Posted by -insertnamehere- I like the looks of this. Just how durable is this thing? I abuse the hell out of my lights

I don't know yet. They claim a 10m drop test. With the thick barrel walls and rubber bumpers it should survive some hell. Water? I'll take it swimming next week. Probably IP68 or so.

Posted by -insertnamehere- I like the looks of this. Just how durable is this thing? I abuse the hell out of my lights

Durability and longevity is just something you don't get in cheap lights

Posted by metawaffle Durability and longevity is just something you don't get in cheap lights

meta, i just got my BC-40 last week and it is awesome, it's definitely waterproofed well, and i dropped it from 8ft onto tarmac and it held up great. i'd say the throw is around 300m, overall definitely a good flashlight

My favorite flashlight right now is a Guidesman LED flashlight rated at 180 lumens. It has low beam, high beam, strobe, and SOS settings along with an endcap switch that glows red when battery life (3 AAA's) gets to 20%. It is sold as a two-pack, so you get two of them for $20! I've used it during two explorations so far and it has performed extremely well.

i love my fenix tk15. only takes 2 cr123 and they actually last pretty long as long as you dont keep it on turbo mode the whole times(337 lumens)

i love my fenix tk15. only takes 2 cr123 and they actually last pretty long as long as you dont keep it on turbo mode the whole times(337 lumens)

Posted by AnAppleSnail I don't know yet. They claim a 10m drop test. With the thick barrel walls and rubber bumpers it should survive some hell. Water? I'll take it swimming next week. Probably IP68 or so.

Update with info on this light. $15, durable, woo.

i use Surefire
E2D LED Defender

but i also have
UltraFire WF-501B
and rechargeble ultrafire battery

first one(surefire) was 180$ american made 200 lumen last 2 hour straight

secondone...34$ 320 lumen 5mode lighting last 3 hours straight
chinese made but this company i trust.

and i forgot but i use weak LED when i am going semi-recon when i think a person is inside of building. and regular maglite.

Just a reminder for those that don't know.

Flashlights, torches, & light painting forum

Posted by bonnie&clyde Just a reminder for those that don't know. Flashlights, torches, & light painting forum

Woo, yeah! \m/, and so on.

wow i didn't know that thanks
now i will excuse my self out.

You guys are all advanced and shit... all I have is a mini led mag light and some shitty led rayovac light..

I love my surefire, all of them. But I have a couple of helmet lights as well.
Some backup chem lights and that's it.

Yeah, I still have my old 20 dollar DORCY at 180 lumens. Dropped it in water, on concrete, and still kicking. Just changed the batteries for the second time last week. Had it over a year, with semi-regular use.

Oh and I just bought two 320(i think)nm UV pocket sized lights for 8 bucks together on ebay. Waterproof, and made of metal, hopefully durable, and they have pretty good output for a UV light. Cant wait to take them on my next exploration.

Anyone else use UV on explorations? It seems like it would be good for place where the last thing you would want is a 300 lumen "turbo mode" fenix, because the light does not carry for a long distance... I remember exploring a hotel in Shreveport, LA holding my hand over my 50 lumen flashlight the whole time so that cars on the street or people of the law could not see my light.

Posted by The Anti-Paradigm Yeah, I still have Anyone else use UV on explorations? It seems like it would be good for place where the last thing you would want is a 300 lumen "turbo mode" fenix, because the light does not carry for a long distance... I remember exploring a hotel in Shreveport, LA holding my hand over my 50 lumen flashlight the whole time so that cars on the street or people of the law could not see my light.

Negative! First, the dimmer the UV looks the worse it is for your eyes. Using UV light will make your eyes feel sandy and hurt. Don't do it! Use duct tape with a small hole on the light instead, or get one with a "moonlight" mode.

Monochromatic photons are hard enough to see with. I lose all ability to see detail and structural condition. Edge-of-visual range photons are worse. Unless you are evading foes with dark-adapted vision (navigation in woods by starlight for hours, no other lights) your best tool to see with minimal detection is very dim white light. Be sure to conceal the light source so it cannot done at the horizon.

Posted by AnAppleSnail Negative! First, the dimmer the UV looks the worse it is for your eyes. Using UV light will make your eyes feel sandy and hurt. Don't do it! Use duct tape with a small hole on the light instead, or get one with a "moonlight" mode. Monochromatic photons are hard enough to see with. I lose all ability to see detail and structural condition. Edge-of-visual range photons are worse. Unless you are evading foes with dark-adapted vision (navigation in woods by starlight for hours, no other lights) your best tool to see with minimal detection is very dim white light. Be sure to conceal the light source so it cannot done at the horizon.

Good to know. I havent used it yet, just was curious. More than anything it is a fun toy. I used it at the hospital I work and It is fun to see what you cant normally see. The floors of patient's rooms even after being mopped are naaasty... This UV light being cheap, is still has a decent contrast in color. It is basically a 9 LED black light (don't know if that is the same thing as "UV"). I used to get high and sit in a blacklight filled room for hours and never felt anything different with my eyes. Once again I dont know much about the UV flashlights or if there is a difference in the lights at diff price ranges.

I usually carry a roll or two of duct tape on me, I think that would be a decent idea. Or maybe just need to work a second job and go Splinter Cell and get some 3000 dollar night vision goggles... lol.

Small compact mag-lite.

It all depends... I usually take a 2D Maglite... unless I need to climb or anything where less is way more. I have literally beaten this thing all over... it has been dropped, submerged in water, covered in mud, and it still cleans up great and looks like it did when I bought it. I know these are a little chintzy but they are incredible for the price... Harbor Freight always has the little LED lights for free or free with a purchase. They make an awesome backup light... I usually keep several in my back pocket just because someone always forgets batteries or needs a light or my light just dies... they beat out the minimaglite in my opinion (at least the older ones) in brightness and spread. If you are doing any exploring such as caves or a place where too much light is not an issue, a solid spot light is always a good thing to have. The only thing is it acts as a beacon saying 'IM HERE!' and the batteries often only last about 20 minutes. Thats my $0.02. Maglite always if I can afford the weight and not having free hands, always harbor freight cheap backups, and spot light if needed.

Hi all,

Lots of good light choices that you guys have came up with. My current handheld light is an 18650 powered Solarforce L2P with a three mode XML drop-in. It combines good light output with a reasonable run time. I'm really pleased with the light and being able to recharge the batteries has saved me a lot of money. I scrounged the batteries out of some old laptops. My headlamp is a custom lamp built by a friend of mine in England. It runs off of a 3x18650 pack. An Accucel 6 charger (that works off of my car battery) keeps all the batteries topped off and ready to go. It's a good combination when you are on a multi-day exploring trip.

My previous lights were a Princeton Tec Apex Pro headlamp and a Streamlight ProTac 2L handheld, but for multi-day mine exploring trips the battery cost started to add up. I now keep them for backups or for when we have extra people.

It's probably already been posted here, but Budget Light Forums is a good place to research reasonably priced lights.

Abby Normal

I use a Streamlight LED Stinger. I absolutely love it.Does high,Med,low,and strobe. Uses a rechargeable pack and I usually carry an extra charged one. I also use a Black Diamond headlight, and a small Dorcy as backup/colored light painting. I keep the 3D maglight in the car, but will sometimes take it with me in sketchy places for a little more protection.