LIGHTS FOR CCW AND LAW ENFORCEMENT

[Kaos]

I've been heavily looking at the pentagonlight 19 LED s2 model.

Will fit in my weapon mount, and has a good spread and lumens rating.

[NineseveN]

Watchmaker should have way more rep than he does for all of the invaluable information he provides that is unparalleled on this forum. I try to hit him up every time I visit the thread. Just sayin.

[mardo]

Originally Posted by NineseveN

Watchmaker should have way more rep than he does for all of the invaluable information he provides that is unparalleled on this forum. I try to hit him up every time I visit the thread. Just sayin.

Me too, although I don't quite as many points as you to hand out!

[watchmaker]

WHEN A LUMEN IS NOT A LUMEN

A lumen is not a lumen when somebody intends to throw a big bunch of them out of a small reflector the size of a dime or nickel. At least it seems to be that way.
It used to be easy to tell the power of a light by the lumens figure, not anymore. You could be an experience user of lights, say a policeman that had used for years a 200 lumens Magchager and is well acquainted with its capabilities. Now he reads about this small light the size of a thumb that also outputs 200 lumens and is all excited to get the new marvel.

He does and is promptly disappointed because the small light seems to throw a good amount of light, but all close by, and is nothing that can compare with his duty Magcharger that can illuminate objects at 100 yards.

Besides emitters in the 200 lumens bracket can kill themselves with the heat that they produce when they are used in small lights with poor heat sinking. It is mostly a novelty thing and it should be used with caution. Some of them come in lights with multiple settings, and that is fine when the literature advice you to use the 200 lumens sparingly, and you follow that advice.

To illustrate the point, here are a couple of pictures of beam shots at 20 yards, you can clearly see the superiority of the Bear Cub (reflector size 2”) over the Lightstar 220, (reflector the size of a dime) even when both lights are rated at 220 lumens.

LIGHTSTAR 220 LUMENS AT 20 YARDS



BEAR CUB 220 LUMENS AT 20 YARDS




Some manufacturers wishing to quote big numbers are now putting clusters of these small reflectors on duty size flashlights. Mind you these clusters that are from three to four are still all small reflectors with limited throw.

So, somebody putting a cluster of four reflectors in a big head can claim 800 lumens, but you know better now, knowing that those 200 lumens for each reflector are not really behaving like real lumens!

Unfortunately I don’t have one of those lights to prove the point. But I can get my own cluster of lights in the 200 lumens bracket, and demonstrate by picture what can you expect.

I have here two of the Lightstar220 lumens, plus a Fenix P3D of 205 lumens and an Ultra Fire with Rebel emitter of 200 lumens, all of which together in a cluster will throw the figure of 845 lumens.

The opposite number is a Black Bear 720 lumens flashlight, a light that is 10” long and weights 24 oz. and uses a 2” reflector that can throw several hundred of yards with a strong white light.

HERE IS THE PICTURE OF THE CONTENDERS



The distance for both beam shots is in this case 35 yards to the target (The no trespassing sign tacked in the tree). The camera is 20 yards from the target.

CLUSTER OF REFLECTORS 845 LUMENS




BLACK BEAR 720 LUMENS ONE REFLECTOR 2”



Observe how the beam of the 720 lumens light travels beyond the range of the cluster lights, illuminating objects that the cluster lights are not capable of showing.
So, if you are in the market for a new light, this use of small reflectors in clusters to boost lumens figures is something you should be aware off.

Cheers

Watchmaker

[watchmaker]

NEW BULB FOR THE BOREALIS FLASHLIGHT
750 LUMENS FOR 75 MINUTES

As you may know the Borealis 1050 lumens flashlight is the most powerful military/police flashlight in use today.

The Borealis will make 1050 lumens for 50 minutes on rechargeable batteries. Now a new bulb is available which will run the light for 75 minutes with a drop of only 300 lumens.

Lights in use by police today are the Magcharger, the Stingers, the SL 20 up to 200 lumens, the Ultra Stinger-295 lumens, the Pelican 7060-135 lumens, and the Fenix TK series up to 240 lumens.

Military forces use a variety of Surefires as weapon lights with 120 lumens and hand held like the Surefire M-4, 350 lumens and the Surefire M-6 at 500 lumens.

So, the above statement of the Borealis been the most powerful is not an exaggeration, many are been used daily by police and many are doing tour of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq.

What the new bulb does is extend the run time to 75 minutes without reducing drastically the output.

As no other duty flashlight with the same lumens is available, I decided to conduct a shoot out against a big two million candlepower spotlight, the one at hand was an almost new Brikmann Q beam Max million II (two million candlepower) with a reflector of five inches wide and a big bulb of 75 watt.
All this in competition to a bean sized 30 watt bulb and two inch reflector of the Borealis.

DAVID AND GOLIATH




FIVE INCH VERSUS TWO INCH




This particular Borealis has a Light Stippled reflector, a reflector designed to give a good balance between flood and throw, but given the semi custom character of the Borealis three other reflectors are available, smooth for maximum throw, orange peel for just a little less throw but more flood (also called side spill) and a medium stippled reflector designed for a big flood but with the range limited to 100 yards.

As the night was bitterly cold I decided to take the pictures and shoot the beams right out of my second story kitchen window, with the short tripod legs resting in the kitchen sink.
The target is the white and blue cabana which is the second building in the picture after the fence.

The target is 74 yards from my window, with back trees as much as 85 yards (they are still visible with both lights).
Due to the big reflector in the spot light, the beam is concentrated in the center of the picture and illumination from the side spill is not as great as it is with the Borealis 750 lumens bulb.

Observe both pictures and you will see more area illuminated by the Borealis 750 lumens bulb, than is illuminated by the two million candlepower spotlight.
Still the intensity of both beams is similar at the center of the target area.

Q-BEAM MAX TWO MILLION



BOREALIS 750 LUMENS 75 MINUTES BULB




In conclusion the new Borealis bulb of 750 lumens is worthy for those that will want a run time of 75 minutes. Even after loosing 300 lumens the Borealis still is the most powerful flashlight used by the police and the military.

The light can be ordered with the 1050 lumens bulb installed and the spare as the 750 lumens or vice-versa. You can also order the reflector most appropriate for you work, the only light in the Industry that offers you a choice of four reflectors.

Cheers.
Watchmaker

[Carnes]

Thanks Watchmaker, once again, for all the great information!

I found a light made by 4Sevens, and it seems to be made by the same people that make Fenix. (or at least they are closely related) Anyway, I got one of the Fenix lights and it was great, but now this new light, the Quark Tactical, seems like it's going to be spectacular.

http://www.4sevens.com/index.php?cPath=297_306

Dimensions (for the 2xAA model)

Length: 5.8 inches
Diameter: 0.86 inches
Weight: 2.2 ounces

Typical Output and Runtimes

Moonlight: 0.2 lumens, 30 days
Low: 3.5 lumens, 5 days
Medium: 18 lumens, 24 hours
High: 70 lumens, 5 hours
Max: 170 lumens, 1.3 hours
Strobe, 2.5 hours
Beacon, 18 hours





.

[YllwFvr]

^ Batman needs to find room on his belt. That is an incredible piece. Does it come with an incredible price tag?
Looks like it says $59 if Im looking at the right one. Not bad!

[Carnes]

Originally Posted by YllwFvr

Does it come with an incredible price tag?
Looks like it says $59 if Im looking at the right one. Not bad!

Yep, yep. The price is between $57.00 and $69.00 depending on model you get. There are models that run on one CR123, two CR123s, one AA and two AAs. Gotta love the options!

[rifleshooter2]

I dont know if anybody mentioned the Galdius light. It has a tail switch that allowa a low beam for general lighting. a bright beam like a surefire and a strobing effect that is great for a tactial advantage. I have seen them used several time and they have impressed me when my sure fire bites the dust it will be my next tatical light.

Andy

[watchmaker]

SANYO ENELOOP LOW DISCHARGE
AA NIMH RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES

Here is a product that I can recommend highly.
The batteries are very low self discharge; the claim by Sanyo is that they will keep 85 percent of the charge for a year when they are left in the shelf unused.
They can also be used without charging right from the package the first time, as they are fully charged at the factory.
I recently had the opportunity to test their claims. Last year about this time I left a Borealis flashlight loaded with nine Eneloop batteries in my buddy’s fishing shack he has in the Adirondacks.

After a period of over a year, I tested the Eneloops and the powerful Borealis flashlight (1050 lumens, over two million candlepower) to see how much remaining charge it had left.

This particular set of batteries has been recharged and used quite a few times, and the run time of the Borealis with them was 40 minutes when fully charged. (Batteries gain capacity when recharged several times).

Under controlled conditions and watch in hand, I ran the Borealis until the beam started to weaken, and got a run time of 36 minutes, just 4 minutes short of full run time after a year of seating on the shelf. I say this is an amazing performance for a rechargeable battery that is also high current coping very well with the powerful almost 3 ½ amps of the Borealis’ bulb.

Ever since the Eneloops are in the market, some other batteries have come out with the same chemistry, however, I cannot comment on them as I haven’t used them to the extend I have used the Eneloops.

Cheers

Watchmaker