NEED A CSI/SEARCH FLAHSLIGHT, any good recommendation is appreciated.

hi !! I'm new to the forum.

im a csi professional based in Puerto Rico (common wealth of U.S) we are law enforcing agents as well.
I need a flashlight that can illuminate a nicely a big room with nice flood light, and a be able to throw at distance also (50 or 100 meters). why this requirements; some times a crime scene can occur in a house, building, etc. but many time (most of the time) crime scene occur in a open area with no light or poor at best this happens a lot in dark roads and forest (we live in a island)

I used a innova luxon bulb (big dome bulb) 2 cr123 80 lumens (fisrt gen I think bought in 2004), this flashlight has a "tight hot spot" but no flood. this flashlight has never quit on me or flailed, but I undertand that the technology has advance so much, that I have to "catch up" recently I got for my and my girlfrind a klarus mix7 AL, and I LOVE THIS LITTLE FELLOW. it blew the innova away with it's hot spot and flood, both at the same time (will provide picture if I'm allowed) this SPARK a new love in flashlights again. I also got on eBay a "ultrafire with selective ring 1000 lumens" flashlight, but it was a Chinese knockoff, is not so bad and functions, but the beam needs to be manually adjusted and this is a pain in the $&@!...... because some times my hands are dirty (contaminated) when I have to search the body. also this light does one thing at a time, it's flood or throw, but not both at the same time. this is not so useful to me because I need a good periferal vision also, apart of the hot spot. both the ultrafire and the innova I got have a cool white light but the klarus has a neutral light, I can see much better with the klarus than the innova or ultrafire.

the flashlight I hope you can recommend will be my edc for work, most have hi, medium, low and good thow and flood balance. remember it most be compact 1-18650 since we carry a firearm, additional magazines, handcuff, other gear and we dress in impermeable aprons to analyze the body in the scene. , most manteine a hi beam for long periods at a time (30 min or so) no self heat regulators or that kind of stuff.

thanks very much for the help.

Zebralight SC62 would fit your description quite well. Has a nice balance of flood and decent throw, definitely usable to 100 meters or so. The most compact 18650 light and lasts around 2 hours on the highest output level. A quick double click will drop it down to a lower level of about 325 lumens and that lasts around 4 hours at that setting. Should fit the bill perfectly.

Fenix LD50 or TK51

What's your budget?

wjv said:

Fenix LD50 or TK51

What's your budget?

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100 +/- don't mind paying for something good.

since I'm new here, can I put pictures of my lights here ??

Post your images from an image hosting site.

Bill

How about the EagleTac P25LC2 Diffuser? You got a 1000 lumen spot/throw beam, and 500 Lumen all-around flood beam. Get the additional tail-standing cap and you can easily light up any room. Also available in neutral white.

Depends on how much throw or flood you want. I'm not a big fan of multi led lights, but Nitecore makes a color series of lights. One of them has a blue secondary LED and one has UV. *shrug*

Otherwise, a lot of guys around here like the Nitecore P12 ~ $50. Fenix makes a similar model that I have called the PD35. Both of those lights make excellent upclose search lights.

Otherwise, anything around 1000 lumens and 24,000 max CD will work just fine for distance / searching. Eagletac makes a few models I really like for that.

Nitecore P36 or Fenix TK35UE. Both use the Cree MT-G2 emitter with a neutral tint and runs on two 18650 batteries or 4 Cr123's. The P36 is rated at 2000 lumens, while the TK35UE is rated at 1800 lumens.

If you need true UV in a light, the Nitecore P20uv has 800 lumens of white light and uv light in the range of 365nm.

I like the size of the zebra light that snowlover91 recommended and the eagletac p25lc2 that the Belgian recomended, those will fit my belt and be comfortable to carry all day.
what I have right now.

http://s474.photobucket.com/user/pandyicf/media/Mobile Uploads/image_4.jpg.html?sort=3&o=4

http://s474.photobucket.com/user/pandyicf/media/Mobile Uploads/image_5.jpg.html?sort=3&o=3

http://s474.photobucket.com/user/pandyicf/media/Mobile Uploads/image_6.jpg.html?sort=3&o=2

http://s474.photobucket.com/user/pandyicf/media/Mobile Uploads/image_7.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1

http://s474.photobucket.com/user/pandyicf/media/Mobile Uploads/image.jpg.html?sort=3&o=8

http://s474.photobucket.com/user/pandyicf/media/Mobile Uploads/image_8.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

I don't like multi led also, for U.V. light we use a certified light machine that the agency provides for maintaining "certification standards". the pd35 and p12 loose the ability to mantaine the turbo mode for more than a couple of minutes, that's a no no no.

does the p20 have heat protection ?? how long can the max output be mantained before it star to "step down" (apart from battery depletion of energy)??

The Zebralight will be the smallest 18650 light and its output is thermally regulated instead of a timed step down. What this means is the light will stay as bright as physically possible based upon the conditions and air temperature and other things. There are graphs showing how the output can go down and then up corresponding with air circulation on the light. At approximately 2 hours on turbo it's a great light and the UI is far easier than the Eagletac, imo.

I like the size and the way it looks !!! thanks

I recommend you throw away that Ultrafire battery: Disassembly of some UltraFire batteries

SimulatedZero forgot to mention Thrunite TN12. It's direct driven on hight or turbo and can maintain turbo mode over an hour until it reaches 50% of the initial output (see selfbuilt's review) and even more with a good battery. I use Keeppower 3400 in mine. It's similar to PD35 and P12: compact 1-18650 flashlight with runtime of several hours on 280 lm mode.

If you need more throw, I've found Olight M22 a really nice compact thrower with good spill. It comes with a diffuser so you can swap between throw and flood. Unfortunately it has gradual drop-down in the output, but it maintains ~640 lm mode after it (see again selfbuilt's review). It still should be enough for most of the edc tasks.

Have you considered using a headlamp in combination with the flashlight?

kenshin said:

does the p20 have heat protection ?? how long can the max output be mantained before it star to "step down" (apart from battery depletion of energy)??

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The P20uv will run about 10 minutes on turbo before step down. It does get warm since there isn't a whole lot of mass to dissipate heat.

Both the P36 and TK35ue run over an hour putting out over 1000 lumens. That's one of the best things with higher powered lights. You don't require turbo to put out a lot of light.

I second the Zebralight as a primary, but was also going to ask about a headlamp. FourSevens has a very comfortable one, and what I personally have done is to use two clips on one headband using a "mule" to light up a large area & assist peripheral vision and the second light is focused for so I have both throw and flood covered, (as well as having the ability to use both hands). As a backup light the Nitecore E11 takes an 18350 battery for a small yet very powerful light. For a second backup, perhaps a FourSevens high CRI Preon 2-penlight size yet excellent to use as a "pointer" to show a colleague something without touching it. So small you hardly know it is there until one of your primary lights falls into the ocean or dies...

kenshin said:

.............remember it must be compact 1-18650.
............the pd35 and p12 loose the ability to maintain the turbo mode for more than a couple of minutes, that's a no no no.

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What you are going to find out is that a single 18650 XM-L2 light that pushes close to 1000 lumens out of a 18650 battery is that its going to get warm. This necessitates heat management or step down or bigger head for heat sink. Also run time at that level will be 1.5 hours or less. At the next level down, should be around 450 lumens and a run time of 3 hours on a 18650. That is the level that I'd run a P12 or PD35 on if doing it continuously and only the turbo mode for momentary action.

If you can handle the bigger diameter head check out the ArmyTek Viking V3. I hear its a good combination of throw and spill. The Pro version has no step down. You're just limited by the run time capability of the battery you're using. It's also very durable. Another light similar is the EagleTac S200C2. Now those will get you some search and throw capability in a single 18650 light if willing to have a bigger diameter head.

I've owned the P12 and the PD35 and the two lights above are currently on my radar..........leaning more towards the ArmyTec Viking V3 because of its known ruggedness.

D6859 said:

I recommend you throw away that Ultrafire battery: Disassembly of some UltraFire batteries

SimulatedZero forgot to mention Thrunite TN12. It's direct driven on hight or turbo and can maintain turbo mode over an hour until it reaches 50% of the initial output (see selfbuilt's review) and even more with a good battery. I use Keeppower 3400 in mine. It's similar to PD35 and P12: compact 1-18650 flashlight with runtime of several hours on 280 lm mode.

If you need more throw, I've found Olight M22 a really nice compact thrower with good spill. It comes with a diffuser so you can swap between throw and flood. Unfortunately it has gradual drop-down in the output, but it maintains ~640 lm mode after it (see again selfbuilt's review). It still should be enough for most of the edc tasks.

Have you considered using a headlamp in combination with the flashlight?

Click to expand...

i have seen this TN12 2014, really like it. does this flashlight have the heat regulation system ?? I don't want to loose the hi output in a couple of minutes.

hiuintahs said:

What you are going to find out is that a single 18650 XM-L2 light that pushes close to 1000 lumens out of a 18650 battery is that its going to get warm. This necessitates heat management or step down. Also run time at that level will be 1.5 hours or less. At the next level down, should be around 450 lumens and a run time of 3 hours on a 18650. That is the level that I'd run a P12 or PD35 on if doing it continuously and only the turbo mode for momentary action.

If you can handle the bigger diameter head check out the ArmyTek Viking V3. I hear its a good combination of throw and spill. The Pro version has no step down. You're just limited by the run time capability of the battery you're using. It's also very durable. Another light similar is the EagleTac S200C2. Now those will get you some search and throw capability in a single 18650 light if willing to have a bigger diameter head.

I've owned the P12 and the PD35 and the two lights above are currently on my radar..........leaning more towards the ArmyTec Viking V3 because of its known ruggedness.

Click to expand...

where I can see a review on the armytek Viking that you mention ??