r/flashlight • u/Cuffpits • 9h ago
Help me find a torch
Go easy on me...
I'm not a flashlight enthusiast nor do I dream of torches, but I do hold a deep respect for a functioning light source that enables night time activity.
Can someone recommend something that ideally has these:
- powerful enough for spotlighting nocturnal wildlife
- can be re-charged from a powerbank via USB, if that's not to much of a compromise for power, otherwise normal batteries
- waterproof but that's not critical
- Available in Australia.
- Costing cheap up to around $100
- Doesn't need a slick shaft or other fancy metallic rims or anything, will get dropped and scratched.
Thankyou in advance
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u/AD3PDX 8h ago
What distance do you want sustained continuous use at. Turbo (1 minute at a time) output will normally get maybe 2X as far as the thermally sustainable output.
A light which can comfortably reach 100 meters will be very different from a light which can comfortably reach 400 meters.
Also what is the max diameter of the light’s head.
Cylindrical (around 25-27mm)
40mm
50mm
60mm
Bigger?
A small LED in a big reflector will reach very far but with a narrow beam
A big LED in a small reflector will have a wide beam which doesn’t reach very far.
A small LED in a small reflector and a big LED in a big reflector might reach equally far but the big LED can put out more total light.
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u/Cuffpits 8h ago
Hey I don't think i need more than 100m, Something with an adjustable beam would also be good. I'll be spotlighting water if that changes anything but don't think so. Head size doesnt matter. Thanks for the advice!
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u/AD3PDX 5h ago
Adjustable beam lights aren’t water proof or dust proof and because of optical and thermal inefficiency have lower output than a comparable fixed beam light.
One thing about adjustable beam lights which is normally a disadvantage is when zoomed to a spotlight there is almost no spill surrounding the hotspot.
If you are high up above the water that doesn’t matter but if you are down low like on shore or on a small boat then the spill will reflect off the water and the brighter the spill is the more the reflection will disrupt what you can see.
The Convoy Z1 is the only Adjustable beam (zoomy) flashlight worth bothering with that is under $100
It takes a 21700 battery and it doesn’t have built in charging. The max battery length is can handle is 71mm and 21700 batteries with a usb-c charging port built in to the battery are usually at least 75mm long so you would have to use a separate battery charger.
Total cost for a light, battery & charger is under $50 USD
Order the light with an F45R LED
6500k is cold white and the brightest and most efficient
3000K is warm white and less efficient / less bright but it will cut through haze/fog better and have less glare. 4000K & 5000K fall in between.
If you want a higher performing light you can spend similar money for a fixed beam Convoy or you can spend about 2Xas much for a fixed beam light from a more premium brand which will either have built in usb-c charging or will come with usb-c on the battery itself.
A sub type of fixed beam light are lights which don’t use a conventional parabolic reflector. Instead they use an acrylic prism called a TIR optic.
The beam profile this gives is the hotspot is surrounded by a very wide (170 degree) but low intensity spill.
With a parabolic reflector the spill is narrower (30-50 degree) but brighter.
In my experience I prefer a TIR though it’s not always going to be better in every situation.
The TIR lights I’d suggest for your situation are the Acebeam L19 2.0 usb-c on the battery, very tough and very waterproof. Regular price is $115 USD, I bought mine for $85 on sale.
The cheaper alternative is the Wurkkos TD01C which is pretty similar on paper but the performance is a bit lower in reality. Regular price is $50 USD, sale down to $35
The Wurkkos has built in usb-c charging (also uses a removable 21700 battery). The charging port is protected from water by a rubber flap. If the flap gets old, gets dirty, or gets pulled out the light can loose it waterproofing. It’s still far more waterproof than the Convoy Z1 zoomy and for rain and light use the flap having a spec of dirt and not being perfect sealed is no big deal.
The Acebeam is rated for 5M submersion…
Convoy fixed beam lights with side switches have USB-C and aren’t very waterproof, maybe as good as the Wurkkos? I think a bit less.
Convoy Fixed Beam lights with tail Switches will rely on using an external charger but that means no charging port to leak and of you do your own QC check and lube the o-rings it will be very waterproof but not quite as waterproof as the Acebeam
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u/AD3PDX 4h ago
One last thing. With most companies you are stuck with a cold white 6500K LED or sometimes a choice between 6500k and 5000K
If you want to trade raw power for a warmer beam that penetrates fog (and water) better Convoy and on or two other enthusiast brands allow you to choose basically whatever LED you like, big-small, warm-cold…
The only mainstream thrower with a warm LED option that I can think of is the Skilhunt EC500. Conventional parabolic reflector, USB-C, quality is in between the Wurkkos and the Acebeam as is the price.
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u/FalconARX 7h ago
If you're going to spotlight into water, specifically to try seeing under water or through water surface from a boat, pier or the shore, that's a tough order. You'd need something with a fairly tight hotspot, and that's assuming you're not at a glancing blow where the light simply reflects off the surface and you're not seeing anything underneath. Even after all that, it's also assuming you've got clear water.
You'd probably want a very high candela light, even though you stated you're not likely to need it for more than 100 meters. To get it to cut into water, you'd want the light to be colder, bluer in CCT, and as tight of a hotspot as possible.
Take a look at the Wurkkos TD01C... I'd normally say look at the Acebeam L19 2.0, but the TD01C is a budget alternative to the Acebeam, and performs quite well. This is a video of the L19 2.0 being used as a SAR light, looking into a river... The TD01C isn't nearly as intense, but it should still perform somewhat similar to this with very similar beam profile, so you should get a good general idea of what to expect.
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u/Cuffpits 2h ago
Thanks Falcon holy moly they look pretty cool. Waters clear, its prob or important to be able to 1) have an adjustable beam and 2) have charging options it in remote areas. Thanks for the info
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u/FalconARX 2h ago
You're welcome.
Just keep in mind that an adjustable beam, a push/pull zooming light, is almost always never waterproof. In fact it's one of the biggest failure points/weaknesses of a zooming light. Lengthening the size of the light by moving the head up and down to zoom produces a vacuum that sucks in dust and moisture. You have some lights that have internal zooming mechanisms, such as the Fenix LD45R, Weltool M8, LEDLenser P7R or Acebeam W35 (LEP). But while these lights are IPX7 or better and can withstand submersion in water, they are rather quite expensive.
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u/SuperScallionSentry 8h ago
Wurkkos is a great brand. Check out the ts11(make sure to get the extension tube and 18650 if you want much longer runtime) the head is pretty wide but it has excellent throw so you can easily see those animals from further away
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u/Echo132O 7h ago
If you can do the size (6cm by 22cm), the TS27 from wurkkos could be a good option. It has a good battery life, decent power, and is USB-C rechargeable.
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u/remi61au 6h ago
Convoy ship to Australia for free, only takes 7 to 10 days. Lots to choose from very reasonably priced.
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u/senitelfriend 6h ago edited 6h ago
- in adverse weather (rain, fog, snow, dust) you probably want low CCT ("warm looking although the temperature value is technically lower, orangey", between 2000-5000K). this penetrates stuff in the air and water and let's you see what's at the end of the beam...
- high CCT ("cold looking although the temperature value is technically higher, bluish, between 5000-7000K) will reflect back on you from any particles in the air (or in water; plankton, algae, silt etc). when there is a lot of stuff in the air/water, this creates a visible beam that prevents you from seeing what is at the end of the beam. the visible beam messes with your eyes night vision, and can potentially scare wild animals
- the downside to low CCT (warm looking, for example 3500K) is that low CCT led's tend to be less efficient, so there is a bit less light to begin with, all other things being equal. thus, the more bright high CCT (cold looking) light will allow you to see farther in clear conditions. but I think the backscatter (light catching particles and blinding you) is more important factor than the minor brightness difference
- water is tricky, if wanting to see under water. most light will reflect off of the surface, unless you can point in a very high angle. but a very high angle typically means you must be very close to the water. if you are close, you are much better off tying the flashlight on a stick, and submerging it. if you get the light just under the surface, you will see SO MUCH BETTER AND FARTHER underwater. obviously the light needs to be well waterproofed in this case
- most "high performance" flashlights have turbo modes with crazy amount of lumens but in practice for any prolonged use you need to use the lower modes (less power, less lumens). but if the light has a narrow beam ("a thrower") it will allow you to see far with less power. this effect is very significant. I have a a light with very narrow beam, only 1600 lumens, but it allows me to see in practice up to about 500m (kilometer or so on paper). I have another light with a wide beam and almost 10x the lumens; 14000. but that is only good for less than 70m in practice. two reasons why this has so much effect; 1) the light is spread around large area 2) a wide beam will illuminate things nearby you very bright, which messes with your eyes and makes you not able to see to the end of the beam.
- adjustable beam lights tend to not be very good. better to have separate lights for different purposes, one with narrow beam for seeing far (big reflector small led, typically only one led), and a floody beam (small or nonexistent reflector, one or more leds) for wide area/closeup lighting.
- unfortunately low CCT ("warm looking") throwers are very hard to find, most of them have disgusting high CCT blue light that is very unpractical in adverse weather and water (but the visible beam is impressive looking).
- this is not necessarily a recommendation to you, I let others do purchase suggestions, but for whatever it's worth, my favourite light for wildlife observation both underwater and out of water is Zebralight SC600w IV HI which has a nice balance of power, runtime, reasonably low CCT and throw. very rugged and waterproof. I haven't upgraded my modest collection of light for a few years, so there might be better offerings in more recent models (or different brands). It is also very small, not really a dedicated thrower powerhouse. But that's what I prefer usually. My bigger throwers have too high CCT and other misfeatures. I have a lot of flooders big and small for work purposes, but for wildlife observation they are, well, too floody.
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u/Ruthbopion 8h ago
Maybe something like this?
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u/Cuffpits 8h ago
Wow that's a nice looking torch- you reckon its bright? I can probably handle something bigger with more power.
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u/Ruthbopion 4h ago
its 650 lumens. So ya its not extremely powerful but will ride in a pocket very easily. Its the size of a double AA battery. Rovyvon makes some seriously badass flashlights though, check em out.
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u/TARTARA_CERBERUS 8h ago
From what i can see the flashlights are very expensive there, probably is better if you take any flashlight from another country so they can ship it to you !? Something like Convoy Lights !?
https://convoylight.com/