light for running all night--please help a newbie!

I'm looking for a handheld to complement a Petzl Myo XP headlamp for all-night trail running. Requirements:

(i) burn time >6h, and preferably >8h
(ii) beam at least .6m diameter at 1m distance
(iii) throws enough light to use alone, if there's fog or rain (which make headlamps useless)
(iv) as light and bright as possible subject to those constraints.

I would prefer green LED over white, but that's not a requirement. Price is not an object. I've tried to read up on some of the high-end lights in CPF, but I feel a bit lost. Most of the high drool-factor lights seem to have pretty short burn times compared with my needs, but I'm probably overlooking something.

Currently, I own Inova X5 (green), T2, and X0, Lightwave 3000 (green), Expedition 14 (3C, green), SF 6P w/ KL1 head, Gerber X3.0, and some other things (SL Scorpion, 3C 10-LED, ...).

The X5 is the best for this purpose so far. The T2 and X0 are nice and bright, but the beams are too focused and there's a substantial bulk and mass penalty compared with the X5. The LW 3000 doesn't put out enough light. The Expedition 14 throws plenty of light, but 3C's make it on the heavy side, and running with spares is out of the question. The burn time on the SF is way too short. I haven't tried the Gerber yet, but it seems like the lack of regulation is likely to be an issue, and it's on the big and heavy side compared with the X5.

Suggestions?


Thanks very much!

Re: light for running all night--please help a new

I have a Gerber LX1.0. It puts out reasonable 1W Luxeon light in a medium flood pattern from 3xAA's. Using fresh charged 2000 mah nimh's, I measured a run time of 8+ hours to half brightness. Same size and weight as your LX3.0.

Nuway 0.5W 2xAAA using lithiums runs 9+ hours to half brightness, according to Roy. In fact, Roy's page lists a bunch of lights by run time, which you can look up individually here or here.

Well, I was gonna say an Inova X5 until I read that you already had one.

How about a surefire A2 with green LED's. You get 15 hours burn time on the LED's before they start to dim and you have the high output of the incandescent for short bursts (or long ones)if you need it. The light is nice and small (compared to the others you mentioned). Plus, a couple of pairs of extra 123's side by side wrapped in saran wrap weigh next to nothing in your pocket.

Re: light for running all night--please help a new

Eternalite? the full power is ver ybirght and last quite a while, plus it runs on NIMH aa's very nicely

Re: light for running all night--please help a new

Welcome,
I have always used a Pal Light,
long run time reasonable brightness Strobe mode and
is dimable as well as being water resistant.

Welcome to the CandlePower Forum.

Check the following site.

http://flashlightreviews.com/reviews_index/reviews_index_headlamps.htm

...... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/au.gif

those 1W lights that use 3AA batteries can run for 6-8 hours. basically speaking if you have a 1W driven at spec, and 3 x 2500ma Ni-Mhy you get a all night light

same thing with 3AAs and a few 5mm leds like a 10 or 11x spec driven. 8-10 hours

with 3AAAs you get 3 5mm leds run at about spec for 8-10h.
ohh thats realy bright :-(

But for me the best is a light with simple levels, JUST 2 levels would give you everything.
run a 3W at 1000ma on 3AAs for 2.3 hours, and kick it down just 1 notch to 250ma and get 10.
best 'o both worlds, and cutting a 3w to 1/4 is still a very usable light. (ok 1/3rd , a little overdrive on the first setting

the curcuits that they put in to dimm the lights usually go down somewhat logrythmatically, so you get LOTS of run time for each dimm down.

why get stuck with a dark light when you can have 2 in one case, run time AND light if ever needed.
get one with at least a 3W, and any kinda dimm curcuit.

Re: light for running all night--please help a new

Surefire U2. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Once you dial it down to level 4 you get ~5hours runtime, and once down to level 3 it's ~10 hours. Level 3 still provides a tremendous amount of light, easily rivalling a Luxeon 1 such as that found in your KL3 head for the SF 6P (the KL1 head is for E-series SFs, the KL3 is for C and P series lights).

Downside is that it can be heavy, something close to 6oz. DEFINITELY much lighter than C cells. If you can tolerate running with those.. the U2 won't even slow you down /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

If you want even lighter, check out the HDS Basic 60, 10 lumens on the primary setting will burn for something in the region of ~8 hours and definitely above your 6hr minimum requirement. That light is a featherweight and runs on one CR123 compared to the U2.

Re: light for running all night--please help a new

If you want a green light that is pretty bright and runs all night, you might want to look into an aleph 2 on the McGizmo forum. Email Don about using a green LED. He made a couple of Aleph 3s for me, one red/orange and one cyan. You can use the low level for your primary use, and have the "kabam" available when you want to check something. I believe you can get it set up to use a rechargable battery too. The technical options can seem overwhelming (they did to me). But. if you take it one component at a time, it is surprizingly easy to spec your light out.

Or then there's always the Surefire L2. Great floodish light that will easily run all night on fresh batts.

Scott

[ QUOTE ]
slowTwitch said:
I'm looking for a handheld to complement a Petzl Myo XP headlamp for all-night trail running. Requirements:

(i) burn time >6h, and preferably >8h
(ii) beam at least .6m diameter at 1m distance
(iii) throws enough light to use alone, if there's fog or rain (which make headlamps useless)
(iv) as light and bright as possible subject to those constraints.

I would prefer green LED over white,


I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, here, /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif but it looks as if the Mini-Mag with MJLED, or Opalec would fill the bill admirably, as would the UK eLed 4AA. My MJLED has been installed for abut 4 months, left running 5 hours on my desk at work, and shows no noticable dimming. My UK is used almost every night, but has not been not left on, and the run time is said to be 10 hrs~. Not much GEE WHIZ factor, I know, but they are bright, and they shine... and shine....and shine. Not green, but a filter of some sort will take care of that in a hurry. And they don't cost a relative arm and a leg. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Could you put a slight defuser over one of your existing
lights to widen the beam? The Scotch Satin tape does
pretty well, though it will give an oval beam (since it
diffuses more in one direction than the other). But maybe
that could be used to your advantage. The other is that
the maximum width it comes in is about 3/4" wide, so
you have to use multiple strips for a bigger light.

Greg

Re: light for running all night--please help a new

Heliotek HTE. over 2500 lux, has a flip on beam diffuser making it a flood light, and uses Energizer L91 lithium AA batteries for flat regulation for 7 hours. Only downside is that its 100$. Compared to the runtime of CR123s, the L91 AAs are worth it.

Heliotek HTE review at flashlightreviews.com

Re: light for running all night--please help a new

Thanks for the great suggestions! A diffuser on the T2 might be a good option. The Heliotek HTE looks interesting.

The U2 looks awesome, but perhaps on the massive side. The L2 only claims 1h of burn on high. It's hard for me to judge how much light/time the multi-levels give on lower levels. The reviews mostly show only the beam and burn for high settings.

Gotta check out the Pal Light, UK eLed, etc. On paper, the Eternalight looks like it wouldn't serve as well as the X5, partly because I need to hold this for hours and hours...

Happy trails!

Re: light for running all night--please help a new

As beezaur suggested I think it would suit well:

A McGizmo Aleph2 on a 2xCR123 body with a Downboy light engine providing something like 300 mA to the LED. This would give about 8 hours of run time, and provide plenty of light for trail running. You could even specify a green Luxeon if you wanted, but I think a white Luxeon with a greenish tint (X1 bin) or greenish-yellow tint (V1 bin) would suit best for outdoor use.

You would also have the option of getting another, higher output light engine for the light for those times when you want more light and runtime is not paramount.

The Aleph builders, Darrel, Chop, McGizmo and others would be only too happy to put something together for you, and you will have a fantastic semi-custom light. We are talking about a near $200 light, though. But how much do you spend on running shoes, and how often?

Re: light for running all night--please help a new

Check out the Uk 4AA eLED . It has a runtime of 11 hrs using 4AA alkaline cells.

Re: light for running all night--please help a new

Did you say running in rain/fog? Leds might not be the best choice for fog in particular, due to the amount of reflection you get back from the white led (something to do with the light wavelength/spectrum or something like that), so maybe you might want to also consider an Incan or at least something with Amber Leds (if that makes a difference in fog?)

I'd suggest a UKE 2L, its a pretty bright incan and has about 2-3 hrs runtime. Otherwise if you really do not care for incans, the UKE 4AA eLed is definitely a good choice too, as bowler has suggested. You will also be able to swap the lamp assemblies between the 4AA eLed and the 2L if you want to...

Other long running bright lights that I can think of, SF E2e on a KL1 (3rd gen, not the latest 4th gen) gives you about 4 hrs regulated light, and a few more hrs diminishing after that). SL Twintask 2L is similar to the Aviator, except its got a longer runtime, and gives you the option of using 3 leds or the incan mode.

Hope this helps...