Flashlight talk....

[Jbb]

:p
I worked with a guy on my weekend job that had the tinyest brightest flashlight I ever saw.....
Im gonna have to get a couple ...bright bright.... :) handy,small versatile,bright
he bought his at Target for $19 ...Brinkman... (http://www.brinkmann.net/Shop/Detail.aspx?category=Flashlights+%26+Spotlights&subcategory=Flashlights&sku=820-1025-0&seriesname=Lithium-Xenon&seriessku=FLA-2000-4&id=138)
...a public service announcement brought to you by Team Jbb... :rollside:

[SmokinLowriderSS]

Get ready for a pair of replacement batteries to cost more than the flashlight did originally.

[sea2lake]

Surefire
U2 Ultra
Battery-powered LED. Compact (palm size) high-intensity variable-output LED flashlight for tactical, duty, and general use.
these are the real deal. they have 2 settings, on and really f'n bright.
led bulbs. i have 2 and they work great. also a handheld weapon if needed.
http://www.surefire.com/maxexp/main/co_disp/displ/pgrfnbr/16/sesent/00

[desertbird]

AWESOME Light. LED, and powered by regular AAA's. Bright enough to knock you on your ass. I love mine, and just bought one for my Brother-in-Law for XMAS.
COAST TAC TORCH (http://www.coastcutlery.com/displayProduct.php?prodid=268&prodnums=¿600¡269¡268¡264¡263¡260¡270¡267 ¡276¡277¡ 265¡271¡272¡273¡274¡275¡261¡262¿&mastCat=5)

[Jbb]

Get ready for a pair of replacement batteries to cost more than the flashlight did originally.
Negative,ghostrider......the batteries and bulbs are stocked for our use on the job!... :p

[Rexone]

For $279 that sumbitch better be like a little mini-sun.

[sea2lake]

it is, you can blind someone with it, that is the idea, plus the end of the case is serated(sp) for skin ripping action for a defensive position

[Jbb]

lol....I was thinking more along the lines ....of seeing my work a little better.. :p ...skin ripping...ouch!......lol..... :jawdrop:

[Bense468]

STREAMLIGHT (http://streamlight-flashlights.com/)
They make several small ones check em out.

[Tom Brown]

I hessitate to out myself as a nerd here but I have a few opinions on this subject.
That Brinkmann light is decent, but not great. The 123A cells are less than a buck each, if you buy them by the dozen. They have much higher energy density than an alkaline cell.
For a good general duty flashlight, I can't say enough good things about the Streamlight 4AA ProPolymer LED flashlight. These lights are bright, much brighter than the Brinkmann. They can be had for $25 and they are a regulated light so you get full brightness until the batteries go dead, at which time it switches to candle mode which is supposed to be just enough light to find fresh cells. These things are waterproof and bullet proof. Seriously, you'd be hard pressed to find a better general purpose light at any price, including Surefire. DonÂ’t let the plastic body of this thing fool you. You could throw this thing out the window at freeway speed, let dozens of cars drive over it, and when you recover it, it will still be shining. It is and feels like an excellent quality flashlight. Streamlight is a high end brand. They make a lot of lights for law enforcement.
The thing about LEDs is they don't break. A filament bulb will break easily when itÂ’s on and hot. LEDs are not as bright as a good gas filament bulb, though. They aren't even close. Also, LED brightness goes down extremely quickly with battery voltage. As your batteries sag a little bit, the light output goes down tremendously. This is why itÂ’s really important to have voltage regulation in an LED light.
Surefire is the very best of the production LED lights. For tactical work, they are the cadillac. Pretty much anything Surefire makes is of excellent quality. If you want more light than a high end Surefire puts out, there are custom lights that put out substantially more light than a Surefire but they cost a lot more again. Check out anything by McGizmo. They are among the best LED lights on the planet. I also really like the EDC brand. Their little 120 is a fantastic light and you can adjust the light output to whatever you want.
ItÂ’s hard to get an LED to throw. They all have holes in the center of the beam. If you look closely, they throw a donut shaped beam. The only way to mitigate the donut effect is to use a stippled beam and that cuts into the throw distance. LEDs are great but they are not throwers.
If you want *THROW*, you need to use a halogen bulb and you need to overdrive it. By taking a 9.6 volt bulb (perhaps a Welch-Allyn WA1185 super bulb) and driving it at 11 or 12 volts, you can get 1000+ lumens. A 3D Maglight can be modified to hold 9 AA cells and a WA1185. I hear the nerds call these lights a Mag85. This general series of overdriven flashlights are called hotwiresÂ…. Or so IÂ’m told. A Mag85 will throw light to half a mile. For close work, theyÂ’re way too bright to be useful.
An interesting hotwire project is to replace the 2AA cells in a MiniMag with a pair of 14500 Li-ion cells (AA physical size but they put out 4.1v per cell) and then run a Streamlight TL3 halogen bulb in the place of the stock bulb. These little lights throw like a blow torch. ItÂ’s a cheap and easy mod too. Â…. Or so I hear.

[SmokinLowriderSS]

Look at Tom, gittin all Mr Flashlight Modifier and sh!+. :jawdrop:

[Jbb]

I hessitate to out myself as a nerd here but I have a few opinions on this subject.
That Brinkmann light is decent, but not great. The 123A cells are less than a buck each, if you buy them by the dozen. They have much higher energy density than an alkaline cell.
For a good general duty flashlight, I can't say enough good things about the Streamlight 4AA ProPolymer LED flashlight. These lights are bright, much brighter than the Brinkmann. They can be had for $25 and they are a regulated light so you get full brightness until the batteries go dead, at which time it switches to candle mode which is supposed to be just enough light to find fresh cells. These things are waterproof and bullet proof. Seriously, you'd be hard pressed to find a better general purpose light at any price, including Surefire. DonÂ’t let the plastic body of this thing fool you. You could throw this thing out the window at freeway speed, let dozens of cars drive over it, and when you recover it, it will still be shining. It is and feels like an excellent quality flashlight. Streamlight is a high end brand. They make a lot of lights for law enforcement.
The thing about LEDs is they don't break. A filament bulb will break easily when itÂ’s on and hot. LEDs are not as bright as a good gas filament bulb, though. They aren't even close. Also, LED brightness goes down extremely quickly with battery voltage. As your batteries sag a little bit, the light output goes down tremendously. This is why itÂ’s really important to have voltage regulation in an LED light.
Surefire is the very best of the production LED lights. For tactical work, they are the cadillac. Pretty much anything Surefire makes is of excellent quality. If you want more light than a high end Surefire puts out, there are custom lights that put out substantially more light than a Surefire but they cost a lot more again. Check out anything by McGizmo. They are among the best LED lights on the planet. I also really like the EDC brand. Their little 120 is a fantastic light and you can adjust the light output to whatever you want.
ItÂ’s hard to get an LED to throw. They all have holes in the center of the beam. If you look closely, they throw a donut shaped beam. The only way to mitigate the donut effect is to use a stippled beam and that cuts into the throw distance. LEDs are great but they are not throwers.
If you want *THROW*, you need to use a halogen bulb and you need to overdrive it. By taking a 9.6 volt bulb (perhaps a Welch-Allyn WA1185 super bulb) and driving it at 11 or 12 volts, you can get 1000+ lumens. A 3D Maglight can be modified to hold 9 AA cells and a WA1185. I hear the nerds call these lights a Mag85. This general series of overdriven flashlights are called hotwiresÂ…. Or so IÂ’m told. A Mag85 will throw light to half a mile. For close work, theyÂ’re way too bright to be useful.
An interesting hotwire project is to replace the 2AA cells in a MiniMag with a pair of 14500 Li-ion cells (AA physical size but they put out 4.1v per cell) and then run a Streamlight TL3 halogen bulb in the place of the stock bulb. These little lights throw like a blow torch. ItÂ’s a cheap and easy mod too. Â…. Or so I hear.
lol......................nerd.... :p

[socalmoney]

Best flashlight I have used to date is the Gladius by Night-Ops. I will let thier site do the talking. It has come down a lot in price also. Disigned by the guy who was the head of training for Sure Fire.
http://www.night-ops.com/Gladius-6V-LED.html
http://www.night-ops.com/images/4-color.jpg

[YeLLowBoaT]

I'll stick to my 4 d mag thanks.

[RitcheyRch]

I have both the older L1P and L2P. They are very bright and use standard AA batteries.
http://www.fenixlight.com/

[socalmoney]

Video on the Gladius capabilities.
http://www.blackhawkvideo.com/night-ops.html
You just can't beat the strobe feature. It is a lot of fun.

[JustMVG]

Got a good three led focused flashlight from sporty's pilot shop and that thing is bright , and strong too i have droppoed it from the top of the stairs to an MD11 and it works just fine although it's got a few scratches....

[C-2]

You boys want NERDS...I'm in, check out the projects on this forum:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/
Nothing like a 6K Xenon based flashlight, which if you disaasemble, can pull double duty in your car.
I have 6K retrofitted Xenons in my Mercedes......it was a fun retro:
http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/
....what can I say...I like lights!

[Strip Poker 388]

I hessitate to out myself as a nerd here but I have a few opinions on this subject.
That Brinkmann light is decent, but not great. The 123A cells are less than a buck each, if you buy them by the dozen. They have much higher energy density than an alkaline cell.
For a good general duty flashlight, I can't say enough good things about the Streamlight 4AA ProPolymer LED flashlight. These lights are bright, much brighter than the Brinkmann. They can be had for $25 and they are a regulated light so you get full brightness until the batteries go dead, at which time it switches to candle mode which is supposed to be just enough light to find fresh cells. These things are waterproof and bullet proof. Seriously, you'd be hard pressed to find a better general purpose light at any price, including Surefire. DonÂ’t let the plastic body of this thing fool you. You could throw this thing out the window at freeway speed, let dozens of cars drive over it, and when you recover it, it will still be shining. It is and feels like an excellent quality flashlight. Streamlight is a high end brand. They make a lot of lights for law enforcement.
The thing about LEDs is they don't break. A filament bulb will break easily when itÂ’s on and hot. LEDs are not as bright as a good gas filament bulb, though. They aren't even close. Also, LED brightness goes down extremely quickly with battery voltage. As your batteries sag a little bit, the light output goes down tremendously. This is why itÂ’s really important to have voltage regulation in an LED light.
Surefire is the very best of the production LED lights. For tactical work, they are the cadillac. Pretty much anything Surefire makes is of excellent quality. If you want more light than a high end Surefire puts out, there are custom lights that put out substantially more light than a Surefire but they cost a lot more again. Check out anything by McGizmo. They are among the best LED lights on the planet. I also really like the EDC brand. Their little 120 is a fantastic light and you can adjust the light output to whatever you want.
ItÂ’s hard to get an LED to throw. They all have holes in the center of the beam. If you look closely, they throw a donut shaped beam. The only way to mitigate the donut effect is to use a stippled beam and that cuts into the throw distance. LEDs are great but they are not throwers.
If you want *THROW*, you need to use a halogen bulb and you need to overdrive it. By taking a 9.6 volt bulb (perhaps a Welch-Allyn WA1185 super bulb) and driving it at 11 or 12 volts, you can get 1000+ lumens. A 3D Maglight can be modified to hold 9 AA cells and a WA1185. I hear the nerds call these lights a Mag85. This general series of overdriven flashlights are called hotwiresÂ…. Or so IÂ’m told. A Mag85 will throw light to half a mile. For close work, theyÂ’re way too bright to be useful.
An interesting hotwire project is to replace the 2AA cells in a MiniMag with a pair of 14500 Li-ion cells (AA physical size but they put out 4.1v per cell) and then run a Streamlight TL3 halogen bulb in the place of the stock bulb. These little lights throw like a blow torch. ItÂ’s a cheap and easy mod too. Â…. Or so I hear.
sounds like ya done some research? :rollside:

[Kachina26]

I'll stick to my 4 d mag thanks.My little streamlight throws out more light than my 6 cell mag, and that's the truth!

[Tom Brown]

My little streamlight throws out more light than my 6 cell mag, and that's the truth!
Go to Walmart and pick up the upgraded Mag bulb for a 5D Mag (LMSA501). It will make a new light out of that Mag for a couple of bucks. :cool:
...... or so the nerds tell me. :confused:

[Tom Brown]

You just can't beat the strobe feature. It is a lot of fun.
The local nerds tell me they are familiar with Gladius. Very good but not in the McGizmo league.
Strobes are available on tons of lights. 14 year old super geek Carlton tells me there is even a light in development that can accept messages downloaded from USB and has a setting to strobe them out in morse code.
Something tells me Carlton's future is going to be dominated with rubbing out DNA samples to ***boat avatars.
Anyway, is strobe really that useful? I'd rather have a non LED light that can light up an object to half a mile and signal to a few miles.

[msc5195]

So they claim to be. Pricey but well worth it. Very brite at 1300 lumens.
http://www.imagometrics.com/images/6.05/AE24Pwr/24W_sml/DSCN9594%20.jpg
http://www.imagometrics.com/images/6.05/AE24Pwr/24W_sml/DSCN9598.jpg
http://www.imagometrics.com/images/6.05/AE24Pwr/24W_sml/DSCN9595.jpg
MORE INFO HERE (http://www.magnalight.com/pc-84-30-hid-metal-halide-rechargeable-flashlights--click-for-prices.aspx)

[Tom Brown]

That is not the world's brightest flashlight but HID is the brightest flashlight technology. Any HID light is killer bright.
A company in austrailia has developed a big portable spotlight that can put a blob of light onto an object two miles away. lol! :D

[Riverkid]

I've used this one. It's BRIGHT. :)

[Rexone]

Tom your nerdiness crosses technological geek lines I never even imagined existing. You are truly a nerd for all seasons not just IT. :)

[Charley]

another nice one, military grade.
http://www.phoebus.com/hidflashlight.html

[phebus]

another nice one, military grade.
http://www.phoebus.com/hidflashlight.html
What the hell is a Phoebus? :rollside: :rollside: :rollside:

[mbrown2]

I think my $6 LED Flashlight off Ebay works great for spotting Scorpions in the Dark in Parker:).....When I am going into tactical night ops I will look into some of these really hi-tech flashlights...
I also upgraded my mag lights to the LED bulbs and they look really nice now.

[Jbb]

Alot of portable light opinions.... :p

[Charley]

What the hell is a Phoebus? :rollside: :rollside: :rollside:
they make followspots for stage lighting

[socalmoney]

Anyway, is strobe really that useful? I'd rather have a non LED light that can light up an object to half a mile and signal to a few miles.
For LE use the strobe is very useful. It hides your position and allows you to get up on your suspect very quickly. If they have alcohol on board, sometimes they fall over. It throws off their balance and they put up their hands to block the light. Just another tool to try to keep safe.