Torchlight hobbyist? Anyone??

[morganoh]

My dad bought me a touch for S$50 from Bangkok

which is the same as

http://www.surefire.com/maxexp/main/co_disp/displ/prrfnbr/900/sesent/00
(which cost US$160+)

It seems that touches are much cheaper in Bangkok. Those sold in Bangkok may not be original but the quaility and brightness are of very good qualities.


Maybe surefire touch n those selling in Bangkok are both make in China.......

 

[willyfoo]

Wow.. I thought I was siao about torches... until I read through http://www.candlepowerforums.com/

I take my hat off them man..

Does anybody know where to get PT40 in Singapore??
Or I'm still trying to find out what's the best 4XAA one that you can get in Singapore.

 

[Andy Ho]

Dear CSers,

I am sorry I was only on assignment photography for one day yesterday and I realised so many has responded to my thread on torch lights. Wow! Now I don't know where to start.

Let me see, I will go one by one in a few post...

Andy Ho

 

[Andy Ho]

Don't have torch can join or not?
I'd like to join the gathering only, but my only torch now is a puny torch light. I got it free when buying battery :embrass:

Maybe after I see how the torches perform, i'll be interested to buy

No problems with that! Maybe you might be converted to siow torch. :bsmilie: :bsmilie:
I won't be at my computer any longer but if any of you guys are interested to join me to Ubin today, please call me at 96624751 so I can meet up with you. Let me just warn you, no comfort one har.

Andy Ho

 

[Andy Ho]

Got a Cateye EL-400 today to replace my spoilt bicycle flashlight

Hi Casey,

The Cateye EL-400 is a beautiful piece isn't it? How much did you pay for and from where you got it?

Your Energizer collection is nice. Just wondering what the power is like? I am curious only. Btw, you free to join me next Tuesday at 8pm?

Andy Ho

 

[Andy Ho]

Hi Andy
this discussion you started is really quite an eye-opener, didn't realise those high end ones mentioned here can cost so much.
anyway, am thinking of getting one that uses Cr123 batts, can last quite a while but has also a fairly good throw - from what i'v read, it seems like the LED ones eg Inova X5T are the type to get but my concern is that there may not be enough throw eg up to 15-20 m away. The scorpion also seems attractive but batts last only about 1 hr,
so any recommendations, budget is around $80-90 ? Tks.

Hi egg,

What I have don't cost a lot. Mine is 120 lumens power but Surefire has an M6 Millennium that throws out 500 lumens! The cost of that torch is S$660. It uses 6 lithium CR123s.

If throw is what you are looking for, and normal run time is about 4-5 hours, I would recommend you to purchase the Underwater Kinetics L2. The benifits is that this torch is powerful but does not cover a wide angle like my Surefire M2 and it uses 2 CR123 batteries. It is also very small and cost about S$50. One thing to note though, the moment you dropthe torch the light focusing will be affected. Spare lamp cost about S$18 each.

My Inova X5T is not a bad performer either. In a totally dark area I can get a reasonable illumination though it can't be compared to my Surefire or Streamlight. What I like is that it is sleek and neat and is waterproof up till 150'.

If you are willing to spend a more, I would urge you to get the Surefire 8AX from Sheares Marketing. The start-up cost is about S$300+ including a spare rechargeable battery. The benefit is that it has 110 lumens power and because it is rechargeable it doesn't cost much to uphold. Fully charged batt takes about 50 mins to deplete so that is why I recommend extra batteries.

Andy Ho

 

[Andy Ho]

My dad bought me a touch for S$50 from Bangkok

which is the same as

http://www.surefire.com/maxexp/main/co_disp/displ/prrfnbr/900/sesent/00
(which cost US$160+)

It seems that touches are much cheaper in Bangkok. Those sold in Bangkok may not be original but the quaility and brightness are of very good qualities.


Maybe surefire touch n those selling in Bangkok are both make in China.......

It is dirt cheap man! I think your dad has a good buy. The reason why I go for Surefire torches is because all torches are made to be tough. Most of them can withstand rough usage and plenty of knocking and can outlast you. The main thing is all the Surefire lamp heads are pre-focused in the factory and that is why users don't see black shadow rings from the glow cast by the torch. For an imitation that cost S$50, what else can you ask for?

Surefire is made in USA and not anywhere else. They are very strict about quality control and R&D.

If you can, I would like to see the torch your dad bought from Bangkok. I am curious how similar it can get.

Regards,
Andy Ho

 

[Andy Ho]

Wow.. I thought I was siao about torches... until I read through http://www.candlepowerforums.com/

I take my hat off them man..

Does anybody know where to get PT40 in Singapore??
Or I'm still trying to find out what's the best 4XAA one that you can get in Singapore.

If you are looking for Tec40, I would urge you to look at Underwater Kinetics Q40 (4 AAs) or Underwater Kinetics L2 (2 CR123s). Both are utilizing the same Xenon bulb head and are slighhtly more powerful than the PT Tec40. In terms of toughness much better than Tec40. Only drawback is that the bulb head is not as tough so when you drop the torch the beam focusing will go off. If you have spare bulbs, no worries.

Andy Ho

 

[hammer_400]

Sng arms has the tec 40... overpriced though...
i haf one n a pt surge....
for spare bulbs the tec40 can just use those easy to find maglite krypton star bulbs.... get the 3-cell bulb n put it in and it'lll be even brighter..
the surge is really darn brite... around 125 lumens, 3-5 hours runtime n usin cheapo aa batts....

check out some light reviews here...


http://flashlightreviews.home.att.net/index1.html

 

[caseytan]

Hi Casey,

The Cateye EL-400 is a beautiful piece isn't it? How much did you pay for and from where you got it?

Your Energizer collection is nice. Just wondering what the power is like? I am curious only. Btw, you free to join me next Tuesday at 8pm?

Andy Ho

Hi Andy,

Got the EL-400 for $48 from Gee Hin Chan @ waterloo st, seems like they distribute CatEye products, found the shop from togoparts.com forums. According to the ppl there, Smart Polaris is actually cheaper and brighter, totally forgot about this when i was there. Maybe should have got the Smart Polaris instead.

next Tuesday ? hmm... see first, will let you know on Monday

Casey Tan

 

[Kho King]

this sure looks nice to me! Too expensive...

Just curious, how long can a set of battery last in this kind of STRONG POWER torch light?

 

[caseytan]

Just curious, how long can a set of battery last in this kind of STRONG POWER torch light?

75 mins or 2.5 hours depends on the type of lamp used.


E2E Executive Elite (E2E)'s lamp has a runtime of 75 mins with 60 lumens output. Not sure this describes battery life time or lamp life time :dunno:

maybe Andy can help to answer :think:

 

[hammer_400]

dat looks like a surefire G2Z inn the pic...
actually on tv u can see lotsa flashlights... in SWAT the movie they had tons of surefires... the bad guy was usin an inova x5t actually ....
in tombraider... there was a surefire e1 on her sleeve when she was diving... and hollywood used a inova 24/7 as some personal locater thingie... on channel 5 , CSI, alias , x-files ... all haf lots of surefires... in CSI i think they like to use the streamlight scorpion and the ASP tactlite...

the run times are paltry though... on the 120 lumen LA it has like 20 min runtime! on the 2 cell torches...60 mins at the 65 lumen LA...
the surefire M6 with 500 lumens runs for 20 mins with 6 batteries... expensive..... but then again the surefire m6 runs at like 30+ watts.... powerful....

 

[Wolfgang]

Am actually looking for a torch that runs on AA batts that is less than SGD$50 and have the brightness/size equal or close to a surefire... any ideas/suggestions?

:dunno:

 

[Andy Ho]

Hi Andy,

Got the EL-400 for $48 from Gee Hin Chan @ waterloo st, seems like they distribute CatEye products, found the shop from togoparts.com forums. According to the ppl there, Smart Polaris is actually cheaper and brighter, totally forgot about this when i was there. Maybe should have got the Smart Polaris instead.

next Tuesday ? hmm... see first, will let you know on Monday

Casey Tan

Thank you Casey, do let me know on Monday cos I need to arrange with my friends. Anyone else interested to join me on Tues?

Andy Ho

 

[Andy Ho]

Am actually looking for a torch that runs on AA batts that is less than SGD$50 and have the brightness/size equal or close to a surefire... any ideas/suggestions?

:dunno:

Sorry Wolfgang,

You can't have the best of both worlds. The problem is that AA alkaline just lacks the power to power the filament to it's limits. Here is a link from Surefire, please go through it regarding on why the use of CR123 lithium batteries. http://www.surefire.com/maxexp/main/co_disp/displ/pgrfnbr/430/sesent/00

Regards,
Andy Ho

 

[Andy Ho]

this sure looks nice to me! Too expensive...

Just curious, how long can a set of battery last in this kind of STRONG POWER torch light?

This is the G2Z Nitrolon. Unlike most Surefire flashlights which are made of hard anodized aluminium alloy, the body of the G2Z is made of Nitrolon plastic. Break proof and very tough. This torch is made to be waterproof (not resistant but proof). The front lens is made of extra strong, scratch resistant Pyrex (glass) lens instead of the cheaper Lexan (plastic) lens which scratches easily.

The standard issue is the P60 lamp that outputs 65 lumens power that runs up to 60mins (already very bright compared to most 2 cell flashlight) and optional 120 lumens P61 lamp that runs for 20 mins. And as the name suggests, it is the standard issue of the NRA.

Regards,
Andy Ho

 

[Andy Ho]

dat looks like a surefire G2Z inn the pic...
actually on tv u can see lotsa flashlights... in SWAT the movie they had tons of surefires... the bad guy was usin an inova x5t actually ....
in tombraider... there was a surefire e1 on her sleeve when she was diving... and hollywood used a inova 24/7 as some personal locater thingie... on channel 5 , CSI, alias , x-files ... all haf lots of surefires... in CSI i think they like to use the streamlight scorpion and the ASP tactlite...

the run times are paltry though... on the 120 lumen LA it has like 20 min runtime! on the 2 cell torches...60 mins at the 65 lumen LA...
the surefire M6 with 500 lumens runs for 20 mins with 6 batteries... expensive..... but then again the surefire m6 runs at like 30+ watts.... powerful....

Wow my friend,

You so chim man (deep) :bigeyes: You even take notice of all the torches used in the show ah :bigeyes: Made me so shameful as a torch player :embrass: :embrass:

Andy Ho

 

[Wolfgang]

Sorry Wolfgang,

You can't have the best of both worlds. The problem is that AA alkaline just lacks the power to power the filament to it's limits. Here is a link from Surefire, please go through it regarding on why the use of CR123 lithium batteries. http://www.surefire.com/maxexp/main/co_disp/displ/pgrfnbr/430/sesent/00

Regards,
Andy Ho

Aye... thanks for the enlightenment (pun intended)

Alright then, how much does CR123 batteries cost? And are there any flashlights that are equal/similar to the surefire torchlights within SGD$50?

 

[Andy Ho]

Aye... thanks for the enlightenment (pun intended)

Alright then, how much does CR123 batteries cost? And are there any flashlights that are equal/similar to the surefire torchlights within SGD$50?

You may be able to contact hammer_400 for the batteries or alternatively you can get them from Sheares Marketing at Beach Rd. A box of 6 for S$20. Works out to about S$3.30 each. Outside is selling about S$6.50 to S$9.00 each.

I could not think of any torch within this price range for that power but if you can wait another week, I may be able to sell you my Streamlight Scorpion for S$50. Perfect condition guaranteed. Sheares is selling the Streamlight Scorpion for S$106. Reason is I am having a new Surefire M3 torch coming in and I have no need for this Scorpion after that. If you want I can test it for you to see. You are not obliged to get it from me. Was thinking of giving it to my girlfriend actually.

Andy Ho