Flashlight for Farm

Hi Folks,

Being new at flashlights, please allow me to stumble around and figure this out. We have a horse farm and 16 horses right now, on 26ac. Dealing with varments is a constant vigil: deer, coyote, coon, etc. I tried lasers, but don’t like the idea of possibly blinding a varmint or horse, so I quit on that idea. Nowadays when the horses get restless, I get up and drive the gator around (at 3am) and shoo off the trespasser with a flashlight, or trap and relocate. We have old d-cell eveready’s and they don’t shine far enough to bother the wildlife.

So I guess what I’m looking for is a “thrower” of maybe 2000 lumens or so. That way I could just step outside and blast them with light without having to drive or walk around. The longest distance from house to end of property is about 1500 feet. I have some binoculars, and might be able to tape a flashlight to them. I think I would like a light that uses an 18650 which can be charged without having to take out the battery. Flashlight will be used intermittently, so long life is not a big need. Obviously I don’t need a bunch of modes, and it would be advantageous for the light to always come on at high each time, since that is where it will be used. I don’t want to have to fiddle around trying to find turbo. Okay in the rain or OK dropped in a puddle would be nice too. It’s a farm and stuff gets used hard (smile). I don’t mind buying the flashlight and battery separately. For different reasons, a flashlight that has a high CRI rating would be useful too. I notice there’s a person selling a modded BLF mega million lux flashlight for around 600. Man would that ever do the job! It would be fun to have, but a bit beyond budget. Even if a light doesn’t drive off animals, it helps to know what I’m dealing with. I’ve got to go muck stalls now, and will check back in the evenings for any suggestions you may have. A thousand thank you’s for a very interesting place here. ———-> fourbyfive

Sounds to me like the BLF GT fits your description perfectly. 2000 lumens and more than enough throw to make it look like daylight at the furthest distance you have on your property.

Has a great user interface and runs on 18650 cells.

No built in charger though so that will have to be bought separately.

For the 600 (I assume that’s dollars) you mention you can get the light, a set of batteries and a charger.

Check out some vids on YouTube, and search the forum for reviews.

It’s definitely on my bucket list of lights I must have and you won’t be disappointed.

EDIT Sorry I only noticed now about the “beyond my budget” part, I’m in the same boat :smiley: . The BLF GT mini is the more budget friendly mini version. Still has decent throw and light output and much cheaper.

Nitecore has some lights in their MH line that should meet your requirements. The MH lights for the most part are 18650 lights but they have a built-in USB charging port. If you buy through the Nitecore Store (www.nitecorestore.com) you will have a local support if you would ever need a warranty service. Otherwise you wind up sending it back to China, which can be a pain as well as expensive.

Some decent budget throwers include:

  • Haikelite MT07S HI - 4x18650, ~1200m FL1 throw, neutral white recommended. Look for a coupon code - you should be able to get this for around $60.
  • Emisar D1S - 1x18650, 700m FL1 throw, 5D tint recommended. $35.
  • Astrolux C8 - 1x18650, 600m FL1 throw, whatever neutral option (3A?) they have recommended. Often on sale for $20, or find a coupon code.

These don’t built-in charging. If that’s really important, consider the Thrunite Catapult V6. It’s a lot like a D1S with a bigger battery (26650), full output on a low battery, and USB charging. Neutral white recommended. Try coupon “20%” at thrunite.com for this one.

For a high-CRI light, the Noctigon Meteor with Nichia 219C is a fun option. At a lower price and size point is the Emisar D4 with 219C, but be careful: it’s a hot-rod light that can be dangerous to use with a battery not up to the current requirements, and it can melt/ignite objects that get too close to the lens on higher output settings.

Not all wildlife cares much about being shined at…

Lumintop ODL20C (26650, built-in charging) or the much bigger Astrolux MF02 (4x18650, without built-in charging)

Like Luxjunkie said I think the BLF GT would be great for your use. It is pretty big but watch 1,290,000 CD Flashlight, Budget Light Forum Giga-Thrower! - YouTube

Might look at Utorch UT02 for $40 or under, and don’t discount looking at other 26650 lights if you are already at 3x or 4x 18650.

How about Sofirn Q8!? More throw than the BLF Q8, very bright.

I live in a rural area and use my lights in a similar fashion sometimes,
Many critters such as raccoons,skunk, and deer ignore being blasted by light. The one that cares is the grey fox. My guess is there are people in this area that have used spotlights to shoot at what is scaring the chickens. The skunks and raccoons are being educated one at a time. In that case, my C8 with the XP-L HI rather than the XM-L2 seems perfect for around $20. It puts a bit of spill with an intense spot right in the middle up to a range I can hit something with a .22 without a scope.
I do have a BLF Q8 and a Emisar D4s for times when I want to really light up the area, but they are overkill in most situations if you have less than 10 acres you are trying to light up or have neighbors.

The answer for your varmint problem is not a Flashlight.
What you need is a Donkey.
Best dang watch animal for the farm. My next door neighbor is Amish and raises Chickens, Turkeys, Cows, Horses and had big problems with Fox and Coyote using his movable chicken roost as a Buffet so he got the Donkey and no more problems.
That thing can see for a long way and can just sense when a predator comes on the land. Gets along with all the regular farm animals. The Bull doesn’t like him but tolerates him non the less.

HTH
Keith

Wow! Thank you all for so much useful information. Give me a few days to look over the options, then I’ll come back and let you know what I got. The subdivision here is restricted, so only horses, and no firearms discharge, which brings me to another idea:

I have a top flight German pellet rifle. I haven’t been using it because I don’t want lead in the horses’ diet. IF, I could find brass target pellets and a scope mounted light, that might be a good way to get visitors to move along without a ruckus. So I may be looking at getting a couple of flashlights, one for ID, one for deterrence. I’m guessing a scope mounted flashlight is a specialty item. Can I find one of those here at BLF?

I tip my fedora to the flashlight gurus, and thanks again.
———-> Bruce

Cattle farmers often have a stadium light aimed out away from the farm. They use it for calving and stuff, but perhaps this also creates as safety zone where the wild animals would avoid the livestock.

As a hang glider pilot and friend to turkey vultures, thank you for considering nonlead ammunition.

Given that the Cometa’s discontinued, I’d suggest a Jaxman Z1. Hella throw when fully zoomed, no spill to wash out what’s right in front of you and ruin your night-vision.

Conventional reflector? Convoy L2.

Both take 1 or 2 26650s, work fine with just 1. Or an 18650 and sleeve.

fourbyfive if the pellet rifle you have is of the PCP variety you can stick any flashlight on it. If however it is a spring piston powered rifle I would strongly advise that you look for a flashlight that has spring’s both in front and at the back of the battery.

This is due to the recoil of a springer( especially the higher powered ones) which could otherwise damage the flashlight or the battery.

Also make sure that the scope mount you get is rated to handle the recoil.

Mmm, I’d rather have a PSP, point-singularity projector. Fire little black-holes at your targets…

I know of hobby farmers from my area, south east, of Australia use Alpacas to herd eg keeping foxes away from the lambs.

I remember catching raccoons in the trash cans ...and thinking that a bunch of throwy light would make then run away . The husband relayed to his wife thdt they were busted and clearly they were more aggravated with the fact they had to go than feeling in any way scared .

I was acting as tough as I knew how to ..even making threats about shooting them with a gun I didn’t have . They in turn made sure to get a gps location and were making longer term vacation plans .

Pretty sure this is why I always save a small stash of bottle rockets and lady fingers from the 4th of July

a 20$ new version of the. Convoy c8 or blf gt mini. The u torch ut 02 has the usb and clicks all your boxes. But I just see the built in usb thought as being a way of avoiding the realities of li-ion . Kind of like the big peices of plastic you’re greated with when you pop most hoods on modern day cars .