Hunting Washington Forum

Equipment & Gear => Power Equipment & RV => Topic started by: SkookumHntr on June 13, 2009, 04:13:52 PM

Title: Good flashlight for the pack?
Post by: SkookumHntr on June 13, 2009, 04:13:52 PM: --Whats a good little flashlight for the pack. For me battery life is way more important then brightness, I have that little surefire and its junk. I just seen a commercial with leupold having a flashlight now. I need long batterylife in the size of maybe that 30$ surefire.
Title: Re: Good flashlight for the pack?
Post by: ICEMAN on June 13, 2009, 04:23:37 PM: I have a pile of flashlights....and my favorite is a 2AA Minimag in LED. The LED version of this light is bright as hell with a 3watt rating... I generally carry a head lamp which I can turn down for around camp and hiking use... Then if looking for something, I break out the flashlight.

I place a high value in carrying electronics which can share a battery, and I carry lithium batteries in everything in my hunting gear. $25bucks at REI or similar...
Title: Re: Good flashlight for the pack?
Post by: Branden on June 13, 2009, 05:32:31 PM: I would really look at a headlamp. The batteries last forever and it leaves your hands free.
Title: Re: Good flashlight for the pack?
Post by: tonymoe on June 13, 2009, 08:10:31 PM: I carry a headlamp. and also keep a small flashlight in the pack. The flashlight is led and is made by dorcy. it is super super bright. Batteries last a really long time too. I have compared this flashlight with a buddys streamline and surefire and it is just as good if not better. I think it's half the price too.
Title: Re: Good flashlight for the pack?
Post by: Houndhunter on June 13, 2009, 09:32:01 PM: get an led, and make sure it only has one bulb or atleast has a setting that uses only one. i always thought having more would mean more light but you get alot more outa just one bulb. and i would stay away from the xeon lights, there bright as hell but the batteries cost some major $$$ and they last only a few hours
Title: Re: Good flashlight for the pack?
Post by: swanny on June 16, 2009, 04:03:49 PM: This is kind of a neat light, gives you three battery options. Not the best battery life, but it is bright.

http://www.rei.com/product/784343 (http://www.rei.com/product/784343)

I would have to agree that a headlamp is the best way to go for a light in your pack. They are great for around the house stuff too!
Title: Re: Good flashlight for the pack?
Post by: Straight Shooter on June 16, 2009, 04:31:42 PM: Pelican M6... 40+ hr battery life.

http://www.tacticalsupply.com/product/444/1_101_263/pelican-light-2330-m6-led.php

When my team deployed to Iraq in 2005, we each took one. Not the absolute brightest flashlight out there, but well made, reliable and long battery life... the batteries can also sit dormant for 10 years. I still have and use mine.
Title: Re: Good flashlight for the pack?
Post by: Machias on June 18, 2009, 11:22:47 AM: Throw one of the windup flashlights in, then you don't have to worry about no light. I still use the tekka headlamps for most of my lighting needs, but I have the windup on standby for emergencies.
Title: Re: Good flashlight for the pack?
Post by: coop2424 on June 18, 2009, 11:47:29 AM: I carry a headlamp a surefire and then a windup flashlight just in case. Nothing worse than reaching for your flashlight and somehow it turned on and the batteries are dead.
Title: Re: Good flashlight for the pack?
Post by: JackOfAllTrades on June 18, 2009, 01:25:08 PM: I use a four LED head lamp with batteries that match my GPS and FRS radios.

Otherwise this light is always in my fanny/day/back pack.

http://www.palights.com

200hrs on a single 9v in low beam. It will strobe for a couple of days if you let it. And it's 'always on' in the low-low/off mode. Easy to find in the bottom of a pack. I've had one for some five years or so and have only changed the battery every other year.

Otherwise, there's also an LED Mini-mag light in the pack too. Take the lens hood off, turning it on, hang from a tassle at the top of a two man tent, makes a nice little 360 degree lantern inside.

-Steve
Title: Re: Good flashlight for the pack?
Post by: ivarhusa on June 30, 2009, 09:07:00 AM: WalMart sells Coleman brand LED (light emitting diode) flashlights at a decent price. LED is the way to go, for battery life. Some day we'll get spotlights made from LEDs. I'd love great brightness with better battery and 'bulb' life. Little heat. Cool! (literally)
Title: Re: Good flashlight for the pack?
Post by: jdb on June 30, 2009, 09:24:13 PM: I have that light and it works very well for up close work. I carry it and a couple diffrent surefires. the coleman is a good lite with excellent battery life.
Title: Re: Good flashlight for the pack?
Post by: Slider on June 30, 2009, 11:12:48 PM: I also use a Tikka Headlamp(XP). Hands free and excellent batterie life. I also carry a Surefire E2E Executive Elite in my pack for backup.
Title: Re: Good flashlight for the pack?
Post by: thinkingman on July 06, 2009, 01:44:52 PM: Quote from: ICEMAN on June 13, 2009, 04:23:37 PM
I have a pile of flashlights....and my favorite is a 2AA Minimag in LED. The LED version of this light is bright as hell with a 3watt rating... I generally carry a head lamp which I can turn down for around camp and hiking use... Then if looking for something, I break out the flashlight.

I place a high value in carrying electronics which can share a battery, and I carry lithium batteries in everything in my hunting gear. $25bucks at REI or similar...
Everything I carry runs on AA....why complicate things?
I have a Cabelas 85lumen Cree led.
Cost about $30 and is really solid.
Great light.
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0066698518921a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntk=Product_liberal&QueryText=cree&sort=all&_D%3AhasJS=+&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form23&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1
Title: Re: Good flashlight for the pack?
Post by: SkookumHntr on July 07, 2009, 03:35:32 PM: Quote from: thinkingman on July 06, 2009, 01:44:52 PM
Quote from: ICEMAN on June 13, 2009, 04:23:37 PM
I have a pile of flashlights....and my favorite is a 2AA Minimag in LED. The LED version of this light is bright as hell with a 3watt rating... I generally carry a head lamp which I can turn down for around camp and hiking use... Then if looking for something, I break out the flashlight.

I place a high value in carrying electronics which can share a battery, and I carry lithium batteries in everything in my hunting gear. $25bucks at REI or similar...
Everything I carry runs on AA....why complicate things?
I have a Cabelas 85lumen Cree led.
Cost about $30 and is really solid.
Great light.
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0066698518921a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntk=Product_liberal&QueryText=cree&sort=all&_D%3AhasJS=+&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form23&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1
--thats just about the light i was looking for thanks! 8 times the batterylife of the surefire and the same size. Next time im at cabelas im picking it up!
Title: Re: Good flashlight for the pack?
Post by: Screaminreelz on July 07, 2009, 06:34:17 PM: Always carry my multi switch led headlamp and an extra flashlight with a few batteries. I have this notorious luck of being with buddies who either forget them or their batteries are nearly dead.
Title: Re: Good flashlight for the pack?
Post by: Caretaker on July 07, 2009, 07:09:42 PM: I've had many over the years, the lightest and brightest for the money that I have had is the Fenix LD20. I also have the L2T, TK11, several Surefires, Coast, and who knows what else. Fenix is my favorite, by far. Check them out.

https://fenix-store.com/
Title: Re: Good flashlight for the pack?
Post by: Machias on July 07, 2009, 10:23:43 PM: Check this out:

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,29830.0.html
Title: Re: Good flashlight for the pack?
Post by: Jamieb on July 07, 2009, 10:26:04 PM: I carry 2 lights in my pack. A petz LED head lamp and a cheap Colman LED. After gutting and skinning a bull in the dark with a mini mag in my mouth, I'll never hunt without a headlamp in my pack. IMOH a headlamp cant be beat for any kind of work where you might need both hands but I prefer a normal hand held flashlight most of the time. The Colman LED from Walmart is cheap and tough. I 've got four or five of them around the house and one in each truck. The battery life is good, I'm not sure just how long they'll last, I haven't needed to change any yet.
Title: Re: Good flashlight for the pack?
Post by: blindpig on July 11, 2009, 06:32:54 PM: Quote from: Branden on June 13, 2009, 05:32:31 PM
I would really look at a headlamp. The batteries last forever and it leaves your hands free.

:yeah:
Title: Re: Good flashlight for the pack?
Post by: AWS on July 12, 2009, 01:02:37 PM: Ivarhusa, LED spotlights ar out there, check this out.
http://www.huntsmart.com/hunt/Hunting-Lights_7/Spotlights_15/Item_Thor-X-Sirius-LED-Spotlight_CYC9WS.html

AWS
Title: Re: Good flashlight for the pack?
Post by: muleysgirl13 on July 12, 2009, 01:16:17 PM: I have to highly agree with Machias. They make the LED windup flashlights and they usually can use 1, 3 or 5 bulbs and have an alarm sound on them which might not do any good for being lost but would probably scare the crap out of any predator atleast for a little while. They usually are pretty durable and I think they are around $20 and really light weight since they don't have any batteries. I don't know a brand name but I have seen them just about anywhere big 5, drug stores, target, walmart. Probably the safest last resort for light. I carry one in addition to a normal flashlight (I have the smaller mag light which I keep in my cargo pocket on my pants so if I get seperated from my pack I still have light). Good luck