Help me pick, please!

[chetwynd]

I'm going to be doing a volunteer neighborhood patrol in a very rural area and I just need insanely bright for a very short amount of time. Realistically I'd probably use it for a total of less than 30 minutes between charges. I need bright, and with great throw. Sorry, I'm not trying to be annoying, I guess everyone asks this, but it can be huge and up to I don't know, $150? Rechargeable too.

So basically, which light would you buy if you didn't need the batteries to last long, wanted to spend up to $150, aren't afraid of a BIG light, want to be able to recharge it, and want massive throw?

Thank you

 

[richbuff]

R90TS, GT94 and X70 come to mind first, but $150 is insufficient.

 

[DaveTheDude]

What is the distance you want the light to illuminate? (The question you asked is more nuanced than you might imagine...).

 

[chetwynd]

R90TS, GT94 and X70 come to mind first, but $150 is insufficient.

Thanks, I'll check those out.

 

[chetwynd]

What is the distance you want the light to illuminate? (The question you asked is more nuanced than you might imagine...).

Great question. I don't need to flood a huge area, but a small beam that I can shine around football fields would be nice.

 

[chetwynd]

I guess what I'm hoping is that by sacrificing size (big is fine) and how long the batteries take to wear down (I can plug in in my car or when I get home from the few hour shift), that I can gain something in brightness and throw. Know what I mean?

 

[richbuff]

You're welcome. If you want lots of runtime, lots of lumens and lots of throw, then you are looking at a big light. The R90TS has all of that, eight 21700 batteries, oodles of throw and oodles of power. Not a budget item.
GT94 is awesome, too, but no in-light charging. X70 is totally awesome, too.

 

[Roger Sully]

Hi Chet. Have a look at the Nextorch Saint 11. I have a cop buddy that picked one of these up and he uses it on their boat when they go out.

 

[chetwynd]

You're welcome. If you want lots of runtime, lots of lumens and lots of throw, then you are looking at a big light. The R90TS has all of that, eight 21700 batteries, oodles of throw and oodles of power. Not a budget item.
GT94 is awesome, too, but no in-light charging. X70 is totally awesome, too.

$550?!? Way too much. I'll go up to $150 or so, and would even consider something that plugs right into my 12v car outlet like a spot light.

 

[kerneldrop]

...would even consider something that plugs right into my 12v car outlet like a spot light.

Hard to beat that for ~$35

But.... here would be an excellent choice:

Sky Lumen XXI - Compact SBT90.2 Clicky Thrower

SBT90.2 5700K DL @2s 4800L, 70Kcd, 529m User Programmable DriverVN4 21700 for best performance here Wonderful beam with large hot spot shot and bright corona OP Reflector sacrifice very little throw with softer filled hot spot Dual side AR Lens Extra internal copper HSv LED MCPCB solder...

skylumen.com

$120 and there's several modes to choose from.

Here's a bigger thrower for $145: https://skylumen.com/products/convo...eight-searchlight?_pos=8&_sid=b08be4007&_ss=r

Sky Lumen has a lot of excellent choices that fit your budget and I guarantee will leave you in awe of their performances.

 

[arKmm]

A lot of the 'turbo' lights can dump their power very quickly and give insane power, but after 5 minutes the thermal protection will kick in and throttle it back, or the batteries will have been drained enough that they step-down to a lower output.

If you're looking for something that'll maintain it's output for the 30 minutes (or more), I'd personally suggest one of the lights commonly in use with police because they're rugged and dependable.

-Streamlight Ultrastinger LED
-Maglite MagCharger

Both are a bit over 1000 lumens, but with a decent throw that'll achieve what you need. Enough battery power to keep going at full-whack for about an hour. Not reliant on 'turbo' modes either to achieve it. Yes, they won't be a ground-breaking 5000 lumen etc, but we don't really need that much let's be honest

Between the two, I'd probably recommend the Ultrastinger. It comes with a charging cradle which can run off a USB cable, or the included 12v cable in a car. Can even be mounted properly for bonus points. Very satisfying form factor for safety patrols too. Easily carried on a belt-ring. Hard to break. And you can easily chuck it to someone else to use, and not have to explain the UI to them or worry about it.

 

[Dave D]

Have a look at the Streamlight Protac HL 5-X Flashlight.

3500 lumens on High for 1.25 hours, with the Streamlight branded 18650's, Medium is 1000 lumens for 3 hours or low of 250 lumens for 11.5 hours.

I bought the version that is supplied with 4 x CR123's and sourced my own 18650's (Keepower 3500mAh) which are a higher capacity which extends the runtimes.

The cheapest I've seen the HL 5-X for was just over $80. Add a charger and some 18650's and you should still have some change out of $150.

 

[hsa]

I think the flashlight you speak of is HL-5X. I have one, it's good.

 

[Bicycleflyer]

I just picked up the Fenix HT18. Runs on a 21700 battery which has a built in USB charge port. It's quite the thrower with a nice tight beam. Runs for about 129 USD.

 

[Hooked on Fenix]

Fenix TK11 TAC (1600 lumens, 18650 battery, 335 m throw), Fenix TK16 v.2 (3100 lumens, 21700 battery, 380 m throw), Nitecore MH25S (1800 lumens, 21700 battery, 551 yards throw), Klarus XT21X (4000 lumens, 21700 battery, 316 m throw). Take your pick.

For massive throw, Nitecore TM39 (5200 lumens, proprietary battery, 1,640 yards throw, $500) Just a bit out of your price range.

 

[JimIslander]

Easily carried. Super bright with incredible throw, but also has good spill. $160.

Lumintop GTvn Mini - Baby Ultra Thrower R × 1
SBT90 5700K OP REFLECTOR

 

[chetwynd]

Ordered the Streamlight Ultrastinger and then it got backordered. Can't wait, canceled.

Then went for the Fenix mentioned above. Thanks!

 

[JimIslander]

For those who want a brighter light with more throw, yet usable spill, than almost any other of its size, here are the actual specs on the Lumintop GTvn Mini SBT90 5700K I mentioned above. About twice the throw of any mentioned above, and in a beautifully small 18650 package. Plus the spill is fantastic, so it is actually a usable light. Toykeeper's incredible interface is icing on the cake.

- 4000 Lumens
- 905 meters throw
- 205,000 candela

 

[justforquestions]

For those who want a brighter light with more throw, yet usable spill, than almost any other of its size, here are the actual specs on the Lumintop GTvn Mini SBT90 5700K I mentioned above. About twice the throw of any mentioned above, and in a beautifully small 18650 package. Plus the spill is fantastic, so it is actually a usable light. Toykeeper's incredible interface is icing on the cake.

- 4000 Lumens
- 905 meters throw
- 205,000 candela

Would you get the OP or smooth reflector?

 

[JimIslander]

Would you get the OP or smooth reflector?

I got the SBT90 5700K OP with the LED De-Lens. But I would ask Vinh that question. It depends on what you want from the light. He'll help you pick what is best for your application.