Too bright light

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Too bright light

Postby Scott McCrea » Nov 30, 2006 10:00 pm

Wow, this might be the brightest hand held flashlight ever. A regular Maglite measures about 50 lumens (how bright it is), this light comes in at 4000 lumens! It will literally start fires--almost instantly. Watch the video! They had to replace the plastic reflector with a metal one. They also had to beef up the switch. LINK
:flamed: :campfire: :frymyhide:
Last edited by Scott McCrea on Nov 30, 2006 10:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby Nico » Nov 30, 2006 10:15 pm

:shock: :kewl:
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Postby speloman » Nov 30, 2006 10:27 pm

Thats way cool. I am sure it goes thru batteries fast. The advantages I can see besides the brightness it could keep you warm in a emergency situation. Just don't get it to close to your clothes. :flamed:
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Postby tangled_slinky » Nov 30, 2006 11:36 pm

ha, good use of the 'set on fire' smiley, speloman. :banana:

such a light, oh, but the batteries. more than a pound for two sets of backups. i'll stick with my maglite.
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Postby SofaKingCool » Dec 1, 2006 8:34 am

Extreme-geek. Scott, is that your site?
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Postby Scott McCrea » Dec 1, 2006 8:45 am

SofaKingCool wrote:Extreme-geek. Scott, is that your site?

No way. I'm way too extreme for a site like that. :laughing:
Last edited by Scott McCrea on Dec 1, 2006 9:01 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby JoeyS » Dec 1, 2006 8:51 am

Cool video and cool light. We are in the age of LED's, but for those folks who are extremely addicted to flashlights and seek more punch... Meet the HID (high intensity discharge) lights:

1500 lumens and somewhat compact:
http://www.batteryjunction.com/24whidposupo.html

3200 lumens but bigger (8 lbs.):
http://www.amondotech.com/index.asp?Pag ... rodID=1129

HID tecnology is the same thing that powers street lighting... For example a regular 150 watt incandescent bulb screwed into a typical light socket might give you 1500 lumens whereas a 150 watt high pressure sodium (HPS) HID bulb paired with the ballast and starter will put out 15 thousand lumens (a typical security/barn light). Now, I just made up those numbers but the difference is astonishing. This is why the above flashlights are so dang bright.

These lights are typically too big most caving, however it would be worth taking to a place like Tumbling Rock Cave's massive Topless Dome. I am going to Lost Creek Cave (here in TN) tomorrow. I'd love to have one of these to check out the big rooms.
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Postby chh » Dec 1, 2006 9:14 am

[quote="JoeyS"]
1500 lumens and somewhat compact:
http://www.batteryjunction.com/24whidposupo.html

Ooooh, and it's even on SALE for $350 bucks :shock:

Didn't know that about street lighting and such. That's :kewl:
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Postby JoeyS » Dec 1, 2006 9:23 am

chh wrote:Ooooh, and it's even on SALE for $350 bucks :shock:



Yes, pretty expensive, however if you are a Candlepower forums member, it can be bought for less than 300. The Amondotec light (second link) is only 140.00... I've been thinking about getting one.
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Postby Ralph E. Powers » Dec 1, 2006 11:33 am

Those type of lights IMO are good for photography, especially in large rooms and borehole passages and wide deep pits. They can be I guess good for SAR efforts in caves (and night-time above-ground searches). Otherwise it's too much light for the average caving. But yeah it's cool. Several times I've thought of buying one of those 10-15 million candlepower spot-lights for specific photography trips, but the weight added on to the pack plus the proximity of the cave multiplied by the amount of time one can use the light to do the photography.... well didn't = the expense... but then I'm a poor-man's caver. :grin:
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Re: Too bright light

Postby Randyrn » Dec 1, 2006 6:10 pm

Scott McCrea wrote: It will literally start fires--almost instantly.LINK
:flamed: :campfire: :frymyhide:


Sooooooo, if ya didn't want to get wet in the cave, I guess you could just spontaneously evaporate the water. :woohoo: And why needlessly waste energy hacking away at cave monsters with an ice axe when you can make them burst into flames with a simple press of a button!! SWEET! :banana: As Jeff Foxworthy says, "Hey ya'll, watch this!" Redneck pyrotechnics...that's where it's at! :rofl:
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Postby Realms » Dec 1, 2006 7:23 pm

hear ya go. Check this out.
http://www.sportsimportsltd.com/21wahidalwef.html

HID flashlight. Thats a direction i'm considering for a special helmet light.
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Postby JoeyS » Dec 1, 2006 10:45 pm

Realms wrote:hear ya go. Check this out.
http://www.sportsimportsltd.com/21wahidalwef.html

HID flashlight. Thats a direction i'm considering for a special helmet light.


I knew you would chime in this thread, Realms.. :waving:
Do you actually posess this light or are you just going to 'go-nasa' and build a remotely ballasted and batteried home version of an HID? That would be sweet... Most of these lights are high priced and not really intended for an abusive cave environment, which is why I haven't pulled the trigger on buying one yet...
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Postby Realms » Dec 2, 2006 12:10 am

I've been developing one over the last few months. Hope to have the prototype ready soon. As many know, cave diving has had the luxury of HID for some time now. HID for dry caving had some issues to work through (many have already been addressed and overcome) HID for dry caving will function in the capacity of a temporary high beam for distance spotting, cave photography, and cave video. Many spotlight conversions exists to convert the mighty Thors' into 50watt HID's. Yes they are very very awesome. Shrinking this technology into something that you can wear has taken some time. Shock and heat were two of the biggest hurdles as well sourcing certain components. From the way it is looking, don't plan to power a HID from anything helmet mounted in the near future unless you plan on wearing a halo ;-)
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Postby caverdoc » Dec 2, 2006 9:52 am

Wow, nice video link Scott.
I can just imagine that thing coming on accidentally in a cave pack. Especially one with carbide and water bottles in it! (some of us still use that primitive system)
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