Help me choose what I need for work.....

First of all, I can't believe that there are so many people discussing flashlights....I am very happy to know that somebody will be able to point me in the right direction...

OK...here's what I do...
I go into burned restaurants, auto service stations, and drycleaners...take inventory on what is there, and gather as much info for the investigators and insurance companies as I can in a little bit of time....

It is always dark...very dark...there are always rats and bugs...especially in restaurants...and running our generators isn't always an option + it's a pain in the you know what.

We currently use maglites but they seem rather dim and very pinpoint...I guess you would say...I want to look at one whole wall in a room so that I can draw a quick diagram...I want to be able to crawl behind a machine and see the nameplate without squinting...

Basically, I hang out in burned buildings....with no electricity, which have been boarded up so that you can't see your hand in front of your face, but the rats can see me....

Cost isn't really a concern, though I will probably need to buy 4 or 5 (for the guys)...Size isn't really a concern either as we are currently using 4D Mags...Also, sometimes we're in there for an hour or two...again..buying batteries ins't a problem if the lights are great and we can run power invertors from the trucks to produce electricity for chargers..

I've considered headlights BUT...alot of times we have to wear respirators...big ones...full face, fireman type, or half masks ....(never the little dinky paper masks)...So I couldnt always wear a headband type light...though it would be cool...

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated....

check out the vip its a great light has 3 settings and is very brightvip

First thing that came to mind was a Surefire L4 flashlight running Pila Li-ion rechargable's. Then I read sometimes in there for an hour or two at a time. The battery will last an hour or so before needing a recharge. The price is also killer for a set of 5. I imagine a set of L4's (at SF's $159.95 price tag), and a set of Pila's to run pretty high too. We are not talking $500 or so, more in the area of close to $800-$1000. Not cheap. The L4 will provide a wall of light though, it makes my SF E2e looks yellow in color. I am sure it will make you're 4D mag look brown in terms of beam color.

Near pitch black conditions, need a flood light, an Inova X5T.

Inova X5T

It runs on two CR123 lithium batteries. They cost $8-$10 in a store but can be had for $1 a piece at www.batterystation.com/cpf.htm

The quality of construction is superb. I have handled a few X5T's and they feel nice, my room mate also has an Inova X1 and gosh its such a nice light (in terms of build quality.)

Granted a Inova X5T will not be as bright as a 4D but here is a review from the ledmuseum.org

Nice review /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

The LED's will also never blow like a lamp will.

I would wait until Inova comes out with a rechargeable unit though as stated here.

I guess I could buy 3 L4's and maybe 6 batteries....(where do i get the Pila's) and each flashlight used always has one battery charging?

also, can someone quickly school me on xenon... can bulbs be purchased for any light or do you have to have a specific flashlight to use them...or ...are they worth it?

and now I realize that li-ion, in the flashlight world, does not mean re-chargeable....I feel somewhat stupid....

opps forgot to say welcome to the group.you will love it here

A decent cheap flood light is the Streamlight 7AA LED ProPolymer. Runs for hours on regular old AA sized alkalines. It is a very well made light and puts out a good flood pattern. You can get a helmet mount for it also.
You can find it on this site.

Bright Guy

Check out the 3 C TwinTask light it has a flood light from LEDs and a good throwing light from a Xenon bulb3C TwinTask

Surefire G-2 Nitrolon with KL3,will do everything you want at a very reasonable fare.Runs about 4 hours on 2-123a,good flood, mostly white light,lanyard can be attached with optional ring,wont break if you drop it,water resistant. About $80 per rig and you still have the 65 lumen head reflector assembly if you need some farther reaching light.In total darkness and your eyes adjusted to that environment anything much more than the KL3 is too much.

As an aside, as the 1watt conversion heads(KL3,KL1)fall from vogue and are replaced with the 5watt conversions you can look for them to be less expensive,and possibly some sales.

I do fleet/equipment inspections(trucks,off road equipment) and use the G2/KL3 almost everyday.Its not the biggest and baddest but it is reasonably priced and VERY heavy duty in the build department.I recommend it highly for your need.

In absolute PITCH darkness, it is amazing how little light is actually required to see!

That said, one specific light that has been mentioned is the Streamlight Pro Poly 4AA 7LED. It does NOT ever put out anything as bright as a M*g on tight focus. But it does put out a very nice FLOOD of blueish white light.

Which also brings up that an Everled is a useful 'mod' to any light, ESPECIALLY M*gs! which need all the help they can get!

The Streamlight 3C Twin Task is another fine light if size isn't a big deal. Not that it is huge by any means. It puts out a very nice amount of blueish white light via the LEDS. And what will appear horribly yellow (until the eyes adjust) Xenon soft edged spot/flood. This yellow appearance is common to switching to the Xenon mode in any of the TTs.

After I use a Teal Everled for awhile, everthing looks pink/purple until I adjust!

ANYHOW, I don't have a KL3, but have read time after time that it is a superb option for a G2 (which I have - modded with a clickie - and running a P60 LM). Wouldn't someone like to fund my wishlist? I could PROBABLY be quite 'happy'? after spending 5 bills or so...... LOL!

I have 1 G2 running with the KL3 and 1 with the KL5 I have never checked runtime on them however the KL5 is much whiter and brighter.
Topper /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Talk with Elektrolumens about the Anglelux 3W. It is a modified military bent neck flashlight with a 3W LS led and a MicroPuck installed. As a straight up 3W'er, it will give 8+ hours of constant light output and many hours of reduced output. It used standard alkaline "D" cells. He is working on a version that has a selectable 1W or 3W output. The 1W version of this light had a run time of around 24 hours of constant brightness.

Look in the Reviews Forun for the Run Time Plot sticky and take a look at the runtime plots.

Interesting that most are advocating modified lights or LEDs.

Keep it simple and cost effective: Streamlight Stingers or even PolyStingers with Quickchargers. Excellent light output, spare bulb in tailcap. Fast recharge in an hour.

--dan

Hello Pigpen,

Welcome to CPF.

One of the lights used by fire fighters and construction people rebuilding after a fire is the Streamlight LiteBox.
http://www.streamlight.com/litebox_specifications.htm
You can set it up with a flood or spot bulb and have two power options, an 8 watt or a 20 watt bulb. The 8 watt bulb has a run time of 8 hours and the 20 watt bulb has a run time of 3.5 hours.

Another option would be the Bohmen SF-990.
http://www.proxenon.com/view_product_frm.php?category_id=3
It comes with two battery packs that will run the light for about 70 minutes each. There is also rumors of a 140 minute battery pack in the works, but I have not seen it yet.

In the anti reflective, photon robbing enviornment of mud and charred timbers, I think you need all the power you can get. The SureFire L4 and L5 lights are great lights, I just think you need a little more power for your situation.

Tom

I like the streamlight stinger option. Get the piggyback ac/dc fast charger so you can always have a spare battery charged. Spot to flood adjustability. A lot smaller than the mags with almost double the brightness of a 4D mag. Built tough and comes with extra bulb.

STINGER REVIEW

They also make an HP model with significantly more brightness for not much more money. It's about an inch longer at 8.3 inches, and has a larger head.

For raw power, I think the rechargeable litebox with the flood and 20 watt bulb would be good. Pretty heavy tho at 7.4 pounds.

Note: I haven't actually used any of these lights.

ha. i guess everyone's giving you tons of lights to look @.. so i might as well mention a couple more..
you might consider the Elektrolumens FT3C - http://elektrolumens.com/FT-3C/FT-3C.html

it runs on a 3 Watt luxeon star and delivers over 70 lumens for around 12 hours.. they're almost 8 inches long and take 3 C-cells.. here's a beamshot vs. the Streamlight 3AA 1 Watt luxeon.. http://elektrolumens.com/FT-3C/FT-3C-Tasklight-Comparison.html - you can see the FT3C on the bottom..

okay.. there's my addition to this discussion, ha.

.

This sounds like a situation that you're gonna have to try a few different lights to see what works best for you.

As someone said, the darker it is, the less light you actually need to see. I'm very partial to LEDs because of the clarity and usefulness of the WHITE light. As your batteries run down, you only loose brightness, but the color stays relatively the same. Another plus is that LEDs will generally give you much longer run time as compared to incans. And very important to me, you don't have to worry about spare bulbs - 'cause they just don't burn out.

I'd have to disagree with the suggestions for the really high powered lights because most of them are spots. If you were to try and use one of them for reading a tag on the back of a machine, it would be difficult because in that application, they're too bright.

Understand that a spot focuses all of its light into one tight area. To get comparable brightness in a flood requires much more power because the photons are spread out over a larger area.

I would second two suggestions so far, the StreamLight 7 / 4AA and the Inova X5T. Both are very durable, long running and a flood pattern. You'll just have to try them to see if they're bright enough.

The drop-in mods for the Mag 2AA are just amazing and can be used with an optic for a combo spot/flood or a McFlood to make it a flood.

I wouldn't be a responsible CPFer if I didn't tell you to check out the ARC LSs. They are absolutely amazing.

Any of these suggestions will do a noticeably better job than the Mags that you are currently using.

Stinger. I work running wire in ceilings and attics - often with no lighting at all and us walking around trying not to go through the grids. A little tighter than your job, but similar at times. I have to agree with Quasar - the Stinger is a proven workhorse. Smaller and lighter than a 2D Mag, brighter than a 4D Mag, runtime of 1 hour on a single stick, multiple sticks available. Slow and fast chargers available, multi-unit chargers available. AC or DC. Focusable. Everything you have right now in a package that is smaller, lighter and definitely easier to lug around.

Reasonably priced, yet if you need to make the argument, figure out the cost of the batts you are consuming over a year and amortize that against a Stinger with charger and batt - you will find a rechargeable to be cheaper to run over the longer term. Single use batteries whether alkaline or lithium are a waste for a non-tactical use - not environmentally, financially responsible.

since size is'nt much of a concern... and u want lotsa light... better still if rechargeable... then....
TIGERLIGHT
VERI bright... and puts outa wall of light /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif