My New Caching Flashlight

[SuperAlpha]

I got a new flashlight today! I am very impressed. For Geocaching, I use the Energizer LED headlight as a primary, and a handheld tactical light as a secondary.

 

The Pelican M6 Black Knight Tactical series light is a fairly new model and costs $30 at BotachTactical.com. (WOW!) Their 3V lithium batteries are $1 - $1.25 each. (SureFire sells them for $1.25 as well.) It came with a pouch too! This light is comparable to the high-end SureFire and Streamlight flashlights. It comes in Silver or Black. It is 20000cp/108Lumens!!!!!!! It focuses to spot beam and flood. It has a 1 hour runtime. Its pouch will work with the Scorpion and TT-2L as well. (Pouches are not available for the TT-2L yet, and the Scorpion pouches are backordered.)

 

I have the following as comparison:

 

Streamlight Scorpion - 6500 cp/35lumens $25, 1.5 hour runtime

Focus to spot. My favorite caching light before I got the M6! I could search across fields at night with no problems.

 

Streamlight TwinTask 2L - 13000cp/72lumens $30, 1 hour runtime on Xenon

This has 3 LED and Xenon bulb modes for dual duty. Downside: the beam will not focus to a spot. I bought this light a few weeks ago and was disappointed. There is a 30 day money back guarantee, but I decided to keep it for a dual-duty light in my car.

 

Inova X5 - fairly dim, yet seems to last forever! (about the same brightness as the TT-2L in LED mode) This is my backup Geocaching light.

 

Oh yeah - they have great prices on GPS units there too!!! But not as good as OFFROUTE.COM!!! (I got my Vista and Mapsource from OffRoute. They are very helpful and nice. But, if they do not have what you are looking for, try Botach.)

Edited November 28, 2003 by SuperAlpha

[Energizer]

Remember, sometimes GPS units will be on sale at other places, and sometimes they will not be on sale.... Tip: always check around before you buy...

[+MrPeabody]

After having gone out to a few caches with only my GPS backlight as a source of illumination, I decided to go out and get me a serious flashlight.

 

I got the Maglite 3D version, which has enough power to find what I need in the dark and also works double duty as personal defense.

 

It also came with a mini Maglite that transforms into a candle-light... very cool.

[+Bloencustoms]

In one of the previous flashlight threads, someone posted a link to the LED museum site. It was very informative. I learned that there are two brands of led's white LEDs commonly used in flashlights, the Nichia, and the Luxeon Star. The Nichia leds are bright white, and relatively energy efficient. The Inova X5 flashlight which uses five of them has no voltage regulator (that I'm aware of) and the manufacturer claims a 20 hour burn time with a change of 2 CR123A lithium cells. I purchased two of the X5 lights, one in white, the other in blue. I have used the blue one for a couple of weeks intermittantly, and see no weakening of the intensity yet. I expect the white beam will be much the same, but I have not used it much as of yet.

The Luxeon Star leds are much brighter than the Nichias, but they consume current much faster as well. You might even get shorter battery life vs. a conventional flashlight when using LS leds.

I have found a headlamp marketed by Garrity at WallMart that uses 2 nichia white led's, and three AAA alkaline cells. This lamp has five modes (three levels of brightness, and two flashing speeds). The two dimmer modes are achieved by rapidly strobing the leds at full intensity. This creates the illusion of dimmness, while conserving battery power. The headlamp is supposed to get 80 hours of continuous use out of a change of batteries on full power, and more than 300 hours on it's dimmest setting. The whole thing only hit me up $12. Not bad compared to the X5 at around $60.

I'd like to add a flashlight using three of the luxeon star leds and a couple of alkaline AA cells to round out my collection. As nice as the lithium cells are for cold weather and long shelf life, I like being able to get batteries at the local gas station. Three of the LS leds would eat batteries really fast, but the intensity would be incredible.

[+leatherman]

http://flashlightreviews.home.att.net/index1.html

[+Brian - Team A.I.]

The Inova light is a good short range light, as it doesn't flood the area with 'yellow' light. It isn't intended to be a long distance light, but can be seem from 2+ miles away, and doesn't need to be long distance anyway. When using the light for caching, you're typically looking at a fairly small search area at a time, so a light that will turn the mountainside .75-miles away into a virtual daytime is overkill IMHO. That being said, I'd love a good Surefire light just to have that massively bright light if I should ever really need it.

[+Bloencustoms]

Excellent link, Leatherman. Thanks. I just spent about an hour and a half reading reviews on that site. Lots of good information.

[+Team Ramblin' Maniacs]

I mean no disrespect, but you guys are scary.

 

I'm new at this so take it for what it's worth, but the light I plan on having with me when I cache is called sun light.

 

But in reference to this thread. I work nights in a geothermal power plant that requires me to go out into a well field that stretches over two miles in the countryside. The only light is from my headlights or my flashlight. So I can relate to needing a reliable light.

 

I use the mag light three D-cell flashlight. It has a sharper/brighter light than the two cell or the C-cell lights. I also like the heft as well. It gets lonely out there in the dark and we're close enough to the wilderness to get plenty of critters with pointy teeth. Not that a flashlight is the best security device, but it sure feels substantial. The four or more D-cell is a waste of batteries that's way more expensive to maintain with about the same quality light.

[+Captain Morgan]

I'd prefer Silva Headlamps, as

- my hands are free all the time

- the light is strong and clear

 

well, i'm not a salesman, see yourself:

 

http://www.silva.se/outdoor/products/head_start.htm

[SuperAlpha]

The Maglite models are too bulky for me. I would rather carry a collapsible baton if I needed a club.

Maglite 2D 16,000cp

Maglite 3D 22,000cp

Maglite 4D 24,000cp

Maglite 5D 27,000cp

Maglite 6D 30,000cp

 

As for LEDs go,

for $35-40, you can get an Inova X5

or

for $119-164 you can get the SureFire L4 Lumamax. That has a 5Watt LED and only puts out only 65 Lumens!!! Since it is 5 W, the drain is much faster than the Pelican M6 3.6W Xenon which puts out 108 Lumens. The upside - LEDs have better lifespan than Halogen bulbs. Most high-brightness bulbs last 2-3 hours. The Pelican M6 advertises 260 hour bulb life. (WOW) The high power LEDs advertise 10,000 hour, and low power LEDs >100,000 hour.

 

For dual duty, the TT-2L was nice, but does not form a spot beam. Plus I do not like the button near the lamp instead of the tail.

 

The tactical lights DO double as defense tools, although not as a club. I prefer the non-bulky approach. I may also carry a gun or knife, and besides, I am trained in H2H/H2W/W2W. []

[+bons]

the light I plan on having with me when I cache is called sun light.

That's the light I plan on too.

But the best laid plans of mice and men have had me reaching for my pocket keychain light more than once. I plan on getting more just to leave as swag in a couple caches.

[+leatherman]

Excellent link, Leatherman. Thanks. I just spent about an hour and a half reading reviews on that site. Lots of good information.

Sure. I did the same when someone shared it in another thread.

[+Cachetrotters]

Most high-brightness bulbs last 2-3 hours.

Not sure where you are getting that information about lamp life for high intensity bulbs. I have seen that 2-3 hours life-span number before in these forums.

I called Surefire and asked about this (because who wants a bulb that will barely outlive a set of batteries, right?).

They responded that they expect to get 30 hours of lamp life from their bulbs. And that sounds much more reasonable.

 

Don

Edited November 29, 2003 by Cachetrotters

[+GEO*Trailblazer 1]

1,000,000 candle power light is what I have been using on the last couple of night caches,talk about light WOW,I also got one of the new Energizer headlamps that has RED and WHITE LED's,it really works well on red for the discrete,cache hunting mode.

I wanted to make a note on lights at night around the Forest or anywhere for that matter,the authorities as well as citizens can see you lurking with a light as well as you can see.

Be careful they might think your a poacher looking for eyes...........

[+Bloencustoms]

I came home from work today to find my X5 UV flashlight waiting for me. Lots of fun to play with. Now I need to find some UV dye to make a real interesting night cache.

[+Mr.Benchmark]

The Pelican M6 Black Knight Tactical series light is a fairly new model and costs $30 at BotachTactical.com.  (WOW!)

 

Thanks for mentioning this - I ordered one of these, it looks like it will work extremely well!

 

Inova X5 - fairly dim, yet seems to last forever! (about the same brightness as the TT-2L in LED mode)  This is my backup Geocaching light.

 

I've got one of these, and I use it just about all the time, except when I'm hunting for reflectors in the woods at night. (The range on the X5 is just too short for this.) I think the Inova is only dim when your eyes are not fully dark adapted. (Like most of the time in any urban setting.) When I'm way out in the country at night, I find these work extremely well. I use one of the red ones when I'm trying to preserve my dark adaptation. The relatively even field of illumination they produce is useful when searching for things, too.

[SLCDave]

I got a new flashlight today....The Pelican M6 Black Knight Tactical series light is a fairly new model and costs $30 at BotachTactical.com

I wish they still sold it at that price.....

[+The Weasel]

With some duct tape, a swiss army knife, and a paperclip, I can brandish a solar power heat lamp.

 

Macgyver.......What's he doing with that thing?

[SuperAlpha]

I got a new flashlight today....The Pelican M6 Black Knight Tactical series light is a fairly new model and costs $30 at BotachTactical.com

I wish they still sold it at that price.....

They do!

http://store.yahoo.com/botach/pelicanm6.html

Just look up Pelican....

It is on sale for $29.95, regular $36.00.

The deal you see on their front page is with 20 more batteries. Those batteries cost $8 in the Photo departments of most stores. Botach and Surefire sell the batteries for $1.25 each but you get 20 with the flashlight for $20 more.

Edited December 11, 2003 by SuperAlpha

[SuperAlpha]

FYI:

Orignally, I had checked out Pelican's site about this light. They advertise the unit to be 74Lumens/20,000CP. Everyone on the net that sells them says 108Lumen/20,000CP. I called Botach and they said that was the spec given to them. Maybe Pelican goofed on the spec or goofed on the copy/paste on their website?

Lumens and Candlepower are not easy to convert between the two. I believe you can convert CP to Lumens, but not the other way because CP is based on how "hot" the filament is.

Edited December 11, 2003 by SuperAlpha

[+hikemeister]

Remember, sometimes GPS units will be on sale at other places, and sometimes they will not be on sale.... Tip: always check around before you buy...

Yes, and in particular, check the internet. I bought a Garmin Venture last year, and found it for $135 on the web. The very next week, my brother got a Garmin Legend (much better, in terms of memory and having a base map) for $155 with a mail in rebate. I could have kicked myself for not looking harder for deals. They definately are out there -- don't buy at a store unless you have money to burn.