Great throwing modified incandescent light

I was looking for a nice throwing light and the topic turned to the pocket hid light. Well, the news on that wasnt as great as I thought it was. I recall the hot wire thing, melting reflectors, teflon wire and light bulbs.

What is a good custom made light with lots of throw, no regards to run time being built around here? Can someone post a link or tell me about it?

THanks

The USL.

With an FM-3 head on it, the USL is definitely a thrower. With the stock head, though, I'd describe it more as a very massive wall of light with a nice hot spot. That's not to say the stock head doesn't throw. It's driven by a 3,500-4,000 lumen bulb (probably 2000-2500 out the front lumens), so all those photons have to go somewhere. Runtime is about 10 minutes before dimming is visible. For a 2D-sized light, it's a monster!

My signature has a link to the USL thread index. Look through the field test threads for pictures.

For a good thrower on the cheap, a 2C M@g with a Reflectalite GH-24 bulb driven by 3 CR123 primary cells inside some heater hose, and a good aluminum cammed reflector, is hard to beat. Total cost is probably under $50.

For a better thrower around $100, a Mag85 is hard to beat, if you can find one, or the parts to build it. A Mag85/FM-3 combo is a sweet setup as well. Of the lights I own, it is second only to the USL/FM-3.

If you want an LED with throw, both the Aleph3 2x123 DB917 and the LionCub/LionHead are very hard to beat.

Thanks, that is what I was looking for. Sounds cheaper than the 300 or so for the hid light.

10 minutes is more than enough time for me.