# Bit of fun with an HID



## subiya (Mar 14, 2012)

Went camping on Urupukpuka Island over Xmas for two weeks and got to play with my new lights.
One evening I had to take my daughter up the hill to the toilets and while waiting for her outside some smart **** on a yacht in the harbour thought it funny to pin me with a spotlight.
Well I gave him a couple of minutes with his little yellow halogen bulb and then got ticked off! Now it just happened I was carrying my 65w HID with me so I held it pointing into the ground and turned it on. That meant he had another two minutes to turn off his light while mine warmed up.
I could hear him and his mates laughing and probably saying how good his light was. (Easy 400m ge) 

No I would never normally shine this light near anyone but these people seemed to think it amusing.

I swung the light up and briefly flooded his boat in a brilliant white light. You could hear the expletives as they turned away and shielded their eyes. He instantly turned off his light as the whole boats party atmosphere died. Needless to say we weren’t hassled by him again.
Funny letting friends use it, they were blown away. People on their moorings were shinning lights on the hills (150m ge) away and we’d turn on the HID from the opposite side of the bay (550m ge) and drown out their lights.
After a week on the island I came to the conclusion that quite frankly the hid was too bright to be of any practical use. Too bright to navigate into the bay to anchor. Too bright to check the boats on their moorings (200m ge). And it’s only 65W, what on earth do you guys do with your “real” HID’s? In fact even the beloved TK 35 had to be used on moderate power. Wish I’d had it back when I was opossum hunting. (legal here.) 
The only time the HID was useable was for proving I had the brightest torch they’d ever seen. Everyone loved the light, just need to find a use for it.
Best play light of the week was the C78 Flood-to-Throw Cree Q3-WC. This is not the same as the lenser. With a lithium battery it is a killer. Checking the boats at 200m with a single aa size torch was amazing. Definitely the queen of the camp. And it’s a “junk light”. I love it.


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## BVH (Mar 14, 2012)

Great story! But...How could you in all good conscious and being a CPF member in good standing, possibly state that your HID light was TOO BRIGHT? Must have been in a moment of weakness, eh?


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## jamesmtl514 (Mar 14, 2012)

Good post. It's always nice to win the shine-off. 

I need a monster in case I find myself in such a situation.


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## StarHalo (Mar 14, 2012)

subiya said:


> the hid was too bright to be of any practical use.



That's the point! And technically you used it for its best possible use, blowing someone else's light out of the water..


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## 127.0.0.1 (Mar 14, 2012)

battle tested 

the winner is you


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## TEEJ (Mar 14, 2012)

Just get a diffuser to use it for shorter range/lower glare situations.


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## Patriot (Mar 14, 2012)

Great story! Thanks for sharing. Seems that all of us flashaholic's get a kick out of the same things.

Was the light a 65W SSK HID torch?


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## PhotonWrangler (Mar 14, 2012)

Funny story! And those guys will think twice before picking on someone else with their light. 
:goodjob:


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## yifu (Mar 15, 2012)

Great story! Next time bring something brighter! Like a 400W HID/a short arc or borrow one of BVH's 800 million lux searchlights!


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## subiya (Mar 16, 2012)

Yes it was the 35,55,65W SSK HID torch , has proven to be a great bit of kit. 

"Great story! Next time bring something brighter! Like a 400W HID/a short arc or borrow one of BVH's 800 million lux searchlights!"
don't want to blind the poor devils. lol


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## StarHalo (Mar 16, 2012)

yifu said:


> borrow one of BVH's 800 million lux searchlights!



Oh but why borrow when you can buy..


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## Dr Jekell (Mar 16, 2012)

StarHalo said:


> Oh but why borrow when you can buy..



Nah this one would be better :devil:


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## JulianP (Mar 16, 2012)

Great story. Can you take a camera next time? 

(As we say on CPF... Beamshots, Beamshots! )


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## scheven_architect (Mar 16, 2012)

subiya said:


> Yes it was the 35,55,65W SSK HID torch , has proven to be a great bit of kit.
> 
> "Great story! Next time bring something brighter! Like a 400W HID/a short arc or borrow one of BVH's 800 million lux searchlights!"
> don't want to blind the poor devils. lol



These lights are the same as the ebay ones i guess?


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## subiya (Mar 18, 2012)

Yes this is a ebay one. It's beutifully made and makes me wonder why they get such a bad rap.
Don't get me wrong, theyre not "perfect" but bang for your dollar............

I did a beam shots page comparing it to my other lights some time ago.
Cheers Glen


http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?321258-TK35-and-35W-HID-v-65W-xeccon-SSK-10T


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## scheven_architect (Mar 18, 2012)

I have some beamshots of my 85w ebay HID here: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?333185-85-watt-vs-65-watt

I think by the look of the beamshots they are quite comparable. I really like the light although it would be nice if it had a better reflector so it would achieve like 50% more throw. But i can imagine them being shocked in that boat :d


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## subiya (Mar 19, 2012)

What really surprised me was how bright it was.
Previously I'd tested it on dark green trees, then on a rainy night with poor visibility.
But to suddenly stand up above the boat on a perfect clear night and shine onto a highly reflective polished white yacht hull surrounded by shallow clear reflective water totally took me by surprise.

It's made me think about what should be looked at to gauge a light; I guess that’s why it looks impressive when people test by shining onto an apartment block.

I shine at trees because of my hunting background with lights.


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## 2100 (Mar 21, 2012)

You've gotta be kidding, I have the 65W as well and it's only in the low 200k cd range and that's peak candlepower. It's still in the lower rung of lowest throwing HIDs around.

Shining at trees, you need about 1 million cd at 400m to get a kick out of it.


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## Patriot (Mar 21, 2012)

I guess it was still enough to make an impact with these boaters.


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## subiya (Mar 22, 2012)

2100 said:


> You've gotta be kidding, I have the 65W as well and it's only in the low 200k cd range and that's peak candlepower. It's still in the lower rung of lowest throwing HIDs around.
> 
> Shining at trees, you need about 1 million cd at 400m to get a kick out of it.



No arguement there. If you look at my beamshots at 400m on trees theyre quite unremarkable (unless compared to the old trusty maglite or 12V halogen bulb!!) but....
look at shots on the yacht at 450m in the rain and it's a different story. The bright white shiny reflective yacht on a clear night at 400m (ge) was very impressive.

And remembering this is a torch not a spotlight.

From the other side of the bay we were easily drowning smaller lights from 550m. I didn't say it was briliantly bright. Just that we drowned out thier lights.


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## Patriot (Mar 22, 2012)

subiya said:


> No arguement there. If you look at my beamshots at 400m on trees theyre quite unremarkable (unless compared to the old trusty maglite or 12V halogen bulb!!) but....
> look at shots on the yacht at 450m in the rain and it's a different story. The bright white shiny reflective yacht on a clear night at 400m (ge) was very impressive.
> From the other side of the bay we were easily drowning smaller lights from 550m. I didn't say it was briliantly bright. Just that we drowned out thier lights.



May I re-post that photo here subiya?


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## BVH (Mar 22, 2012)

Wrong thread


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