Need recommendation for army relative

Howdy All --

A relative of mine will be going with the Army as a field medic somewhere overseas. I would like to get him a reliable, long-lasting, durable, bright, small, and of course, ultra-cool flashlight.

I think he'd want something aluminum (type 3 annodized?), waterproof (sandproof), with LEDs, and one that can use common batteries. I thought the ARC was a good fit, assuming I include the AA battery accessory, but it's so expensive ($100+, where I was looking).

Can anyone recommend something for under, say $60, that you would want to bring with you if you went off with the Army?

Thank you for any recommendations.

Sincerely,

Dan

not ver small or aluminum, but I would recommend the Anglelux. It's a modified military anglehead done by Wayne(Elektrolumens.com). It uses a luxeon star led. the light output is FAR better than the stock version and this light has been runtime tested for about 24 hours continuous high brightness followed by days of diminishing light output! i think it's gone for well over a week! it uses the same 2 D cell batteries. awesome light.

Arc AA.

all good ideas above.

the anglelux would be a good idea. should be tough enough. maybe you could add a scratch resistant glass lens.

though they arent hard anodized, maybe a mminimag or brinkmann with a BB400 or standard (or long-run, when available) madmax would do?
or even an opalec: 10 hours of runtime!

add a glass lens and kroll clickie--and locktite the head.
should be pretty tough.

cost: about $10 for a minimag or brinkmann legend, and $25-$40 for the sandwich. a glass lens is around $5 and a kroll is about $6.

the beauty of the madmax is that it will suck the last bit of energy out of a battery. then you turn it off for 30 minutes, and get another 30 mins of runtime. amazing.

good luck!

Bob

celottd,
Welcome to CPF /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink2.gif
You could get a ARC LSL-NAT for $65
http://store.yahoo.com/flashlight/arclsl1.html
and a TSP-2AA Power Pack w/tail switch for $9.95
http://store.yahoo.com/flashlight/arcls.html
another would be the ARC AA
http://store.yahoo.com/flashlight/arcaa.html
These two lights would complement each other.

I'd go along with what Hoghead said, or look at Elektrolumens store, Wayne has a few specials going on with lights that run on D and AA cells.
Check this thread.

Elektrolumens lights are very nice, I just ordered two Blaster III on sale. These lights have tiny grooves that run around the light and provide a very nice texture and grip. These lights are rated bright for 24 hours with one set of batteries and then many hours more of gradually dimming light. It was hard to choose between the Blaster 1R and the Blaster III. I have both already, but they are for gifts. I was having a hard time parting with the ones I bought for gifts, so I bought myself some while they were on sale. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

The Anglelux is the way to go I think. This soldier will need a simple, durable light, not too heavy, and something he can afix to his gear. The light output and runtime are excellent. Besides the body of the Anglelux is already battle proven. Probably best with fraen optic.

Bill

I like Pedalinbob's idea of a Minimag with a 1W sandwich module. I really liked my Newbeam equipped Minimag... Until I got one of Wayne's sandwiches. The other cool thing is if you get a Madmax (non wideopen version), it can be adjusted for brightness (and runtime). Since he is in medical, the white floodish beam is probably going to be a major bonus.

The other nice thing is the upgraded Minimag isn't going to draw a huge amount of attention and eats common AA batteries.

You can get everything except the Minimag at Wayne's shop. Here are the parts:

$10.00 Minimag AA
$45.00 Madmax Plus Sandwich Module kit Q3
$ 1.50 22.5mm Mineral Glass
$ 4.50 Kroll Tailcap Switch
======
$61.00

If you want to splurge and add to the cool factor, you can add a saphire lens instead of the mineral glass lens. The saphire is nearly unscratchable. May not be needed, but sure is cool.

$20 22.5mm Saphire Glass

Find Wayne's Sandwich Shop here:

http://home.comcast.net/~theledguy/

The CMG Infinity Ultra would be good too. Smaller, more rugged, much longer runtime, but obviously much less bright.

-john

For a light with 10 hour regulated runtime the Opalec NewBeam is on sale for $20.95 here
http://www.pocketlights.com/opalec.asp
This would give him a long runtime light to go with his other lights. I use the same Mineral Glass lens and the Kroll switch on these that I use on the MadMax/BadBoy sandwiches. These aren't needed for the NewBeam but they are a nice upgrade. This is the only LED that got a 5 star rating on Quickbeams site.
http://flashlightreviews.home.att.net/reviews/reviews_index_leds.htm

I have both Newbeam and BB400 Q3L modded minimags, both with Krolls and mineral glass. Either of these would be ideal.

Thank you all so much for your recommendations. I've gone with the CMG Infinity Ultra to start (could find it locally, easily), but am considering the Minimag retrofitting kit. Thank again!

celottd,
I recommend a MadMax, MadMax+, or a Badboy to complement the Ultra. Here https://secure3.dnsaction.com/~anlighte/shop/default.php?cPath=22&osCsid=8e7a10f4a47f7aff9079274af11c1a50
The Ultra gives you long runtime and the sandwich will give you a brighter light. Don't worry about which sandwich to get. They are different, but they're all good. The Q3 is whiter than the Q2. The Q2 tends to have a yellow to a green tint.

Anythought of a Head Lamp such as the new Yukon HL Headlamp ? Hands free and all....great for a medic!

[ QUOTE ]
flashlightDR said:
Anythought of a Head Lamp such as the new Yukon HL Headlamp ? Hands free and all....great for a medic!

[/ QUOTE ]

The three LED mode of the Yukon HL has a nice beam spread, but fairly blue. I don't know how much (if any) the blue tint is an issue in medical. I recall someone pointing out it is an issue where you might be looking for hypothermia.

The downside is the Yukon HL uses the side emitter with the reflector. This provides a decent beam in spot mode, but the beam is very splotchy in wider focus. I would think the NX05 optics would be much better for this situation.

I've ordered a downboy, LS Q2, NX05 and some new 5mm LEDs. I'm going to retrofit one of my standard Yukons and see how that compares.

-john