Flashlights: Information and Interest Check

[RamMani]

yesterday i got a my night searcher discovery in original package from an IFGian,
and my flashlight A/c is opened,
thanks for Gurus' Rajat and choombak

another some accessories and a Ultrafire C3 Cree Q5 5-Mode LED Flashlight with Extension(this for rough domestic use)
is on the way from DealExtreme.com as recommended by choombak,thanks

Regards
RamMani(TN)

[choombak]

I have a fundamental problem with this Britelite brand - they give you no specifics on anything. We don't know which LED is being used, the "range" is utter useless measure of the light efficacy, water resistance is not clearly articulated - is it resistant or proof to certain depth, the body anodization is unclear (ideally should be HAIII, but does not seem like the case), and as a result the price seems to be high. There are several 1xAA flashlights better in quality than their Elfin, in terms of everything. Plus the manufacturing details are shoddy - Gulf, Germany, collab?

I'd invest my money somewhere else.

[Sukhraj Pannu]

hii folks,
plz tell me LED lights in lumens are better or the candlepower lights??

Regards

[Rajat]

hii folks,
plz tell me LED lights in lumens are better or the candlepower lights??

Regards

Are cars that show distance traveled and speed in Miles better or the ones which measure in Kilometers?

[Rajat]

http://www.ehow.com/how_5997091_convert ... umens.html

[Sukhraj Pannu]

Hi Rajat
i knw this rel. b/w candelas and lumens, actually my post is incomplete and i posted it accidently because i was in class at that time and suddenly teacher came and submit tab got pressed accidently.
I want to ask that LED spotlights with power generally given in lumens is better or quartz halogen bulb spotlights???

i hv two spotlights with 3 and 3.5 million candle power but i dont have any practical experience of these high range LED stuff and thts what i want to know.

regards

[Rajat]

I want to ask that LED spotlights with power generally given in lumens is better or quartz halogen bulb spotlights???

Again the same question! The emitters may be different and have different properties and different lumen or candle power ratinngs but t his does not make that TYPE more or less powerful. Just an example: it is neither the Halogens or the LEDs but the HID's which are considered to be the most powerful. But now you do have LEDs which are more powerful than 25W HID's.

i hv two spotlights with 3 and 3.5 million candle power but i dont have any practical experience of these high range LED stuff and thts what i want to know.

If you are talking about the "throw' or the distance the light travels then the reflector is in fact more important than the bulbs / emitters. See page 1 of this thread.

Most of these 2-3-3.5 million candle power Chinese lights are junk and make you look stupid holding these when a tiny Surefire (or any other similar light) outperforms them.

[essdee1972]

Folks, I am resurrecting this thread just to let all flashlight junkies know that the Fenix lights are finally available in India!!!! The site is www.lightorati.in. Expensive, but at least they are available! They also have Solarforce, Nitecore, Ultrafire, etc.

[mundaire]

You can order many of the above from online shops in Hong Kong as well, dx.com tinydeal.com etc. come to mind...

[DAN]

Got my Fenix Tk60 for 120$ and was delivered home in 8 days flat!
I got it through

Code: Select all

www.fenix-outfitters.com

.

[essdee1972]

Review for Lightorati dot com:

Although Lightorati dot com stuff was more expensive than dx and others, I chose to order from them because of their 15 days no questions return policy.

Initially I ran through the site and shortlisted a few lights based on the specs, etc. and the amount of cash I was willing to spend. The site has a good amount of info and photos (mostly stocks pics from the manufacturers website), as well as a helpful "compare" feature.

The site has a "message us" function in which you need to submit you mail ID and phone number and a message. I did that, asking for advice and giving my budget and requirements. Within 10 minutes, I was contacted by one of the owners. He was very knowledgeable and guided me through the process of selection and so on.

I finally decided to go for a Nitecore EA4, mainly because it had the most lumens within my budget (830 compared to 650-odd for similarly-priced Fenixes), and also it takes AA cells rather than the 18560 or CR123A. Personally, I prefer, when the batteries go down, to walk down to the nearest general store and get Duracells rather than driving all over town looking for CR123As. For 18560s, you will need a charger at some point, and what do you do if the power is still out, or you are still on the hiking trail? (Personal preferences entirely, no offense intended!!)

The bad thing about the site is that they do not have card payment option as of now, and you have to transfer cash to their account. Basically, you place an order on the site with your mailing address and so on, and the last page of the order form gives the bank account details. You need to send an e-mail or call them once the payment is made. Once they get the money in their account, they will call as well as send an e-mail.

Subsequent calls / e-mails are also sent for shipping, etc. I got the package in 2 days. Unfortunately, the light did not work!!! I went through the manual, tried and retried, to no avail!! Then I called up the customer care number (at almost 8:00 p.m.). One of the owners has this number. He guided me as to what to do and lo & behold, there was light!! (it seems the light comes heavily siliconed, and you might need to wipe off a bit from the contacts).

Overall, I would rate these guys 5/5. They are a couple of flashaholics themselves from Hyderabad (not the regular trader one finds on e-bay or rediff, etc.), both of them into collecting for last 9-10 years. Hence they are well qualified to advise and troubleshoot for novices like me.

They also give lifetime support and the warranty as per manufacturers.

I will not give a review of the light here as I have not tested it fully. There are excellent reviews for Nitecore EA4 on sites like candlepowerforum dot com, etc. My aim here was to review the site, as it is the first Indian site offering world class flashlights.

[The usual disclaimer: I am just a satisfied customer of Lightorati dot com, nothing else. No shares, no ownership, the owner is not my brother-in-law (or any other relative / friend / acquaintance)!! I am not getting any financial or other benefit from writing this positive review.]

[goodboy_mentor]

Question to members who have experience or knowledge regarding the following matter:

Have old flashlights from Ever Ready, Commander(6 volts, uses bulb without threads) and Jeevan Sathi(3 and 4.5 volts, use bulbs with threads) models. They have incandescent bulbs. If possible want to upgrade them to LED bulbs. Reasons: brighter light and less battery consumption.

Talked to one representative of Ever Ready, as per him not possible unless a PCB is also installed.

Is there some cost effective, ready or easy DIY solution?

[james]

Thanks guys for all the information on flashlights , surefire hellfighter is one flashlight that comes to my mind http://www.surefire.com/hellfighter.html Any chance of getting them in India.
cheers.James...

[essdee1972]

GBM, I tried simple replacement on a Maglite (took out incandescent, put in LED), didn't work. Then I ordered that conversion kit from amazon. It seems there's more electronics involved than a simple bulb change. Unfortunately, the old Evereadys had a reflector much wider than the Maglites. Hence the same conversion kit might not work. There are conversion kits for D cell Maglites on Amazon. You might want to check the dimensions relative to the Evereadys.

Also, I remember instructables dot com had something on this. Since I am very bad at soldering, didn't save it.

Or, might try replacing the entire reflector / bulb assembly with one from a cheap Chinese LED torch. Need lots of trial and error, though.

[goodboy_mentor]

Essdee1972 Thank you for the suggestions! Will try searching instructables dot com or replace the required parts from some cheap chinese models and see how it goes.