Nice video WW! Just curious,have you considered a D cell light like xxo's Fulton with adapters for your bag? I know it is rather large in comparison to your other lights but would allow the use of D and C batteries as well. Any decent quality plastic 2D industrial incan with a LED drop-in would work and still not add too much weight as long as you don't carry the C and D batteries with you.
Flashlights that take more than 1 battery type
- Thread starter aginthelaw
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I am thinking of printing a 9 Volt to 2C adapter for the Nite Ized Fulton.....I designed it already (it's a bit different than Charles Artificer's 9 Volt adapter in his vid), but I don't have a lot of 9 Volt batts or things that use them so, I am not sure if I will bother making it.
You started me thinking xxo,as an alternative to a 9V adapter you could remove the spare bulb holder in the tail cap and place a Pak-lite (sans battery of course) upright in the empty space. I tried and it fits easily still leaving room for a spare bulb or drop-in should you so desire,just need to cut some foam to keep them from rattling around.The Fulton wouldn't be able to use 9V itself but you would have a spare,long running stand alone flashlight should you come across a 9V battery.
BTW I dropped a 55 lumen in my Fulton and it focuses very nicely. I will try and come up with some adapters for C cells and CR123s, already have what I need for AA and AAA. Probably cut a piece of LEE filter and fit it as well to warm up the tint a bit closer to my preference.Since reading your post I think I will get a few more Bright Star (Koehler) old school industrial incans while they are still available and make up some multi-battery car kits.I don't have enough Fultons for that task and they tend to be higher priced these days when you do find them.
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Good idea! there is a good bit of space where the bulb holder goes.
There are still some deals to be found on the fultons on ebay, especially if you are looking for more than one. BTW, most fultons will run on C cells without an adapter, the tail spring is just long enough to make contact, though a couple quarters dropped in before the tail cap is screwed on will add a bit of tension.
Running CR123's is a bit trickier because of the shorter length, smaller diameter and in that the spring may not contact the base of the CR123's without bending it or adding something to make contact, I got around this last one with the 2C to 2D adapter which has a washer on the base to make contact with D cell lights (Fulton, Mag and others) without modifications. The round head screw I used for the positive end of the 18650 to 2C adapter and the nut on the inside allows me to use button top of flat top 18650's.....only problem is there is no reverse polarity protection with this adapter, though I think the Nite Ize drop-ins are designed to work with reversed polarity.
I've got a Zebralight SC80 which has a reversible adaptor in the battery compartment that allows it to run on either one AA or one CR123. It's quite a neat idea - but I don't use it much as it seems to suffer from quite bad parasitic drain and the light is usually dead when I want to use it!
I am not sure the CR123 option is a big deal for me anyway but I thought it would be worth experimenting. You have to use some care with multiples of CR123s anyway as mis-matched batteries can do far worse than leak. Covering the common consumer sizes is my biggest concern. I can still get the Bright Stars for less than $10 ea. new and the conventional design works a little better with traffic wands than the angle head design for car use.
Good points, I was going to get or make a dummy CR123 cell, but I might just make an adapter specifically for single CR123's, though I doubt that I will use it all that much, though CR123's can sometimes be scrounged from things like wireless alarm systems and game cameras.
I have a 2nd gen LED Mag 3D in my vehicle along with a Mag traffic wand and as much as I dislike strobe for other thins, I kinda wish I had a strobe function for use with the traffic wand.
It seems doubtful I would use CR123s in the Fulton either. I have plenty of lights that take them and almost always one with me, just interested in having a single light that covers all the bases.
Maybe you need to invest in a 3rd gen Mag,I think it has the strobe. I generally try to keep relatively cheap unremarkable lights in my cars just because break-ins and theft have increased over the years. I don't know if I would be willing to leave one of the new $40+ Mags in my car but it would give you a lot of features.
Maybe you need to invest in a 3rd gen Mag,I think it has the strobe. I generally try to keep relatively cheap unremarkable lights in my cars just because break-ins and theft have increased over the years. I don't know if I would be willing to leave one of the new $40+ Mags in my car but it would give you a lot of features.
I have a 3D ML300, only thing I don't like about it for a vehicle light is the electronic switch/parasitic drain, though it can be locked out.
markr6
Flashaholic
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These days that is pretty low output, but I'd still love one. Just a really cool, unique light. It was the first one I thought of when seeing this thread.
Took me like a year to find one, but very cool. Definitely want to see if it can be modded.
Forgot about the parasitic drain.Probably a deal killer for auto storage depending on how bad it drains the batteries.
Woods Walker
The Wood is cut, The Bacon is cooked, Now it’s tim
I have some around someplace in the pile of gear but don't pack them. Not a bad suggestion however.
Always take interest in your posts as you are actually showing use outdoors. Just wondered if a conventional 2D size was a little too large in size for your kit as it most likely would not see much use compared to other better lights that you carry.Way back when I was in the military I remember the Fulton being a bit of a nuisance on my LBE. We were using D cells of course so the light was heavy but all that was pre-LED and there were not a lot of choices like we have now.
The Fultons are bulky but fairly lightweight without the D cell batteries, running on a couple of AA's or an 18650 in adapters it is still very lightweight.
Don't think the weight would be too much of an issue but it does take up some bag/pack space plus you need a little space for the adapters. Should we come up with nesting adapters that all fit within the light that would be a plus. The 2D-cell with adapters is definitely a desirable idea for a BOB/Car as you can only carry so many spare batteries and recharging might not be feasible.
Charles Artificer, did a good job of nesting his adapters as shown in his vids that I linked to on page 1; mine are not that nice, but the do nest to an extent....the AAA tube nests in the AA adapter and either the AA or 18650 adapter will nest in the 2C adapter.
Another thing to consider for a car light would be a car charger capable of charging NiMH's and LiIon cells.
I printed up a single 123 to 2C adapter and it works pretty well, the old Nite ized Fulton moonbeam will vampire depleted 123's that are too dead for other lights as will, surprisingly, my 2C Mag ML50LX. Pretty pleased but I have come up with some minor improvements, so there maybe a version 2.0 in the works. The Voltage of a single CR123, is just about perfect for a 2C or 2D light, incan or LED and it's kinda nice to be able to be able to use them in these lights if you have a lot of lights that use 123's.
Since flat top cells are not an issue with CR123's, I incorporated reverse polarity protection in this adapter for use with typical button top cells.
Since flat top cells are not an issue with CR123's, I incorporated reverse polarity protection in this adapter for use with typical button top cells.
Congrats on the 1X123 adapter! Looks like it might prove more useful than what I originally believed.
I decided to go ahead with the 2D to 9V adapter for the Fulton; it proved to be more complicated than the other adapters I have done and is probably not worth the effort unless you have a access to a bunch of 9 V batteries that you want to be able to use. I have some improvements that I would do if I ever print another, but I probably won't. This adapter does work with LED drop ins, like the Nite Ize that will handle 9 Volts and can also be used with 6 cell incan PR bulbs in the Fulton.
The Green adapter is the 1 CR123A to 2C - this one is more practical for me, works great in 2C lights as well as the 2D Fulton and Mags with the 2D to 2C adapter. Both the Nite Ized Fulton and ML50LX will vampire near depleted CR123A cells.
The Green adapter is the 1 CR123A to 2C - this one is more practical for me, works great in 2C lights as well as the 2D Fulton and Mags with the 2D to 2C adapter. Both the Nite Ized Fulton and ML50LX will vampire near depleted CR123A cells.
