Harbor Freight has an LED 3-cell flashlight for $20 that I think will be of interest. I bought one the other day, and I am very pleased with it. It is build like a Mag-light in quality, and puts out about as much light as a normal 3-cell flashlight, but uses about half the power--about 2/3 watt. My big metal Eveready flashlight uses about 1 1/3 watts. My 2-cell Rayovac uses even more: 1.5 watts.
The light pattern of the LED light is different. Instead of a "spot" of light, it throws sort of a "cloud." At first it seemed strange, but I think it is actually better, because the light is very even, not having light and dark bands and streaks.
Usual disclaimer--I have no financial interest in or connection to Harbor Freight.
We live 50 miles from one of their stores, but had to be in the neighborhood last weekend. Unfortunately, they were sold out of the flashlights, which I was going to buy. Thanks for the report. I'll get one for sure now.
I have a 'Inova X5' 5 diode light a neighbor gave me for Christmas last year...
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I like it fine! Like other's have noted, it's only good as a close range flood, but thats 97% of my flashlight use anyway. It's a little shorter and larger in diameter than a AA Mini Mag, but about the same size all in all. It's light is very white... especially viewed side by side with a regular flashlight.
It has a good bit of 'on' time on it's original batteries, but hasn't noticeably dimmed. It uses 2 3V Lithium #123 cells that look like they may be expensive.
I also have one of those little single diode, button cell keychain lights another neighbor gave me. At first I didn't see myself having much use for it, but now wouldn't be without. It's great, use it several times a week. Thought it would be tough on the button cells, but doesn't seem to be...
I've had one of those on my keychain for years. The boss was always sending me off to check on the serial numbers of computers under somebody's desk and that was just the thing to see well enough to read numbers, and no trouble to keep with me all the time.
I've got one of those strapped to the .30-06 "lion tamer" I needed to start carrying about 2 months ago. A mountain lion in the area has decided that we run a "lion snack bar", and has helped himself to a sheep hors d'oveur twice now - So I don't step out the door (particularly after sundown) without the rifle in hand and ready for action. I like the weight (or lack of it) of this little light for the purpose, but the jury still hasn't returned a verdict on it overall. I do note that it's definitely a close range light source - Beyond about
20 feet, everything goes "soft focus", and out beyond about 15 yards, the only things you can actually see with it are highly reflective items. (license plates, bike/car/roadside reflectors, critter eyeballs, etc) I'm sorta down on the way it seems "foggy" - Not sure what that's about, but when I turn it on, it's more or less like being in a really light fog - Nowhere near enough to intefere significantly with vision, but somewhat distracting. I've known for years that I see a tiny distance into the UV band, and suspect I'm catching just the very edge of the UV spillover from it. The idea at least makes some sense, since the "white" LEDs are, operationally, a lot like a flourescent light - They actually make UV as their "native light", which causes a phosphor "translator" to glow in the visible range to actually produce the useful light - the idea makes even more sense when I think about the fact that I get an almost identical "haze" off regular flourescent bulbs.
Plus: long battery life - Streamlight has had one set of batteries, still going strong, since I started using it. My 3-D Mag-lite is on its second set, with less run-time on it, and it's looking like I'll want to put a fresh set in it within the next week or two.
Plus: Compact and lightweight
Plus: vibration (like being strapped to a fired gun) seems to be a non-issue for it, unlike conventional flashlights whose bulbs tend to give up after just a few shots. (Longest I've ever had a Mag-lite of any size in such an application last has been 9 shots before the filament broke and left me in the dark)
Minus: Short range
Minus: The "Flourescent haze"
Minus: (And this one for me is a big one after being used to Mag-lites) Fixed-focus beam .
All in all, it's one of those "neat gadget - but is it *REALLY* useful, or is it a short-lived gimmick?" items. I'm still trying to decide. (And pondering mount-rings to sling the Mag-lite on the rifle)
Without him being in *SERIOUSLY* desperate mode, he's not likely to tackle a full-size horse. One of the several ponies or one of the mini-donks wandering around the place, on the other hand, might look at least somewhat like an entree. A situation I'd be far less than pleased with. As far as I'm concerned, the sheep are 150% expendable - I hate the damn things. Stupidest creatures on the planet. I swear the entire species time-shares a grand total of three - count 'em, THREE - brain-cells amongst 'em. But since part of my "earn my keep" involves keeping the stupid, stinking, ugly, mindlessly blatting things alive...
For my nickel, the lion is welcome to the sheep. And the sooner he wipes the last of them out, the happier I'll be. Downside is that in the process, he gets the idea this is the local lion-deli, and when the sheep are gone, he moves on to the ponies and/or donks. Not to mention the perils of living with a lion coming and going...
In the balance, I've got nothing personal against him (or her) aside from the "Oh shit - lions eat humans, too..." consideration, and in fact, I thank him heartily for killing two of the worthless sheep, but I do have a problem with threats to the equines. And that problem tends to manifest as the threatener developing an acute case of lead poisoning.
A single 1-watt Luxeon LED can compare favorably with a Mini-Mag 2AA in brightness and "reach".
It is certainly possible to make one of those adjustable from flood to spot by changing the position of the LED in the parabolic reflector. I don't know of a commercial offering that does this, but they probably exist. Luxeon's work best in a reflector a bit larger than found on a minimag because the Luxeon itself is a bit larger (about .236" dia) than the tiny bulb in a minimag 2AA. A reflector
1" dia or larger works quite well. The best small reflectors I've found are the ones that come with the expensive replacement bulbs for Pelican lights. They're machined out of aluminum and are a deep parabola that works very well with a Luxeon. Ya just have to machine enough off of the back of the reflector to get the Luxeon into it.
The streamlight "tasklight" (which uses a Luxeon) also has an excellent reflector but it's not very adjustable. I don't like that light because it relies on contact thru the rear threads of the body that can be flakey.
I think there are Luxeon "modules" that you can put in some Maglight bodies, but that would probably be offensively heavy for rifle-mount.
On vacation in Wales, I saw a sign, "Slow Sheep". How true. On the other hand, young ones are quite tasty and a wool blanket is nice to have on a cold winter's night.
As for being the stupidest creatures on the planet, I guess you have never driven in a country where reindeer wander across the highway. :-)
Here in Southern California a woman out mountain biking almost got eaten by one a few months ago. It developed into a tug-of-war between her friends and the lion.
Also in California, about a year or so ago, an older gentleman was attacked by one, but he survived by cutting the lion's throat with his pocket knife!
Do you think it could be practical to mount a reflector type Luxeon LED
*under* the barrel of a rifle? That "Home Depot" lantern you fixed up for me is brighter than the 'original' and weighs only 11.5 oz. It is 4 inches diam and 4 inches long. I've dropped it on the floor and havent broken it yet I have never actually calibrated it, but I am confident that anything big enough to be seen at 100 yards will be brightly illuminated by this stubby lantern with the LED. The spot in probably 10 or 15 feet diam at 100 yards.
I got a couple from Princess Auto. One is a 12 LED, 3D cell unit, the others are 3 led 3 AA units - blue LEDS Both types work VERY well. The big one cost me $17 Canadian, and the little ones $4.88 Canadian each, IIRC.
You either haven't seen one using a Luxeon, prefer taking your shots from at least 50 meters or have really bad night vision. I can count shingles on my neighbor's roof from that distance with a light I made using a 3-watt Luxeon, though my night vision sure ain't what it was
This is just a luxeon side-shooter mounted in a base. $39.95 but if you have a lathe you could make it for under $10. I wouldn't use the side-shooter, though. I've had better performance in parabolic reflectors with the lambertian high-dome Luxeons. I know that's counter-intuitive, but that's what I (and others) have found.
Yes, but for rifle mount I might use a smaller reflector. BTW, that weight is with batteries; the basic light only weighs a few ounces.
4 AA cells would run it just fine, though only for a couple of hours.
The reflector out of a D-size maglight works well if ya cut the back off of it -- the blue part. It doesn't work as well as the big guy, but it does pretty well -- c>
Mine (the one marked "Smith & Wesson" from MSC uses two normal AA cells, so the cost is a lot lower.
Note that the usual clue that the batteries are getting weak (light gets more orange) does not work with these. There is no color shift -- I simply notice a major increase in brightness when I replace the batteries after some weeks of use. (And, yes -- the batteries do last a lot longer than the Mini MagLite with equivalent hours of use.)
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