Bright torch

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wildsam90

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Did't know where to post this!

Im off down a mine on the 8th whats been closed since victorian time i've been told!
As anything else on the market there's millions of different torches and levels of brightness!

Im after a torch what's 200 lumens +
And focusable

ADD ON - WANTED FOR LIGHTING UP AND ILLUMINATION

Im gonna be after two so im not interested in anything above 40 ideally!

currently looking at - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LED-Lense...rnsTorches&hash=item43a9fedfe7#ht_5103wt_1037

Any helpful comments is great!
 
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If you want it just for illumination (finding your way in the dark, not anything specific) then I reccomend a headtorch. You (hopefully) will be wearing a hemet, so it will fit on this, leaving your hands free for, well, anything!
 
wontolla said:
If you want it just for illumination (finding your way in the dark, not anything specific) then I reccomend a headtorch. You (hopefully) will be wearing a hemet, so it will fit on this, leaving your hands free for, well, anything!
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Forgot that part ;) Wanted for illumination and will also buy a hardhat with a headlamp
 
Check out some of the Petzel head torches, some give superb light, most are pretty good.

If it's a coal mine you need to take sealed lighting as a spark can trigger an explosion, theres also possibily fumes in any underground space you need to be wary of.

I'm assuming your going with someone experienced?, but disused mines can be very dangerous, do not go alone and make sure somebody trustworty knows exactly where you are in case of problems.
 
swanseamale47 said:
Check out some of the Petzel head torches, some give superb light, most are pretty good.

If it's a coal mine you need to take sealed lighting as a spark can trigger an explosion, theres also possibily fumes in any underground space you need to be wary of.

I'm assuming your going with someone experienced?, but disused mines can be very dangerous, do not go alone and make sure somebody trustworty knows exactly where you are in case of problems.
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Not 100% what type of mine but will find out tomorrow night, But will keep that in mind!!

I've looked at petzel head torches but was thinking spend the main money on the torches as ill use them alot where head torchs not so often if that makes any sense!

Should be around 4/6 of us and two of them being well experienced in the mine
 
If you want a torch for general use the Led lenser you posted is very good, I have one myself.

It's really bright and the clean focus beam is very good too!
 
Chris Primadona said:
I was in the market for a very high power torch and I narrowed it down to these three. I went with the stanley as its apparently very good value for money and kicks out an amazing 1365 Lumens. It turns night into day!

stanley
Lenzer small
Lenzer big and expensive!
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I've got something similar to the Stanley and the battery life isn't long enough to go looking for a lost cat, never mind explore underground...
Your link quotes 35mins... :suspect:

I'd also recommend a Petzl headtorch. Put the beam on distance and hit the 'turbo' button and it throws light a very long way.
Although the Petzl is a great all round torch, if you are after pure light output then that LED Lenzer does look the business :)
 
I use the lenser P7 for photography all the time - it is a bright torch for its size... but.. 200 lumens in a mine will look lost

plus
- small
- very robust
- you can focus it
- seems to be nearly balanced for daylight, which means at night when you use it, things look just about the right colour
- batteries last for ages
- the second click on the on/off button gives a usefully dimmer light

minus
- expensive
- sometimes too bright to use as a fill light
- at night - not bright enough to fill a a large area with a useful amount of light
 
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Fenix make very good torches, though the P7 is supposed to be quite good. I use a fenix E21, pretty simple torch. I much prefer AA batteries can then use fairly cheap eneloop and similar.

A little bit of info at site below, torch equivalent of TP, lot of American stuff but some info relevant to UK.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/forum.php
 
I'd not recommend Petzl if you want a torch to throw a lot of light out (especially in the 200+ lumens range), as most aren't regulated or possess a heat sink, so you can burn them out if left on full power for too long.

When I retired my faithful old petzl zoom (tungsten halogen jobbie), I did a hell of a lot of research and went for the Princeton Tec Apex. Nothing that Petzl make can compare for the features, power, price or build quality.

If you are wanting just a hand held torch then Led Lenser or Princeton Tec are hard to fault
 
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I have an LED Lenser T7, not the cheapest, but one of the best!

I've dropped it and run over it and it still going strong :thumbs:
 
Thanks for all the suggestions! Keep them coming i will buy one in a few hours!
Problem im having is i need it here before the weekend and alot of ebay sellers are 4-6days postage -.-
 
wildsam90 said:
Thanks for all the suggestions! Keep them coming i will buy one in a few hours!
Problem im having is i need it here before the weekend and alot of ebay sellers are 4-6days postage -.-
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Actually - I was spitting out rocks when I ordered mine.. seems it was sold as "shipped from the UK" but actually was shipped (on the back of a ill snail), from Germany

Look at Amazon
 
I only use LED Lenser as they also offer a lifetime guarantee, I have the P14s 7s and head torches, they are as good as it gets
 
I use a 2AA LED Maglite which I believe is around the £20 mark.. Small but very powerful and has been faithful to me in rain, snow, mud and dropping it.
 
wildsam90 said:
Maplins £50

Ebay £28.90

Only diffrents is i can go and get it with maplins but im not happy paying 20pounds on top :s
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One other HUGE difference - if you go to Maplins, you know you have it in your hands - order from E-Bay and you're never sure if you'll ever get it, let alone on time.
 
T7 (same as p7 just diffrent shape)
and
SuperLED CREE LED Head Torch 160lumen ( will be main / back up headlamp as i already have a even chaper one! )

Just bought will be here wesnesday :)

Thanks all
 
Nod said:
One other HUGE difference - if you go to Maplins, you know you have it in your hands - order from E-Bay and you're never sure if you'll ever get it, let alone on time.
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I have never been let down sure it may take a week but you have 100% assurance from ebay that you can get a refund if it is faulty and 7 days to cancel from a company.
 
Lenser are good, but there are alternatives. Fenix and Jet Beam spring to mind, and are both regulated, if that's important to you.

Personally, I like Surefire but they're expensive and use CR123A batteries which are pricey too.

For underground use, I'd look at runtime before output. Most of the smaller, high output, flashlights chew batteries!
 
look on any cycle forum and lensers are the choice
 
Another vote for the LED Lenser T7 here. We're renovating part of the disused railway tunnel I work in and the T7 proves very useful when the muppets knock out the power.....
 
I also have the alpkit headtorch and it's amazing for the price - beats my much more expensive Petzl one hands down.

For torches though, the P7 ones are no longer where it's at. :)

If you nerd around on mountain bike forums you will see that everyone is now using Cree XML or XPG torches which are even brighter (whether you actually need them that bright is another question).

This thing will be ludicrously bright.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/330566331641#ht_6044wt_1028
 
saxk said:
I have a ultrafire wf-606a, im on my second as i lost the first in my travels somewhere.
It takes two AA's and has a Cree Q5 diode, its very bright and compact and also fully water proof.

but i had to order it from china, took 10 days to greece


http://www.dealextreme.com/p/ultrafire-wf-606a-cree-q5-wc-230-lumen-led-flashlight-with-extension-tube-1-cr2-2-aa-14909
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that torch is good, I've got one, but this one seems to be better: http://www.dealextreme.com/p/sipik-...-lens-led-flashlight-black-1-aa-1-14500-39585
 
nog said:
Fenix make very good torches, though the P7 is supposed to be quite good. I use a fenix E21, pretty simple torch. I much prefer AA batteries can then use fairly cheap eneloop and similar.

A little bit of info at site below, torch equivalent of TP, lot of American stuff but some info relevant to UK.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/forum.php
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I use fenix torches too - brilliant value for money and renowned for their toughness and quality.

They used to do a focussing model but not any more - focussing models are rare for modern quality LED torches. Focussing mechanisms can cause artefacts in the beam, most quality torch manufacturers strive for a consistent flood of light in the beam with no discernible 'halos' etc.
 
MartynK said:
What's the position with the strike bezel in the UK? A lawyer I know wasn't too sure about carrying one of my Surefires in public places, but its bezel is a bit more aggressive.
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That one's not a strike bezel, its's blunt, more just a crown so when it's standing on a table, you can see if It's on. The torch itself is small and light anyway, only 1 AA.
 
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itsdavedotnet said:
That one's not a strike bezel, its's blunt, more just a crown so when it's standing on a table, you can see if It's on. The torch itself is small and light anyway, only 1 AA.
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OK, thanks. I assumed it was a strike bezel from the illustrations in the link. The light is quite small and light, but it would probably work well enough with a proper strike bezel, because it concentrates the impact into a very small area. Anyway, I'm not a thug and I'm aware that the UK takes a rather dim view of this sort of thing.
 
MartynK said:
OK, thanks. I assumed it was a strike bezel from the illustrations in the link. The light is quite small and light, but it would probably work well enough with a proper strike bezel, because it concentrates the impact into a very small area. Anyway, I'm not a thug and I'm aware that the UK takes a rather dim view of this sort of thing.
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yeah, it does look kinda vicious, not as much as some of the other torches though, that look like they'd stab you through your pocket! You probably -could- use it as an offensive weapon, but unless you tried doing so, I can't imagine anyone whatsoever having an issue.
 
+1 for Fenix torches, I've got a number of these and they never miss a beat. I've an old TK10 that runs on CR123A's and is brilliant.

As has been stated above, it's very rare for a quality small LED torch to require focusing, if it did I'd speculate that the reflector design isn't all it could be.

Check out http://www.4sevens.com/ too, they sell the usual brands but their own lights are very interesting (and varied!). US-based, but I've ordered from them a few times and been happy with the service, and with the quality of their lights.

I've also had Nitecore, can't recommend them due to premature failures. Maglite seem to have been left behind. Lensers look okay, but very pricey last time I looked.
 
ronnus said:
+1 for Fenix torches, I've got a number of these and they never miss a beat. I've an old TK10 that runs on CR123A's and is brilliant.

As has been stated above, it's very rare for a quality small LED torch to require focusing, if it did I'd speculate that the reflector design isn't all it could be.

Check out http://www.4sevens.com/ too, they sell the usual brands but their own lights are very interesting (and varied!). US-based, but I've ordered from them a few times and been happy with the service, and with the quality of their lights.

I've also had Nitecore, can't recommend them due to premature failures. Maglite seem to have been left behind. Lensers look okay, but very pricey last time I looked.
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Actually, it is the fact you can focus a T7/P7 that makes it so damn attractive to a photographer
 
I don't want to take issue with satisfied LED Lenser owners but I feel it important to make any prospective buyer aware of the following.

If I understand correctly, LED Lenser torches do not have true voltage regulation like other LED torch brands but have a simple in-line resistor instead - so brightness can drop off according to how much life is in the batteries etc. (Fenix and other brands with voltage regulation maintain a constant brightness until the battery goes - then they usually switch off or to the lowest brightness setting and stay at that until they give up the ghost).

I had a LED Lenser headlamp that got so hot when it was run on full (rheostat control) that I could not touch it - it did give me a blister once! The tilt mechanism failed on it too so that it would only point vertically down and illuminate my nose :eek:

If controlling the size of the beam is really important then a (cardboard tube?) snoot can be used (it works well - I've just tested it with a piece of rolled-up paper) and would probably introduce fewer artefacts to the beam than a focussing mechanism. Most fenix models have three or four levels of brightness - which might be more useful to a photographer than a focussing mechanism
 
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