Torch recommendations

amigafan2003 said:
That's a truly terrible torch. 100 lux @ 2m? By comparison an RC-N3 Q5 has a lux rating for 900 @ 2m! And it's £10 cheaper. Okay, the RS torch can run for 15 hours but what's the point if you can see naff all with it - and the RC-N3 @ 30% brightness is still 3x brighter and has a similar run time - plus you have the choice of two battery configs - crc123 for ulra small edc (every day carry) or 2xaa for money efficient rechargeables.
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Well its all down to use. I only use mine in storage containers and dark rooms (aka without electric). All within close proximity. So it works fine for me.

While it might be £10quid more than the one you compared it too. My company gets 75% off RS so :p Plus the fact that it was my company that bought it so it doesnt bother me in the slightest.
 
amigafan2003 said:
No they wont. The LED's are seriously underdriven. They have quite a poor thermal path as well meaning that even though they're only putting 40odd lumens otfl (out the front of light) the batteries don't last as long as a true good quality 100+ lumens light. For the same price you could have an RC-N3 Q5 light from shiningbeam.com (don't get RC-N3's from other places as they are only P4 emitters) and the batteries will last 4 hours on full and be a true 100+ lumens light (nearer 200 with an RCR123 but at reduced run time).
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I was only suggesting a cheap and widely available alternative, it's not going to give earth shattering performance or runtime but the 3W model does actually output 100 lumens. Someone on 28DL measured a few different torches with a light meter and the Tesco 2x C-Cell 3W LED came out with ~101 lumens IIRC. They obviously don't have any PWM so that 101 lumens will drop off over time :)

That Romisen RC-N3 Q5 looks very good, I've not seen any reviews on it *goes off to search on CPF* but you can't go wrong for that price. In fact, you could have two of them for the price of a Maglite.

Oh and people, stop recommending Maglites please. They have a horrible beam pattern, rubbish output and are overpriced - the only reason to buy a Maglite is if you are planning to put a Malkoff drop-in in it.
 
Kona* said:
Oh and people, stop recommending Maglites please. They have a horrible beam pattern, rubbish output and are overpriced - the only reason to buy a Maglite is if you are planning to put a Malkoff drop-in in it.
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Those little LED torches are good for nothing, the battery life is rubbish. The LED Mags or mag conversions on the similar 2AA torches are pretty pants as well.

A 3 cell Maglite with an official maglite LED conversion kicks the backside out of any of these little couple of hour life LED torches.

I use a 3 cell with a conversion to do my inspections on aircraft at night. We all use them because they are the best for the job. You can easily focus the beam on the fin at night right to the tip. The batteries need changing once every 4-6 months and I use my torch 2 nights per week. A 10 minute walk with the dog is all those little LEDS are good for, if you actually need a torch for work and detailed inspection you may as well chuck them.
 
amigafan2003 said:
Thanks for the link - just put in a request for the FireSword-IV :-)
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Blimey, go for the biggie! Looks to be well named going by the output. I have a torch from them from a few years ago, amazingly well made and very good, although LED tech seems to have advanced since then.

Maybe post a beamshot? Check for passing airliners first though...
 
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