Need a powerful thrower

On many of my fishing/camping trips we end up on the lake well into the dark night and need a powerful light with lots of throw to illuminate the shoreline to avoid an accident. On my last couple of trips I've used an older 180 lmn Fenix PD20 for this. It's worked out okay but I'd like to step it up a bit. There are some important criteria for the light, though:

-- mostly only Fenix, 4Sevens, and Surefire stuff available to me in Canada, and I'd rather not go the $urefire route

-- for space and weight considerations I'd like to keep it under 150mm

-- tailcap clicky switch a must

-- battery type not really an issue but CR123's or AA's preferable

So far I've been scoping out Fenix TK11/TK12 w/ R5 and PD30 w/ R4. In the 4Sevens line the Quark 123x2 w/ R5 and Quark 123x2 Turbo.

Reasons for eyeing the Fenix TKxx lights are price, lumens output, tailcap clicky, and I vaguely recall a YouTube review of a TK11 in which it was claimed the light has good throw. The PD30 is on my shortlist because it seems like a straightforward step from my PD20, which I've been very happy with so far and I'm assuming the whole PDxx line are similarly decent throwers like my PD20.

4Sevens lights are interesting for similar reasons. Small, bright and I trust the company. But I really have no idea about what kind of beams these two Quarks have. I made the assumption that since the Quark 123x2 Turbo is a weapons light that it will have good throw... but I don't actually know anything about weapons or weapons lights, so who knows. And the R5 Quark 123x2 just seems like a crazy-powerful torch in a great little package.

So, any suggestions for other lights that I overlookded from these companies that meet my needs and criteria? Comments on my choices and reasoning so far are very welcome and would be appreciated. Thanks.

If you have a P60 host of any make then the cheapest and highest throw lux combo goes to the Masterpiece Pro 1 head. At least I think so......
I may be a bit behind though, I mostly go for mid range floody stuff. Oh and I'm too dim to translate how big 150mm is! Sorry

I've found that a P60 host with an R2 Dropin works very well for navigating the shore and finding the dock at night. I tried one of my Dorcy 220's but found the pencil beam to narrow to see enough of the shore. Just ordered a Solarforce Skyline 1 to try out on the boat. Gotta watch out for those Deadheads!!!!!

Budget?

I don't have experience with the China lights, but if I were relying on a light to make it to shore safe and sound, I'd trust a Surefire. I've taken my E2Dled and E1B boating often and have submerged them a good 10 feet without any ill effects.

Whatever you end up getting, report back and let us know how well it performed.

"Oh and I'm too dim to translate how big 150mm is!" - Sgt. LED

About 6 inches, just under. A rough guage is 25mm an inch, 25.4mm if you're building something and it needs to fit.

The joys of growing up with a father who only spoke in feet and inches.

Sgt. LED said:

If you have a P60 host of any make then the cheapest and highest throw lux combo goes to the Masterpiece Pro 1 head. At least I think so......
I may be a bit behind though, I mostly go for mid range floody stuff. Oh and I'm too dim to translate how big 150mm is! Sorry

Click to expand...

Come on..... it's about 6 inches!

Sgt. LED said:

If you have a P60 host of any make then the cheapest and highest throw lux combo goes to the Masterpiece Pro 1 head. At least I think so......
I may be a bit behind though, I mostly go for mid range floody stuff. Oh and I'm too dim to translate how big 150mm is! Sorry

Click to expand...

About the size of a pencil.

OP, It depends how far you need to reach out.

250+ m
-Thrunite Catapult
-Tiablo A10

150-250m
-Tiablo A9
-DBS
-Rapidfire Spear
-Eagletac m2c4... that one with 2x18650s forget the name...

<150m
-Various Eagletacs, T100c2 and the like; pretty much any powerful P60 light (surefires are in this range)

Note: some of these lights are now in production with XPGs, you'll need XPE or more preferably XRE R2s.

Sgt. LED said:

If you have a P60 host of any make then the cheapest and highest throw lux combo goes to the Masterpiece Pro 1 head. At least I think so......
I may be a bit behind though, I mostly go for mid range floody stuff. Oh and I'm too dim to translate how big 150mm is! Sorry

Click to expand...

I've got an MPP1 head on a Solarforce L2 host and it's the narrowest, tightest beam from any of the throwers I've tried. It's better than the Catapult or Lumapower D-Mini, which claims to have a 3.5 degree hotspot. My Solarforce is about 240 mm with an extension for two 18650s but without the extension it's about 170 mm. It gives a lovely tight, well-defined beam and the whole thing cost under $100!
Highly recommended.

Budget = $150

Range = ~150m max. Mostly trolling the shoreline for brookies in spring, sniffing around points and shoals for walleye in spring and fall, and woody/junky/weedy shorelines and bays for largemouth in summer. And for landing the boat or canoe at dock or on shore. And, yes fishx65, for stearing clear of deadheads.

Gents,
I am very grateful for the obviously thoughtful and detailed responses; however, most of the suggestions so far are not realistic options for me due to my location. As far as I know, brands like Solarforce, Tiablo, Eagletac, etc. are unavailable to me unless shipped in from the U.S., and I would like to avoid that from now on if I can. I've been waiting for over two weeks now for a Bark River Golok ordered from Knivesshipfree.com and the waiting and not knowing what's going on with Customs Canada is killing me... plus there's awful exchange rates charged by credit card companies, brokerage fees from courier companies, exorbitant out-of-country shipping fees, etc.

So I really am limited to Fenix and 4Sevens (and a couple JETbeam and Olight models). While I do have access to most of Surefire's product line--flashlights, conversion kits, bulbs, etc.--I would rather keep it simple and only have to order a flashlight and be done with it. I do enjoy a good flashlight and will pony-up for quality, but I'm not a flashaholic by any means. All of my time, energy and capacity for "tinkering" goes into my knives and sharpening.

And I'm firm on the 150mm/6" length limit. Even that's pushing it. If it were to be that long it would also have to be a skinny one.

KarlMaldensNose said:

Budget = $150

Range = ~150m max. Mostly trolling the shoreline for brookies in spring, sniffing around points and shoals for walleye in spring and fall, and woody/junky/weedy shorelines and bays for largemouth in summer. And for landing the boat or canoe at dock or on shore. And, yes fishx65, for stearing clear of deadheads.

Gents,
I am very grateful for the obviously thoughtful and detailed responses; however, most of the suggestions so far are not realistic options for me due to my location. As far as I know, brands like Solarforce, Tiablo, Eagletac, etc. are unavailable to me unless shipped in from the U.S., and I would like to avoid that from now on if I can. I've been waiting for over two weeks now for a Bark River Golok ordered from Knivesshipfree.com and the waiting and not knowing what's going on with Customs Canada is killing me... plus there's awful exchange rates charged by credit card companies, brokerage fees from courier companies, exorbitant out-of-country shipping fees, etc.

Edit : Oh and best thing, If I ever need more power I just put in a new p60 dropin as technology gets better !

So I really am limited to Fenix and 4Sevens (and a couple JETbeam and Olight models). While I do have access to most of Surefire's product line--flashlights, conversion kits, bulbs, etc.--I would rather keep it simple and only have to order a flashlight and be done with it. I do enjoy a good flashlight and will pony-up for quality, but I'm not a flashaholic by any means. All of my time, energy and capacity for "tinkering" goes into my knives and sharpening.

And I'm firm on the 150mm/6" length limit. Even that's pushing it. If it were to be that long it would also have to be a skinny one.

Click to expand...

I have been using a C2 surefire with a sst-50 led myself. Very small package with a big bang lumens output. Use it to navigate trails in the woods at night with great efficiency. Probably not what you are looking for as its around 300$, but after getting this setup I only need one light on all my trips. Yeah with a backup ...

Edit : Best thing about it is if I need eventually more power I just put in a new p60 dropin as technology gets better... thats probably the only surefire body I will ever need (until p60 's stop evolving anyway )!

KarlMaldensNose said:

I've used an older 180 lmn Fenix PD20 for this. It's worked out okay but I'd like to step it up a bit.

Click to expand...

It's hard to tell one's expectations when they want a thrower really. But based on what you've said and your criteria, the Quark Turbo 123^2 XPG R5 is brighter than the PD20 and throws much better as well. It also has better heatsinking and stays on Turbo mode for a long time, if not till the battery drains. It is a good size for a 2x 123 light.

I have the Turbo 123^2 warm white version and it has been pretty good

Kinda funny K, I'm about 15 miles east of your Goloks birthplace. Lots of good knife makers up here in Michigan's U.P.

Figure out how to stretch your size budget and get a TK-40, you won't be sorry.
With the limited selection that you have, it should be easy to see your options, jump on 4 sevens and look at a few stats.

I know you were looking at the AA range of lights but i cannot help but recommend the Jetbeam M1X, it's a pretty versatile light, i can run mine on 3xCR123s, 3xRCR123s, 2x18500s (which is my preferred configuration) or 2x18650s (with the cell extender).

The maximum output (twist the head tight) is 450 lumens out the front which will hit 150m easily and loosening the head gets you into the user programmable mode, lowest mode is easily comparable to the minimum mode on my Novatac 120P, and that is darn low let me tell you.

you can get that light in canada, here's the link

http://www.jetbeam.com.cn/links/dealerinfo/jack/Canada.aspx

alternatively, a Jetbeam Jet III Military or Jet III Pro ST is also a good light though the cells may not be what you're looking for, the new versions of the Jet III (my Jet III Pro ST can only take 18650s) can take either 2xCR/RCR123s or 1x18650 which make it easier to carry some primary cells in case the 18650 runs out but i usually pack a few 18650s with me and have never yet had to change a cell for most overnight fishing trips though i've not had to scan shorelines from a boat.

Runtime on my Jet III Pro ST was 1hr 45 minutes plus on max (225 lumens) before the protection circuits cut in if this info helps you out a bit.

good luck on your search for lights, i face the same problem with prohibitive shipping prices here in singapore though thankfully no customs duties on the lights i buy.

KarlMaldensNose said:

Budget = $150

Range = ~150m max. Mostly trolling the shoreline for brookies in spring, sniffing around points and shoals for walleye in spring and fall, and woody/junky/weedy shorelines and bays for largemouth in summer. And for landing the boat or canoe at dock or on shore. And, yes fishx65, for stearing clear of deadheads.

Gents,
I am very grateful for the obviously thoughtful and detailed responses; however, most of the suggestions so far are not realistic options for me due to my location. As far as I know, brands like Solarforce, Tiablo, Eagletac, etc. are unavailable to me unless shipped in from the U.S., and I would like to avoid that from now on if I can. I've been waiting for over two weeks now for a Bark River Golok ordered from Knivesshipfree.com and the waiting and not knowing what's going on with Customs Canada is killing me... plus there's awful exchange rates charged by credit card companies, brokerage fees from courier companies, exorbitant out-of-country shipping fees, etc.

So I really am limited to Fenix and 4Sevens (and a couple JETbeam and Olight models). While I do have access to most of Surefire's product line--flashlights, conversion kits, bulbs, etc.--I would rather keep it simple and only have to order a flashlight and be done with it. I do enjoy a good flashlight and will pony-up for quality, but I'm not a flashaholic by any means. All of my time, energy and capacity for "tinkering" goes into my knives and sharpening.

And I'm firm on the 150mm/6" length limit. Even that's pushing it. If it were to be that long it would also have to be a skinny one.

Click to expand...

I don't think you'll find a P60 based light that reaches over 100m. The reflector is just not big enough to concentrate the light. Surefire LX2 seems to have good throw, but my knowledge is limited to non-surefire lights. I had no problem getting my DBS directly from dereelight, shipping was included in the price and it had no problem getting through US customs.

BTW, the DBS can take P60 pills so you can upgrade the emitter when a new one comes out.

Wait... Jetbeam? forgot to add them to my little list.

The RRT-1 will out throw most of the lights that operate at 150-200m. Its about 130 USD, but its 1cm longer than you want...

red02 said:

I don't think you'll find a P60 based light that reaches over 100m. The reflector is just not big enough to concentrate the light. Surefire LX2 seems to have good throw, but my knowledge is limited to non-surefire lights. I had no problem getting my DBS directly from dereelight, shipping was included in the price and it had no problem getting through US customs.

BTW, the DBS can take P60 pills so you can upgrade the emitter when a new one comes out.

Wait... Jetbeam? forgot to add them to my little list.

The RRT-1 will out throw most of the lights that operate at 150-200m. Its about 130 USD, but its 1cm longer than you want...

Click to expand...

If runtime isn't a big concern, a direct driven Nailbender SST-50 module running off an IMR 18650 cell could do the trick. Even better in a DBS V3 host.

I stood on the 23rd floor of an apartment building and lit up the street and parking lot below me with my SST-90 direct drive. With a slightly deeper reflector and the more focused hotspot of the SST-50, it should be doable.

Try a fenix tk20. very rugged, and easely outhrows my quark turbo 2xaa. Imo the xp-g (r4, r5) is not that good for throw, more lumens, but less throw. You cant go wrong with the tk20, you can even use it as a hammer and club fish to death :tinfoil:

red02 said:

I don't think you'll find a P60 based light that reaches over 100m. The reflector is just not big enough to concentrate the light. Surefire LX2 seems to have good throw, but my knowledge is limited to non-surefire lights. I had no problem getting my DBS directly from dereelight, shipping was included in the price and it had no problem getting through US customs.

BTW, the DBS can take P60 pills so you can upgrade the emitter when a new one comes out.

Wait... Jetbeam? forgot to add them to my little list.

The RRT-1 will out throw most of the lights that operate at 150-200m. Its about 130 USD, but its 1cm longer than you want...

Click to expand...

I think red02 has said it great, for 150 meters your going to need 15-20k lux so with the size light you want I think the DBS or the Tiablo A9 are great choices. When I need to go 150-200m these are the two I reach for. If I need to go further I can put a asperical head on either also.

I don't know if I'm allowed to talk about particular sales, but the Solarforce Skyline I is on crazy-sale on Ebay, and can take 2 CR123s - although you may as well toss in for an 18650 and charger if you'll use it a lot. It seems to have monster throw. Take a look and check reviews. And if this isn't a kosher post, I'll figure it out eh? I hope it's helpful.