Need a Pelican to compliment my Surefires?

I just emerged from a black out as a building was on fire too close to my home. Anyway, fortunately my home is fine but during the 4-5 hour of so black out the fun of using my Surefires in a power outage faded real quick. It's evident "tactical" lights aren't meant for constant on, long run time.

Anyway to make a long story short, the quite a few firemen were using angled head lights and I figure they are either the pelican big ed and/or streamlight survivor....what I do know is they were bright and had a great throw, and cut through the smoke real well that was filling the surronding area. My Surefires (P60 lamp) did cut through the smoke,but not as well.

My question is, is the Pelican Big Ed worth it as a longer run time light that can be used in "emergencies" and "power outages" and maybe the odd job needing light here and there? How is this light? Perhaps any firemen on this board can help me out on this topic....

And/or any other recommendations for small to midsized lights other than the big ed? I've seen the streamlights but I feel like I like the Pelicans better....and them being useable in gas filled rooms is a plus..although I doubt I'd be in or survive such situation.....

Herky,

I have only good things to say about Pelican Super Sabrelite (3 C cells). It's very tough and can take any beating you can think of. The light is focused to a very tight beam that has god throw, and I have used it as my primary dive light (before i got my Green Force HID) for a couple of years with the original bulb still working (>50 hours). It has even got a long runtime on the batteries of about 2-3 hours of bright light. Now - there are of course brighter lights around as the lamp is only 3.3 watts, but the Sabrelite is really a very good compromise between runtime and brightness/throw. It's even quite good looking IMHO especially in neon yellow.

Jan

Big Ed would be a bright workhorse or an M8, Sabrelite LED, or M6 lithium LED for longer runtime in a smaller package.

Herky-

Excuse me, but YOU NEED A LANTERN! for blackout situations. I'm sorry, I know you probibly want some Pelican model, but as a true flashahollic I would be remiss in not suggesting a better tool for your stated needs.

Lanterns are made for this type of use! They range from new smaller LED models to larger fluorescent tube ones. They provide enought light to fill a room so that several people could work or read. The fluorescent ones are very power/battery efficient and usually hold enough batteries to run for hours if not days. They are stable and made to sit on a table without being stood on their tails and don't have to aimed at the ceiling.

Lanterns are best at this application, flashlights are not.

My favorite is the Energizer folding lantern. Runs off 4-D batteries and although the manufacturers ads say 40 hours on one fluorescent tube and 20 on both, I would cut that in half. I've picked these up at Home Depot here in the US for $12.95 each. These lights are well designed and fold up to the size and thickness of 3 paperback books.


GregR

I read in a thread somewhere here that for cutting thru smoke/fog, a light with a pinpoint beam would do best, and as Herky has highlighted above, the Big Ed does the job well enough as it probably has those beam qualities. Apart from the form factor that allows the firemen to clip the light onto their jackets, the fact that they're rated safe to use in gaseous environments is a big plus as well for hazardous occupations.

Well, if you'd like something for emergencies with extremely long runtime, consider the Anglelux from the Sandwich shoppe... approx 24hrs to be exact! Otherwise, apart from Pelican, the UKE range of lights (some of them) are also rated for use in hazardous environments as well.

[ QUOTE ]
Double_A said:

Excuse me, but YOU NEED A LANTERN...My favorite is the Energizer folding lantern...

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Ingenious design, has become my favorite as well and has replaced my 8D lanterns.

Brightnorm

Need Pelican?




Brightnorm

Norm is right on! which would you rather have that Lantern or the Pelican?

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif GregR

I think you should get both. A lantern for an area light, and a Pelican for "throw" (well, it'll fly on its own). /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Pelicans to the rescue! Here they come diving right for you!



Seriously, I really like the Energizer Folding Fluorescent. It's my favorite lantern. I also have two Kohler Bright Stars with U-shaped tubes, but the Energizer is more exciting.

I also consider multi-LED flashlights like the Streamlight 3C LED Pro Polymer almost as useful for lighting up a room for a long time.

My EDC in that regard is a KL-1 on an E2e and at home or on extended car trips I have my 9P with KL-3. The KL-1 runs about 4 hours off 2 123 cells IIRC, and the KL-3 runs about 7 hours off 3 123 cells.

Cheers,

Richard

Hello Brightnorm,

I love my Energizer folding lantern also, but it does not work well in cold weather. Inside a heated house it works great.

Richard,

It looks like those diving pelicans would cut right through any smoke without any problems...

Tom

Yes, get both - a lantern for long indoor runtime and a SuperPelilite, Stealthlite, or SuperSabre for pin-point penetration. BTW StreamLight's Survivor is very good and widely used by firefighters.

[ QUOTE ]
SilverFox said:
Hello Brightnorm,

I love my Energizer folding lantern also, but it does not work well in cold weather. Inside a heated house it works great...

[/ QUOTE ]
Tom,

That's important to know. Could you explain a little more?

[ QUOTE ]
rhess said:

Brightnorm My EDC in that regard is a KL-1 on an E2e and at home or on extended car trips I have my 9P with KL-3. The KL-1 runs about 4 hours off 2 123 cells IIRC, and the KL-3 runs about 7 hours off 3 123 cells.

[/ QUOTE ]

Richard, it's funny how the KL1 gets 6hrs regulated on 3x123 but the KL3 runs for 7hrs. Any idea why?

BTW, I like your pic. Do you mind revealing your source?

Brightnorm

Hi, Norm,

I have no idea other than regulator parameters and amount of energy sucked from the batteries as to why the different lights run for differing amounts of time. I like the KL3 for long run time. It's a winner. And, I think it's brighter and less purple than my KL1. One reason may be that the KL1 gets hotter than the KL3 and the Luxeon becomes less efficient? Just a guess.

Re: my pic. My source? Me. Morro Bay, Labor Day Weekend 2003. Nikon D100 with Nikon 80-400 Vibration Reduction Lens, hand-held. Cropped from a horizontal shot, full top/bottom, trimmed sides. Did I ever say I really really like the D100 and the new complement of zoom lenses I got for it? I'm selling off some of my older Nikon gear eBay ID (not surprisingly) rlhess /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif

More at http://gallery.richardhess.com/

Almost forgot:

Fluorescent tubes don't like the cold that much and alkaline batteries (as you know) don't like the cold that much. Hence, fluorescent lanterns aren't good for the cold. KL3s are great in the cold as far as I can tell.

Cheers,

Richard

Hello Brightnorm,

On a recent camping trip (refer to the Apples, Oranges, Grapes, and Pears thread) temperatures ranged from 25F to 34F. I fired up the fluorescent lantern and with both tubes was barely able to read my book in the tent. The light just glowed - dimly. I ended up using a $1 key chain LED light to read by because it was brighter.

I have used the lantern on warmer camp outs with no problems and it had fresh batteries in it.

Tom

Very interesting factoid on fluorescent lanterns inability to perform in the cold. I may have to rethink my lantern set up and add an LED one to the mix. With the exception of those who live in the mountains that surround the Bay Area cold means 35F. Those that live in the Santa Cruz mountains probibly have already pulled out their oil lamps.

GregR

I'd discriminate here between 'blackout' and 'emergency' use. Lanterns are great for room lighting, but one or another of the Pelicans are my choice for 'Emergency' use.

A rechargable Stealthlite lives in its charger attached to the back of my headboard, and it's the only thing I'll grab in an earthquake, fire or other emergency. I especially like the non-sparking, non-conductive, non-incendive design in case of earthquake, when natural gas lines are often ruptured. Fortunately, we've been earthquake-free for some time, and the light ends up looking for lost items under the bed.

Big Ed, Super Sabrelite, Stealthlite, all excellent choices for emergency/disaster use. The tight beams are great underwater (not Big Ed), and cut through smoke/mist/fog amazingly well.

Not a fan of the very small (2AA) Pelicans - beam is too tight and small for most uses. Arc AA is my 'candle' light for blackouts.

December 02, 2003

Hello Herky:

We have a Big Ed Rechargeable in our warehouse with
an extra battery in the back charger bay, and have
experienced several power outages last year where
the Big Ed came in handy.

We also have the older Tektite 19-LED's and the new LED
TeknoLite's to use as backup which we use in a couple of not so well lite areas in the back of the warehouse.
If we drop the TeknoLite's in the dark areas, the flashlight
has three gas filled lamp locators like in the lighted
dials of the Navy Seals Watches.

The new shocking LED Super SabreLite will replace the
19-LED for the warehouse.
The LED Sabre does rings around the 19-LED and dropped my
mouth open when I played with one for a couple of days.
The light throwing is AWE inspiring for an LED flashlight.

With the intro of the new Pelican LED Sabre,I think any current thinking about LED light throwing ability will be
put in the garbage can.

Have a healthy and happy new year if I don't talk to you
and the others in the near future.

Gary Turk
Eppe's Corner

www.eppes.com
[email protected]