My new torch

[DoubleSix]

Cant answer your battery question but the TK35 is a great compact thrower.

However, for ridiculously tight beam with long throw you might want to look at an aspherical lens, I have one of these, it's like a lightsaber!!:

http://www.dereelight.com/nightmaster.htm

But the beam is so tight you wont be able to see your feet so a thrower not really what you want for walking a dog...

[markmullen]

Any experience of the Olight SR96, or Nitecore TM range?

I'm involved in setting up a river rescue boat which will be patrolling at night, which in man maths is a good excuse to buy something ridiculously bright.

[audi321]

DoubleSix said:

Cant answer your battery question but the TK35 is a great compact thrower.

However, for ridiculously tight beam with long throw you might want to look at an aspherical lens, I have one of these, it's like a lightsaber!!:

http://www.dereelight.com/nightmaster.htm

But the beam is so tight you wont be able to see your feet so a thrower not really what you want for walking a dog...

Yep, I've recommended this torch a few times on this thread. I've tried A LOT of torches and wasted a fair bit of money over the years, but this torch is by far the best I have ever had for throwing a beam. It's not too bad close up either as the lens focuses out and on a dimmer setting it can be useful for all sorts of applications.

[FiF]

DoubleSix said:

Cant answer your battery question but the TK35 is a great compact thrower.

However, for ridiculously tight beam with long throw you might want to look at an aspherical lens, I have one of these, it's like a lightsaber!!:

http://www.dereelight.com/nightmaster.htm

But the beam is so tight you wont be able to see your feet so a thrower not really what you want for walking a dog...

The thrower is an additional light.

One or two of us walking, both will have headlamps, nothing fancy running off 3 x AAA. Plus a small bright hand lamp with a decent flood.

Looking for a thrower on top of that which can just stay clipped to belt. Or replace the hand lamp but with more throw.

[giblet]

Any suggestions for something powered by AA's and under £30? Already own a Fenix L2D and one of the cheapo zoom single AA Q5 ones

[Magic919]

My TK35 runs off a pair of Cytac 3.7v 2400mAh cells. Am I going to burn in hell?

[tenohfive]

markmullen said:

Any experience of the Olight SR96, or Nitecore TM range?

I'm involved in setting up a river rescue boat which will be patrolling at night, which in man maths is a good excuse to buy something ridiculously bright.

Something well worth keeping in mind for boat use is that you often get mist coming off the water, which on catching the beam will cause dazzle. My preference is the reduce the area of that dazzle - so go for a thrower that'll cut through it to a degree (torch position does help this - off to one side and lower than the traditional shoulder height helps.) For searching at night it's much better in my experience to have your eyes following the beam and actively looking at the spot being searched, the reduced contrast of having either dark or light areas means that your eyes just don't pick out colours and patterns that would easily stand out as being unnatural at night, so you have to actively look. I say that based on what works best for me after a few years of looking for people at night in a mixture of environments.

Work provide the Olight - it's a very chunky bit of kit, and whilst very bright it's a bit more general purpose than I would normally go for - it's got a solid mix of flood and throw. The weight shouldn't put you off, but for your requirements I'd run with a good, strong, focused thrower - if you can stretch to the Deerelight mentioned above that's where I'd be looking - and a seperate, cheaper floody beamed light for areas of open water. For riverbanks etc I think you're better off with something very focused and throwy.

[defblade]

FiF said:

JUst thinking of a Fenix TK35, need a thrower torch.

However put off by the comments on the spec sheet re caution using 18650 3.7v

It says OK with the 3.2V 18650 LiFePO4 batteries. But difficulty finding these.

Owners of the TK35 is this a problem in reality? What do you use?

Any other suggestions for a similar(ish) budget torch with a decent throw?

Have head lamps and small cheap pocket flood lamp. Would like a thrower to light up the other side of the river meadows when walking dog at night, especially when he stiffens and looks at something, but I can't see anything. V Spooky especially as it's pie person alley at times.

All suggestions appreciated.

Best cheap thrower I've found. It's a bit bigger than your average 1x18650 in the head, but that's needed to house the deep reflector that gives it the throw.

Or one of the zooming 2x18650s will do every job. Like this or this. I bought the Trustfure, the second one there (tho not with the battery set) a year or three ago and it's been the family's #1 grab-for-everything torch ever since (and there's a LOT of choice ). Just slide with your finger for big smooth flood down to thrown sharp image of the LED and back in a second.

[giblet]

What are the supplied batteries and charger like with that Trustfire? Doesn't fit my AA requirements but I'm still tempted.

[defblade]

giblet said:

What are the supplied batteries and charger like with that Trustfire? Doesn't fit my AA requirements but I'm still tempted.

Doesn't say they're protected, so they're probably not. Charger not likely to be the best thing ever, either. I'd thoroughly recommend getting set up with 18650s, but only buy protected cells and get a decent charger with reviews from people who've bothered to check the charging currents applied and that they go into trickle properly. Once you've got a few 18650s, you'll wonder why you ever bothered with anything else; the voltage gives better output in all torches that will takes them and they last ages between charges.

[DoubleSix]

Agreed.

Nitecore i4 charger is a great bit of kit.

[anonymous-user]

I've been out and about in the pitch black a bit recently (in the fields/woods feeding pheasants etc) and whilst my little LED Lenser L7 has been brilliant, it was a pain having to hold it when carrying feed bags, opening feeders, climbing fences etc so I decided hands free was the way forward.

Bought a Black Diamond 'Storm' head torch for about £35.

I honestly can't recommend it enough. It's fantastic for the money.

Loads of settings and brightness options, IPX7 waterproof, lightweight, on/off lock, extremely bright and long beam reach (70 metres) and a hefty 200 hours use on full power from 3 x AAA batteries.

Highly recommended head torch.

[LordHaveMurci]

I have a LED Lenser P7 (original) & would like something slightly larger, maybe a bit more light would be good too (can never have too much after all!), any suggestions? Is the P14.2 a good buy?

Will mainly be used for night time dog walking in dark fields.

[giblet]

defblade said:

Doesn't say they're protected, so they're probably not. Charger not likely to be the best thing ever, either. I'd thoroughly recommend getting set up with 18650s, but only buy protected cells and get a decent charger with reviews from people who've bothered to check the charging currents applied and that they go into trickle properly. Once you've got a few 18650s, you'll wonder why you ever bothered with anything else; the voltage gives better output in all torches that will takes them and they last ages between charges.

DoubleSix said:

Agreed.

Nitecore i4 charger is a great bit of kit.

Cheers. The Nitecore i4 looks like an ideal replacement for my old cheapo AA/AAA charger. Any suggestions on what 18650s to go for?

[DoubleSix]

I just use the Nitecore 3100ah 18650s

Not the cheapest, but I don't want cheap batteries in the house!

[AllTorque]

Just ordered this badboy:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321379193276?_trksid=p20...



Not sure why I'm quite as excited as I am!!

[BertB]

giblet said:

Cheers. The Nitecore i4 looks like an ideal replacement for my old cheapo AA/AAA charger. Any suggestions on what 18650s to go for?

I have the i2 charger seems to work great for what I need.

The batteries I use are (copied from the old ebay ad)

PANASONIC NCR18650A LiIon 3100mAh 3.7V RECHARGEABLE PROTECTED BATTERIES
similar: http://r.ebay.com/wd2rJb


These are used in 2 of the "1800Lm CREE XM-L T6" ebay specials from china ~ £7

[giblet]

DoubleSix said:

I just use the Nitecore 3100ah 18650s

Not the cheapest, but I don't want cheap batteries in the house!

Cheers

BertB said:

I have the i2 charger seems to work great for what I need.

The batteries I use are (copied from the old ebay ad)

PANASONIC NCR18650A LiIon 3100mAh 3.7V RECHARGEABLE PROTECTED BATTERIES
similar: http://r.ebay.com/wd2rJb


These are used in 2 of the "1800Lm CREE XM-L T6" ebay specials from china ~ £7

Cheers, I'll have a look at the i2 as well.

AllTorque said:

Just ordered this badboy:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321379193276?_trksid=p20...



Not sure why I'm quite as excited as I am!!

Dammit I want that one now!

[silverthorn2151]

DoubleSix said:

Agreed.

Nitecore i4 charger is a great bit of kit.

Amazon have them and it looks like just what I need. I want a charger and 4 (for the moment) decent 18650's

Will I get a better deal through Battery Boy or somewhere more specialist than Amazon?

To be honest, so many specialists I get distracted looking at the websites and then my head starts spinning.

[DoubleSix]

silverthorn2151 said:

DoubleSix said:

Agreed.

Nitecore i4 charger is a great bit of kit.

Amazon have them and it looks like just what I need. I want a charger and 4 (for the moment) decent 18650's

Will I get a better deal through Battery Boy or somewhere more specialist than Amazon?

To be honest, so many specialists I get distracted looking at the websites and then my head starts spinning.

Get nearly all my stuff from FenixTorch

http://www.fenixtorch.co.uk/Shop/Batteries-AND-Cha...

May well get it cheaper by shopping around but I'm lazy and just go with a site that makes life easy…