Stolen! 2 lioncubs, original CPF ORB Limited...

Long story short, A book bag containing my Walther P99, passport, my 2 lion cubs (#82) both with lionheads, CPF Orb w tritium(28 i think?), as well as some other items important to me was stolen from my home. I haven't signed on to cpf in years since I bought the cubs intending them to be the last flashlights I would ever have to buy. Now, however, I'm signing on to find replacements and put out the word in case they show up here on the B/S/T.

Suck!

So any recommendations for modern replacements with equivalent features. My flashlight budget is not the same as it once was so relatively low cost is a nice bonus.

You will have to list the original specs/features, as most of CPF will not be familiar with the mentioned models.

Sorry to hear what happened.

Info for those that haven't heard about these particular torches:

The original Orb was a smooth curvy chunk of polished uncoated aluminum. Mine came equiped with a UYOJ bin luxeon 3 direct driven by two cr123's with a great balanced tint with the addition of a green tritium tube across the reflector for ease of night time location. The most unique part of the original orb was its magnetic lanyard and reed relay controlled switch. My particular unit was purchased as a CPF special edition with a CPF engraved tail cap badge.

The lion cubs were a later project of Mr bulks that was much hyped. The price was high and the hardware itself was promised to be exemplary. My unit was natural HA3 finished and serialized #082. I cant recall the bin at the moment but it too was furnished with am overdriven Lux 3 (80+? lumens I believe) powered by a R123 battery and driven by a customizable user interface with several modes of operation all of which were direct drive and used simple PWM for brightness control. With the prepurchase of your spot on the list you were eligible to purchase an unnamed and undescribe "secret thingy" again promised to be worth the originally high price of the LC. It turned out the "secret thingy" was a reduced cost uncoated version of the LionCub that at this point was a required purchase to help defray the cost of the coated cub. Add on spot beam reflectors were made available in matching finish to further extend the functionality of the LionCub system. Of course I had to pick these up as well. The cub was everything I wanted in a light at the time and served me well for many years. With LED mods it kept the buying bug at bay for quite some time.

Tons of pics of the cub here:
http://www.cones-stuff.co.uk/Mr Bulk LionCub.htm

and the orb here:
http://ledmuseum.candlepower.us/second/orb1.htm

All those lights come up for sale every now and then on B/S/T, but it might be some time before you could replace them that way. There was a breakaway forum for Mr.Bulk light lovers where you can purchase his creations more often: http://flashlight-forums.com/index.php?action=forum

The Orb is no longer made, but the maker is still in the flashlight business and has something called the Lummi/Raw/Wee line of very small single cell lights: http://www.lummi.co.uk/Lummi_Home.html

If you were just looking for a good quality alternative to the lioncub, check out Ra lights: http://www.ralights.com/?id=Products They are fully programmable.

There are also a lot of other inexpensive lights made by companies such as Nitecore, etc that have programmable UI's as well at a lower cost point. Good luck, and sorry for your loss.

The HDS is nice, but I'm thinking cheaper...much cheaper.

Nitecore looks like it might fit the bill but when did 4sevens get his own brand and store? Lol. Very cool.

I am thinking that the Photon Proton Pro (lol) would be a suitable replacement for the Lioncub... although not as nice construction-wise it has a similar UI.

As for the Orb, there really is nothing quite like it. Lummi is focusing on smaller, simpler designs now.

The 4sevens brand is very good. I am carrying the Preon 2 today and it is a sweet, sweet light.

LionCubs were/are great little lights. You can find them for sale ever so often on the Market Place. UI was designed by Georges80, taskled.com

Bill

Aside from the price, which when ameliorated over the cost of the ST wasn't so bad, I was very happy with the Lioncub. Sometimes I wish it was regulated but the r123 helped to keep the out put curve relatively flat and sucking a protected lithium dry isn't the best way to treat them anyway. My only other complaint was the rubber button cover popped out of the bare LC. They sure did have serious throw with the lionheads attached.

The orb was a fun light and actually waterproof if I remember correctly. Feeding it primaries sucked but since the reed switch gave out after two months and I never got a replacement the fact that it was expensive to run didn't really matter!

Sounds like you are thinking of reasons why your stolen lights needed replacement anyways.

Im sure you have already done this, but file a police report with the serial numbers to the gun, that would probably be easier to locate as there is a national system of reference for guns. Pawn shops will hit on them as well if it is sold to one.

Grand Larceny I think it is?

I wouldn't worry about the flashlights at this point. I would be working on not having my identity stolen.

I was actually completely happy with the lights while I had them. Now they are gone I realize how much I miss them.

It was actually my Fiances passport that was in the bag. Mine was in the safe.

I filed a police report with the names of the only person I can figure that had access to the place and had stolen other things from us while she lived there. Still nothing to report.

sputnick said:

I filed a police report with the names of the only person I can figure that had access to the place and had stolen other things from us while she lived there. Still nothing to report.

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I've got a few of those around..

It was actually my Fiances passport that was in the bag. Mine was in the safe.

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Well you are indeed a flashaholic :twothumbs

Flashaholic: Check.

There was also 2 EOS headlights, 2 princeton tec surges and spare lamps, two tracer keyrings, a dorcy AAA keyring light (on my spare set of keys which cost $350 replace!), a supply of primary lithium cells, ton of rechargeable batteries, charger, solar panel, ferrocerium rods, a few busse combat knives, garmin vista gps, compass, 200 rounds, 2x16rnd magazines, katadyn pocket filter, first aid kit, 2 sets of titanium silverware, dmt diafold f/ef, some paracord, and kydex sheathes i made for a lot of this stuff.

Yes, it was a very heavy bag. I picked up a Coast Digitac II 7847 at the local hardware store as an interim light and even considering it only cost me $25 it has a very cheap feel.

So back to the lights, How does the Quark 123 Tactical stack up to the LionCub in terms of light output, durability, and user control/interface. I'll have to do some research into the LED used but 700ma seems a little low. Is overdriving an option with these?

sputnick said:

So back to the lights, How does the Quark 123 Tactical stack up to the LionCub in terms of light output, durability, and user control/interface. I'll have to do some research into the LED used but 700ma seems a little low. Is overdriving an option with these?

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Well it's pushing 206 lumens out the front on max. :naughty: Things have changed a bit since the Lux III. Overdriving isn't an option without changing the driver which would kill the UI. Should still blow away what you are used to.

UI on the tactical version is 2 levels controlled by the bezel. You can program either of the bezel position to be any of the 8 modes it has available (5 constant brightness and 3 blinky). High like I said is 206 lumens OTF and the lowest is .2 lumens.

sputnick said:

There was also 2 EOS headlights, 2 princeton tec surges and spare lamps, two tracer keyrings, a dorcy AAA keyring light (on my spare set of keys which cost $350 replace!), a supply of primary lithium cells, ton of rechargeable batteries, charger, solar panel, ferrocerium rods, a few busse combat knives, garmin vista gps, compass, 200 rounds, 2x16rnd magazines, katadyn pocket filter, first aid kit, 2 sets of titanium silverware, dmt diafold f/ef, some paracord, and kydex sheathes i made for a lot of this stuff.

Yes, it was a very heavy bag.

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So basically we're looking for a weight-lifter, kitted out like Rambo, glowing in the dark, and visible as a bright glowing dot from space.

Have you tried asking NASA if they can take a look out of the ISS windows?

I'm sure you already have, but if not, make sure you report that stolen firearm to local law enforcement. If anything serious goes down with that piece, they will be coming to your house first.

Granted, the contents of the bag was a little ridiculous but in my defence it was a toybag. I had to take a leave of absence to move across the state for a few months because a member of my family had fallen ill and needed full time care. My fiance was bringing in a roommate to help cover costs so all my toys had to go somewhere and for whatever reason they ended up in the garage in that bag. I cringe everytime I think about the loss. There is no chance that the thief had any idea how much its contents were worth.

The entire contents of the bag, values, whatever pictures I had, and serial numbers of the two serialized torches and pistol were all reported.

The fiance doesn't want me to put it through our homeowners insurance so I'm out of luck with getting any of it replaced and broke because my job was eliminated in my absence and to secure employment a significant decrease in pay was taken which is why I'm mostly looking at budget priced lights. I should really stay around ~$50 but am willing to up the ante for a better build quality. The quark 123 tactical with its low price, customizable UI, and 206 lumens seems like a great value at first glance. The princeton tec surges with 7.5w xenon lamps and 8xAA's was still only putting out 115 lumens and was the brighest flashlight I've ever seen in person so to think of a 1x123 torch with 80% more output is hard for me wrap my head around. I'm an electrical engineer and its still amazing to me that such a great increase could be achieved in only a few years.

I have read some discouraging reviews about the reliablity, overall build quality, and unfortunately the customer service with the quark. Any comments?

I have hundreds and hundreds of pages to catch up on to really get back up to speed on whats out there these days so any additional suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated.

NEW TORCH PRIORITIES (~$50-100):

SIZE: I still have a few r123's and a charger laying around and am pretty comfortable with the 1x123 form factor but am not opposed to a smaller torch and battery system as long as max output is not effected. I should mention that with the current state of technology being able to use a standard AA battery and get over 200lumens would be friggin awesome. Not sure if that is possible though.

UI: Having a light with a widely adjustable output is an important feature for me after coming from the LionCub.

BUILD QUALITY: Its a tool! It should be well constructed and reliable. A solid feel in the hand inspires confidence in a tool and that is something the Coast torch I picked up is severely lacking. Great warranties are nice however it should be something that the builder offers because of the confidence they have in their product.

OUTPUT: When I bought the LionCub it was one of the brightest (farthest throwing with the lionhead) lights available anywhere in its form factor. Which LED/driver combinations are out there and how hard are they being pushed these days. A link to a comparison or some solid data sheets and results would be awesome.

I don't care one iota what it looks like. Nice color or finish are bonuses at best. Beam quality is of course, important. The usual balance of throw, flood, and eveness of pattern. Not sure what tint I prefer these days.

Thanks again.

P.S. Yes, I do know how to use the Search function. It's my new best friend.

Bullzeyebill said:

LionCubs were/are great little lights. You can find them for sale ever so often on the Market Place. UI was designed by Georges80, taskled.com

Bill

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Hey Bill, not to be a stickler, but I believe Georges80 designed the driver and Darrel was the brainchild behind the UI. Of course, I may be remembering things wrong! Either way, still, one of the best UI's out there.

To the OP, I hope things end up working out for you.

Addressing your desire to have a programmable, bright CR123 light, between $50-$100 I think you would be pretty happy to get your hands on a LiteFlux LF3XT.

It comes with two UI's, which you can switch back and forth between at any given time. The total variety of available modes and brightnesses for all modes, even the blinking ones is mind boggling. But better yet, you only have to see the modes that you tell the light to produce when you initially program it!

Definitely check out the LiteFlux LF3XT, and it's tiny sibling, with the same programmability, the AAA powered LF2XT.