Need help finding a spotlight for my dad

Hey all, my Dad's birthday is coming up and he has been talking about an old spot light we had while I was growing up made by die hard. We had this light for atleast 20 years and it was always dependable. I think I lost it one day, so I want to surprise him with a bullet proof reliable affordable spotlight. The new light needs to be the same "Hanging" design, and not a vertical above the hand design.

Example here - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/High_power_torch.jpg/220px-High_power_torch.jpg

This looks like a possibility, http://www.dinodirect.com/sem-yoo-sy-9800g3-cree-searchlight-flashlight-led.html, but I have no idea what I'm getting off of these strange websites without actually seeing a review on the forums.

I also just found this interesting site... http://www.flashlightmuseum.com/ The light is not on there though.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks,

Taylor

The perfect light to get would be the same one that I lost. But it seems to be completely gone. Like I said it was made by Die Hard, grey colored, thick plastic. Made in the 80's I would guess. About the size of a football. I will keep looking for a picture of it on the internet. If I actually found one that would be amazing, but I fear impossible.

Titanium Innovations L35? (might be a bit overkill in terms of price though.)

That looks awesome!!! But yea your right, that's atleast 3 times what I'm willing to spend...

Any options are welcome though, If I find out I might have to spend a little more than I thought I would then so be it...

How about Sanmak SM5200.
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/507030/211048379-464919774/12V-55W-HID-Spotlight-Xenon-Search-light-SM5200-.html

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_20-Million-Candle-Power-Spotlight-Autocraft_10090105-P_N3158_A|GRP2044_____

can be had for ~$35 plus tax w/ the right discount code (see slickdeals.net coupon thread for seller)

the good stuff: 7ah sla inside, usb and 12v accessory plugs, 12 led (5mm) area lights, strap, dc/ac chargers and most importantly it is by FAR the most throw for the money (of any light I've seen or heard of)

the bad stuff: its huge, the low beam sucks

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Bargain-Cave/Camping/Lights-Accessories%7C/pc/105591780/c/105770880/sc/105773580/Cabelas-Rechargeable-Spotlights/746290.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fbargain-cave-camping-lights-accessories%2F_%2FN-1102813%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_105773580%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253Bcat105591780%253Bcat105770880

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Bargain-Cave/Camping/Lights-Accessories%7C/pc/105591780/c/105770880/sc/105773580/Thor-25-Million-Candlepower-Spotlight/746566.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fbargain-cave-camping-lights-accessories%2F_%2FN-1102813%2FNs-MIN_SALE_PRICE%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253Bcat105591780%253Bcat105770880%26WTz_stype%3DGNU

I have seen that SM5200 before, it looks more like something that would be appropriate. But the website looks really fishy, and the shipping is too much... The cabella's lights look too big.



I think I found one of the predecessors to the light my dad had.

http://www.flashlightmuseum.com/Sears-Flashlight-993185-Rechargeable-Diehard-2VDC-1970

The one we had was darker than that, and seemed to be a lot more durable than this. If you notice in the comments, someone named Ed seems to be describing the same light we had. It had a GE headlight for a bulb!

the second one - thor 2.5 isn't all that big

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hWhLWnfYNA

Yea your right, that would be a nice one, but only a 20 minute burn time? That's terrible!

Edit - After reading the reviews, apparently you have to charge it for 20 hours!?!? 20 hours of charging for 15-20 minutes of run time. If that light had a better battery I would buy it right now... But that charge/duty cycle is crazy.

yeah, pretty much every incan spotlight w/o lithium batteries has terrible run time.

if you don't take care of the sla battery you won't even get 20

due to the throw (and little flood), they're basically search lights though...not something most people run for a long time.

That's good to know, I would say li-ion is a must then. Out with the old and in the new right?

absolutely

unfortunately the lights that come w/ lithium batteries are expensive

I wonder if a suitably sized 7.2V RC lipo pack might work well in that light - maybe too much voltage?

remember w/ the AH rating of slas you really only get to use 20-50% of the rating (depending on how long you want the battery to last) and that w/ a lipo pack you generally get pretty close to all of the rating...

Where would I find these li-ion spotlights?

not sure, but I don't think you will for less than 100.

Too be honest, I bet if you bought him a TK41, he would be pretty darn happy. And it uses AA batteries so you wouldn't have to prep him on Li-on's. Probably puts out more light than the old spotlight did, easier to carry , and I bet he would brag about it.

or spend half as much on the cyclone

but i know what dad's are like...and if he's got his mind set on an incan spotlight, you might as well make him happy

I've had a couple of the "10 million candlepower" spotlights, they seem to be pretty awesome at first but you need to regularly charge them, because if they drain completely a couple times, they don't want to come back to life.

I'm surprised no one has said that a 20 year old light is murdered by any 12$ AA Q5 flashlight ...It's 4 times brighter. runtime is twice as long and 85 grams instead of 3 pounds.

I think the cyclone is a great idea if you want throw like a spot light and if you like old incan then get the neutral . it's a light every single person who owns it ... loves it ..hard to get a better recommedation .

https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/7286 3 AA

the lights like you're talking about had an expensive clunky heavy battery with no power .. certainly not enough to run a seriously high power light for any length of time .

Okay, so you want a spotlight which come with li-ion with reasonable charging and runtime, and the famous Ebay HID comes up in my mind. It’s not “spotlight” though, but I think at least you don’t spend too much and can get a very bright “flashlight”.
Just for exmaple,
http://www.ebay.com/itm/65W-55W-45W-6000lm-HID-Xenon-Flashlight-Torch-Silver-/160700086638?pt=US_Flashlights&hash=item256a78b96e