Need penlight for brother, need advise

Brightest White LED accodring to you is ?

  • Streamlight Stylus

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Other (please specify in your post)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    1

greenLED

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Please help me out here! I want to buy a penlight for my brother who'll be starting his maxillofacial surgery program soon. It's a program where he'll also get his MD at the end of what seems half a lifetime in school.

Anyhow, it's more of a symbolism than a "tool" that I envision him using every day, but he's my baby brother and I want to give him "the best out there" (or close to it, IYKWIM). I want him to have an elegant penlight.

I've narrowed my choices to the WA PenLite and the SL Stylus. I'd like to have the penlight engraved, so it's good that they both have metal bodies (right?). As far as I know, the WA uses an halogen lamp, while the SL uses a LED (does this affect color tissue recognition?).

So what's it gonna be? Please vote and share your comments. If you absolutely want to talk me out of buying any of these and have another commercially-available penlight in mind, please do so too.

I like that the WA can use AA batts. I'm sure my brother will love tearing apart 9V batts to get the AAAA cells, but I'd rather him focus on other things.
 

MJWood

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I would lean toward a high quality white LED for tissue recognition. Any tint to a light would seem to make this task harder, and as the batteries weaken, non led lights tend to turn a little yellow.

A very nice gesture for your brother!
 

Double_A

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Haven't most of the CPF members in a medical related field here already weighed in that LEDs are out because of their poor color rendering? or am I confusing this issue with something else?

IIRC the issue was that while LED's appear to be whiter, in fact they have a narrower spectrum of light compared to incandescents and in fact do not accurately portray some colors.
 

Roy

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If you comeacross a pen light that uses the #222 incandsent bulb, the Tektite L222 is a led replacement for the #222. Here's the runtime plot and discussion on the L222 LED.
 

wallyrulz

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As far as AAAA's go, bass pro shops sells them pretty cheap. They are packaged as streamlight batts, and they sell them 6 to a pack for around 5 or 6 bucks.
 

MJWood

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[ QUOTE ]
Double_A said:
Haven't most of the CPF members in a medical related field here already weighed in that LEDs are out because of their poor color rendering? or am I confusing this issue with something else?


[/ QUOTE ]

Now that you mention it, I belive you are correct and I was wrong... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Sorry for the momentary brain fart! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/oops.gif
 

Lynx_Arc

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[ QUOTE ]
wallyrulz said:
As far as AAAA's go, bass pro shops sells them pretty cheap. They are packaged as streamlight batts, and they sell them 6 to a pack for around 5 or 6 bucks.

[/ QUOTE ]
I saw a page awhile back telling you how to harvest cells that are AAAA sized out of 9v Alkaline batteries. There are 6 of them in some brands of batteries, it is a lot cheaper than buying them outright.
 

gadget_lover

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I wonder if they've checked lately on the CRI issue....

My current crop of lighst seem to have excellent color rendering, as good or better than the household lights.

Instead of a pen light, why not a pocket light, such as an ARC AAA

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Daniel
 

Mike Painter

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[ QUOTE ]
greenLED said:
Please help me out here! I want to buy a penlight for my brother who'll be starting his maxillofacial surgery program soon.


[/ QUOTE ]

I've never seen anyone from First responder on that use anything but a disposible light. There are just too many ways that it will be lost or tossed after use.
If it's a gesture get ssomething you like.

A good LED penlight is just too bright for what it will be used for in the medical field most of the time.
 

notrefined

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I've just gone through this issue myself, being a medical student. The stylus would be perfect, except that it reproduces tissue color rather poorly. And most of the "dedicated" medical penlights aren't worth their weight in crap. The WA penlight seems to be the exception, but I was under the impression that it has a plastic body- I could be wrong. I've been looking closely at what the neurologists seem to be carrying (they tend to be pickier than most docs), and alot of them use either minimags or the 2xAAA pelican penlights. I tried a bunch of other stuff first, but after making this observation I've found that a AAA minimag with lithium AAA's and the new minimag bulbs, with a piece of satin tape on the lens, works better than anyhting else I've tried. unfortunately, it's a twisty, which is rather annoying, but it gets the job done. There's also a member out there making what is reportedly a spectacular LED penlight for just this purpose, but my budget is rather (very) limited.
 

MikeLip

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I have both a Streamlight Stylus in white, and a Welch Allyn penlight. The WA warns "Not for transillumination". That's because it gets HOT very quickly. I'd be careful using it to look in someones' throat or ear. So while it's a great exam penlight, it has its' limitations. Actually safer, if you want incandescent, is one of those 79 cent clip penlights - they're often giveaways from drug companies, so your brother won't lack for a light.

I've found that the Streamlight in white is white enough that fluids and tissue are easily recognizable, and it won't burn you. Be sure to get the shield that goes over it. The exposed LED can be a problem in that the side spill light makes it hard to see what you want to see at times. The shield cures that nicely. The only drawback is the sometimes hard to find AAAA battery size, but Radio Shack carries them.
 

MikeLip

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[ QUOTE ]
notrefined said:
The stylus would be perfect, except that it reproduces tissue color rather poorly. <snip> The WA penlight seems to be the exception, but I was under the impression that it has a plastic body- I could be wrong.

[/ QUOTE ]

The WA appears to have a brass body with some sort of black finish. I've found the Streamlight ot be fine, but then I'm in an ambulance, not an exam room. I want to know what that stuff leaking all over the place is, or be able to see that whatever the heck that is stuck in whereever it is /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif What I *don't* want to have happen is the danged bulb popping when I need it most!
 

Zigzago

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Kiessling (who I believe is a doctor) did a comparison of penlights here a while ago (6-10 months?). The stylus was one of them.

I have a stylus and it's well made and bright, but the light is rather blue. The AAAA batteries aren't hard to find if you look around a little. Radio Shack has them.
 

Stanley

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I agree with Roy on the L222 Led bulb replacements from Tektite. It'd be a great gift, esp since he'll never have to replace the bulb, and the batteries will take ages to run out!
 

greenLED

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You guys are absolutely wonderful! Thank you for all your great comments and recommendations! I will wait a couple more days to hear what more people have to say and buy the light.

MikeLip, am I understanding your post properly? "Translumination" means having the light on for a long time? Thx.
 

SilverFox

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Hello GreenLED,

I have two of the Welch Allyn lights. One is a chrome #760 that is no longer made. I found it on eBay. The other is the #76600 which is current. It has a black finish on a brass (?) body. I believe I posted some comments on both of these lights.

I love the chrome one. It is classic. The black one is great too. According to friends in the medical industry, the Welch Allyn lights have a reputation for dependability, and good color rendition.

The #760 is not well sealed (against excess body fluids) but you can replace the lamp. The #76600 has a sealed lamp and you have to replace the whole tip when the lamp blows (part #07600).

Good luck with your choice.

Tom
 

notrefined

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transillumination is pretty much what it sounds like...shining the light through tissue. In order to do this you typically press the light against skin (or mucous membrane), so a hot enough bulb could potentially cause burns, or at least be very uncomfortable for the patient.
 

MikeLip

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[ QUOTE ]
notrefined said:
transillumination is pretty much what it sounds like...shining the light through tissue. In order to do this you typically press the light against skin (or mucous membrane), so a hot enough bulb could potentially cause burns, or at least be very uncomfortable for the patient.

[/ QUOTE ]

What he said /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif . Transillumination is not really a consideration for a paramedic, which is what I am part of the time, but may be for a doctor depending on what s/he does. Actually, the warning is most useful as an indication of how hot the thing gets, which is "quite". It really is an excellent light though and may be just what the doctor ordered, if you'll forgive me the lame joke. Let us know what you decide!
 

HesNot

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An interesting discussion - my physician friends seem to consistently use throw away pens (a nice pen is another decent idea) as they're always borrowed, etc... and the cheap pen lights for similar reasons. About the only thing I've consistently seen from them is Rolex Submariner's but I suspect that may be out of your budget!
 
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