What to send to U.S. military in Iraq

The site that helps you send "care packages" to soldiers in Iraq list flashlight, Any Soldier and suggest that you only send "AA" lights. What would you CPFer's suggests? I would think that a Streamlight 4xAA, Propolymer in olive drab would be great.

or a black Streamlight 3AA Luxeon.. or something..

but i'm sure you can send lights that don't take AA's.

ARC AA
CMG Infinity Ultra
CMG Infinity Ultra-G
CMG Infinity Red LED
I'm not saying that the others aren't great lights, but I think that having small equipment is very important because of all the other gear they have to carry/store/transport. I think these make very personal lights because they can EDC them, shower with them, etc.

It really depends what their mission is. A lot of them feel the need for a bright light to check out their surrondings. Especially when on patrol. However i'm sure many would appreciate a comfort light also. I have sent both bright lights and comfort lights and both are appreciated.

Don't our guys get issued any flashlights?

We don't only fight in the day time....do we?

Walt, see opperation enlightenment post.
Gary

I would send an A2 either white or Red (probably Red) and a box of surefire batteries. I would also send an Arc LSH.

I hear that you can get CR123s over there, but it varies from unit to unit. Don't some of the guys get issued Surefires as starndard equipment?

j

Infinity Ultra (not the G version!)
Infinity Task Light red

Great lights for a lanyard to make way across the camp to the showers at night.

Send some Everleds so they can modify the plentiful Anglehead MX/991-U military flashlight. They will be brighter and run for 28 hours on 2 D cells. If they don't have those, they will also run in any Maglite. Throw in some batteries as those are always needed no matter what flashlight they use. While you are at it, those plastic cable ties are very handy, when I was in Iraq I brought along over 1,000 of them. I might have a dozen left after everyone realized they hold the world together.

I'm over in Afghanistan right now, and one of the most popular lights is the Rayovac three way headlamp. It has a white LED, two red LEDs and a halogen bulb. Very good combination of lights for many tactical and non-tactical uses. The Inova microlights are also extremely popular and are almost never on the shelves at the PX here. If they do get a shipment, the lights are only on the shelves for an hour or less.

There are a couple models of Surefire lights here, the C2 Centurion and one other much higher priced one. Those lights don't move as well and are always on the racks. Mini mags are always in abundant supply, so I guess those are the light of last resort for the troops. I brought my Inova 24/7 in OD green and the troops love it. Several have ordered ones as well (from BrightGuy, on my recommendation). If there was some way to get Arcs in the PX system, you can bet they would fly off the shelves. What do you think, Peter?

LED lights seem to be the way to go for deployments, as they run forever on a set of batteries and provide sufficient light for most tasks. The Surefires are popular with the killers and they usually trick out their M4 rifles with every kind of light, scope and laser pointer imaginable. As an EDC though, I'd go with the Arc or the CMG Infinity or Ultra.

Also, don't forget the troops in Afghanistan. With everything going on in Iraq, the guys in Afghanistan are on the back burner, so to speak. But believe me, there are constant operations here, thousands of soldiers deployed and the need for a light better than a MX-991/U or mini Mag ever present.

Just a suggestion from Spain... What about a Elektrolumens Blaster Jr? Easy to find and cheap AA batteries, very good quality, usable with NiMH whose chargers are becoming better day by day, just 6 inches (15 cm), really impact proof, impresive long thrower, especially when overdriven or fitted with 3 watter...
This flashlight and any single AA/AAA single overdriven Nichia (ARC, CMG, INOVA, DORCY...)is a very good combination, I think.
By the way, to the US military in Irak, if you see a soldier from Spain say HOLA AMIGOS!
Thanks

indeed. i'd reccomend any Elektrolumens lights in fact.. and the Blaster Jr, with its 8 hour runtime, is the most compact.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

[ QUOTE ]
Wolfen said:
It really depends what their mission is....

[/ QUOTE ]

I would agree - and suspect and any QUALITY light will be put to good use by someone. Hopefully whoever suggested AA battery based lights made that recomendation based on good information.

At http://www.anysoldier.us, under the Misc. part they state
[ QUOTE ]
# AA batteries - this is the only battery they are using - keep anything you send to use these.
# Rechargeable AA batteries and chargers.

[/ QUOTE ]

And under the From "RadioShack" part, they state [ QUOTE ]
Do NOT send radios that use AAA (don't last long enough) or use rechargeable batteries (worthless, they don't have electricity often enough).

[/ QUOTE ]
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thinking.gif

the soldiers in "Operation Enlightenment" have access to batteries besides AA.

Ryan,
Greengoose (Bryan) is located at Tallil air base and it is more of a permanent type base. I was at a base in Irbil, Iraq and it was tent city and was active for around 100 days and blew away in the dust. Those are the odd ball bases, camps, sites (etc.) that have no access to a PX to purchase flashlights, bulbs or batteries that the article was refering to.
Luckily, I had 5 flashlights with me, 60 AA batteries, 12 D cells and 30 AAA batteries when I landed. Eight of my D cells were "lent" out, half my AAA and AA cells were given away so folks could see. AA cells we could purchase in Iraq and some D cells were spotted so that would be the reason to standardize on AA batteries.
A friend of mine is going with a medical unit to South America, he will have an Infinity Ultra and Infinity red LED version. The main thing is the waterproofness, indestructability, uses one AA for 11 hours of run time (white Ultra) or 40 hours of run time (red Infinity(. I was thinking of Arcs but there is no red Arc AA and I am the idiot picking up the tab!
I tend to equip my buddies with flashlights to see how well they operated in unusual circumstances. My Mini LGI (3AAA) went to Tallil, Iraq along with a 12 pack of AAA batteries. My friend told me she really liked the light, it was very bright and had a long run time. The Infinities are the next test lights on the block.
It would be great if Arc AA's and Infinity Ultra/tasklight red LED lights were available in the contingency BX/PX system. $40, get a red and white along with a 16 pack of batteries and that would last at least 3 months.
Not to worry, the word is getting out there but Inova is in the lead.

ahh
thanks for clearing that up..

i thought everyone would have batteries en route to them when they needed them.