a torch or flashlight for your trail kit. Any suggestions?

[JJHACK]

I have used a number of different little lights over the years and have had decent luck with the 2AA maglights and even a 4 AAA LED light given to me by Randy Hunter a couple years ago. That little LED light is very bright and lasts a long time. However it always seems my batteries are low when I need them and I'm too far from town to buy them when I'm in the bush. A torch or flashlight is a very important part of my kit in Africa and in the USA. It seems game is always knocked down right at dark and the light is very important. So here are my thoughts on this. Any input or suggestions would be great.

My needs for a light are to search for blood right after dark, follow tracks right after dark, work in and around the truck gathering gear to carry to the lodge, and to find my way out of the bush after tracking or following up an anmal.

The desired objective: Use up to a 2 battery 2C size or smaller. 2 settings for brightness, or a dimmer switch. One low for walking out of the bush and gathering gear. The other as bright as possible to see blood and tracks. This should extend battery life. The light should work a solid hour on the bright setting and much more then that on the dim setting. Say 2 hours or so.

Rechargable battery pack charged from 110VAC or a 12VDC lighter plug. Waterproof, durable and unbreakable lens. The use of regular batteries if the rechargeables are flat. The ability to charge from a stand or plug. It should not have to be taken apart to charge. The spare battery pack should also be rechargable without being in the light itself. Made of high impact plastic or aluminum. Preferably not perfectly round so it will not roll when set down on a flat surface. Also in a bright color( not camo) so it can be seen easy when set down on the ground.

Any other ideas or thoughts on where this light can be purchased?

[RollTide]

JJ,
I think I know just what you are looking for.  Have you considered the new lithium cell lights from Surefire or Streamlight.  Lithium cells are about the same size as a AA cell (a little shorter and a little fatter) but they a 3 volt cells instead of the 1.5volts for the AA.  Lithium cells do not loose charge in storage (10 year shelf life).  Their power output does not diminish while the light is in use (i.e. the light does not get dimmer when the battery is nearly used up).  Surefire makes a whole line of these lights in just about any configuration including rechargeable models.  They will have precisely what you are looking for, but they start at about $75 per light and go way up from there.  Surefire primarily sells to law enforcement.  They make excellent lights in small packages that are EXTREMELY bright.

I just bought a light from Streamlight at my local sporting goods store called a TWINTASK.  It has 3 LED bulbs and 1 XENON bulb in the same flashlight.  The LED light will burn for 25 hours on 2 lithium cells, and the VERY BRIGHT XENON bulb will burn 2.5 hours on 2 lithium cells. You just click the "ON" switch to change from the LED to the XENON light.  These lights are waterproof and are made of machined aluminum just like the Surefire lights, but they are half the price at $29.95.

For your kit in the US, I would also suggest a carbide light. You can carry enough carbide "rocks" sealed in a 4oz baby bottle to burn the lamp for 16 hours and they are activated in the lamp with just plain water.  I always carry one in my vehicle and in my hunting kit.  I am not sure you can transport the carbide on an airline, so it may not be feasible for Africa.  

I can look up sources for any of this if you are interested.

Roll Tide

[JJHACK]

Unlike the USA if you leave game over night in Africa to locate it the next day it will often times be chewed up by jackals and Hyenas.

Here is what I have found so far. The two best made nearly perfect answers to the original question are the Surefire and the streamlight. I could post the websites but I'm not sure if graybeard is selling advertising so I don't want to overstep this just yet.

These two companies make nearly identical quality and performance equipment and have a huge reptation behind them. They make every kind of combination of size and battery type. The best value seems to be the light called the stinger by Streamlight. Its rechargeable from the car and the house without removing the batteries, 15,000 candle power for an hour, spare batteries available to give you 2 hours runtime, only 7" long too! This is about the best deal going although expensive, it's about 1/2 the cost of the same Surefire light.

When you buy a Surfire light it seems that the status of the light is as important as the brightness. I just cannot imagine paying $255.00 bucks for a light that Streamlight is selling for $94.00. Granted you will have that Surefire light as a level of status few will achive but does it help you see in the dark that much better with the same brightness rating and run time?  $94.00 bucks is expensive enough for the "cheaper one" by streamlight!

The Streamlight includes both the truck mount 12VDC charger and the 110VAC wall mount charger. You can buy a seperate charger for the spare battery or pull out the battery and charge the spare in your light. It's 7" long and has 15,000 candle power for 1 hour.

I have not found anything better yet. How do Lumens convert to candle power or visa versa?  So many tables by manufacturers use one or the other it's hard to compare them. I'm still shopping keep the ideas coming.

[Rusty]

I have a small (4 AA batteries) dive light.  It ran me $30, it is waterproof, bright, and lasts about 3 hous on a set of batteries.  It is oval in shape.  UK (underwater kinetic I think made this one).  There are several other excellent brands available.  My suggestion is to shop a SCUBA store.  These flashlights aren't as bright as the "tactical flashlights", but they are still very bright, and they last longer on a set of batteries by a long margin.

[RollTide]

JJ,
I am glad the companies I suggested had something you found helpful.  Did you also note there is a STINGER HP that gives up to 40,000 cp for one hour run time.  It is the same size light.

In order to get ALL the features you want, I would suggest a 2 flashlight system using the TWINTASK (dual intensity with 25 hours run time at low intensity and uses regular batteries)and the STINGER (very bright rechargeable light for most short duration tasks).  They are both small enough and light enough to be carried on your belt( at the same time if you need to) and batteries are small enough that 1 or 2 spare sets could be carried with ease in your kit.  the 2 light system gives you a spare in case you need to loan one or in case one is damaged or fails to operate for some reason.   Lastly, for the "no roll", "bright color" options, take a childrens swim "noodle" made of brightly colored closed cell foam, cut a 1" thick slice of it into a oval shape, and slip it over the body of the flashlight until it sits just below the head of the light.

1.  no roll due to oval shape (and no slide on slanted surfaces due to friction of foam)
2.  easy location due to bright color of foam "donut"
3.  quick purchase on light when removing it from the belt holster.
4.  some degree of impact protection for the head in case the light is dropped.
5.  the light floats with the beam pointing up and the head above water in case it is dropped into water (also handy for boating rescues)
6.  if it gets grungy or damaged, just put another donut on. (one $2 noodle will make about 80 "donuts".)


just my $.02

Roll Tide

[RollTide]

lumens vs candle power

You cannot convert between the two.  As I understand it, lumens are a measure of how much light is produced by the system while candle power is a measure of the intensity of the beam at a certain distance.  Again, if I understand correctly, a given bulb at a given voltage will produce a fixed amount of lumens.  Since candle power is the beam intensity and the beam can be directed, narrowed, and focused at different distances, the candle power of a sysytem with the same bulb and same voltage can be tripled by adding a different relector and lense.

there are more indepth discussions at :
surefire.com
or
streamlight.com

[JJHACK]

Ok, have had the chance to play with and test a few different lights this past few days.

The Surfire aluminum rechargable is the brightest and most well made light on earth. It comes at a large cost and with a couple considerations. It has no beam focus, very expensive bulbs(16-30 bucks each) and mine only lasted 40 minutes before a noticable reduction in light.  The Aluminum model is bullet proof!  The best price I found for the light an the chargers was 179.00 bucks The poly or plastic model was a bit less but still very durable and probably would provide a lifetime of use.

The Next light was the Streamlight Stinger. A little less  bright then the Surfire, but with a spot or flood function by rotating the bezel. It gave me over an hour of light before getting dim. The construction is solid. So long as your not hammering nails with the butt end it should out last any normal use a flashlight should provide for a lifetime. The charging system is brilliant. The lights snap tightly into the charger and cannot over charge when left in full time. The Poly or plastic model although not as tough as the Surfire is a real durable and tough light. The Aluminum stinger model "kit" which includes both auto and home charger can be found for $79.00!

The other lights I tried don't compare to these two or even close to the level of quality. My conclusion is the Streamlight is so close in brightness and lasts longer that for 1/2 the price I can't see buying the Surfire rechargeable. For a light that is not rechargable the Surefire wins.  You can purchase two streamlight stinger lights and one set of chargers for the same price as one Surfire rechargeable system. Having a whole light as backup! The construction of the Stinger is flawless. It's at least as well made and durable as a Maglight, although it has a better made on/off switch. Spare bulbs are only 6 dollars too!

I'm keeping the Streamlight Stinger. The others are good but the value in my opinion is with the stinger. It's small, bright and fantastic value. If I was buying the poly model and not the aluminum I would choose the Surfire as the construction of the Surefire plastic light is a bit better then the stinger. It's also 3 times the cost. Light output is no different from the aluminum to the poly construction.

I did not get a chance to test the Pelican and would have liked to. They fall in between the Surefire and the Streamlight for price. Over all if you need a light any of these rechargables will provide what you need.  I'll be buying a few more of these stingers for the vehicles in Africa.  It was a fun and educational bit of research on lighting.

[Siskiyou]

I carry a 4AA Cell headlamp in my day pack when hunting, fishing or on the job.  The lens is adjustable so that it works as a spotlight or a wide beam light.  It works great with alkaline or rechargeable batteries.  I have a fast charger that works off 12v or 120v for NIMH batteries.  There is an extra bulb holder inside the lens.  The one I carry with me is close to 20 years old.  It has held up very good.  

I like the headlamp because your hands are free to fix a truck, build a fire, skin an deer, gather firewood, or track a wounded animal.  I have had the surefire light, the Streamlight, and the rechargeable MagLight.  Most rechargaeable lights have short battery life.  4AA batteries are good for a full night shift in the woods.  Rechargeable lights are of short duration.  In my rookie days I loaned my three cell Alkaline powdered flashlight to a deputy who had a dead StreamLight.  I proudly used my fully charged StreamLight to light up the dark woods.  In a couple of hours I was following him around because the StreamLight was dead.  They are a great short duration light.

I would stay away from lights that take "special batteries."  There are many places you pay big time for the special batteries if you can find them.  The rechargeable batteries for the StreamLight, SureFire, and the rechargeable MagLight are expensive.  The only thing the SureFire light has go for it over the other two is that it is small.  Of the three I found the large rechargeable MagLight to be the best.  I got rid of the StreamLight.

A little trick to make sure you do not discharge your batteries by accident is to put a piece of paper between the positive post on the battery and the contact in the light.

One night I repelled over a cliff to help out a couple of hikers.  What kind of light did I have?  A headlamp because it provided good hands free light.

Siskiyou