He has Streamlight 20x and laughs at me !!

I go camping with my Nephew. He is a police officer. He uses his Streamlight 20x and laughs at my 4 D cell Maglight. I really want to show him up with a new light. Any good recommendations out there that would be as good or better for camping? I will also use it when I step out of our motor home during dark nights to check out the rig or my trailer. My budget is $100.00 - $175.00. Even if you recommend the same 20x, I'm ready to buy. Any comments appreciated.

Streamlight UltraStinger 75,000 candlepower compared to the 30,000 of the Sl20X
http://www.copsplus.com/prodnum1181.php

Trade your 4d m*gl on a 3d m*g. Then build a mag85.

Say something like, "that 4d wasnt bright enough, so i went down to 3d... cause that's where the REAL power is"... then let loose with 1,234 bulb lumens.

Check out the Surefire M3 w/HOLA. They can be had for around 150.00

practical ideas
-Get the same light but put the SL35 bulb in it. Runs the light much brighter for a shorter period of time. Then tell him his light is defective.

-Get a rechargable maglite and replace the bulb with a WA1160.


-Less practical
Build a Mag85. He'll laugh at you until you turn it on.

or

Most comfortable in my skin light
-Forget about what he thinks, don't try to one up him or impress him and get what you like.

I'm not sure if this one will work, I think it will.... replace the 4 cell bulb in your Maglite with a 3 cell bulb.

go down to buy sell trade, menber Argetni sell mag85. go fo it.

I'd personally recommend going with a Magcharger and a WA1160 bulb for brightness, but that's just me. The problem is that most high-output flashlights have low runtimes--all the way from 15 minutes from the really exotic ones to less than an hour from a modded MC (vs almost two stock). Aftermarket batteries will help considerably, though. None are great all-around camping lights.

A Streamlight SL-35X has both runtime and brightness, but you lose the "wow" factor since: A-it's a stock light, and: B-it's really long.

With that money you could buy a few Thors and build a harness that could hold two on either side of your body, one over the other....

Having a dimable light is also fun. I show my Modamag with it fully dimmed and people like it and are "polite" when I shine it on something.
Then I say that if I need a bit more light and turn it up.
Then they are "POLITE".

I would highly reccomend the mag85 idea. It's a bit harder to look after, you need to learn a few things first (battery management, bulb care) but after you get the hang of it you won't look back. mag85s put out so much light it's incredible. I was playing with mine last night and I'm still in love with it.

I second the UltraStinger idea. Its a bit smaller than most of the other choices or at least slimmer so it looks less powerful, but its one bright light for its size. The magcharger would probably be my second choice.

The SL20 with the SL35X bulb would be pretty amusing I think.
However, the TigerLight 8" (FBOP) would be my choice if you needed something more compact and great value to show off with!

Al

Ahh, forgot about the Tigerlight. Its one of those that I don't have any experience with though. A rechargable 2-3 million candlepower spotlight will also blow the SL-20X away, just at the cost of size.

just get a Fenix L1P which is the best value and most practical/cost efficient light on the market and forget what your friend thinks. This light will fit on your key chain and put out as much light as a mag 3d. If you decide to go with the mag85 mod let me warn you. It may be incredibly bright but the bulb life is rated at 20 hours and you wont want to leave this thing on for too long because it will heat up the entire light to the point where it's too hot to hold. While the mag85 may be INCREDIBLY bright it is not a verry practical light. also the light beam coming off the mag85 will be bright enough to melt plastic at short range.

jashhash said:

just get a Fenix L1P which is the best value and most practical/cost efficient light on the market and forget what your friend thinks. This light will fit on your key chain and put out as much light as a mag 3d. If you decide to go with the mag85 mod let me warn you. It may be incredibly bright but the bulb life is rated at 20 hours and you wont want to leave this thing on for too long because it will heat up the entire light to the point where it's too hot to hold. While the mag85 may be INCREDIBLY bright it is not a verry practical light. also the light beam coming off the mag85 will be bright enough to melt plastic at short range.

Click to expand...

I disagree.

According to flashlightreviews.com the 3d mag puts out about 6200 lux, vs approximately 600 for the fenix l1p v2.5. Nowhere near as bright. Sure you can make arguments for the maglite's hotspot being more focussed and so on but there's no question in my mind that the 3d is putting out way more light both in total and in the hotspot than the fenix.

Regarding the heat output of the mag85 - I have run the mag85 for long periods of time and I can definitively say that it is NOT as hot as you think it is. It will melt plastic - but only if the plastic is INSIDE the light assembly AND you run the it much longer than a normal person would usually run it for. The usual problem with that is the switch assembly melting with unpotted bulbs. If you use kiu's high temp bi-pin setup the problem is eliminated. The mag85 certainly does not get too hot to hold. It is NOT an impractical light at all. The infrared (heat) output of the beam will not burn or melt plastic - it doesnt even burn paper. If you're very very very patient and you put bread at close enough range you can toast bread. But burning or melting plastic is definately out of the question.

At 10.8 volts Welch Allyn rate the bulb for about 12 hours life, I would expect closer to 10, perhaps even less under normal conditions.

Samorlando, definately take up argetni's offer of the mag85s - you can always sell one of the two off and and also sell off your 4d mag. That will put you back into the price range you were talking about.

You can also upgrade your 4D Mag, then you can tell him you just put in fresh batteries
In this thread you will find a lot of info on modding the 4D.
However, I would have prefered something smaller and lighter. These Mag 2D mods Litho123 sells are very nice.

The problem with all very bright lights is the short runtime, therefore I always use two lights (or more). One lower power with good tradeoff between brightness and runtime, and one "as bright as it gets", for spotting things at long range. In addition a good headlamp is essential.

Sigbjoern

Size15's said:

The SL20 with the SL35X bulb would be pretty amusing I think.
However, the TigerLight 8" (FBOP) would be my choice if you needed something more compact and great value to show off with!

Al

Click to expand...

Al beat me to it. The SL-20x with SL-35x bulb is awesome and quite amusing. Also go ahead throw on the Digital Flasher/Dimmer tail cap, then you'll have a multi-level light and he'll really think his is defective.

The TigerLight rocks too. I love mine. It will be smaller and brighter.

Your nephew ends up looking silly with either choice. You can't go wrong.

Ditto, ditto, and more ditto on the SL-20X w/35X lamp. Tell him you were so jealous of his light, you went out and got the same one. Then put on your best, "jeez, the one you got must suck" face. Look questioning and mildly amused for best results.

:devil:

How about the KPR112 bulb, piece of water line insulating foam tubing, 3 x 123A disposable lithium battery (or 2 x 150A rechargeable lithium-ion cell) and bolt/nut/washer extender mod? Cheap and bright. You could get a UCL and fivemega or modamag SMO, LOP or MOP reflector as well.

Take a look at B/S/T - someone is/was selling a Magcharger to raise money for Hurricane Katrina relief. If it is still available, buy it, then get a WA 1185 bulb.

A KPR112 wouldn't touch an SL-20X, no matter how it was driven. Big class difference.