# Flashlights and Headlamps?



## Handgunner (Dec 6, 2005)

What type do you use, and why?

The reason I ask is, I'm wanting something small, but bright.  Are the LED's all they are cracked up to be?  Are more LED's better than a few?

I'm wanting something bright to track deer.  The maglight works fine, but it's four D batteries long.

As for headlamps, my uncle is wanting one for to and from the stand, and tracking.


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## Bigtimber (Dec 6, 2005)

I know the best flashlights I have ever owned are made by Princeton tech...diving lights. There tough as can be. Their led lights are compact, tough and burn time is great like most led's. For super bright tracking light...they got one too...princeton tech surge is the brightest compact light I've seen. 120 lumens!! Puts a 4cell mag to shame but fits in your pocket. Runs off of 8 aa batteries which makes it alittle heavy but still bets paying for lithiums in my book. Give them a look.


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## Handgunner (Dec 6, 2005)

Do you have a webpage for them?


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## NOYDB (Dec 6, 2005)

The company name is actually Princeton TEC. Froogle on that and there's a lot available at various prices.


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## Handgunner (Dec 6, 2005)

http://www.backcountrygear.com/catalog/accessdetail.cfm?PRODUCTS__PRODUCTID=PR1400

Is this the Princeton Tec, like you were talking about?

Are more LED lights better?  Lantern type flashlights?  

In tracking my deer the other night, I just came to the conclusiont hat the big mag light just ain't gonna cut it.

Any ideas or tips will be appreciated and preferrably a suggested price and place to get them would be helpful.

TIA.


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## Handgunner (Dec 6, 2005)

manwithnoname said:
			
		

> For a tracking light, you may want something more powerful?  How much do you want to spend, Delton?


 I'm thinking around $20-25 for a good light wouldn't be asking too much.  Or is it?


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## frankwright (Dec 6, 2005)

LED lights can be very bright and provide great area lighting but they lack the long focused beam that many people are looking for when tracking or looking for a downed animal.
It is very difficult to have a very bright light without the disadvantages of extra weight and/or short battery life. That is the reason the serious night hunting lights come with a big belt mounted battery pack.

I have noticed that they are now making a hybrid headlamp that gives you a choice of LED or a brighter bulb in the same unit.

Some of the Surefire and Streamlight flashlights put out a brilliant light but it is only good for 50 minutes of use.
I did a review in the Equipment forum today of the LED upgrade of the Mini Mag 2AA flashlight. I have not used it in the woods but I walked outside in the dark and it puts out a lot of good light. Much more than the standard Mini Mag that I always considered minimal.


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## roadkill (Dec 6, 2005)

I have a 3 aa Streamlight Tasklight with a Luxeon LED.  It's 10 times brighter than a regular LED light.  The beam shines 100 ft.  The batteries last a real long time.  I think it's a 1 watt Luxeon bulb.  I paid $40 for it.  I've seen some lights on Ebay with a 3 watt Luxeon bulb.  I'm thinking about buying one.  If you want bright, but don't need a spotlight, the Luxeon bulb is the way to go.  It's super bright, and doesn't eat batteries!


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## Bigtimber (Dec 6, 2005)

Princeton tec surge uses a 7.5 watt xenon bulb, adjustable focus ....run time about  3  hours. I don't think you'll find a brighter light of any kind for the size.  I've been real pleased with it.


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## SakoL61R (Dec 7, 2005)

I use a Tikka Plus as a headlamp (although with the elastic band I usually wear it around my neck).  4 LED's and very bright on the highest setting.  Lightweight,  very handy in the woods/around camp and battery life is great.  It works for tracking as well. 

http://www.petzl.com/petzl/LampesPr...amme=48&Critere=0&Produit=463&ProduitAssocie=


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## orion1mdl (Dec 8, 2005)

SakoL61R said:
			
		

> I use a Tikka Plus as a headlamp (although with the elastic band I usually wear it around my neck).  4 LED's and very bright on the highest setting.  Lightweight,  very handy in the woods/around camp and battery life is great.  It works for tracking as well.
> 
> http://www.petzl.com/petzl/LampesPr...amme=48&Critere=0&Produit=463&ProduitAssocie=


Yep. I use a Tikka Plus too, and it's very nice indeed!
Very lightweight, 4 power settings (one is a strobe),  high setting really lights up the ground pretty well for tracking, if required, and they have a filter kit that you can get for it (about $6.00) that has a red, blue, and extra clear lens in it. The red lens is great for going to and from your stand, and the blue lens can help on a bloodtrail.


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## 7Mag Hunter (Dec 8, 2005)

*Flashlight and Headlamps*

I carry two...

Pelican Super Saberlight  (Brigade Quartermaster)
and
4 "AA" headlamp..With Krypton (i think) bulb
Headlamp straps gave up last year, so I just taped the
lamp part to the battery pak and it fits in pocket ...

Both are very bright, but the Saberlight consumes
batteries faster than the headlamp..


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## LKS2 (Dec 8, 2005)

I bought a Brinkman LED headlamp at Walmart for $18.  It runs off of 3 AAA batteries.  Run time is about 10 hours on these battaries.  I have a quick charge for my digital camera that will recharge AAA's so I carry extra batteries.  The headlamp batteries and light are all one unit that sits in front.  Its very bright and a lot better than the $50 one that broke last year that was 4 AA batteries with a regular bulb. Two years and I assume it makes it until next year I feel I am getting my money's worth out of it.


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## HMwolfpup (Dec 8, 2005)

I've been using a rayovak LED headlight.  It has 3 settings, red led (2 leds), blue LED ( I think it's 2 or 3 LEDs) and a white Halogen.  The LED's are great.  they even burn with very low batteries.  Of coures  you can't blood trail with the red and under the blue light, the blood spots look black so it's still difficult.  The halogen works well for short periods.  After about 5-10 minutes, it starts burning out the battery.  I can tell you I have used this for 2 years and just have replaced the batteries last week.  I the LEDs were still working, but when I turned on the halogen, it wouldn't come on at all.  when I replaced the batteries, the LEDs were noticeably brighter, but i was still able to see with them before I replaced the battery.  In short, they're great for to and from the stand, but not so great for tracking....IMO


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## georgiaboy (Dec 12, 2005)

I use a squeeze LED or one of those Stylus penlights for finding gear, etc.  I like a Surefire 6P or G2 for tracking.  They are the brightest light I know of for the money, have momentary or constant "on" switch and are very small.  The downside is that batteries are expensive (lithium batt).  The G2 costs about $30-35 and the 6P is $55-60 usually.


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## Goddard (Dec 12, 2005)

I have the surefire g2 as well and it is bright, but I am lucky if I get one weekend out of the batteries and that is just going in and out of the woods, no tracking.   My husband has one too, so we were spending $20.00 a weekend on batteries.   I finally figured how to order them directly from surefire for a lot cheaper.  I like the bright light, but the batteries are a pain.


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## Deerhead (Dec 13, 2005)

I bought the Western Rivers Mity Max head lamp Lite (from Cabelas) to go gator hunting.  It has a deep cell battery that hooks to your belt.  It will shine bright all night long.  It was great for gator hunting and I used it to track a doe earlier this year.  Its not light like the LED’s but its bright (80,000 candlepower), rechargeable and lasts a long time.


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## georgiaboy (Dec 13, 2005)

Goddard said:
			
		

> I have the surefire g2 as well and it is bright, but I am lucky if I get one weekend out of the batteries and that is just going in and out of the woods, no tracking.   My husband has one too, so we were spending $20.00 a weekend on batteries.   I finally figured how to order them directly from surefire for a lot cheaper.  I like the bright light, but the batteries are a pain.



I only use mine for a tracking light or if I need really bright light.  Those LEDs are enough for me to find my stuff, setup a climber, etc.  You can sometimes get the batteries cheap on Ebay too.


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## Hogtown (Dec 16, 2005)

Georgiaboy (and others) - I use a Surefire P6 also. The key to the batteries is to order them directly from Surefire [www.surefire.com].  They sell them for $12 a dozen.  I can hardly buy AA Dura-Cell at Home Depot for that.  I suspect that Surefire sells them at cost or even at a loss, because as you point out, the only "downside" to a Surefire is the battery price. Order from them and you elimenate that problem.  I buy 2 or 3 dozen at the time and I am squared away for a year or two.


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## Hogtown (Dec 16, 2005)

Correction:  I just double check Surefire. The price has gone up to $15 for a dozen. Still a lot better than $5 per battery CVS.


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## OffShoreMedic (Dec 16, 2005)

The Petzl Duo is one of the toughest and most versatile headlamps on the market.  Personally I use the Duo when I go caving, for hunting, and any other thing that I need a good light for. The Duo had a 3, 5 or 8 LED light and a halogen light together. Check them out at:

http://www.petzl.com/petzl/LampesProduits?Produit=521


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## georgiaboy (Dec 16, 2005)

Hogtown said:
			
		

> Georgiaboy (and others) - I use a Surefire P6 also. The key to the batteries is to order them directly from Surefire [www.surefire.com].  They sell them for $12 a dozen.  I can hardly buy AA Dura-Cell at Home Depot for that.  I suspect that Surefire sells them at cost or even at a loss, because as you point out, the only "downside" to a Surefire is the battery price. Order from them and you elimenate that problem.  I buy 2 or 3 dozen at the time and I am squared away for a year or two.



Thanks Hog!  I need to just get that pack that comes in a plastic case with the extra bulb I guess.


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## Hogtown (Dec 18, 2005)

Happy to help of Georgiaboy. I have the battery carrier. It is a good piece of equipment. Strong, O-ring sealed.  Its nice to just throw it in your pack/truck/etc.. and know you have everything you need in one place to keep your light running.  FYI, when you put the bulb assembly in the holder you will think something is wrong because it sticks up.  That is the way it supposed to be. You just screw the lid on and the bulb assembly spring compresses and holds the bulb assembly tightly in place.  It works real well, but it looks weird at first.


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## Dub (Dec 18, 2005)

I'll have to give those dive lights a hard look.  They are rugged, as a rule.

I've "advanced" from mini-mags to lithiums to Streamlight 4AAs.  The Streamlight 4AAs ran me about fifteen bucks each and have done well on trailing deer.  The Mini-mags are great for travelling to your stand, but they just didn't get the job done for me when it comes to blood trailing.

LED's are okay for general flashlight use, however they just don't provide the right light for bloodtrailing IMO.  

The lithuim powered lights are like little pocket Super Novas, however the burn time is limited and when the batteries wear down....they do so all at once....no warning.  I had mine die out one late afternoon when I was heading out of the woods in the rain....brightness for days immediately followed by total darkness.  The thing that really sucked about this was that it was an early season bow hunt last year when it happened.  We've got some nasty no-shoulders squirming around.....it was a thought fully in my consiousness the whole way out!!!!

So for me its two Streamlight 4AAs and a Mini-mag with the led conversion bulb (same two AA batts have lasted all season...including some late night reading in bed) and a small Steamlight Nightfighter lithium tactical light in my backpack.

I also have a rechargable spotlight in the truck for blood trailing if it is needed.


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## Gaswamp (Jan 11, 2010)

Delton, what did you end up going with?


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## Handgunner (Jan 19, 2010)

Gaswamp said:


> Delton, what did you end up going with?


Joe.. a simple LED mini-maglite.. 

The others were too expensive.  Especially when I lost about an average of two flashlights a season!


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## kbenz (Jan 20, 2010)

I use the 3watt led headlights from ebay. they bout $26 and a lot better than the 1watt lights you buy in the stores. you could spot coons in the trees with them


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## georgiaboy (Jan 20, 2010)

Wow, 5 years later and I still use the same thing. I use my headlamp more now but the g2 and keychain led still go with me.


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## Rich M (Jan 21, 2010)

I've been on the LED kick for a while - we use "regular" LED headlamps for duck hunting and night fishing, working under the car, etc.  They work great and last quite a while on a set of batteries.  You can just hang 'em around your neck and use 'em that way - sometimes you don't need the beam projecting out front.

As for flashlights - I have been thru 6 or 8 so far and finally found one that has a little of everything.

You can count the Lumens and get a nice 80-100 lumen LED light for about $30 at Walmart.  They run on 3 AAA or AA batteries and will last 20 hours or so.  Not bad when you consider how long you Mag light lasts.  I have an LED I got at Costco or Sams for $25 for 2.  It works as well as a buddy's "sure fire" tactical light, at less than 1/2 the cost and on AAA batteries!  

Then I want you to go to LOWES and look at their flashlights.  They have a 2 C light that kicks out 150 Lumens.  It is a great light and at $25 - you can't beat it.  I've had mine for about 6 months and am pretty impressed with the thing.  

Lowes has a 3 flashlight kit that is pretty nice for $20 - 80 lumen AA or AAA light, a head lamp, and a pen light.  I bought 2 sets for two coworkers who routinely go into abandoned buildings with me.  I use my 150 lumen light and got tired of them using incadescent flashlights.  The kit is worth the money and does a good job for the $$ amount.

You can check a website called candle power forums - do a google.  They have all kinds of discussions there about flashlighst and such.  That's where I found out about the Lowes flashlights.


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