Backup for duty light & search & rescue

Ok I carry a tigerlight as my main light and a streamlight scorpion as my backup but the problem with the tigerlight is that the impressive 244 lumens it puts out only lasts for about 45 min, then it drops to about 120 lumens for another fifteen or so minutes. As most of you mod'ers know.

While it is supremely appropriate for patrol stops and suspect searches etc etc it sucks big time for search and rescue. The county I work for has a rather large portion which is rural and we sometimes have to participate in S&R that lasts for multiple hours. What I need is a high power light that will lasts for multiple hours.

I really liked the electrolumens turbo 3x3 but they say they aren't carrying it anymore. I think the Tri-star phaser would work but he seems to be out of it too.

Suggestions? Opinions? Advice?

i'm not aware of anything that powerful that lasts for multiple hours, but i think the new Streamlight ProPolymer Luxeon would be a nice compromise.

and if you wanna go all out, you could look @ some of Tektite's offerings like their TAC12L or Sea Ray 12. or you could go all out and get their L12 Seeker. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

Edit:
check out www.flashlightreviews.com to check out Quickbeam's review of the Streamlight ProPolymer luxeon.
check out www.tek-tite.com to look @ their luxeon flashlights.

I have samples of the Lightforce coming. The Enforcer gives 1 hour with the included battery but can hook up to other batteries with an included cord. 20 through 100 watt bulbs are available and Bescor has a variety of belt and shoulder packs that can give you an idea of how to carry a lot of power.

While not the brightest, the UKE 4AA eLed is probably one of the longest runnning light. You could also have a UKE 2L as a backup (pretty decent in brightness), and carry an eLed lamp module and swap out the lamp assemblies when the 2L batteries go weak.

Else get a SF G2 and a drop in 3W Led module, that should give you pretty good light for a few more hours I think! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

If you are in a car during SAR, you could use a cheap search light or a (better) more expensive HID, which use the vehicle's power supply.
Otherwise you should be looking for Li-ion rechargable lights, I guess. But a high powered (+200 lumen)light on Li-ion are hard to find, I guess.

I run into this problem alot however the biggest factor for me is size. With officers forced to carry more equipment on their duty belts these days spare lights are left with little room to fit. I carry a LitFuse mod with reflector and in a bind this light serves me well however for hour long search details it would not be the best choice. I guess most of your lighting needs would depend on if you wanted to carry it always or could keep it in a duty bag. I have a Pelican incandescent and a chep Brinkman MaxFire in my bag. I also keep a box of 12 123 cells in an exterior bag pocket. I tried to carry another Pelican M6 LED on my belt for a while as a back up however when we were issued Tazer guns I had to make room so the bigger back up light had to go. I really can not think of anything that will be bright enough and have great run time that can be carried on your belt as a back up search and rescue light. If incredible brightness was not required I would say the Inova T5 as I carried one of these for years. It seemed like that thing ran forever and it was used mostly on vehicle searches so great brightness was not an issue. The new Inova lights are pretty slim and may ride on your belt nicely. The optics have good throw and could be used for searches possibly...(if you like Luxeon lighting) I am not sure on the run time but a couple of spare 123 cells are not that hard to carry. I am kind of out of the loop on incandescent lights lately as all I have been playing with are Luxeons recently. I like my little cheap Brinkman and it has served its purpose. Many guys at work carry the smaller SureFire 123 incandescent lights but once again I really do not know how long they last. Good luck with whatever you choose.

Try sending a PM to 3rd_shift_lights. Basically, he converts Mags to LED, retaining their awesome runtime while putting out a heck of a lot of light. I'm sure he can build you something that works similar to the Tristar Phazer as well.

One solution is simply to carry some extra charged battery sticks for your Tigerlight and throw them in a minipack like a Camelback MULE or HAWG or Blackhawk Hydrastorm. I don't think changing out batteries in the field on a SAR would be a problem. If that isn't feasible due to one light/one charger, then a Surefire M6, M4 or M3turbo with a pouch/pocket full of batteries. Changing batteries on the M6 would be a little bit of a hassle in the dark, though.

I'm not sure if there is a flashlight that can burn for hours at a high brightness--except maybe the Surefire Beast, if $2900 plus batteries doesn't phase you.

We had a SAR recently and it was one of our guy's Thor that saved the day. What is interesting is we have a bunch of new Maxabeams sitting at the station gathering dust.

Streamlight LiteBox. Its heavy (comes with a shoulder strap), but it burns for a long time on pretty decent brightness. The 8 watt spot model has a claimed 150 lumen output with a 8hr run time. The 20 watt spot model runs at 400 lumens for 3.5hrs. Not sure how many of those hours are bright usable light hours though. You might also want to check out the Bright Star Lighting (Koehler)Responder SR2010. 150k candlepower for 8hrs. Never used a Koehler light before so Im not too sure about the reliability.

http://www.brightguy.com/detail.php?Sku=STR45109

Or your dept can buy some thermal imaging equipment. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif


I just realized this was in the LED forum. Not really sure what I would recommend that is LED based. However, I really do think the Litebox would fit the bill from what you have described.

I've wondered about fitting a 5W LED to the lightbox /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

The Surefire 10X gets about 3 hrs at 60 lumens (and 500+ lumens a button push away). The battery pack simply screws on and off, so you could take a spare fairly easily.

-john

look at Surefire U2 w/18650 li-ion cell will give long runtime. with spec's at 100 lumens.

it's not so large to prevent carrying and really packs a punch. also you can dim light for other duties and extend runtime.

Cabela's carries a 2x3w LED that runs on 3 D cells. It puts out 150 lumens and runs several hours. I like mine a lot.