful requirements is I would like to be able to look out my window where I often work at night and check up on my spendy motorcycle which is parked about 300-350 yards away. (I know, I know this seems more like a motorcycle parking/locking issue but a. its a sticky situation and b. even if was resolved I still want the flashlight that could do it!)

I'd love to have a light with variable output ... say
2-3 lumens (what do you guys think is best for reading in a tent at night and not disturbing your wife to much :duh2
20 lumens
100 lumens
500 lumens +

I'm kind of new to this ... is it true that most of the newer LED's - MC-E, P7, sst50/90 are more floody and don't throw a beam very far? Is one of those better than another?

Thanks

rick

You'll be hard pressed to find a light that can really get out to 300+ yards unless the ambient light is very low. For something like this, I'd definitely recommend a dedicated thrower, not a light running off of a P7/MC-E/SST-50/90 or any other multi- or large-die LEDs. They have their uses, but in your case it sounds like what you need is a good spotter, and the hundreds of lumens coming off of say a P7 would just be wasted, and back-scattering of the relatively floody beam from such a light would actually make it harder to see out to distance. I don't know if this is a light that you should try and make do everything, e.g. using the same light that you look out at something 300 yards a way to read something close-up might not be ideal, simply because the beam pattern that is optimal for the former use would not do well in the latter.

Well said. You need an excuse to buy at LEAST 2 light for these purposes.

Easy answer/normal person way, park under a streetlight.

Or the CPF way, buy this: http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=206661 the new LumaPower D-Mini VX Ultra from a great site sponsor!

Sounds like you need two lights...

Spot light: High powered incandescent build with a decent sized reflector. It doesn't sounds like runtime should be an issue, but your budget will dictate what makes sense for this.

General light: I'd suggest either a D10 (AA) or an EX10 (123/RCR123) with the original ramping UI (not the SP version), but there are really a lot of lights that can fit the bill for this.

If there's any ambient light, get some cheap 7x50 binoculars; they will magnify the ambient light a whole lot and give you a closer view of the bike. Flashlights are great but they're not always the answer. If you really have to illuminate the bike from that distance, you want a spotlight, not a flashlight. A big SLA powered one (or even AC powered) is fine if you can leave it in the office instead of carrying it, and they are much cheaper than some high tech LED pocket marvel.

If you want to be high tech, you can also consider a night vision scope...

VegasF6 said:

Well said. You need an excuse to buy at LEAST 2 light for these purposes.

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For sure. Any excuse to add to one's arsenal.

My recommendations in that case would be Jetbeam RRT-0 and one of the R5 Quarks. Or maybe a 3-D maglite with a malkoff drop-in, that would be a sweet setup, too.

300-350 yards is a long way... there is little chance you will even be able to see anything specific (even in daylight) except for simply acknowledging that your bike is still there. As others have said, maybe binoculars are on order here. 300-350 yards... you're talking about a whole bunch of throw. In daylight, it will be hard to see a bike from that far away. Most likely, you're gonna have to get a super dedicated thrower, as even really high output lights (ROP, MAG85, Surefire M6, etc, which are at least as bright as mdoern P7 and MCE lights, if not brighter) cannot do that (although they aren't super throwy). Aspheric is your best bet.

So with that said, its gonna have to be pretty big, so it definitely wont be a light you want read in bed with. The beam WILL NOT be condusive to reading, as it will be the size of a ping pong ball at that range.

An ROP might be on the lower end of the power range for spotting at that range, but it might do decently with an upgraded (larger) reflector. Otherwise you are looking at a Mag85 or "bigger".

At that range an HID spotlight sounds more appropriate.

I'd suggest the Stanley HID spotlight. It's available from Amazon.

Aspherics 'Nice'

DEFT 'nicer'

Or as silly as it sounds... Don't just alarm the bike put a IR remote lamp unit on the bike. Stand at your vantage point and amaze yourself as you press a button & the bike lights itself up for you...

That makes a happy biker, if anybody should try and nick it can you imagine trying to ride it with thousands lumen of blinding light emitting from the frame. Not gona go too far without raising some questions.

Locoboy5150 said:

I'd suggest the Stanley HID spotlight. It's available from Amazon.

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+1.

lux lumin said:

Or as silly as it sounds... Don't just alarm the bike put a IR remote lamp unit on the bike.

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Only problem would be getting the IR to travel the 300yds.
Norm

lux lumin said:

Or as silly as it sounds... Don't just alarm the bike put a IR remote lamp unit on the bike. Stand at your vantage point and amaze yourself as you press a button & the bike lights itself up for you...

Click to expand...

I do like this bring Muhammad to the mountain approach.

Norm said:

Only problem would be getting the IR to travel the 300yds.
Norm

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No doubt, that would be quite a lttle infrared led. Perhaps an ashperic remote control, huh?
Would have to be RF.

I am guessing the bike already has a disabling alarm with a panic button?

VegasF6 said:

I do like this bring Muhammad to the mountain approach.

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+1.

BTW there is a brand-new aspheric DEFT for sale in the Marketplace right now...

Jetbeam RRT-1 or maybe the M1X.....


Seems like it should fit the bill. Various levels of output and throws like a mother!

paulr said:

7x50 binoculars

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Leupold makes some nice ones...

The more and better reflectors you have on your motorcycle, the less powerful your flashlight needs to be.

A flashlight aimed at a reflector will illuminate it from much farther away than you can distinguish other objects.

Suggest you outfit your motorcycle with some good quality reflective tape arranged in a unique pattern, e.g., 2 parallel stripes, making it easier to identify at a distance.

sed6 said:

Easy answer/normal person way, park under a streetlight.

Or the CPF way, buy this: http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=206661 the new LumaPower D-Mini VX Ultra from a great site sponsor!

Click to expand...

Nope - not a thrower but rather just a ton of Lumens. At one meter that light has less throw than my Eagletac TL20C2 based on lux lightmeter readings.

Some of the large reflector LED or incandescent lights may get you there. Also a small HID (but most of these take 20 to 30 seconds to come up to full brightness so that may be a problem with your situation) like a Wolf-Eyes Boxer or similar will get you there too but those aren't cheap. A good bike alarm with remote paging ability would be my first choice - that way you don't always have to have your eyes on it and I know some remote pagers will easily work that far. Then get yourself a good throwy RED laser and if someone is messing around it just point that at them and they will likely retreat quickly. This may or may not be legal but if it's a criminal really planning something bad I don't think you'd have to worry about it.