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Loke9

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Good evening,

 

This is, at least distantly, geocaching-related.

 

I was out in the forrest the other night and my old flashlight (Maglite) gave up on me.

 

I want to buy a new, good one. Almost ordered a Surefire only to discover they dont ship internationally (I live in Sweden).

 

So does anyone know of retailers selling quality flashlights for outdoor use, AND ship internationally?

 

/Jon

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Good evening,

 

This is, at least distantly, geocaching-related.

 

I was out in the forrest the other night and my old flashlight (Maglite) gave up on me.

 

I want to buy a new, good one. Almost ordered a Surefire only to discover they dont ship internationally (I live in Sweden).

 

So does anyone know of retailers selling quality flashlights for outdoor use, AND ship internationally?

 

/Jon

 

Try Fenix. Their flashlights using CR-123 batteries are all amazingly bright. You can find them here.

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Good evening,

This is, at least distantly, geocaching-related.

I was out in the forrest the other night and my old flashlight (Maglite) gave up on me.

I want to buy a new, good one. Almost ordered a Surefire only to discover they dont ship internationally (I live in Sweden).

So does anyone know of retailers selling quality flashlights for outdoor use, AND ship internationally?

/Jon

I bought one of these :

 

http://www.tadgear.com/x-treme%20gear/flas...er_infinity.htm

 

It blows the competition away, should be back in stock at the end of the month.

 

P. S. : It works on one (1) AA, and likes the Lithium disposable best of all.

I looked at Surefires up to $125.00 US, and all the fenex products, when I turned it on the first

time I was flabbergasted, there's not much competition in any price range. Also you can get usable

batteries ANYWHERE.

 

Norm

 

EDIT : I forgot to add they're about $80.00 US

Edited by RRLover
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I've got several LED flashlights -- 1 watt and 3 watt. Sams Club here in the U.S. sells a pair of 3 watt units for $35 or so. They throw some serious light for an LED and run off 3 AAA cells. Can't see buying a flashlight that takes expensive batteries. The last one I got was a Brinkman -- cheap plastic, but just as bright as the metal ones.

 

Found the link:

 

LED Flashlights

Edited by qlenfg
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Everything you could ever want to know about flashlights can be found here: http://www.candlepowerforums.com

 

You'll find dealers there that will ship to Sweden, and advice about what will work best for you.

 

Good luck, Bob

 

Good evening,

 

This is, at least distantly, geocaching-related.

 

I was out in the forrest the other night and my old flashlight (Maglite) gave up on me.

 

I want to buy a new, good one. Almost ordered a Surefire only to discover they dont ship internationally (I live in Sweden).

 

So does anyone know of retailers selling quality flashlights for outdoor use, AND ship internationally?

 

/Jon

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I own a Fenix and its the best flashlight in my arsenal. Don't get the cr123a version, get the 2AA version instead. You'll be glad you did after the first recharge of your batteries. Cr123a lights are not brighter by any noticeable amount and those batteries are expensive.

 

www.fenix-store.com

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Try Fenix. Their flashlights using CR-123 batteries are all amazingly bright. You can find them here.

I'll second the recommendation for Fenix flashlights. They're a bit pricey, but mine is the best flashlight I've ever purchased. I'm often amazed at how much light these tiny units put out.

 

--Larry

I'll fourth the motion for Fenix. I love mine. I keep it on my belt and it's super bright for being so tiny!
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I own a Fenix and its the best flashlight in my arsenal. Don't get the cr123a version, get the 2AA version instead. You'll be glad you did after the first recharge of your batteries. Cr123a lights are not brighter by any noticeable amount and those batteries are expensive.

 

www.fenix-store.com

 

 

If you shop around online, you can find the lithium batteries for a bit over a dollar US. At 215 lumens output for a bit less than 2 hours use, I can live with that. :rolleyes:

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I own a Fenix and its the best flashlight in my arsenal. Don't get the cr123a version, get the 2AA version instead. You'll be glad you did after the first recharge of your batteries. Cr123a lights are not brighter by any noticeable amount and those batteries are expensive.

 

www.fenix-store.com

This is my plan. Since I've standardized on AA and AA is far more common than CR123.

 

Back to the OP.

If your maglight died and it's just the bulb there are LED upgrades that make the Maglight better than it was stock. You can find flaslights on flashlightreviews.com. The site is no longer updated but it's a great respository of information including on Mag upgrades.

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Red90,

 

Very good advice. An LED headlamp is a lot more useful at night while geocaching in the woods. Your hands are free to hold the rest of your gear. Also consider that the battery life is usually over 50 hours, some units as high as 200 hrs. so you will not run out of power. I personally use Petzl Myo XP when I need a lot of light . The Myo is an all weather unit that has three power settings (80-180 hrs) with a power boost that reaches close to 100m. It uses three AA batteries and it has a built-in wide angle lens that allows you to illuminate a wide area near you; this is very useful while writing a log or reading maps. I paid about $70 at a local outdoor shop. I am sure that it is avaliable thru many retailers in Europe. I also use a less powerful headlamp called Petzl Tikka Plus. They are great back-up lights and work great around the city. They are very light and use 3 AAA batteries. I also have a Petzl e+Lite that weighs 1 ounce and uses two CR2032 Lithium button cells (10 yr. shelf life and works great at very low temps). It has white and red LED's and runs for 35-35 hrs. Red LED's are good for dark adapted vision. I like to look at the night sky too. Petzl carries over 40 different headlamps, many for industrial and professional use. I am sure that you will find one that fits all your requirements and price.

 

There are other brands available that would work well for you. Princeton Tec and Black Diamond come to mind. The candlelight forum mentioned by others is very useful. Do not waste your money buying a Surefire or the like. They are overkill for geocaching. I would recommend that you convert your MagLite with a Cree 1 Watt LED or similar and a push-button switch. I did this conversion and it works great. There are several 3 Watt flashligths that use 3 AAA or 2 C cells for under $30. I found some at auto part stores and WalMart. They are made in China and the quality is pretty good. I am sure you can find them online.

 

Good luck. Keep on caching!

 

vtgeckos

 

I can't beleieve nobody has said to buy a headlamp......

 

Headlamps are MUCH better when caching as your hands are full and you need to dig and search. A headlamp lets you use both hands to search while controlling where the light shines.

 

I'm running the Black Diamond Icon Headlamp, http://www.bdel.com/gear/icon.php

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I own a Fenix and its the best flashlight in my arsenal. Don't get the cr123a version, get the 2AA version instead. You'll be glad you did after the first recharge of your batteries. Cr123a lights are not brighter by any noticeable amount and those batteries are expensive.

 

www.fenix-store.com

This is my plan. Since I've standardized on AA and AA is far more common than CR123.

 

Back to the OP.

If your maglight died and it's just the bulb there are LED upgrades that make the Maglight better than it was stock. You can find flaslights on flashlightreviews.com. The site is no longer updated but it's a great respository of information including on Mag upgrades.

Most Maglites have a spare bulb in the tail cap. I've owned a butt-load of them over the last 25 years or so and only one actually died. A rechargeable I bought 20 years ago that needs to go back for warranty repair. Other than that, only leaky batteries and bad bulbs.

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I can't beleieve nobody has said to buy a headlamp......

 

Headlamps are MUCH better when caching as your hands are full and you need to dig and search. A headlamp lets you use both hands to search while controlling where the light shines

I'm running the Black Diamond Icon Headlamp, http://www.bdel.com/gear/icon.php

 

My thoughts when I read the thread too.

 

This is the correct answer. Headlamps rock. Check out a petzl tikka or similar for a lighter idea than the BD Icon, if you prefer. You will never hike with a flashlight again.

 

As far as the Maglite reliability - the only time I managed to kill any bulbs on them was with cheap costco (kirkland signatures) batteries. Killed 4 bulbs in one weekend. Once I returned home I measured the voltage on the batteries... I don't remember the exact voltage but it was significantly higher than a standard alkaline usually is when it's new. (I want to say it was around 1.72V... but can't recall. This was about 3 years ago) Something to be aware of anyway. This was in some mini Maglites.

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Glen beat me too it.

 

I was going to say that if its just the bulb thats burnt out there is a spare one in the end cap. Unscrew it and pop out the battery spring contact and turn it over it should slide right out in the plastic sleeve its in.

 

As other have said though if your spending any decent amount of time in the woods at night a quality headlamp is definitely the way to go.

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I guess buying fancy flashlights may be fun but I don't believe they are worth buying. I do a lot of playing in the woods at night. I bought a head light that fits on the bill of my baseball cap. It has 5 led lights and uses 2 of those round thin batteries that you can buy at a dollar store for 25 cents each. The light is strong enough to go snowboarding, hiking or fishing at night. It cost me 4.99. It's also great when repairing my vehicles or other things and need some extra light. Since the thing only cost 4.99, I don't completely trust it so I bought a second one for the same price and it's in my fishing tackle box because fishing is what I do the most. When going into the woods, I also always have my mini maglight that I bought about 20 years ago.

 

When I go camping, boating or canoeing, I also bring along a 1 million candle power rechargeable search light that costs about 12 dollars and there is always another flashlight somewhere in my camping stuff.

 

At the campsite, I use a 12 vdc to 120 vac converter that I can plug into my vehicle's cigarette lighter or one of my deep discharge nautical batteries. I can use two 13 watt flourescent lamps (equiv to 60 watts each) to light up my whole campsite and this uses about 1/4 to 1/2 amps...maybe less. The converter cost me 25 dollars. Yes....I bought the expensive one because I can also play my mp3 player and hear it on the car's audio system through an FM channel. I guess the total cost of all these goodies comes to maybe 75 dollars....the mini maglight being the most expensive item.

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I have switched over to the small hand crank flashlights(internal battery store charge) for backpacking and 4x4 off-roading. Relatively light weight and so far very dependable. Keep one of these in my pack and my truck. A headlamp as mentioned above is good if you want to hike out in the night. Sold by a multitude of companies in various styles.

One example:

ElectriLite 5 LED Crank Flashlight and Cell Phone Charger(buttons on top determine how may LED's are lit)

http://www.21st-century-goods.com/page/21st/PROD/PREP/ELITE

 

liteONlg.jpg

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Lighthound

Good evening,

 

This is, at least distantly, geocaching-related.

 

I was out in the forrest the other night and my old flashlight (Maglite) gave up on me.

 

I want to buy a new, good one. Almost ordered a Surefire only to discover they dont ship internationally (I live in Sweden).

 

So does anyone know of retailers selling quality flashlights for outdoor use, AND ship internationally?

 

/Jon

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AA batteries is the way to go, you can share with your GPS and Camera !

Headlights are great too especially if you end up field dressing a deer or boar at dusk !

 

Avoid LED lights with triple AAA, they don't have electronic to regulate the output current/voltage.

 

123 are darn expensives

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I can't beleieve nobody has said to buy a headlamp......

 

Headlamps are MUCH better when caching as your hands are full and you need to dig and search. A headlamp lets you use both hands to search while controlling where the light shines

I'm running the Black Diamond Icon Headlamp, http://www.bdel.com/gear/icon.php

 

My thoughts when I read the thread too.

 

This is the correct answer. Headlamps rock. Check out a petzl tikka or similar for a lighter idea than the BD Icon, if you prefer. You will never hike with a flashlight again.

 

As far as the Maglite reliability - the only time I managed to kill any bulbs on them was with cheap costco (kirkland signatures) batteries. Killed 4 bulbs in one weekend. Once I returned home I measured the voltage on the batteries... I don't remember the exact voltage but it was significantly higher than a standard alkaline usually is when it's new. (I want to say it was around 1.72V... but can't recall. This was about 3 years ago) Something to be aware of anyway. This was in some mini Maglites.

I think the Kirkland batteries are made by Duracell, I have been using the Kirkland AAs for years with any problems. But I have not used a Maglite mini mag for several years. IMO the mini mags are about 10 years behind in tecnology, Maglite took to long to get into the LED market.

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For a good, inexpensive backup light check out:

 

http://www.photonlight.com/X-Light-Micro-K...-flashlight.htm

 

You can get them for less than $10 at REI, or find them online. Multiple modes, dimmable, uses a standard coin cell, and fits nicely on a keychain. This has replaced my trusty mini-mag solitaire on my keychain, and I have a second one in my pack for hiking/camping.

 

They make a couple of other models, and you can buy a clip that will clamp onto a hat brim and hold one of the lights. It comes with a neck lanyard.

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For a good, inexpensive backup light check out:

 

http://www.photonlight.com/X-Light-Micro-K...-flashlight.htm

 

You can get them for less than $10 at REI, or find them online. Multiple modes, dimmable, uses a standard coin cell, and fits nicely on a keychain. This has replaced my trusty mini-mag solitaire on my keychain, and I have a second one in my pack for hiking/camping.

 

They make a couple of other models, and you can buy a clip that will clamp onto a hat brim and hold one of the lights. It comes with a neck lanyard.

 

This looks like the same bunch that makes the Photon II lights. If their new lights are as good as the old ones, I will endorse them as well. I've had the old Photon II's on keychains for eons and have only had to replace batteries once or twice. The white LED models are really white -- not the crappy purple light the $2 Harbor Freight specials put out. Plus, they won't get activated in your pocket. Saved my butt a couple of times during power outages in office buildings.

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Well ya just can't beat a headlamp for this sport and it is so light and handy for so many things, I just gave up on all the rest. Mine last 160 hours and I buy batteries once a year. It's crazy not to have one. Good for about 25 feet walking and real good for close work while hands are free. It always works.

Edited by GPS-Hermit
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