Anyone else ever stumble across the ridiculous flashlight hobby?

[TreeCreep]

I hunted with a guy who built a flashlight like pictured , the woods were glowing like friday night lights.

Here i thought my cheap headlamp was overkill.

 

[woodsdog2]

I hunted with a guy who built a flashlight like pictured , the woods were glowing like friday night lights.

Here i thought my cheap headlamp was overkill.

I try to be as inconspicuous as possible when heading in to my set ups. I hardly every use lights if I don't have to as I think they give you away. Your eyes see pretty well at night if you let them get acclimated. I do use a Streamlight headlamp when going in sometimes when there's no moonlight and when I'm getting ready to climb up (or down) but lights this bright I could only see their use in game recovery and blood trailing. They would be way to bright for any practical predator hunting situation as most coyotes would shy away from them. I could see great uses for these for just plain hiking or camping and rescue recovery though.

 

[elk yinzer]

I try to be as inconspicuous as possible when heading in to my set ups. I hardly every use lights if I don't have to as I think they give you away. Your eyes see pretty well at night if you let them get acclimated. I do use a Streamlight headlamp when going in sometimes when there's no moonlight and when I'm getting ready to climb up (or down) but lights this bright I could only see their use in game recovery and blood trailing. They would be way to bright for any practical predator hunting situation as most coyotes would shy away from them. I could see great uses for these for just plain hiking or camping and rescue recovery though.

I ordered one of the Zebra lights to see what these things are about. At medium and low settings it gets runtimes multiples better on one charge than my BD Storm, and it's rechargeable. High mode will be great for tracking I think. It should pay for itself in a year or two just from not buying lithium AAAs within 1-2 years. I use my headlamp for a lot more for general use around home than hunting though I walk the dog, use it to grill, even do a lot of house and yard chores in the dark this time of year I am working the entire daylight hours.

Why aren't any of the big trailcam mfgs powering with lithium cells yet?

 

[Topdog]

I was in Idaho on a pack in elk hunt, one of the older men in the group didn’t show up back at camp one night, there was a high point behind our camp, so myself and one of the guides climbed to that spot and got the lost man on the radio, he was good but lost, back then surefire lights were the way to go and CR123 batts, I told him to turn that light on and maybe we could see it, we could, I can’t remember how far he was but it was not close, the guide told him to hunker down for the night and wait until morning, my buddy didn’t like that idea and I wasn’t letting that happen either, the older guide was half cocked already and the younger guide said he wasn’t going, so I went and got him, without that super light I am pretty sure he was in for a long night, ever since then I carry one because you never know, it made finding him possible, I took a compass bearing from that high spot and went right to him.

 

[raisins]

I ordered one of the Zebra lights to see what these things are about. At medium and low settings it gets runtimes multiples better on one charge than my BD Storm, and it's rechargeable. High mode will be great for tracking I think. It should pay for itself in a year or two just from not buying lithium AAAs within 1-2 years. I use my headlamp for a lot more for general use around home than hunting though I walk the dog, use it to grill, even do a lot of house and yard chores in the dark this time of year I am working the entire daylight hours.

Why aren't any of the big trailcam mfgs powering with lithium cells yet?

I believe people are putting rechargeable lithium ion AAs in them. I won't because my trail cams are on public land and that's just too much money to risk. And I run like 13 cams.

 

[raisins]

I was in Idaho on a pack in elk hunt, one of the older men in the group didn’t show up back at camp one night, there was a high point behind our camp, so myself and one of the guides climbed to that spot and got the lost man on the radio, he was good but lost, back then surefire lights were the way to go and CR123 batts, I told him to turn that light on and maybe we could see it, we could, I can’t remember how far he was but it was not close, the guide told him to hunker down for the night and wait until morning, my buddy didn’t like that idea and I wasn’t letting that happen either, the older guide was half cocked already and the younger guide said he wasn’t going, so I went and got him, without that super light I am pretty sure he was in for a long night, ever since then I carry one because you never know, it made finding him possible, I took a compass bearing from that high spot and went right to him.

You're a good friend.

The CR123as supposedly do better in extreme cold. I carry some just in case.

The nice thing about these super lights is being able to have a headlamp brighter than most regular handheld lights.

I like the look and specs of the zebras, but I have a fenix where the battery goes in back. It makes it more bulky but it balances really well on the head.

One thing I worry about is having these kick on in your pack. If they happened to be set to high/turbo, it would run your battery down quick and might even set a fire or something.

I like lights that have a lock out feature. Fenix does not, but I always unscrew the battery cap enough to prevent contact while not in use. Also, I put it in the lid pocket of my pack where it doesn't get banged around and pressed against very much by other stuff in the pack. I treat my flashlights like my most important pieces of survival gear.

Edit: If I had the space, I'd consider putting my flashlight in its own plastic case that I could also store batteries in. But a hard cube like that would be a huge pain (my pack is almost exact size to fit everything I carry and I have no extra room in the winter when carrying layers).

 

[7mmremmag]

You're a good friend.

The CR123as supposedly do better in extreme cold. I carry some just in case.

The nice thing about these super lights is being able to have a headlamp brighter than most regular handheld lights.

I like the look and specs of the zebras, but I have a fenix where the battery goes in back. It makes it more bulky but it balances really well on the head.

One thing I worry about is having these kick on in your pack. If they happened to be set to high/turbo, it would run your battery down quick and might even set a fire or something.

I like lights that have a lock out feature. Fenix does not, but I always unscrew the battery cap enough to prevent contact while not in use.

I run the lockout on my pocket rockets. Its quick to turn off with the anduril.

 

[Topdog]

Having it come on in my pack has always worried me too, it hasn’t yet but definitely could.

 

[Kyhunter1]

Ive been in to ridiculous flashlights for several years. Its crazy but for a while I spent more on lights than guns/ammo/hunting stuff. Of all the brands you all mentioned, fenix is my favorite. You all might want to check out malkoff devices, and if you have deep wallets oveready. My favorites are streamlight, fenix, surefire, and malkoffs. These days you dont have to spend a fortune to get a good light. Learned most of what I know over on Candlepowerforums, but I don't spend as much time there nowadays.

 

[JakeFromVirginia]

I’m too busy with my ridiculous saddle hunting hobby to get into flashlights right now...

 

[elk yinzer]

Kinda boggles my mind that forums exist for such things as flashlights. Or a better way to treestand for that matter. All kinds of kinds.

 

[Kyhunter1]

Candlepower has 70,000 or maybe more members worldwide. What is boggling to me on there was that hunters were a minority.

 

[7mmremmag]

This titanium thing is on its way to me. Probably going to be my last light purchase for a little bit, haha! Emisar KR4 TI CU in grey camo. Cree XPL 5000k

 

[dalton916]

I’ll stick to my ThruNite TH10. Way more than Bright enough and rechargeable. And I can slide it out of the headlamp harmess and carry as a flashlight if need be.

 

[7mmremmag]

Thrunite is good stuff

 

[Red Beard]

I’ll stick to my ThruNite TH10. Way more than Bright enough and rechargeable. And I can slide it out of the headlamp harmess and carry as a flashlight if need be.

Yep. ThruNite TN12 for me. Great light. Paired with a Thyrm Switchback. Always in my pocket.

 

[woodsdog2]

This titanium thing is on its way to me. Probably going to be my last light purchase for a little bit, haha! Emisar KR4 TI CU in grey camo. Cree XPL 5000k

@7mmremmag what do you use these lights for most of the time or is it just another precious hobby like this saddlehunting thing????

 

[7mmremmag]

@7mmremmag what do you use these lights for most of the time or is it just another precious hobby like this saddlehunting thing????

I use them daily, carry diferent ones for fun. I like to night hike sometimes as well so having a light that lasts hours (days on low) on normal settings that I can stick in turbo momentarily to look at something 150 yards away is handy.






............ but yes, just another precious hobby like saddle hunting

 

[TooBigToFit]

Gotta have a charger that has an overcharge circuit and lights that have low voltage protection circuits. I only buy name brand batteries (samsung, sanyo, sony) as well. The cheap ones are a bit iffy to me

The charging circuit itself is supposed to limit the voltage of the battery. Lithium ion batteries are charged by constant current, until they reach their final voltage, where they charge by constant voltage to account for voltage differences from internal resistance.

Batteries themselves should have a protection circuit in them. These are another layer of safety, against at least over discharge (under voltage), and over discharge (over voltage), and sometimes short circuit/over current. Undervoltage isn't good for Li Ion batteries, because it can cause permanent capacity loss, and charging an under-voltage battery at full speeds can cause safety issues (read: fire and worse). Chargers should take care of this by doing a lower current charge on a low voltage battery until they reach a safe voltage (usually ~3V/cell) to charge at full speed. Overcharge is also bad, because it can cause permanent capacity loss (and safety issues as well). These protection circuits work by disconnecting the battery when any of these bad things happen.

In the stuff I design, the protection circuit is just a last layer of defense - it shouldn't be the first thing that prevents battery damage. The charger circuit is the first line of defense against improper charging (really, what you do here is buy a charge management IC from someone else). The electronics itself should turn off well before the protection circuit ever turns off the battery. I can tell you any reputable battery manufacturer will not sell you a battery unless you show you have a proper charge management and safety system in place.

 

[woodsdog2]

I use them daily, carry diferent ones for fun. I like to night hike sometimes as well so having a light that lasts hours (days on low) on normal settings that I can stick in turbo momentarily to look at something 150 yards away is handy.






............ but yes, just another precious hobby like saddle hunting

Ugh! O.K. What one or ones do you recommend??? I hate this site!!!