Flashlights for camping, photography and general use

[DrSlony]

Hey

I've been looking into getting a very good quality flashlight for some time. I'll be carrying it around with me a lot whenever I take my photo gear with me and/or whenever I go camping, which includes flying, so it has to be light and small. Also, I want it to be strong enough to stun the devil himself.

Here's a list of flashlights I found to suite my needs, my question is whether the parameters listed (lumen/lux, weight, dimensions) are all there is to it, or is there something else I missed that I should take into account? For example the D-Mini VX ULTRA seems the best, twice as strong as the next best thing at roughly the same weight and dimensions... is that too good to be true?

Would you recommend any of these (or others not listed) specifically, and why?

NiteCore SR3
220lm
108g
109x32mm

EagleTac T100C2
220lm
114g
141x31

Fenix TK12 R5
225lm
119g
137x34

Fenix P2D Premium Q5
180lm
38g
80x21

LiteFlux LF5 XT
4570lux
54g
110x20

Surefire C2 Centurion
120lm
150g
130x32

Surefire 6PL
120lm
150g
128x31

Ray D1
235lm
86g
96x36

D-Mini VX ULTRA
550lm
95x37
88g

 

[Wayland]

I favour one that is small, not very bright but lasts a long time.

When my eyes are night adapted I don't need or want a searchlight to find my way around and definitely not to find something in my bergan.

I have a little Zebra light that is adjustable from fairly bright down to quite dim. It takes standard batteries and can be handheld, mounted on a headband (Only ever if I'm alone.) or on a clip that fastens on my shirt or jacket. It is more than up to the job for me.

 

[Monkeyboab]

The 4sevens mini in cr123 is a good light for the money, plenty bright with adjustable modes and good value not to mention very small. My most used light is my Fenix LD01 with a 10440 rechargeble lithium battery in it. Its the size of my pinky, weighs nothing and can go nearly 200 lumens with this cell for shorts bursts (small mass= heat build up. Short period reduces risk of damage to led) On medium and low with this cell its still plenty bright and wont cost you in batteries. You could always mod a light to suit what you want with your own driver and led. I just did a mini mag with a cree XPG-R5 and Kroll switch and its great! You need to consider what type of beam you want also flood or throw?

Goodluck with the hunt it can become an addiction.

Rob

 

[British Red]

By "flashlight" I assume you mean a torch?

Wayland has it right - for camping you don't need a searchlight - battery longevity is more important. A basix 1AA Fenix and a good head torch (Petzl Myo XP) meets my needs. Keeps my batteris standard on AA too (along with my camera and radio).

Red

 

[ged]

There's no point fighting it, you'll end up getting several. We all do it.

I bought my wife a Fenix LD10 and she likes it a lot but it was upgraded to a newer model almost as soon as I bought it. That's always a risk. I didn't tell her.

Very recently I bought a couple of ultra-bright zoom led torches from Dealextreme, very cheap compared to things like Fenix but I've been very impressed with them. They use three AAA cells, I'm using rechargeables and the light is stunningly bright. There is only one brightness setting though, so as Wayland points out they can be too bright for some things. You'd want something else as well for e.g. unrolling your sleep mat in the tent or looking for the salt, but I use a not too powerful head torch for things like that anyway. It uses three AAA cells as well and runs for a good few hours on a charge.

 

[Monkeyboab]

Like Ged says dealextreme has tons of cheap flashlights, it does have allot of multimode ones too, and all the lithium rechargeable batteries. I do like the zebralights like Wayland suggested and they have new models of headlamp that are not just flood if you want something bright for distance work, they also have a really low low to. Win win

Rob

 

[tombear]

Like a lot of us I have a draw full of torches but of late I've been just using one of these, a Petzl e-lite

http://www.petzl.com/en/outdoor/headlamps/emergency-signal

supposedly its for emergency use but I've found it to be all you need for rooting in yor bag and sloping off on a shovel Recce.

I think I'll be ditching the box (and losing the whistle) and just be keeping it in the small lock and lock box I keep stuff i want to keep safe in, and get a couple pf spare batteries.

The little Fennix LD01 I have as a back up on my keychain is actually bigger and heavier!

ATB

Tom