Team-BHP - Best outdoor torchlight / flashlight / torch

I bought a Britelight torch (LED) for my grandfather sometime back. The torch body is made from some aircraft aluminium or something. Quite heavy and VERY sturdy. Nikel Cadmium battery. Charging the torch is just like how one charges a cell phone.

But man the light beam. INSANE. The beam does not spread out and hence is not ideal for nearby illumination. But long range illumination is unbelievable. Cost I forgot (I think 4K)

I use a modified Maglight. I got it bored to accomodate li-po batteries and added a 40W Osram globe, metal reflector, front glass and replaced cap with stronger one. it gives me plenty of power and quite good run time. So far i have not run out of power even once. It costed me around $180 all together.

One can crank up the globes to 14volts and 140W which means you can start a fire with it.

YouTube - Fire!

I would suggest visiting Candlepower forums.

EDIT: Embedding has been stopped by the user, so i guess you can check it out on youtube.

Cheers

I never knew this thread existed! I have a large collection of flashlights as I'm what you'd call a flashaholic :D

If I may suggest, I'd say go for the TK 10/11/12. Its got sufficient throw with a very usable spill. They would cost approximately 3-4k but will outlast everything you currently own. Built to bomb proof standards and are water proof (dunkable). Stock up on rechargeable CR123's. On a single charge, you will get a runtime of approximately 10-11 hours at the 60 lumen mode. The high of around 220 lumen will give you 2 hours.

I always carry one in the glovebox. Plus I have a Fenix P1 on my key ring which is capable of putting out 180 lumens if needed. Now this is just the size of an average adult's thumb and is bright enough to be blinding. The build quality is again astounding. Its waterproof too. Runtime in high is 2 hours on one CR123. Low is around 8 hours.

I do have an E20 at home which runs on rechargeable AA cells. This is used often and have never failed me. The throw is great.

If throw is your primary concern, I dont think anything can beat a dereelight. But again it cannot be used for general breakdowns, emergencies etc.

I would not suggest HID based devices as they take a few seconds to reach optimum brightness. Plus you cant use them to flash or signal as its bad for the lamp.

A quick tip is to always go for CR123 based LED lights if its meant for long term storage. They have amazing shelf lives. The best flashlights are only as good as their battery.

Tassem.

Answering the OP - best camping light query, with my limited experience with flashlights. Some important points to consider:
* using commonly available battery types is helpful, especially when you can't count on recharge points, or good shops. This is the AA (pencil cell) or the AAA format. 1xAA, 2xAA, and 1xAAA and 2xAAA are the most common and affordable options.
* camping requires variable brightness: low (2-3 lumens), meduim (~30 lumens), and high (100+ lumens). Many flashlights are available having multi-mode output.
* use a LED flashlight, so that the bulb (actually an LED) requires no replacement, unlike the filament bulbs. Cree, Osram, Philips make LEDs', and Cree is the most famous in flashlight usage. The latest LED is XM-L, and one before was XP-G (just technical names). LED can be cool-white (like tubelight), or neutral (closer to incandescent bulb, but not so warm), and warm white (like an incan bulb). Neutral white is best color for camping, as it renders true colors.
* there are a large number of good brands in the LED flashlight scene - Fenix, Olight, 4sevens, Xeno, JetBeam, Nitecore, and so on.
* "Tactical flashlight" typically has the button at the end, rather than on side - think how would you use it if it were to be carried with a gun/revolver. Having a button at the tail-end makes more sense.

Aha, having said that, I would highly recommend the 4Sevens brand of lights - especially look at the Quark series. Around $60, and you get the best of the breed. They ship directly to India as well, and you can take insurance for $5. Definitely not a bad value for $65 US, shipped to your door. Get the insurance, or get a better shipping option (upgrade), for reliable delivery. This is ~Rs. 3000 for a start. How much can you spend? Unlimited... :-)

Require more info? PM me, or drop me a note choombat at gmail dot com, citing t-bhp.

-Amarendra

I suddenly got this bug to buy a flashlight. I was more inclined towards the keychain type. I was almost sold on buying fenix pd10. After quite a bit of research I decided on Jetbeam BC 10 with 270 Lumens for 38$

The link for the product JetBeam BC10 R5 270 Lumen Flashlight [jetbeamBC10] - $38.90 : Going Gear, Gearing you up for the outdoors

I liked Nitecore Infilux IFE1 Sand Tan CREE XP-G R5 LED with variable output of 0.5 lumen to 260 lumen with excellent build quality but is damn expensive at 114$. Nitecore Infilux IFE1 Sand Tan CREE XP-G R5 LED Flashlight [nitecoreife1_snd] - $114.90 : Going Gear, Gearing you up for the outdoors

I'm amazed that there is such a craze for flashlights in US and a lot of forums dedicated for flashlight discussion.

I have many flashlights. There are some in the car(I do not know where in which pocket they rot), and then there are some in the home. Some work some don't.
When I was in US, I looked at some 50-100$ models(LED) and I came to the conclusion, that it does not make sense to spend that much.
The 5-10$ chinese flashlights are the best.
you buy 2-3 of them, and there is a good change that all will work,
If you buy rechargable ones from the local street market (200 INR), it all depends on your luck.

For example, I bought from some chinese company called Hoya(not to be confused with the one that owns pentax). 3 torches, with lots of LEDs (18 for flat beam, and 12 for directed beam).

One was a dud, with battery lasting 30 minutes max, while the other two had batteries lasting for over 100 hours.
One of the good ones, I just toasted while experimenting battery change (Wanted to put a high capacity mobile battery in them).
One remains.

Apart from that , I have a really expensive Eveready Lantern, which cost me 275 INR, and takes 3 big cells.
They last around 200 hours (non alkaline).

Finally, there are the cheap ones. Which I throw after use. 10rs a pop, last me for a year or so.
Then there is 100rs everready one which I bought around 3 years back. The 3 AA cells still go strong (Duracell), and it permanently sits in the safari.

I am planning to buy some more from dealextreme (10LEDs each, 2.5$/flashlight).
So I will buy 4 for $10. They will go on for atleast a few years more :)

So thats the saga of my cheap torch fixation.
I am also eying a 30 LED torch, but at 10$/torch, its expensive, so I am apprehensive!

Quote:

Originally Posted by AWD (Post 2363689)

Have those Eveready ones but they are out of Power most of the times. The cells go down very fast.

Need a rechargeable, reliable unit.

LED ones last 100 hours.
Even the chinese ones.
Anyways, if you want to buy cheap, here goes
$7.97 - 5-LED Rechargeable Flashlight (AC 110V~220V) - Specialty Flashlights
8$. You can buy 2 of these.

Alternatively, head to your equivalent of local electronics street market, and buy the "Hoya" rechargable for 200. Buy 2 of these, one will work perfectly, and light output is awesome!