[black bear 84]

LIGHTS FOR HUNTING







This post will try to show how different lights used for hunting compare with each other, and will clarify the difference between the lumen ratings used in Luxeon (LED) lights and incandescent lights.

In short, I will show (through pictures) how Luxeons lack definition when used at increased distances.



I have maintained for a long time that LED Luxeons don't have the range over the incandescent to really be helpful for general hunting. They are excellent lights to use inside the house; their beams are very clean, white and with substantial flood, and in the average house, that is all you need. However, when taken outside to the backyard, woods, or large structure and the distance to the target is 25 yards or more, they lack definition (as they lack the red spectrum of light), and their poor penetration of fog or rain makes them inefficient to clearly identify what you are seeing at that distance.

Moreover, when the subject being illuminated is an animal with a light-drinking fur (depth of texture), the blending effect of the LED's (against the background) will cause the observer to lose perspective.





LOW LIGHT FOR WALKING IN THE WOODS





Hunters that have used the Fenix LOP (1 AAA) consider this light ideal (except for the lack of a clip). Another favorite is the ARC AAA. These lights can be held in the mouth without any discomfort.



Fenix has put out a bigger light (1 AA) with two stages output, and the lower output will be also ideal for projecting a soft LED beam that will aid in walking the woods in the pre-dawn blackness when going toward your stand, (perhaps following a trail of cat-eyes) at this time, it is necessary not to pollute the area with more light than what is absolutely needed.

Some hunters that know the terrain well, prefer to use a red filter over the light, as is well known that deer and others animals cannot see red light.





THE BELT LIGHT



Those same hunters want to have a good light on their belt. Some prefer the two cell 123's lights like the Surefire 6P, G2, or C-2 for their better flood beam over the more tightly focused Streamlight Scorpion, TL-2 and Night Fighter II.

They look for a run time of one hour and an output of 65 lumens.

Some opt for more intense lights like the Surefire 9P or the C-3 with their 105 lumens and one hour run time.

The Streamlight TL-3 is a little too tightly focused for a belt light but it will do fine at the longer distances were the bigger lights shine.

In LED form (Luxeon V), the Surefire L-4 is a good contender due to the excellent flood light that it puts out at medium range, however it lacks the throw needed for more distance illumination.



The main thing is that the hunters want to avoid losing precious seconds by panning a light when in the woods. That is why the Surefires are preferred over the tightly focused others brands, because they have special reflectors that diffuse the light into a bigger flood pattern.





THE CAR LIGHT



Some hunters wear a light holder in their belt (a plastic and leather ring). On exiting their cars, they slip in the ring one of the powerful rechargeable lights, most commonly the Magcharger (200 lumens) or the Ultra Stinger (295 lumens) and some even a Borealis 1050 lumens mega light.



Those are ideal lights for search for wounded game, search and rescue of lost partner, signaling at long distances and using them as spotlights after the hunt. Being rechargeable, they are always used with a maximum run time (taken out of the charger at start of the day, a thing that you can not do with 123 batteries unless you are willing to dump half-used batteries at the start of every day of hunting.



Their large diameter (2 inches) reflectors put more light at a longer distance than any of the belt lights. Even though some of the belt lights approach 200 lumens, they do it with reduced run time and much reduced throw, due to their small diameter reflectors.

A Magcharger will put a spot of light at 150 yards, as will the Ultra Stinger and a Borealis has the capability of illuminating the whole road for 250 yards.





Lets start with the popular Surefire G-2 (or 6 P) at 65 lumens, the target is the 8 by 12 tool shed at 30 yards.

We are going to pit the Surefire G-2 65 lumens $35.00 against the Surefire Digital Lumamax L-4 (also 65 lumens and with a price tag of $160.00).



Surefire G-2 65 lumens







Surefire L-4 Luxeon V, LED, 65 lumens





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[b][size=3][font="Times New Roman"]And now we are going to pit the Surefire 6 P with the P-61 120 lumen lamp (20 minutes run time) against the best Luxeon LED thrower that I have (similar to the cree LED).[/font][/size][/b]

[b][size=3][font="Times New Roman"]This is a Mc Gizmo PR T head with a TWOJ bin Luxeon doing 120 plus lumens.[/font][/size][/b]

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[b][size=3][font="Times New Roman"]Surefire Centurion C-2 (same as the 6P) with the P-61 lamp, 120 lumens.[/font][/size][/b]

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[b][size=3][font="Times New Roman"]And the PR T with TWOJ bin Luxeon, (LED) @ 120 lumens[/font][/size][/b]

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[b][size=3][font="Times New Roman"]And now we are going to show a belt light of 200 lumens (The Surefire Centurion III with the P-91 lamp, 200 lumens, 20 minutes run) and three cars' lights of 200 lumens plus and beyond.[/font][/size][/b]

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[b][size=3][font="Times New Roman"]Surefire Centurion C-III, 200 lumens P-91 lamp.[/font][/size][/b]

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[b][size=3][font="Times New Roman"]And here the Magcharger also 200 lumens, with its bigger reflector and tighter focus will throw the light at 150 yards, while the Centurion III range will stop at 45 or 50 yards.[/font][/size][/b]

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[b][size=3][font="Times New Roman"]Magcharger 200 lumens (40,000 candlepowers)[/font][/size][/b]

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[b][size=3][font="Times New Roman"]And here is the Ultra Stinger, the most powerful of the rechargeable from Streamlight with 295 lumens and 75,000 candlepower.[/font][/size][/b]

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[b][size=3][font="Times New Roman"]And now the BOREALIS, the light that has the format of a 3 D (12 1/2 inches long) outputting 1050 lumens for 50 minutes.[/font][/size][/b]

[b][size=3][font="Times New Roman"]This is similar to a two million candlepower spotlight[/font][/size][/b]

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[b][size=3][font="Times New Roman"]As I have over 200 lights that I have used at one time or another in my hunting expeditions, I am well familiarized with distinct situations that call for different lights and method of using them.[/font][/size][/b]

[b][size=3][font="Times New Roman"]I have encountered a new one lately, that calls for following a wounded wild boar at night with a powerful pistol like the S&W 500 or a 454 Casull and also a powerful light in the order of a Surefire M-6 (500 lumens) or a Borealis 1050 lumens.[/font][/size][/b]

[b][size=3][font="Times New Roman"]For myself, I cannot think of another pursuit that could be more dangerous to life and limb, although I have a lot of respect for the young athletes that have tried it, I consider it too "Extreme" for my good health.[/font][/size][/b]

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[b][size=3][font="Times New Roman"]Hope I can do some more talking to the members about my second hobby after knife collecting, which is of course hunting at night and light usage.[/font][/size][/b]

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[b][size=3][font="Times New Roman"]Respectfully[/font][/size][/b]

[b][size=3][font="Times New Roman"]black bear[/font][/size][/b]

[black bear 84]

MORE LIGHTS FOR HUNTING

As a continuation of the first post and for whatever value it has, I am going to do some more shoot outs of a mix of popular Luxeon lights and incandescent ones.



The first order of things is to change the target area, to make it a little more interesting to my viewers.

Consequently I replaced the tool shed target with a deer and bear mount.

The deer head mounted on the tree is exactly 26 yards from my second story window from where the lights are shinning.

The bear head in the fence is only six more feet further away from the tree.



In the summer I have plenty of bushy cover in the area, but this time I had to be creative and cut and nailed to the tree and fence, some branches from a pine tree, not to hide the animals from view, just to provide a natural blending effect, like they were coming from a natural habitat.



The camera was placed twelve foot away from the tree (and eighteen feet from the bear) in a solid tripod, and the night camera mode used (this mode shows in pictures the same light values that I am seeing with my own eyes).



The close proximity of the camera is for the viewer to see the target with clarity; if I were to place the camera 26 yards away the target will be awfully small.



Here it is the target area and how it looks in daylight.







And here are the contenders, but before I describe them, let me voice my opinion that some manufacturers of Luxeon lights label the output in lumens in quite a wild way.









From left to right: # 1 Fenix L1P at about 40 lumens, # 2 Nuwaii Q III at 75 lumens (yes, sure!) # 3 Surefire L-4 Digital Lumamax at 65 lumens (this is a Luxeon V which is quite a flood light but with little throw).



# 4 Streamlight Task-Light 2 L (two Lithium 3 volts batteries, high and low output,

Cost is about $77.00) This is billed at a High Flux Luxeon III. With 75 lumens, which I think is about right.



# 5 is the Streamlight Pro Polymer 4 AA with a Luxeon I, billed as 40 lumens (3,500 candlepower according to the advertising) which I think is quite wrong, as it appears to me to have about 70 lumens or more, this light has a bigger and deeper reflector than the others lights and the beam is concentrated more than the others. This is a great light for the price of about $40.00



# 6, this is a PR T Luxeon III head done for me by master modder McGizmo, it is set on a Surefire E2e body and I am using two rechargeable 123's with a voltage of 4.2 volts in it.

This light is my best Luxeon III light and up to two years ago it was pretty HOT STUFF, today the cree LED's are approaching it in intensity, although it has not been overpower by any other Luxeon, yet.

My friends told me I have two of the Integrated Sphere Spectotometers just above my nose, those spheres are telling me that this light makes 120 to 130 "real" lumens.



# 7, this is A Surefire Centurion II in black with the P-60 lamp (65 lumens) this represents all the others Surefires lights that use this lamp, G-2, 6P. Z-2. etc.



# 8, this is another Surefire Centurion II, but in Hard anodized, it wears the HOLA lamp. The P-61 with the output of 120 lumens for 20 minutes.



# 9 this is a Surefire Centurion III (3 cells) this is usually sold with the P-90 lamp that makes 105 lumens for one hour, but in this case is set up with the P-91 lamp for 200 lumens for 20 minutes, as you will see in the picture later, the floodlight effect is great at 26 yards. All those P's lamps start to lose range at about 45 to 50 yards, this is because the reflectors are fabricated to produce a good flood so police officers can clear houses with them.

I took this particular light out of my Remington 742 rifle, where it sits in the special quick detach mount in a Picattiny rail.



# 10, this is the BEAR CUB, this light weights 13 oz and measures 9 inches long, it works with two Lithium Ion computer batteries, and produces 220 plus lumens for 90 minutes. Thanks to the big and deep 2 inch mirror-like reflector, this light concentrates the beam like a laser and has a throw of 120 to 150 yards.

So the 26 yards distance is like child play for the Bear Cub and the light is so intense at the target that they had to close their eyes!



# 11, (last on the left lying in horizontal position next to the Bear Cub) this light is a KL-1 head Luxeon I of three years ago, it is set up in a Surefire Outdoorsman body and the lumens output is no more than 20, consequently I decided to strike it out from the competition, there is no room in my stable for weaklings and I will present it to my nephew on his birthday quite soon.



And now let's go to the pictures:

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[size=3][b][font="Times New Roman"]Fenix L1P (40 lumens) Luxeon I[/font][/b][/size]

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[size=3][b][font="Times New Roman"]Nuwaii Q III (advertised at 75 lumens in a website, which I don't believe) Luxeon III.[/font][/b][/size]

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[size=3][b][font="Times New Roman"]Surefire L-4 Digital Lumamax (65 lumens) this is very flood light and the lumens spread in a very wide area, so it cannot be expected to have a good throw at 26 yards. (Luxeon V ~which are 4 of the one watt together) [/font][/b][/size]

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[size=3][b][font="Times New Roman"]Streamlight Task Light 2 L about 75 lumens on high, works on two 123's batteries and has two levels of illumination. High Flux Luxeon III. About $77.00[/font][/b][/size]

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[size=3][b][font="Times New Roman"]Streamlight Poly Pro 4 AA Luxeon. This light has a deep and bigger reflector, the Luxeon is I, according to the manufacturer, is listed at 40 lumens, but to my eyes is doing about 75 lumens. [/font][/b][/size]

[size=3][b][font="Times New Roman"]For the price of $40.00 this is a great light, and very battery friendly as it uses regulars AA.[/font][/b][/size]

[size=3][b][font="Times New Roman"]I feed this light, rechargeable Nimhs AA of high current (Powerex 2700 mah) that hovers around 1.4 volts for weeks consequently it costs me nothing to operate it.[/font][/b][/size]

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[size=3][b][font="Times New Roman"]Mc Gizmo PR T head on Surefire body, Luxeon III, TWOJ bin, [/font][/b][/size]

[size=3][b][font="Times New Roman"]My best Luxeon light putting out 120 to 130 lumens. This is a collector's item and was state of the art, less than two years ago.[/font][/b][/size]

[size=3][b][font="Times New Roman"]I have found nothing new that can approach its power, except the new cree 7090 that is getting close.[/font][/b][/size]

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[font="Times New Roman"][size=3][/size][/font]CONTINUE IN NEXT POST TO FIT ALL PICTURES.

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[black bear 84]

Surefire Centurion II in black with the P-60 lamp (65 lumens for one hour)











Surefire Centurion II in Hard anodized with the P-61 lamp (120 lumens for 20 minutes)







Surefire Centurion III in hard anodized, with the P-91 lamp (200 lumens for 20 minutes) as you can see it is a great flood at 26 yards.











BEAR CUB running for 90 minutes on two computer Lithium Ion batteries, driving a Xenon Magnum Star bulb for 5 cells pretty hard at 8.4 volts at 220 lumens (which make it a very white light) with a reach of 120 to 150 yards, even surpassing the Ultra Stinger.







Best regards

Black bear

[Uncle Buck]

Awesome info for sure. Black Bear 84 would be a person to sit down to pick his brain. Thank you for sharing with us. I have not interpreted and comprehended what you posted yet but I can see you sure do know a lot about lights.

[Mongojoe]

Very interesting...and illuminating (pun intended)...LOL.....and Welcome to our forum black bear 84.

[black bear 84]

Mongojoe, on Jun 7 2007, 01:31 PM, said:

Very interesting...and illuminating (pun intended)...LOL.....and Welcome to our forum black bear 84.

Thank you for the welcome and the appreciation of my post guys, eventually is going to be a data-base of beam shots of differents lights, so members can check how the lights perform against each other.

Here is one more:

THE STREAMLIGHT SCORPION

I like the little Scorpion a lot, it is powerful (at 6,500 candle powers) light (at 4.4 oz) not too long at 4.9 inches and with a great feel in the hand thanks to the rubber boot that covers the body.

This rubber boot can be especially beneficial in the winter when others lights left in the trunk are too cold to hold without gloves.











The switch is momentary and click on, exactly as I want my switches; it is located in the back of the light and protected by the rubber boot.

The momentary works well, the click is in my case too difficult to operate with my big thumb and I have to click it with my index finger.

But it rarely that I use the click as this light can be used as a “tactical” light and the momentary mode is preferred when using it with a gun. (You don’t want to drop the light “on” and that it will illuminate you or your partner, that is the reason to use the momentary).



The light uses two 123’s batteries and run a xenon bulb for one hour, this xenon bulb is quite small, (a spare is located in the bulb holder inside the head) I will hate to have to change it in less than normal conditions, for starters you have to pry a cover from the bulb holder to access the spare, you will have a few small parts in your hands and you will need calm conditions and plenty of light to do the job properly.



For those situations I really prefer the big bulbs with reflector included of the Surefires’ or even the smaller but easy to handle bulb of the E2e’s.



Why I consider this so important? Well, the bulb is rated for 5 hours of life, which is extremely short.



I say I like this light, but it is really not rational because we have much better designs, for a tactical light. The little Scorpion will roll out on a table that is not perfectly flat, for lack of an anti-roll bezel. Surefires are much better in this department.



The beam can be adjusted by rotating the head (the filament of the bulb will go lower or higher inside the reflector), in reality I have the light set to maximum throw that will not show any artifacts and I don’t twist the head at all because the quality of the beam will be spoiled by artifacts and black spots.

This light is good for throw considering the small reflector and the quality of the beam when set at near maximum throw is good, a nice round circle, (due to the short filament).



The lens is polycarbonate, I would like to see it changed to Pyrex, but that is my personal feelings that this light should deserve a better lens.

I bought mine two years ago from Cabela’s and it cost me $38.00; I think that the price is right for a quality made American product.

The bulbs run about $6.00 each and I also consider them in price, they are so bright because they are overdriven (hence their short life of 5 hours).



I have seen a holster for the light made out of Cordura Nylon, but I haven’t tried it and I don’t know if is any issues in removing the light quickly, the rubber boot cause me trouble when removing the light from tight pockets (read Jean’s) but is okay when the pocket is from s dress pants.

I also have seen filters made for this light in red, blue and yellow for those that would like to penetrate the deer’s woods with a minimum of light pollution.



As always the beam shot are coming from 26 yards away and my camera tripod is in the same position, 12 feet from the deer and 18 from the bear.

I have also included as way of comparison the beam shot with the P-60 lamp out of a Surefire Centurion C-2 (read it also Surefire 6P, Z-2, G-2 D-2 etc).



SCORPION’S BEAM







P-60 LAMP FROM a Surefire Centurion II







You will notice that the beam of the Scorpion is more concentrated than the P-60 lamp, making the target clearer at this distance, for tactical situations at short range the P-60 lamp is better for the extra flood, it will be easier to clear a room with a Surefire without the need to pan the light to cover it all.



Cheers,

Black Bear

[Mongojoe]

Like I say, that is interesting...but to be honest, I had not really been very familier with the term "Lumens"...but, I am beginning to understand...... Always before, all I have ever seen or heard about the measure of brightness of various sources of light have been described/given in "candle power".... But then "in my day", small, compact lights such as these had no where near the power that they do today.

[black bear 84]

Mongojoe, on Jun 10 2007, 11:51 AM, said:

Like I say, that is interesting...but to be honest, I had not really been very familier with the term "Lumens"...but, I am beginning to understand...... Always before, all I have ever seen or heard about the measure of brightness of various sources of light have been described/given in "candle power".... But then "in my day", small, compact lights such as these had no where near the power that they do today.

Hi Mongojoe,
Lumens is a measure of the total light emitted by the source, while candlepower’s is only the measurement at the hot spot (center of the beam).
Consequently the two are different and can not be compared.

Lumens are measured with a laboratory instrument called an Integrated Sphere Spectotometer (cost about $20,000) and most serious flashlights Companies (Pioneered by Surefire) are using this method.

Spotlights with big reflectors (5 to 12 inches) profit from the mentioning of candlepowers because they can quote big figures (2 millions to 15 millions candlepowers) as big reflectors concentrate the beam into a tight spot.
But flashlights with their smaller reflectors use lumens as after all we also use the side spill (flood) to see all around.

In powerful flashlights like the Magcharger (40,000 candlepowers, 200 lumens) or the Streamlight Ultra Stinger (75,000 candlepowers, 295 lumens) the lumens are the most accurate as they portrait the total capability of the light (throw and flood).

In the MEGA flashlights, as in the rechargeable BOREALIS 1050 lumens, the extraordinary intensity and lumens output is similar to a two million candlepower spotlight or a big truck high beam headlight.

Respectfully
Black Bear

[Mongojoe]

Well, I somewhat understand...... We don't have any of the "compact, High-powered" lights, mostly due to the cost...but we do have a couple of sizes of MAGLIGHTs, and I have an old, still extremely bright DYNA-LIGHT, not to mention a number of lesser "flash-lights" laying around..... It is actually quite amazeing what they have done with artificial light sources in the last several years.

[black bear 84]

Mongojoe, on Jun 11 2007, 11:47 AM, said:

Well, I somewhat understand...... We don't have any of the "compact, High-powered" lights, mostly due to the cost...but we do have a couple of sizes of MAGLIGHTs, and I have an old, still extremely bright DYNA-LIGHT, not to mention a number of lesser "flash-lights" laying around..... It is actually quite amazeing what they have done with artificial light sources in the last several years.

Yes you are right, withness this improvement in key chain lights:

CREE 7090 XR-E LAMP

JET-I (AA) MK IIX FLASHLIGHT

I had the opportunity to test briefly this flashlight a few days ago; since I just got to handle it for a few hours I will not call it a review, but just a little trial.



The light was actually passing by, my friend Luis from Spain had ordered from me a Borealis 1050 lumens and a Bear Cub 220 lumens flashlights, he also wanted one of Emilions' workbench JET-BEAM I MK IIX little lights that have multiple functions and are billed with a 100 lumens maximum power in the 1 AA version and with the extended tube for two AA batteries at 150 lumens.

So I had one ordered from Emilions and it arrived quite quickly, from Hong Kong to New York in just five days!



Physically, it is the size of my Fenix L1P light, (about 40 lumens) and it is very similar in shape and weight.

For those not familiar with these lights I have here a picture of them side by side.







By adding the extension for another AA, it is claimed that the maximum output is 150 lumens. Now that is a serious lumens output that we are taking about, so my main interest was to see if really the little light was going to reach that high.

Unfortunately I didn't have available any other comparable light, the closest that I had seem was my friend Fenix L2D that claims 135 lumens, but he was out of state, so the light was unavailable to me.



I have in my stable of lights, one PR T head (Pelican Reflector Turbo) that McGizmo made for me with a TWOJ Lumileds Luxeon III, which is a real screamer, going into the 130 lumens when pushed hard by two of the rechargeable 123's at 3.7 volts each.

This head is in an E2e body and is my favorite of the Luxeons lights I own.



The comparison to the little reflector of the Jet Beam will be unfair, as the Pelican reflector is much bigger in diameter and deeper, concentrating the light in a much tighter and intense beam.

The smaller reflector of the Jet Beam will tend to disperse the light beam in a more open pattern which will compromise the throw.



But here is a picture of the two lights side by side, so you can see how they look like, and how the Jet Beam is with the added 1 battery extension tube.







And here is a picture of the beam shot against the ceiling at a distance of 6 feet, the one on left is the Jet Beam I MK IIX







And after that, I took pictures of the beams shots at my customary 26 yards against the Deer and Bear heads.

If the picture of the beam shot of the Jet Beam doesn't look too impressive for the 150 lumens figure, keep in mind the terrible advantage in concentration of light that the Pelican reflector provides for my PR T 130 lumens light.



Beam shot with the Jet Beam 150 lumens (2 batteries, maximum power)







And here the beam shot with the McGizmo PR T head (130 lumens)







I can't close this account without telling my readers of the many features of the little Jet Beam light,

On the exterior the light is finished in hard anodized type III, the lens is Sapphire crystal and it comes with a set of extra switch covers, lanyard and a nice belt holster.



The circuit is 0.7V to 4.2V, after you click it on (Medium Brightness) soft touching the rubber switch will provide low brightness, maximum brightness and strobe, and one more touch will put the light in standby.



Waiting two seconds and clicking the light again will access the advanced mode with 10 levels of output, and five special functions including strobe SOS at 100 % and SOS at 5 % and others.



This seems to me, is the light to end all of the key chain lights and then some. As soon as my checkbook is recuperated from the ravages of uncle Sam, I am going to order one for myself.

[font="Times New Roman"] [/font]

[font="Times New Roman"]I still think that for clearing a warehouse or a big yard, you need the longer distance reach of a good (in the 200 lumens bracket) incandescent light. When the factories start using the Cree 7090 with bigger reflectors, we will see the results, but I myself believe that the lack of the red spectrum in the Luxeons will always make them short distance lights and reduce the definition on the target; just look at the pictures that I have presented until now and see the performance of Luxeons even with the big reflectors of the Streamlight 4AA and the Task Light.[/font]

[font="Times New Roman"] [/font]

[font="Times New Roman"]Kind regards[/font]

[font="Times New Roman"][size=3]Black bear[/size][/font]

[font="Times New Roman"][size=3] [/size][/font]

[black bear 84]

THE PRINCETON TEC SURGE

Hi guys,

This here is a dive light, but so inexpensive (around $30) and so suited to camping, hunting and having around in boats and wet places, that I have included it in this thread.







A couple of years ago a store was having a sale of them, and I grabbed a bunch to have near the family in case of fire.



They output 105 lumens which is a considerable amount of lumens for such a small light working on eight AA batteries. The batteries are in parallel, so it will also work with only four batteries (and will float) with a reduced run time.



The Surge and the battery carrier and bulb combination







It is said that the light will work for 5 hours on a full compliment of eight batteries. I have never conducted a run time test, so I can't testify that this is true. Other Princeton Tec products that claim the same run time (Q40) have fallen short.



The bulb is a 7.5 watts and quite bright, my Surges have a deeply stippled reflector that produce a good flood light and by twisting the head it can be opened to even more flood, but I don't recommend playing with the head underwater as it can compromise the waterproof level of the light.

The instructions claim the light is waterproof to 500 feet. I am a landlubber and never find myself more than six feet underwater, but Princeton Tec is famous for their dive lights and I haven't heard any complains from divers.



I put the light in my fish scale and it weights 10.8 oz. with batteries and the handy lanyard that comes with the light, so despite all those batteries the Surge is very lightweight.



Beam shot of the Surge against my deer and bear targets from 26 yards









The throw is considerable, rivaling my Streamlight TL-3 and reaching as far as 68 yards, if you consider the low price of this light I say you get a lot of lumens for your money.



Eight batteries in a tightly sealed container as is this light can put out quite a bit of Hydrogen gas, for divers I will recommend that they keep the light with the battery carrier out until they are ready to go on the water.

For other uses such as camping or others I recommend you drill a very small hole in the body of the light, to let the Hydrogen escape. They have been known to explode occasionally due to the build up of gas inside.



Cheers,

Black Bear

[black bear 84]

THE SUREFIRE M-6, 500 LUMENS TACTICAL LIGHT



Hi guys,

Here is another of my tactical lights. This beauty is light, relatively small and VERY powerful, and it comes with two lamps; 250 lumens for one hour and 500 lumens for 20 minutes.

THE GOOD NEWS:

In reality, when using fresh 123’s batteries of Surefire brand this light puts out 650 lumens for the first 6 minutes, this is really an outstanding performance as at 650 lumens the light is very white.

After that, the small 123’s start feeling the problem of coping with the high amperage lamp and settle to the 500 lumens output for a little more time, but you can see in the beam how the sag on the little batteries affects the output.



I have had three of the M-6’s and I am very familiar with them, they are very sensitive to what batteries they like, performing quite well with the Surefire brand, but dropping down and with reduced run time with the Battery Station brand, (at least in my experience).



THE NOT SO GOOD NEWS:

Sometimes in a warm summer night when I use the light, I can expect it to shut down after about 11 to 12 minutes of running due to the overheat protection of the batteries.

Yes the batteries will shut down the juice when very hot to avoid reaching the melting point, it is very disconcerting to have the light going full blast and all of a sudden you find yourself in complete dark.

It will no happen often but it had happened to me three times last summer (I am an above average user of powerful lights).



The light that I use for the beam shot is not my own but one that a neighbor of mine received in the mail the day I was delivering to him a Borealis 1050 lumens flashlight.



This great guy will start a conversation with, hi, I am Effie and I am a flashaholic, the day I visited him we spend hours talking and looking at his lights.

The batteries in the Surefire box, were fresh, I am sure because I deflowered the tough plastic wrapping with my trusty Ken Onion’s knife.

The guy have a one room house with garage in his big back yard, (for his teenage son’s to have his privacy) and that is what we used as a target, it been 27 yards away from the end of the porch where we shoot the beams of the lights and placed the tripod and camera.



As we needed another light to test it against, we used the Borealis 1050 lumens light, this being a top of the line model with the Quick Detach Swivel and the black hard anodized bezel with the glow dots.

Of course the Borealis been a bigger light made in the 3 D format and weighting at 28 oz. and with 12 ½ inches in length, overpower physically and in lumens output the M-6, but we didn’t have anything closer to the 650 lumens of the HOLA lamp of the M-6.

And here are the beam shots



SUREFIRE M-6 HOLA lamp (650 lumens on fresh batteries, 20 minutes run time)











BOREALIS 1050 LUMENS RECHARGEABLE (50 minutes run time)







And here the lights side by side before the shoot out.













THE ONLY REAL PROBLEM:

It is the cost of the batteries, Surefires are close to a couple dollars now with shipping, it hurts my pocket to pay that much when the light uses six of them every twenty minutes and I don’t use the light as much as when the batteries where going for a dollar each.

For the law enforcement sector, when the Agency pays for the batteries, it is not problem, but for us simple civilians like me, even that I don’t have a mortgage anymore, I have a kid with a foot in College and I have to watch out my wallet, paying $36.00 per hour to run a powerful light it is not longer fun.



It is the top of the line of the portable Surefires and at $400 it is well worth the money due to the great and precise machining and finish and the good design specially made for tactical situations.



Cheers,

Black Bear



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[black bear 84]

Hi guys,
I did this piece for a hiking club I belong to, I thought you guys will be interested, just please forgive the hiking flavor.

THE MOST POWERFUL FLASHLIGHTS

LIGHTS FOR TRUCK OR CAR

Hi guys,

Yes, I know that this has nothing to do with hiking, but most of us use car or truck transportation to get to the trail head and usually carry some form of a flashlight in the vehicle.

A powerful light can be a life saver in many instances, I well remember when driving up to the Adirondacks at 2 am in an empty 87 North at a point between exit 28 and 29 (North Hudson) some wild people in a truck tried to run us over into the shoulder of the road, my wife shinned a powerful light into their windshield and they desisted in the intent and actually braked hard and disappeared.

Maybe they though that only police cars would have such a powerful light and that it was better to look for their kicks somewhere else; the case was that the light resolved the situation for us.



Then it was the time when we used it to illuminate the scene of and accident involving a deer and a poor woman in a compact car in a dark lonely side road, where blood and the insides of the deer were everywhere and the car was inoperable.



Calling by phone from New York City to a local in the Adirondacks to get our weather information I was told of a new ruse some bad guys were using to rob and hi jack cars in roads with poor traffic in the area.

The information came handy a few weeks later when in Boreas road near the junction with Tahawus road we were flagged by a guy in a truck with the head lights illuminating a dead dog in the middle of the road. at the time I was using a car I had bought from my neighbor the cop, it had a PA system and blue lights mounted in the vicinity of the radiator; we stopped short, illuminated the area with the two million candlepower of a Borealis flashlight and hit the blue lights and PA system telling them over the mike to stay were they where and to show their hands. The guy in the truck jumped inside and did a burning tire escape even running over the body of the dog, while his confederate in the bushes at the side of the road had just barely time to dive head first into the bed of the truck.



So I though that I will show the guys in the forums what a powerful light is since I have several of them with me.



HERE IS A PICTURE OF THE LIGHTS, FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Maglite 3 D, Magcharger, Ultra Stinger, Surefire M-6 Guardian, and Borealis.







AND HERE A PICTURE OF THE BATTERY STICKS AND CARRIERS FROM LEFT: The 6 volts battery stick of the Magcharger, the skinny 6 volts battery stick of the Ultra Stinger, the plastic carrier for the six 123’s batteries of the Surefire M-6 and last the aluminum and Delryn 12 volts carrier of the Borealis 1050 lumens flashlight.











The Maglite 3 D is the most popular light carried by almost everybody in a truck or car. The 12 ½ inches of length and the thirty one ounces of weight make also a good impact weapon for emergencies, moreover, is the affordability of the light that can be obtained almost anywhere for less than $20, and, by the way, it is a quality instrument with tight tolerances and proudly still made in the USA.

So the Maglite 3 D is going to be our first test and beam shot, the light is quite waterproof to a good extend, my neighbor’s kids use one to collect coins from the bottom of the pool in a game they have.

The Maglite 3 D output 39 lumens and runs on three of the popular D size alkaline batteries; it will run for an hour before the output drops to 20 lumens due to the sag that alkaline batteries exhibit under load.



BEAM SHOT OF THE MAGLITE 3 D (39 LUMENS)







MAG Instruments also produce a powerful rechargeable police light called the Magcharger, www.maglite.com this light is used by many police departments in the states and abroad; this light is the size and shape of a regular Maglite 3 D but with 2 rings of steel where the contacts for the charger are.

This light will output 200 lumens (40,000 candlepower) and I think that the price is about $120.00 a well built quality light of 12 ½ inch and a weight of thirty one ounces, it works with a 6 volt system on a stick of Ni Cads batteries; the charger will charge the light in 12 hours and as the Ni Cad batteries sometimes acquire memory, it is necessary to discharge it full and recharge to erase the memory in the batteries after using it for a couple of weeks.



BEAM SHOT OF THE MAGCHARGER (200 LUMENS)







The Streamlight Ultra Stinger is the most powerful offering from Streamlight, a well known police flashlight provider, The Ultra Stinger will output 75,000 candlepower, lumens figure is 295 lumens, it also works with a 6 volt system of rechargeable Ni Cad batteries, formed in a stick, the light is very popular with many police agencies and also recharges in 12 hours.

Police station across America have racks of Ultra Stingers in chargers waiting for the night shift to arrive, the light is a lightweight at 12 inches and 15 ounces, I think that the price is around $130 in the street as some lights can be bought at discount from the web.

The address for Streamlight is www.streamlight.com there they have the whole line of Stingers and other police and emergency services lights.



BEAM SHOT OF THE ULTRA STINGER (295 LUMENS)



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[font="Calibri"]Our SWAT teams and Special Forces use for entry and to blind suspects a powerful military type flashlight called the Surefire M-6 Guardian. This light works with those powerful 3 volts Lithium batteries that are sometimes used in cameras, the flashlight uses six of them disposables batteries to run the light at 500 lumens for 20 minutes; after the 20 minutes you have to dump the batteries and get another six fresh batteries in the carrier, which is of not importance when the agency pay for the batteries, but to us civilians, dumping $12.00 worth of batteries after a 20 minutes run can get to be expensive.[/font]

[font="Calibri"]This light was until recently the most powerful in the world, and Surefire sells a good quantity of them despite the tag of $400 USD.[/font]

[font="Calibri"]I used one for a while in my car because it fits my glove compartment, as the light is shorter and lighter than the ones we have been discussing so far.[/font]

[font="Calibri"]At 8 inches 14 ounces it is quite compact, but it will make a poor strike weapon although the powerful beam of 500 lumens will blind men or animal.[/font]

[font="Calibri"]If you want more information on this light the address of Surefire is [/font][font="Calibri"]www.surefire.com[/font]

[font="Calibri"] [/font]

[font="Calibri"] [/font]

[font="Calibri"]BEAM SHOT OF THE SUREFIRE M-6 (500 LUMENS)[/font]

[font="Calibri"] [/font]

[font="Calibri"][/font]

[font="Calibri"] [/font]

[font="Calibri"]My red rechargeable Borealis flashlight at 1050 lumens (two million candlepower) is the king of all the powerful lights and the most powerful flashlight in the world at this time.[/font]

[font="Calibri"]It is made on the “host” of 3D, so replacement shells are easy available and inexpensive and the owner can replace a shell that have been scratched or dented for a mere $20 if he wishes, and in only 10 minutes transfer the special parts, (some of us take pride in good looking equipment).[/font]

[font="Calibri"]This light is seen deployment with some members of the border patrol to illuminate the frontier in their quest for illegal immigration. The light can throw a powerful beam for hundred of yards and in a pinch it can be used as headlights or a landing light.[/font]

[font="Calibri"]Police officers are acquiring the Borealis to use the same way that they have been using the Maglite and Magcharger, the tremendous light output makes it ideal for accident sites and traffic stops.[/font]

[font="Calibri"]It uses a 12 volt system of rechargeable high current NINH batteries in a beautifully made Rolls Royce carrier, the batteries don’t have any problem with memory and the new type of batteries used in this light can be away from the charger for more than a month before it needs to be topped off, and the recharging time of the light is only 90 minutes.[/font]

[font="Calibri"]The run time of this light is 50 continuous minutes; it is 12 ½ inches long and weights 28 ounces. In test ran by the maker, the light was tortured and even shot with a .22 rifle without stopping emitting light. (As a video shows in the web site).[/font]

[font="Calibri"]The light sells for $320 shipped directly from the maker, which is [/font][font="Calibri"]www.BlackBearFlashlights.com[/font]

[font="Calibri"] [/font]

[font="Calibri"] [/font]

[font="Calibri"]BEAM SHOT OF THE BOREALIS (1050 LUMENS)[/font]

[font="Calibri"] [/font]

[font="Calibri"][/font]

[font="Calibri"] [/font]

[font="Calibri"] [/font]

[font="Calibri"]I thought you guys will be interested to see all these lights in action, and I pointed them to a point in the fence next to the tree with the beams and camera shooting from a 35 yards distance, this is the longest distance that I have in the back yard[/font]

[font="Calibri"] [/font]

[font="Calibri"]Although you can not take them in your night hikes (because of the extra weight) any of them will make a good addition to your car or truck gear, who knows, maybe they can really help you out of a tight situation like they did for me.[/font]

[font="Calibri"] [/font]

[font="Calibri"]Respectfully[/font]

[font="Calibri"] Black Bear[/font]

[font="Calibri"] [/font][font="Calibri"] [/font]

[Mongojoe]

Those are some fine lights... In fact, I have a MAG-LIGHT 3-D laying here about 2 feet from me at this very minute... We keep it here on the computer desk in the back of the house, in case we need to go outside in the back yard after dark... Not "the most powerful", but still pretty powerful for a "standard flash light", and totally dependable... It's the same light that most of the police officers that I know around here carry.... We carry a couple of flash lites in the vehicles, and always have, because you just never know when they may be needed...but to be honest, I could not tell you off hand what they are.

[black bear 84]

No all lights that I review are expensive, this is a good one for the money!


RAYOVAC SPORTMAN XTREME

2AA 3 WATTS LUXEON FLASHLIGHT

I found this one at Wal-Mart and a fortunate find it was, the light is about the size of a Surefire L-4 or Surefire E2L, it even has a switch similar in operation to the Z-52 switch of the Surefire, press once for momentary, and twist the tail cap for permanent.



The package claims 80 lumens and it probably is, but of course, due to the small reflector and being a diode, the light is diffused and doesn’t have good throw, but good enough to make it comparable with other Luxeon III’s that I have seen at much higher prices.







Yes, the price was $25.00 and therefore makes this light a bargain, and another great feature is while others lights consume the expensive 123’s, this one works with two AA batteries.



The body holds a nice clip that makes it unnecessary to carry the light in a holster. It even has a lanyard if you want to keep it with you when you open your hand to do any other task.



The run time is given at two hours, which is good and even better than others lights of this power can give even using 123 batteries.

If you need more runtime than this, you can buy the exact light in the 1 watt version with an output of 45 lumens and a runtime of five hours.

For a long time I have been using rechargeable Nimh AA batteries. I use them for all my power-hungry gadgets, GPS’s, two-way radios, cameras, etc. The Nimhs provide me no-guilt runtime and, at the same time, helps the environment.



Beam shot at 26 yards, camera at 18 feet from the target. I moved the deer up front a little, so the background and the leaves from my cherry tree will not interfere with the picture. I should cut the overgrown bushes that are taking over the fence, but the weather hasn’t cooperated lately for doing yard work.







Cheers,

Black Bear

[black bear 84]

TORTURE TEST OF THE BOREALIS 1050 LUMENS, VIDEO

http://blackbearflas...orture_test.htm

Cheers
Black Bear

[Mongojoe]

That BOREALIS is a "heavy-action" light... Just wondering, but it looks remarkably like a MAG-LITE... Is that who makes it ? ........ We have 3 or 4 MAG-LITE's of various sizes laying around here, and all are rugged and dependable... In fact one, a 3-D, I found... I was going to Tulsa one early morning before first light, and I was passing thru a small town when I saw a light shining in the road ahead. I stopped and picked it up. It was the MAG-LITE 3-D, scratched up, and with a few dings, but still shineing... In fact, it is laying here a couple of feet from me on the computer desk even as I type this.

I also have a small MINI MAG-LITE, the kind that takes 2 AAA batteries. It has quit working. I believe it is the bulb, but am not certain. The only drawback is that I have had a difficult time finding a new bulb for it in my small town, and by the time I ordered one and then paid shipping, I could almost buy a whole new MINI MAG-LITE.

[black bear 84]

TWO, BLOOD TRACKING LIGHTS

BEAR CUB 220 LUMENS AND SUREFIRE M-4, 225 LUMENS

Hi guys,

I am the official tracker for our little group of seven bow hunters. Because of the small patch of private woods that we have for hunting, and to preserve the unpolluted area, all tracking is done only after dark when the hunt is over.

Our rules are that no more than two persons will retrieve the deer; this is to keep the woods as free of human odor as possible, not to spoil our chances for the next morning hunt.



I have had a lot of experience with blood tracking lights, since my father first taught me how to do it with the old gas Coleman lantern.

One thing that the old timers had right was the need for intense WHITE light. As time change, there was not need anymore to go back to the truck for the old lantern; the new crop of intense white light pioneered by the tactical lights used for SWAT and Special Forces can do the job of making that blood trail as clear as during the day.



At this point, a word about the blue lights now in use for this task, and is that in many situations they are completely useless, as I learned when I tested one of them by following a wounded bear in the Maine woods in late August. The black drop of blood blended so well with the dark green vegetation of the Maine woods, that it was impossible to track it using that light.

BLUE LIGHT









WHITE LIGHT









I am a flashaholic, a disease that is kept in check only by buying and using lights, as I own more than two hundred of them; I am well aware what is good and for what purpose. That is why I am telling my readers that for blood tracking you need a very intense white light of not less than 200 lumens.

That figure rules out LED lights, not only they don’t make the grade in lumens output, they are poor penetrators in fog and are poor distance throwers.

Enter high output incandescent lights with good throw.

Not many of them out there, Surefire for sure was the pioneer with the M-4 and the M-6 lights; the M-6 with the 350 lumens lamp can run for 60 minutes, but it uses six of the expensive 123’s batteries, costing $12 per hour run. The M-4 with the 225 lumens lamp is what I have used for years with satisfaction, except for the cost of $8 per hour, as some tracking jobs sometimes took more than 60 minutes.



THE SUREFIRE M-4 AND THE RECHARGEABLE BEAR CUB









The M-4 is 9 inches long and quite light in weight, it have a stippled reflector that diffuses the light into a flood, which in my opinion is more flood than it is needed, I would like to see this light marketed with a smooth reflector for more useable throw, as sometimes the wounded deer circle back toward the open fields, and to spot one lying dead in the middle of the field more throw is needed.

For more about the Surefire M-4 ($330) contact Surefire at www.surefire.com



BEAMSHOTS FROM 26 YARDS, CAMERA AT 12 FEET FROM DEER



BEAMSHOT OF THE SUREFIRE M-4









The rechargeable Bear Cub is made by Black Bear Flashlights; it uses two state of the art Lithium Ion rechargeable batteries for 90 minutes run time outputting 220 lumens. This light is made

using the “host” of a maglite 2 C, which means than after years of hard use when the light is scratched or dented, you can renew it just by buying a new “host” for about $14.00.

The light is also 9 inches long, it has a smooth reflector that concentrates the beam and shoots it a long way, no problem with this light in spotting a dead deer in the middle of the field. The light is sold with a Li Ion charger that will charge the batteries in 3 ½ hours, so it is no problem to have it ready for the next morning, fully charged. These batteries last for 1,000 recharges so you have 1500 hours of use before needing another set of batteries. Before the M-4 can run for 1500 hours it will have spend $12,000 in batteries!

Extra lightweight Lithium Ion rechargeable batteries cost $30 per pair, so carrying an extra pair in a pocket will give you another 90 minutes of white intense tracking light.

When these lights are not used for tracking they make a formidable tactical light for home defense, with the capability of momentarily blinding an opponent.

The Bear Cub is available from the maker for $130 shipped, for more about this light contact www.BlackBearFlashlights.com



BEAMSHOT OF THE BEAR CUB

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[font="Calibri"] [/font]

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[font="Calibri"]Both of these lights will beat handily a 250,000 lumens spotlight; they are very convenient to carry in a pack or fanny-pack or even a large pocket. I use a red light to enter the woods without polluting them with light; I make a habit of always carrying my Bear Cub in my pack, ready for the most important chore of the hunting season, the retrieval of a wounded deer. I think that is our obligation to the game to make our best efforts to retrieve the deer we shoot, the use of the proper tool for tracking blood is imperative to aid in such efforts.[/font]

[font="Calibri"] [/font]

[font="Calibri"]All the best[/font]

[font="Calibri"] [/font]

[font="Calibri"] Black Bear[/font]

[font="Calibri"] [/font]

[font="Calibri"] [/font][font="Calibri"] [/font]

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[Hands]

this thread rocks...tons of awesome info!! Thanks for taking the time, Black Bear.

[black bear 84]

Hands, on Sep 29 2007, 02:30 AM, said:

this thread rocks...tons of awesome info!! Thanks for taking the time, Black Bear.

Thank you for your appreciation, Hands.

ULTRA FIRE FMR1 REBEL LUXEON

200 LUMENS

ONE CR 123 A BATTERY

I bought this light from Deal Extreme for $23.24 shipped. I was very curious to try one of the Rebel 200 lumen new Luxeons and I think this is the best way to try one inexpensively.



The light has a click on, click off switch and five modes of intensities. The low mode is 30 lumens and is said to last for 24 hours. Another is 100 lumens for six hours, and the 200 lumens mode is three hours; then you have a strobe mode and an SOS mode.



I used a new Battery Station 123 and in the high 200 mode it lasted for ½ an hour, and it gets hot very quick. I don’t know if the poor run time is the fault of the battery that was under-charged, or if the light will perform the same with others 123’s, but that is the results I got.









Due to the small head, the flood effect is quite pronounced and the throw is poor for a 200 lumen light, but I was expecting it to be that way based on experience with other small headed keychain-type lights.









Two hundred lumens in a two inch head of an incandescent will put a level of illumination that is tremendous in comparison to the small head of the Rebel 200 lumens. So we are in a time when we can no longer make an assessment based on the lumens figure, that is when the comparison pictures that I have been taken show the value, as the viewer can see for himself how the different lights with the same value in lumens output perform in real life.



If I consider the low price I like the little light in general, excepting the side switch that can be a little hard to find in a rush, as it is kind of recessed in the head of the light and difficult to find by feel alone. I will have preferred a tail switch such as I have in my Fenix L1D, but it is a tremendous price difference between the two lights, so all things considered I think that the Ultra fire is a great value, and I can put up with the side switch.



After trying to like the clip for a couple of weeks, I ended throwing it away, it is too flimsy and I will not trust it to keep the light in my pocket. The light is regular anodized, but had stood well the use in my pocket with keys and coins.



Here is my usual 26-yard beam shot against my deer head with the Ultra Fire 200 lumens









And here is a beam shot with the 220 lumens Bear Cub rechargeable that sport a two inch head and have a range of 150 yards.









All the best,

Black Bear