My 17 yr old nephew is now a Solider.??????

My 17 yr old nephew just left yesterday for FT Knox to begin his military duty. He is training to be a Tank mechanic. He should be graduating in late December or early January and his recuriter said that he has a 99.9% chance that he will be going to IRAQ. I want to start looking early for a graduation present which will be a light. Since you all know your lights what kind of light would be good for him. Thanks for any input.

I think that maybe a Surefire E2L would be good. I believe that Surefire Cr123 cells are available to Service personnel in Irag, and the E2L would provide good run time with decent brightness that would suit him for close up work on his tanks. Get the HAA III finish.

BTW, God Bless him for choosing the Service, and may God protect him while in harms way.

Bill

Seconded on the E2L! No bulb to blow out. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Ask him what color light they have in the tank (after his training), that would definatly be a factor in chosing a light, we don't want to cause temp loss of night vision. Also I would look for something with good runtime. And if you are getting him a light I would look at getting him a battery carrier like at bugoutgear.com the ones I have from him can hold AAA, AA, CR123 or CR2. in a pocketable case.

for a flashlight in my opinion I would look at:

- TW4 (SF e1e/KL4 head) with a two stage flatop Mcgizmo tail. it provides great flood and on low its great for close up. Kinda pricy but compact and very usable!

- if you want a good beam flashlight get a cr123 light off of B/S/T or custom B/S/T

The spot-beam of a E2L for closeup-work? not without beamshaper. I would consider the L1 with beamshaper. The low-beam should be usefull when it is really dark. (there speaks my military-experience /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif )

I wish your nephew good luck in whatever he is doing there. I hope it is worth it.

Something with 2-4 AA batteries and a LED. Possibly a red lens.

An MJLED or Nite-Ize in a minimag would be good for a low level light.

A head lamp with a RED led option would be good also.

wwglen

Why a single light?

I'd recomend a photon modded with 26k or Nichia
Then a Dorcy AAA or Sonic
Then a E1L or E2L with beamshaper, although I'd think a 2xAA light with Lux 1 is better given battery availability. Not sure what off the shelf ones there are but a minimag modded with a terralux or other drop in is good.

Then, finally, an L2 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

L2, great beam pattern and runtime on low for close-up work, and good output on high when needed.

E2L + beam shaper would be smaller, but it doesn't offer a long running low mode and the beam shaper is just another little item to track/lose.

HDS Systems Basic 42 - no contest vs the L1.

I'm a Surefire fan (and RABID, foaming at the mouth fan of the U2 specifically), but the Basic 42 has the L1 licked in every department except the clip /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nana.gif then again in a war zone one will not be admiring how pretty the clip is.

ALL levels are regulated, in comparison the L1's "low" can become TOO low because of the resistive two-stage tailcap when the batteries are depleted, even though they have enough power to drive the high beam in regulation once the resistor is bypassed and the regulator kicks in (high mode). The HDS will make the most out of dying batteries. It's gotta be tough worrying about everything without having to worry about battery changes often and necessarily.

I bought the L1 and no, low mode did not turn out to be the battery eater I wanted it to be. The HDS does a much better job.

The UI is easy enough to operate that he won't forget it (hence: BASIC, not Ultimate), even under absolute maximum stress. A single click turns the light on at 10 lumens, so even if he forgets, it won't emit a gigantic blast of light. Double click (like computer mice) drops to secondary. And in an emergency people do what comes naturally - a press-and-hold after power on means full blast. I have a 60, and the day I fired it up, I nicknamed it "the one-cell HOLA" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

If Henry can rush us the 2AA power pack, he will have that as well. But in the meantime, the Basic 42 has awesome runtime on a single CR123 - at 80+ minutes on FULL BLAST - and increasing thereafter. The 42 specifically has this huge runtime advantage over the 60 (barely 30+ minutes full blast).

The low beam is perfect for closeup work, without a beamshaper, although I have tested mine with the F04 Surefire beamshaper and it works great.

I'm a big advocate for the new KL1, but if my nephew was going to Iraq as a tank mechanic, I would probably give him a SureFire A2 with white LEDs for his primary light. I would also buy him several extra MA02 lamps and a SC3 spare carrier. LED lights are great, but I feel more comfortable equipping him with a good incandescent light in a war zone. He can use the low LED setting for close-up mechanic work and the incandescent light for tactical purposes. However, I would not hesitate to give him an E1L or E2L as a secondary light.

L2! ( or U2.. if you are ok with the price /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif )

-tom

Take a look at the the Electrolumens AngleLux. It is a modified military bent head flashlight that now uses a 3w LED! Looks like a stock bent head (see my avatar /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif ) untill you turn it on or look in where the reflector used to be!! Being that it looks stock...there should be less chance of the light sprouting legs and walking off!

Given the similar shape and geometry of the AngleLux and a can of beer or soda, staying in physical condition for using the AngleLux should be NO problem! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crackup.gif

I'll second the L1 with beamshaper. You get good runtime on 1 cell, and 2 stages. If the spot becomes a problem, put on the beamshaper. Good suggestion BBL.

-David

I think a Surefire U2 would provide a lot of utility. If he is going to be a mechanic, sometimes you want more light and sometimes you can have too much light. The U2 would allow him to choose how much light based on what he needs at the moment.

If you could swing it, I would also try to get him a backup light. I would consider the HDS Basic since it provides the multifunction aspect in a small package. I would look at getting the optional beam diffuser as well since he is probably going to want a wider beam for closeup work.

Also, for a mechanic, a headlamp would probably be a good idea. Again, something with more than one level would be good. I'd be inclined to look for something with AA batteries over AAA batteries. However, there are some 123A powered lights if those are available to him. Again, I'd look for something more flood than spot.

Nuwai 123A powered 1W, 3 level headlamp:
http://www.eliteled.com/products/flashlights/HLX712L.html

3W version of sameheadlamp?
http://www.amondotech.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=872

-john

If you can't afford the U2, the L5 is a good alternative albeit with only one level of light output. The L5 is built like a "TANK" and will give your nephew the needed durability. Plus, if it breaks, you have the SF warranty.

Thanks for all the replies. This is really helpful to me. I'm not sure yet on what I will get him but right now it looks like it might be a combnation of lights like a few of you sugested.

Toss in a couple of Photon II's or Freedoms in red, green, blue, and white. Those are good for seeing, night vision, and signaling. Plus some spare batteries for each. Cheap, low tech, and ready to go. The Freedoms clip with the magnets is a nice touch and useful. Cheap & easy is the way to go when the crap hits the fan.

Geez, I still get awful skeezy thinking about sending 17 year olds out to where they can get shot at. Too damned young! Oughta wait 'til the stuff behind their ears is dry at least. If we gotta send kids that young to war, this sure can be a crappy planet somedays.

Buy the kid some, nope, the heck with that, not some -- a whole pantload of kevlar, and make sure he knows how to duck real darned good, for crying out loud. And if he says he'll be real brave, smack him in the head good and hard! I hate seeing children be brave. Scares the crap out of me every time. Be sure he listens to the old guys, it might save his butt.

Good luck & Godspeed!

Hello 5.0 Trunk,
God bless and protect your nephew as he heads out to war. He is to be commended for his enlistment and commitment to serve and protect us in this time of madness. Please thank him for me.
As for what kind of light he should take with him? I am a total newbie on this subject, so probably am unable to offer you a good suggestion. I leave it up to the more studied members of our group.
I just had to recognize your nephew's courage in his action.
Best regards,
Jay /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/clap.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/clap.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/clap.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/clap.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/clap.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/clap.gif

A former military guy I know RAVES about his Inova X5 a lot. I don't know that he thinks it would be a good military light, but if he likes it that much it says SOMETHING...

I too commend the young man! I sincerly hope he'll be okay and will pray for such!

May he have a safe tour of duty.