The right choice ?

The other night about 10:30 PM 1 1/2 miles from the nearest road. On the blood trail of my friends buck, my mini mag burns out. That WAS the spare bulb mistake #1 no backup mistake #2 my friend has a mini mag backup and a SF G2 with unknown minutes with no spare batteries mistake #3. Right then and there I said this would not happen again. After a little home work and before I found this site I ordered a SL TL-3 LED $119 box of 123's $20 $8 shipping total $147 OUCH! I went with the TL-3 LED because I want a bright light that will burn for a long time and not just go out. The G2 is very bright small and $25 on this site. But 60 min. and lights out. The problem I have is I could buy 4 G2's and 2 boxes of 123's for the same price. One more question should I carry a spare LED for the TL-3? What would you do?

P.S. I hunt in some fairly remote parts of northern Michigan and I'm afraid of the dark. JK But there are some Bears and a lot of Coyotes if you don't find your deer that night the coyotes will.

A friend of mine is an avid hunter and he loves his Inova X5 for tracking at night. He feels that it is a very good blend of runtime/size/brightness/toughness. Doesn't screw up his night vision much either. And the price won't break the piggy bank either.

Thanks Byron, where do I find a Inova X5?

Opened my eyes and found it at the top of this page. How bright is the X5 compared to G2?

The X5 is more of a flood [no throw] and not nearly as bright as the G2.

You probably need more than one type of light, as you have already determined. I would choose a good flood, like the Inova perhaps, and then grab a (at least one) G2. That thing is durable, has a lot of punch, and a really nice quality of light overall, especially for that price. Carry some spare batteries with you when you go out too.
BTW, you will be surprised how long an hour of light really is. The one primary exception that you will normally encounter will probably be blood trailing, and you will probably want more of a flood for that anyway.

David <><

The mini mag was my backup to my Tec 40 but the tec 40 stopped working. I just did a search and found a lot of you are having the same problem with the tec 40. Is there a fix other than foil in the bottom I hate to just throw the tec 40 away?

By the way fivejcb, you DON'T need a spare LED for your TL-3 LED, it'll last you forever!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

What RevDavid said, have more than 1 light for different purposes, and with spare batts as well. At least 1 for flood (LEDs, like the Inova X5) and 1 for throw/spotting long distance (something along the lines of a SF E2e or a Pelican M6 maybe?) If you don't mind a slightly heavier one that doesn't clean out your wallet, then check out the Streamlight TwinTask 3C, its a combo of 6 LEDs and 1 Xenon bulb. You could have that as your primary light and something else as a backup...

Just some suggestions, IMHO... There'll be more suggestions coming along, just you see... Oh, you can also check out some of the reviews or review sites in the 'Reviews' section of this forum for a better choice. A good place to start would probably be www.flashlightreviews.com . Have fun!!

maybe a Streamlight 2L..........................and a Surefire L4!

but the TL3 is a great light! it should do you well.

I would carry at LEAST two lights anyhow!

But one of them would likely be a Streamlight Twin Task 2L! LEDs for tracking, Xenon for throw (though not as much Xenon light as some other 2L lights).

A very nice LED light is the Streamlight 4AA 7LED. It makes a nice wide flood of light with some reach.

Neither of these lights are very big or heavy.

or expensive!

For the price range < $100 total I would go with a Streamlight TT 2L and an Arc LSL or LSH (second). Get a blue filter and you are set. Two lights, same batteries. Total runtime without spares three hours...

I also deer hunt in michigan. I carry a Streamlight Pro-polymer 7LED light in my Camelbak. I carry a Surefire E1 clipped in my pocket and a photon II on my keyring. The Photon II is enough light for tracking wounded deer. a Blue linght will make blood trail show up really well. Blood looks Black under a bue light.

The TL3-led is a great choice I do not know what the run time is on the TL3-led but since it is unregulated you will probably get many hrs of run time at decreasing but useable light.This is where I think the unregulated LED lights have an advantage over regulated as the batteries get low they still give good light. An led headlight would be handy(holding a TL3-led in your mouth will get old fast) the inova X5T would be a good choice to finish off the half dead cells from the TL-3 that you removed before they were dead because you want TL3 bright,(that is the disadvantage of unregulated lights IMHO) the X5T will work well on those. For hunting TL3-LED X5t and a LED headlamp sounds like a great combination IMHO. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinser2.gif

TL-3, it may be a bit powerful for tracking, even in LED 5W form.

I like said above carry a few lights with me when I'm out in the field. An Arc AAA for black out conditions (which is still really bright), a SL TT 1L for general night use. A SL scorpion for medium/longer range spotting. I had an M6 for throw but I left it somewhere. I love the stock LOTC, added a little size, but it was nice. I wouldn't buy another one though (will mod a 2C mag for laser like throw.)

$147 is a bit hefty for one light. a Blue Inova X5T and a G2 with a box or two of SF's 123's may be a good alternative. Low light blood spotting if needed with Inova, and power of G2 (or another 2X123 light, like PM6, SL TL-2.)

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onelight said:
For hunting TL3-LED X5t and a LED headlamp sounds like a great combination IMHO. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinser2.gif

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I had forgotten about the LED headlamp option. Excellent suggestion. I have the cheap energizer $8.oo LED headlamp that leds you select from a single red LED or 2 White LEDs. Carried in an old Oakly soft sunglasses case, it takes up almoast no room at all.