[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

Are there any other reliable stores other than Lighorati to explore non-Fenix options?

That's odd! As you will know, it was Lightorati=Nitecore and Lightmen=Fenix. I wonder if something has happened on the supply side with Nightcore?

I just got someone to bring a Nitecore SRT7GT from GB for me. GBP110! I love the continuously-adjustable brightness ring control of this series. Nobody else seems to do continuously adjustable. And even this range from Nitecore seems to be on the way out.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

But the batteries are not. My 8-year-old Maglite Solitare died because of a leaky Duracell. I had left the battery inside since pre-pandemic and had to pay the price. In fact, I damaged the LED while trying to force the stuck battery out.?

Exactly the same thing happened to me. Now I have only 3-4 decathlon dynamo torches left. And a couple of Wipro rechargeable flashlights. All small size.

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

That's odd! As you will know, it was Lightorati=Nitecore and Lightmen=Fenix. I wonder if something has happened on the supply side with Nightcore?

Thank you, I was thinking both Lightorati and Lightmen are the same . lightorati.in has Nightcore in stock.

[Thad E Ginathom]

I guess they both use the same web designer, or web package, but in previous posts it has been established that they are different businesses. Maybe there's history?

[Rangy62]

Originally Posted by am1m

Mostly the well known ones, Nandi, the ones around Ramanagara- Handi Gundi Betta, Ranganathswamy betta, SRS Betta (that has a nice water body too to cool off). Usually very light treks and scrambles. Won't post more here to avoid going off-topic, but all these are well documented online. Ramanagara is amazing, lots of great hills and features. But sometimes the Forest Department objects and kicks us out, especially if we get close to the vulture sanctuary, so best to avoid going in large groups. But usually when they see that it's an older group of folks like most of us in our group are and that we're obviously not doing it as a part of any commercial venture and not carrying alcohol or playing loud music, or starting campfires, they're ok.

Edit: Forgot to add, on the Kanakapura side there is Raougudlu which also has some interesting rocky features and paths. Turahalli is lovely and used to be really convenient for short excursions, but the Forest Department has banned all activities there.

Wow the names brought back fond memories. Surprised that these routes are still being trekked. We did this in the 80s. Preparation for any Himalayan treks or climbs was the trek from Ghati Subramanya to Nandi which was quite strenuous.

[bblost]

I did not buy this torch for anything except a backup in my house.

https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B01...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

But this is an extremely useful and superb torch.

I have had 2 instances where it outshone (pun intended) itself.

1. My apartment complex borders a very heavily wooded national reserve. At around 6 PM we got a emergency call that a resident who went for a walk was missing. I immediately took off on my Himalayan and rode till the very edge of the rocks. Then caught with the earlier search party of two more guys. We spent over an hour inside that very dark forest with just this torch. It was extremely bright and helped with the rescue. It does not have a beam that goes for a long distance but works more like a flood light.

2. Fire emergency. A fire erupted late in the night and the power was switched off. The fire sprinklers switched on. I was one of the fire fighters with this torch acting as our main source of illumination. It took multiple hits of water from the fire hose that pushed out water at an incredible force. It suffered no damage. In fact the very next day we picked up a couple more of these torches for use by the emergency teams.

[Jaguar]

So I ended up buying a Coleman Divide+ 200 LED flashlight from Amazon. The build quality and throw are good however, it does not have any fancy modes or strobe. It cost about half of the comparable double AA flashlights from Fenix or Nitecore. It also has a battery lock feature that claims to completely disconnect the batteries and prevent a phantom draw. Overall, a good EDC flashlight for keeping in the car.

[ottocycle]

Originally Posted by bblost

I did not buy this torch for anything except a backup in my house.

https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B01...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

But this is an extremely useful and superb torch.

I bought myself the same torch 2 years for emergency light and for our trips. I liked it so much that I later bought one for my parent and another for my in-laws. It's lightweight and is pretty bright. Edit: Mine is the Plus version of the same and I had got it on sale.