Firefighters...LED throwers and smoke

Hi to everyone, and Happy New Year!
Has anyone out there ever tested a dedicated LED thrower (lens-based or reflector based) in heavy fire/smoke conditions? I'm just wondering if the tight beam and minimal spill would reach farther under the smoke than a conventional LED or incan? (that is, if there is space under the smoke...lol). This would be for aggressive interior fire attacks.
Your input and opinions are most welcome, and thanx in advance for your help.
Regards,
Curtis.

I've had a Surefire L1 Head on a E2 body running 18650 during a interior structure attack. It punches through better than most but that's a relative term in those conditions. It's better than most reflectors for getting through the smoke and there isn't much flare from the spill since there isn't any spill really. That said the optic isn't a great all around light for a firefighter. I find myself needing more broad illumination in a scene more often than a tight focused light for search or internal attack. I have many lights on me so choosing the right one for he job isn't hard. My helmet light is a G2 with a M91.

I almost hate to say it, but my Survivor LED and Vulcan Lightbox both work really well. I do love my Eagletac p100a2 but only for light smoke situations.

For incandescent lights the survivor I think works better than the led version, and my e2d with high intensity bulb works great!


Alex

It's my recollection that a firefighter needs a light that is both watertight and rated for potentially combustible atmospheres. A few years ago I gave my fireman nephew one of Streamlight's Propolymer Luxeon series, with one LED and a tight hotspot for punching through fog. (The light is rated for combustible atmospheres.) His crew loved the light's performance (even if the total output isn't huge by today's standards), so much so that the Chief bought one for every man, including the part-time volunteers.

I run a surefire G2D LED on my helmet and it works decent in heavy smoke. I prefer a tight beam for penetration, as a floody beam gets reflected back too much in smoky conditions, in my opinion. The problem is, that same light has too tight a beam for when I'm working on an extrication or some other MVC.

I showed my Deree aspheric to the firefighters that were monitoring a controlled burn that went until after sunset. The pencil beam was quite impressive in fairly heavy outdoor smoke, no experience with indoor fires.

Underwater Kinetics 3c eled
About 100 plus lumens is awesome
Pure beam and perfect white tint
I have the twist model which is i believe 500 feet water resistance

I used to have many streamlight 3c propoly but it was getting old with the luxeon emitter
I gave all of mine away
Beam was pencil sharp but i like the UK beam better
The UK twist version is shorter

UK makes some great lights they should be more appreciated

I've researched this to death. To me the ideal interior attack light would be a powerful HiCRI LED (color rendition is more important than you think in the smoke light equation) with an aspheric lens. Short of that, a warm tint xr-e behind a really big reflector might get you close.

If you know of a company that makes that light, please feel free to let me know

Like the poster before, I use a Surefire with P91 head. Works ok, but not ideal. Pelican makes a few "Recoil LED" lights that really do project a pencil beam. Unfortunately, current recoil LED technology will not permit a very strong emitter.

It sucks that no one has come up with a light to solve this yet. I'm thinking of trying an ROP mod on a Mag light to hang from my jacket. Much brighter than a Vulcan. And actually practical for an Engine guy to carry inside.

Good luck.

Don't fool around with anything that isnt a 90 degree light. Keep the lights off your head in a structure fire. Anything bright will obscure your vision up on your head. Keep it low on your coat.
Pelican 3715, Survivor LED, Foxfury bt3, Lil Ed LED in that order
Stay safe
Ed

More good info here
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?249355-Best-Lights-For-A-Firefighter


The firefighters here use pelican Recoil lights to better cut through smoke, like the 2410