Came back from Camping... AND

There really isnt a better place to test lights then at camp, right?

So on this post I will quickly review some lights that I brought with me.

Surefire E1L

The Surefire E1L was my EDC for the campout. It is very small and descrete and the out put is excellent for camping. I used the light for about 45 minutes and I did not see any change in the light quality at the time. The temperature was also below freezing last night and I didnt see any impact of the temperature. The light was excellent and I rate it as:
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Inova X5

Both nights I stayed up for about an hour reading in my tent before sleeping. Because it is a one-man and is very small (yet comfortable) I used my X5T as a reading light. I simply hung it from a strap in the 'cieling' and used its light. Before the campout I used a green permanent marker on each of the 5 LEDs to give it that extra throw. It was excellent! The light was very comfortable( I didnt need to strain my eyes and it wasnt too much light either) I used a Surefire Lanyatd attached to the end of the light. I thought it was excellent for its purpose.
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Surefire G2

The Surefire G2 was an excellent light, although I didnt use it allot. The throw is excellent, easily outthrowing my e1l and it has a very nice feel in my hands. The only things I didnt like were: The tailcap is primitive, and the runtime is a bit short.. Other wise allright
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-tom

The E1L is that new one, right? That looks pretty nice. Is the beam a hot spot or more of a flood?

Did the Marker on the X5's LEDs really give it that much of a performance boast?

KDOG, the Gen 4 KL1 uses a optic to get a very tight beam that throws pretty well.

I believe that the green dots on the LEDs made the light abit more comforable for my eyes and I thought it gave it slightly more throw.

-tom

yep, Kl1 is THE best single cell light for less than $100, at least for throw it is. My brother has it, I like it better than my stock micra and PM6 LED.

-David

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Cornkid said:
The Surefire E1L was my EDC for the campout. It is very small and descrete and the out put is excellent for camping.

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I used my E1e with 4th gen KL1 quite a lot recently, mainly at night in the woods. It's an good light for that purpose, the throw is pretty good for such a small light, and I very much like the tight beam of the 4th gen KL1 in such situations.

However, I feel for this kind of usage a two-stage tailcap is almost a must. The light on full power is too bright when you're just trying tackle a muddy path, it totally destroys your night vision. A two-stage tailcap improves the usability of that light tremendously. I'm wondering why Surefire doesn't offer such tailcaps yet.

Hans

You know, it is very interesting that you posted this. Less than 4 hours ago, I returned home from a 3 day campout with my son's Boy Scout Throop. I had my eye on everyone's flashlight, but, aside from some nice headlamps, everyone had store bought mags or LEDs.

I took my Streamlight Jr. LED, which I truly love, and is my go to light, as well as a MM with Opalec Newbeam and amber lens for reading at night (IMHO, the BEST combo for this task). My Son took a store bought 2D off brand that he really likes due to its "feel" and the fact that it was a gift from his good friend.

The first night was quite cold and his flash failed, so on the second night, he asked if he could use one of mine. I gave him the Streamlight, and he went off to the Boys campsite (about 150 ft from the adults). I could see all the small LEDs, they looked like a bunch of fireflies, all of a sudden, my Son switched on the SL and it blew all the others away. It didn't take long before he had a crowd of boys asking him about the light.

While we were driving home today, he told me he would like an SL Jr. for his birthday in May. I then asked him which he would chose, the SL, or to keep his D cell if I could make it just as bright. He suprised me by saying "no contest, my old D cell" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif Guess I've got to use the search function and find a good conversion for him /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif


On a side note: Today was the last day of the trip. After we had cleaned and packed all the gear, the Scout Master led us all to the site of a recent cabin fire for his final words and thoughts, including those on fire safety. While I was standing in the back, I was looking at the ground and saw something shiny. There, buried in the forest "duff" for who knows how long, was a MM. I dug it up and checked it out. It looks like it may have been silver but is now stained from the ground. There was heavy condensation behind the lens and one of the alkalines inside had just begun to leak where the batteries meet. I took it home and disassembled it and cleaned the dirt and removed as much of the stains as I could. After fresh batts and bulb, it fired right up /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif I wonder if it belonged to one of the Scouts that were staying in the cabin the night it burned to the ground 13 months ago /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif No one was hurt in that FAST moving fire thanks to a smoke detector. When it went off and woke everyone, the front and the entire side were fully involved. The occupants escaped (barely) out a back door in nothing but their underware and socks.

Check your smoke detectors folks, go ahead and do it now, you'll be back in 5 minutes. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink2.gif

Thanks for the bit of advice.. The campout was fun. We had the new scouts out for their first Boy Scout camp.. It was... interesting.

-tom

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Cornkid said:
I believe that the green dots on the LEDs made the light abit more comforable for my eyes and I thought it gave it slightly more throw.

-tom

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COuld you please explain to me how that works? I dont understand how putting a "filter" if you would call it that, on the LEDS would give it more throw. I thought only reflectors or optics give it throw, and if there is anything obstructing the light path, the throw would be affected, for the worst. Putting a layer of permanent felt would certainly dim the light output, not provide it with more throw, would it not?

Well.. it actually gives it more throw to OUR eyes... The green light (as you may know) is easiest seen by our eyes. Because the light is slightly green, where the light would be usually very dim (between the white light and the black wall) it now looks slightly green, and thus we percieve it to throw further than white light..

-tom

I could also be that green doesn't dazzle the eyes as much in turn allowing the eye to open up to light more in the dark. Essentially green being more closer to night vision than the white/blue color.

Why am I the ONLY one that takes an X5 with the RED leds...

It's awesome, bright, and doesn't kill night vision.

SS

I dunno guys. The green light is already there in the white beam. If you coat the LEDs with something green, it should tend to block some of the parts of the white light that aren't green (like blue and red) AND ALSO reduce the transmission of the green part of the light, too, since it must be easier for light to pass through just the clear part of the LED than it would be to pass through the clear part AND the coating from the magic marker.

/blinks and scratches head.

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StainlessSteel said:
Why am I the ONLY one that takes an X5 with the RED leds...

It's awesome, bright, and doesn't kill night vision.

SS

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I think I'm gonna company you soon! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Joseph

Umm, X5 is the dimmest 2 cell I've ever seen. This light uses 5mms. Its good for battery draining though.

-David

Cornkid- Isn't it too cold in Kansas to go camping? I'm looking forward to camping season here in Jersey but I'm a wuss when it comes to cold. I've got an X5 with actual green LED's I'm looking forward to testing out.

at what degree do flashlights fail?

The final degree... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif

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mcl2u said:
at what degree do flashlights fail?

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Relatively few consumer batteries / cells will work very well at ( - 20 F). At (-40 F), pretty much only cells designed for military use will be useful.