As a reactionary I prefer to use an old fashioned torch. You can make them yourself, and they work well, though occasionaly they do set the pages of whatever medieval manuscript I'm reading on fire.
LEDs are pretty much perfect for emergency flashlights - they have a really good battery life and the bulbs basically don't ever burn out. I have a neat little light that has an LED spotlight (like a traditional flashlight) but then along the side has a small fluorescent light that gives out a lot more light (it can light up a small room to a reasonable level). The whole flashlight is only about 6" long and maybe 2.5" wide - nice and compact.
That said - LEDs suck in many ways. They're often not very bright, and the light has a blue tinge to it. If I knew I had to rely on a flashlight or electric lantern for an extended period of time, I'd much rather have something based on fluorescent bulbs or even just a standard old incandescent. For night hiking or what have you I'm a pretty big fan of the Maglite - nothing like a flashlight that can be used as a weapon in a pinch...
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Re: Confession of a Flashlight Junkie
Thu Mar 27, 2008 at 08:15:51 PM EST
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"For night hiking or what have you I'm a pretty big fan of the Maglite - nothing like a flashlight that can be used as a weapon in a pinch..."
Well, we're on the same page there. I keep a 4-D cell Maglite in my bedroom (it was a gift from my cop brother), and a 2-D model in my car. Either one can double as a shillelagh. Both, however, have been upgraded with EverLED bulbs. Drop them, and they just keep going. Batteries seem to last forever.
I still have one fluorescent camping lantern (4 watts, I think), but it goes through 4-D batteries in about 6 hours. The 12-LED lantern will run on 4-AA batteries for 48 hours. Big improvement, if you ask me.
there's only one way to find out...
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4-cell? Aren't you embarrassed in the gym?
Fri Mar 28, 2008 at 09:17:57 AM EST
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4-D cell Maglite ... a 2-D model ... Either one can double as a shillelagh
4-cell? Pshaw!
The 6-cell, for when a baseball bat just looks suspicious.
Yes, I've known cops who carry one.
Yes, they're overcompensating.
It's like "Night of the Living Republican." The idiots are right outside, and they want to eat your brain.
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Re: 4-cell? Aren't you embarrassed in the gym?
Fri Mar 28, 2008 at 11:40:44 PM EST
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If I recall correctly, those overcompensating cops were why the LAPD forces their staff to carry smaller LED flashlights nowadays.
- derumi (del-me)
"Bobby Fischer? Man, that guy is crazy!" - Mike Tyson
Why don't they make flashlights that shine out of the toes of your shoes?
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Re: Confession of a Flashlight Junkie
Fri Mar 28, 2008 at 09:05:26 AM EST
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Why don't they make flashlights that shine out of the toes of your shoes?
Because they didn't talk Paul Simon into a licensing deal or name the product "Diamondzz ®"?
TV commercial opens with scenes of affluent boomer-type folks dancing up the aisle of a dark movie theatre, up the driveway to their McMansion, through the woods at night ....with tiny moving pools of LED light by their feet as Paul Simon himself sings a modified version of his song....
"People say I'm crazy
I got [Diamondzz ®] on the [tips] of my shoes
Well that's one way to lose
These walking blues
["Diamondzz ®"] on the [tips] of your shoes"...etcetera
It'll be like 'grillz' for boomers & old folks. Sell comfy slippers with these built in for those frequent late night bathroom trips. Sell a kit that clips onto shoe laces unobtrusively so any footwear can be retrofitted with lights. Those roller skate sneaker things seem like a perfect match for extra lighting effects - how about the kids scooting erratically around the grocery store and Target have little flashing - strobing light shows on their feet as well!
They could make Diamondzz ® into those jewelry things for Crocs - it that fad hasn't flamed out already.
I am a huge fan of LED lights - they use very little power, are cheap and getting cheaper and are so small and light they can be put into almost anything. I bought a cheapo 3 led head band mounted 'flashlight' (under 10$) and it was an amazing improvement over a hand held flashlight - I was able to work outside at night/in unlit spaces easily with my light always pointing where i was looking and both hands free = awesome. I know it looks silly but the utility outweighs the ridiculousness by a large margin. For people who like wearing hats - they make a nice LED light set that clips on the hat brim.
"...when theft and high crime becomes obscenely obvious to even the blindest beer sucking idiot, it is always the Republicans who are in office." -- Joe Bageant
When the LED was first introduced, it only came in red, and it had very limited applications. It was good as an indicator light, to show that something was turned on (and so forth). The fact that LEDs are now available for flashlights, even if the color is still not perfectly white, is a great technological advance.
Every form of lighting has its own advantages and disadvantages, but the LED would seem to be the future of lighting, if we continue to advance as a culture (otherwise the future of lighting will be candles and torches).
the incandescent bulb is very wasteful of energy, producing too much waste heat. It also burns out relatively quickly, and is relatively breakable compared to an LED.
Fluorescent lighting is less wasteful of energy than incandescent lighting (but still not as efficient as an LED) but every fluorescent bulb (regular length or compact) contains some mercury, which in vapor form replaces the filament of the incandescent bulb. Thus, there is some environmental toxicity that results if the re-cycling is not done very carefully (and it usually isn't).
Several other varieties exist (halogen bulbs, sodium bulbs, etc.) but they all have essentially the same kinds of problems as other incandescent or fluorescent bulbs. Only the LED meets energy conservation needs without being overly toxic, last longer than anything else and is less easily breakable. The color still isn't perfect, but that will probably be improved as research continues.
I got this ad today from a place I buy batteries from:
http://www.all-battery.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2191
I'd love to try a 35W HID flashlight, but at almost $500, I'm going to pass. Luxeon LEDs work well enough for me, and they're cheap (10 bucks).
there's only one way to find out...
I just got one of those non-batter required LED ones that you shake a lot. Therefore, in the event of 1) Nuclear Armageddon or 2) Me being too cheap to buy batteries I am covered. It is pretty weak, but good enough so that you can see decently in a pitch black room.
When I was an EMT I used to have one of the 4-D Cell mag lights "in case of emergency." Although I have been out of that business for several years, I hear many people still working prefer to carry one of these suckers because it is easier to hide on a belt or under a uniform. I would never have done so, because it has no legitimate EMS purpose besides beating the snot out of somebody, which really isn't in an EMT's standard of care. Whereas if you had to defend yourself it would be easier to justify carrying a MagLite after the fact. This is completely off topic, but in my old EMT text I believe the section on dealing with armed psychotic lunatics actually advised beating them about the head with an oxygen tank or running them over if you could with the ambulance itself. I'm serious.
Back on point, I always liked the flashlights used by Agents Mulder & Scully on the X-Files but I think they are prohibitively expensive.
