Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Now that the field season has quieted down I thought I'd check in with those of you who've been doing a lot of successful collecting the past few years: Other than a Stubby (which I have), I want to also have two other lights: a spot for use from my vehicle and a more portable flashlight for quick use and as backup in my pack for Stubby failure. What do you guys use? Here's a couple I am considering:
For the spot - Nite Tracker Cordless Rechargeable Spotlight
http://www.etool.ca/eTool/RENDER/1/86/300/3278.html

For the flashlight - Pelican Super SabreLite Xenon Flashlight
http://www.etool.ca/eTool/RENDER/1/86/300/3965.html
or

Eternalight Ergo (this is an LED light)
http://www.glowbug.com/product.php?sku=14

Seems like the LED lights might be very nice. Anyone have a favorite? Thanks for your suggestions.
Cheers,
Henry W.

I am getting to where for a flashlight I like the LED style. I would look into a 1 watt of 5 watt LED or an array of standard LEDs because they have much higher output.

http://store.advancedmart.com/fllipr.html has a selection of LED lights to choose from, I recently purchased the AM32LightConv (32 LED conversion for a 4 cell MAG light) and the AM4C5W 5watt LED light. Both are a bright white light that should run for 3-4 hours at full blast.

For road hunting I have an old 3Mill candle power rechargeable spotlight I got a Target. It works way better than a flash light to re-locate an animal on the road or shoulder. Only problem is that it is a tad heavy to carry around, and the 20-30 minute run time excludes it as a walking light.

I will also say that a UV LED is very, very cool to look at scorpions with... Makes them light up like glow in the dark monsters. If you place an order with Advanced Mart they have a $18 model (AM1403UV) that is very cool.

We use a similar 4 AA battery pelican zenon light at work. I have never seen a better flashlight than the pelican we use. Keep extra batteries, though. They burn pretty quick. About 5 or 6 hours. Highly recommended. Derek

I use a Surefire U2 (LED) as a backup... it was very expensive but it has to be one of the coolest flashlights I've ever owned. It's made unbelievably well, is variable in intensity (from 2 to 100 lumens), and is the closest thing to a light saber you can buy. I have several other Surefire lights and I'm very fond of them. They are pricey, but well worth it.

Here's a link you might find useful:
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/surefire_u2.htm

I use nothing but Princeton Tec lights. They make every style of light you could want. Halogens, led's etc..
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Steve W.

For regular stick flashlights I use Pelican products model M-11 and model M-9. I lease an office to a Pelican dealer and she sells these flashlights to Firemen, and Policemen. They are called Black knights made by Pelican products and they are rechargeable. I also have a Black knight smaller version that uses two cr123 lithium batteries. It is super bright, but run time is not very long, and the batteries are pretty steep in price.
Barry

Those rechargeable spot lights are way too heavy to use from the car if you're planning on using them all night - pick something light weight that is easy to handle. I use a 3 million candle from Brinkman, but there are plenty of other good ones around.

Some of my buddies have taken to using small spotlights when walking cuts (1 million candle brinkmans) and instead of carrying the "Deer feeder" battery, are carrying small motocycle batteries - they like being able to spot all the way to the tops of the cuts (which you can't always do with a stubby). Me? most of the time I'd rather not see what I can't get to . . . LOL

Troy

I have an arsenal of flashlights to choose from when venturing out, depending on what the game plan is I might choose any one of the options or a combination:

(1) - Litebox: 70,000 Candlepower and run time up to 10 hours. Big and heavy light but ultra dependable. Choice of 20watt spot or flood (interchangable). A/C or D/C Rechargable.
streamlight-flashlights.com/litebox.html

(3) - SL35x: 1.5 hour run time at 40,000 candlepower. A/C or D/C Rechargable.
streamlight-flashlights.com/sl-35x.html

(1) - SL20x - 1.5 hour run time at 30,000 candlepower. A/C or D/C Rechargable.
streamlight-flashlights.com/sl-20x.html

(1) - 3C-XP - 6 hour run time at 20,000 candlepower. Runs on 3 C batteries. Also sports 3 LED's for 100 hour run time. I carry an extra set of C batteries and I'm good for 12 hours. My choice along with septor when I want to travel light.
streamlight-flashlights.com/new3xledfl.html

(1) - Septor 7 LED Headlamp - runs forever on 3 AAA's. Mainly a backup lamp or a stealth lamp when I don't want to attract a lot of attention
streamlight-flashlights.com/septor.html

IMO you can't go wrong with Streamlights. Although I don't have one of these (yet) the Ultra Stinger would be my choice to replace the SL35's or SL20's today: 70,000 candlepower in a small package and A/C or D/C rechargable.
streamlight-flashlights.com/ultrastinger.html

Make sure any LED light you buy is a Luxeon LED model. Even the 1 watt Luxeons are amazingly bright compared to the older LED lights. I have a good Princeton Tec 8 LED headlamp which I bought after reading online reviews and my 3D luxeon flashlight blows it away. I don't know how long the batteries will last, but it has been months so far.

As for Li-Xe lights, as someone else pointed out, they EAT batteries and the bulbs don't last that long either. Some of them use bulbs that are easy to find and others have to be ordered from the manufacturer and can cost $5+ each.
Although they are super bright, but when they start to burn out the go from really bright to barely lit in about 10 minutes. It sucks if that is your only source of light and you are a long way from the camp/car.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, TX

This has been really interesting and I appreciate the detailed responses. Now I just have to decide between all the good advice! Hope it was useful to others as well. Best, Henry W.