raptorman
Newly Enlightened
Hello to the CPF peeps. I'm an active duty Naval officer in the aviation field, and I've been researching torches that would function in my line of work. I started out with a Scorpion streamlight because it was bright enough to cut through the darkness at night and light up dark sections of the aircraft. Unfortunately, the battery life sucked. After dealing with this problem for a couple months, I moved to the Inova X5 (before it was the X5T). Bad choice. Don't get me wrong, it's a great light, but it didn't have the throw I needed to cut through 20 feet of darkness to check and see if that HF antenna was securely attached to the aircraft, and wouldn't fall of and hit some poor guy on the ground.
I took the X5, and stuck it in the survival vest I wear when flying. It's actually better for that purpose, i.e. longer battery life, and tough enough to take the abuse.
I then went to the Inova XO. I thought I had the sweet spot on LED lights. I still currently use the XO, but today, I ordered a Sure-Fire L2. The XO has a pretty decent throw, and about a 4 hour battery life. Not bad. The bad thing about the XO is that it's slick, and difficult to hold when wearing nomex gloves. Also, if I need that extra battery life to read a chart on the aircraft, I get;
1. Blinded by the bright light.
2. Use up the (4) hour battery life I need for preflight.
The XO fulfilled my general needs, but I always thought that something would be better. I did online research, and "lurked" these forums for awhile. I even took a look at the obvious first choice, the Sure-Fire Aviator. After deciding that I had to have an L.E.D. light due to the weird pressurization problems of my aircraft, and because of murphy's law with bulbs. I know the Aviator is a hybrid, but it still has the xenon type bulb that could give out when you need it.
I finally decided on the Sure-Fire L2 Digital Lumamax. I ordered it today and hope that it's all my research has made it out to be.
Any thoughts?
-raptorman
I took the X5, and stuck it in the survival vest I wear when flying. It's actually better for that purpose, i.e. longer battery life, and tough enough to take the abuse.
I then went to the Inova XO. I thought I had the sweet spot on LED lights. I still currently use the XO, but today, I ordered a Sure-Fire L2. The XO has a pretty decent throw, and about a 4 hour battery life. Not bad. The bad thing about the XO is that it's slick, and difficult to hold when wearing nomex gloves. Also, if I need that extra battery life to read a chart on the aircraft, I get;
1. Blinded by the bright light.
2. Use up the (4) hour battery life I need for preflight.
The XO fulfilled my general needs, but I always thought that something would be better. I did online research, and "lurked" these forums for awhile. I even took a look at the obvious first choice, the Sure-Fire Aviator. After deciding that I had to have an L.E.D. light due to the weird pressurization problems of my aircraft, and because of murphy's law with bulbs. I know the Aviator is a hybrid, but it still has the xenon type bulb that could give out when you need it.
I finally decided on the Sure-Fire L2 Digital Lumamax. I ordered it today and hope that it's all my research has made it out to be.
Any thoughts?
-raptorman