Recommendations for a surfing flashlight?

I hope there's room for another "needs advice" post. . .

I'm looking for flashlight for night surfing and couldn't find any that meet my requirements. I like the Streamlight TL-2 and Pelican M6, but they don't seem to be waterproof. Are there similar lights in terms of brightness, size, and cost that are waterproof?

Here's the requirements/preferences:

waterproof - I don't expect to be underwater more than 10ft, but it needs to handle the impact of waves.

bright - I'm looking for something in the 60 lumens range with decent throw, enough to see the steepness of a wave 50-100ft away. it seems to require more light to light up water than dirt and foliage.

size - I like the 2-cr123a sized lights. i don't want anything big enough to put a hole in my board.

price - Ideally around $50 or less.

impact resistant - I want something that can handle being dropped on concrete from 3-4ft and still work.

I'd also like to use it for rollerblading, mountain biking, and snowboarding, but the surfing requirement seem the hardest to meet. Last time i went out, a Inova 24/7 and Arc AAA survived, a CMG O4 did not (these were strapped to our boards so we could find them). Thanks for any advice you can give.

How about a G2 or G2Z with a lanyard? It is bright and light weight, but completely waterproofing it may be a problem. Btw, doesn't bright light attract sharks? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

When I was just a tad younger, guys would lock themselves in a dark closet and have friends take them blindfolded to Malibu in the middle of the night so they could have pristine night vision. Or so I was told..... I did some night surfing before leashes and it always ended up being night swimming! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif

I don't know, wouldn't the reflection off a steep wave face trash your vision? What you need is some waterproof NVG that will stay in place! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Actually, a SureFire X200 might be just the ticket. It's water proof and you could mount a small rail section on the deck that the X200 could attach to. In the picture below, you can see a piece of rail that is a scope mount base and how it is a low profile and the X200 easily locks on as well as comes off.



The beam of the X200 is tight and the lack of side spill would probably be an advantage in your application. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif

UK-2L

UK Mini-Q40

PT Rage

Pelican MityLite 4AA

Pelican mityLite 2AA

Pelican Stealthlite

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maverick said:
How about a G2 or G2Z with a lanyard? It is bright and light weight, but completely waterproofing it may be a problem. Btw, doesn't bright light attract sharks? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

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I like the G2 but was worried about waterproofing. Are there any good ways to waterproof a flashlight? I thought about wrapping it in saran wrap, but it seemed kind of ghetto and makes it harder to secure. I'm also concerned about the reliability of the G2. I had a 6P that had a tendency to not work after it was dropped. Do other Xenon lights have the same problem?

I saw a reference to study that shows sharks are attracted to brightly colored objects and I've heard about sharks being attracted to yellow surfboards. Don't know about light though. Fortunately, great white's are diurnal (i surf around san francisco/santa cruz).

McGizmo - I'm still haven't gotten over losing a camera i had mounted to my board /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mecry.gif I don't don't have the guts to try that again with a $200 flashlight. You may be right about the reflection, I'm not sure. Last time I went out, the waves faces were pitch black so i had no idea when they'd break. Maybe I should just be time it so the moon lights up the wave faces.

illumiGeek - I was hoping for somthing brighter, but at those prices, they're definitely worth checking out.

Illumigeek beat me to it... UK 2L is made as a dive light, and its nice and bright for its size. Very decent runtime for 2x123s too... You could probably put it on a lanyard (wrist or neck) as it weighs next to nothing! You can also buy the UK 4AA eLed LA (1W Luxeon) separately to put into the 2L and you won't have to worry too much about the bulb blowing out if you drop it, etc..
Else you might be looking for a diving headlamp, if there's such a thing?

pt tec 40.... cheap, cheap to run, waterproof.....

don't get a G2...pressing the switch would break the waterproof seal. the UKE 2L stanley suggested would probably be ideal /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

a G2Z would be ok too, but you would have to test it for water-resistance before using it, as it isn't a dive light like the UKE 2L is.

Brah. If you going go surfing, mo' bettah you get one diving light. Like da Princeton Tec or Pelican or da kine Unda wata Kinetics. Fo reals, you no like da bugga 'make' on you in da middle of one set. Go get the Princeton Tec Tec-40. It's one cherry light. The guy's waterproof, light, and get one lanyard so you no lose um when you wipeout. Drop one Mag-num Star in there and you got 65 lumens too. Perfect.

There are a lot of good suggestions above.

A Surefire 6PN is waterproof. ~$70 here.

Wnoboarding is usually done in low temperatures I assume. Alkalines tend not to perform to well in cold weather. I recommend a CR 123 for that purpose.

I have no comment about the waterproofness of the TL2 or the Pelican M6. My Pelican M6 LED box doesn't say anything about water resistance.

Jason

lightbox,

I gave more thought to your application and I am convinced that having the light mounted to your board would suck anyway. The beam would rarely be where you wanted it or when you wanted it! I think you would be best served with a light that has quick access via momentary on control and you might also consider getting a red light source. From my experience, you have picked a most difficult environment and situation to try to illuminate! I do think your best bet is moonlight and other ambient sources.

What you really need is a partner on the beach/ cliff with a powerful HID lighting up the sets as they come in and then leading you with the beam on the face of the wave. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Lightbox-

This is a new one. Any of the UK (Underwater kinetics) would be good. Try the UK eLed from BrightGuys he has a special on it for $20

I gotta see this, keep us posted. Where to do you plan to try this out? Pleasure pt, Steamers, Swanton, 4 mile, or do you go further north towards Half Moon Bay?

GregR

Check out the Under Water Kinetics UKE2L. Small, bright, Lithium CR123's. Size you are looking for. Water proof. Should fit the bill!!
Check out BriteGuy's website, he has a good price. Black or Yellow.

DoubleA,
I'm sure he is planning on hitting Mavericks on a no moon to get the waves to himself! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif

Don-

I can just see it now, lit nose on top those 30-40 foot waves! Double Cool would be strobing led's along the rails.

GregR

i'd say get the Underwater Kinetics 2L to use while you're in the water.. and then buy an Underwater Kinetics 4AA eLED to use on the beach and parking lot etc..

i say get the eLED instead of just the module, 'cause the eLED already in a flashlight only costs like $5 more than the module alone..

so you could actually just keep the module on shore and replace it in the UK 2L when you're not on the water to save battery and bulb life.

Another vote for the Pelican Stealthlite - $25 retail, very tight spot beam, tough as nails (mine take beatings no SF would survive, IMHO), dive-capable, one-handed switch, flat profile, normal (cheap) AA batteries, comes with a strong lanyard.

Highly recommended

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McGizmo said:
What you really need is a partner on the beach/ cliff with a powerful HID lighting up the sets as they come in and then leading you with the beam on the face of the wave. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

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Are you volunteering? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

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Double_A said:
I gotta see this, keep us posted. Where to do you plan to try this out? Pleasure pt, Steamers, Swanton, 4 mile, or do you go further north towards Half Moon Bay?

GregR

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I went to Half Moon Bay last time, next to mavericks but in the little sheltered section where the waves were nice and small. Couldn't catch a thing though. I'm hoping to go out next full moon, not sure where yet. Maybe I'll get beamshots on the wave face next time /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif I have a hard time holding the camera steady on a surfboard though.



Thanks everyone for the advice! I think I'll go for the UK 2L and pick up the 4AA eLED while I'm at it.