Bwoopff…! That price, and those 5mm LEDs…
Jesus!! The prices on those Foxfury… everythings.
Talk about getting raped…
If I was a firefighter I would slap an Armytek on my helmet and call it a day.
The problem with a BFL firefither light is what are you using it for? Scene light? helmet? coat? back up? search? outside safety? command? There are so many possible use cases that you would have to make a dozen different lights and you still would not cover all possible uses.
As to the lithium batteries in the heat… It destroys everything, but a lithium cell is still far better than anything else we could use. Our old hand lights used lead acid batteries from a UPS like you use for a computer back up. They were heavy, weak and didnt last that long. Lithium is far lighter for the amount of power and output.
I have had everything from headlamps to cheap 800lumen lights and the best I have used is the Streamlight vantage led. Its about 100 bucks and the size is perfect. The switch on the back is very easy to use and the batteries seem to last for a long time. In my experience if the light is too bright it will white everything out in a fire and all you will see is smoke, like turning on your high beams in the fog.
I have a light on my coat (energizer hardcase, cheap and perfect for patient care at MVAs while not being bulky), coat pocket (surefire bored to 18650 w 500lm drop in), Olight m2r in my bunker pants and a Klarus Mi7 on my duty pants. I have a light on every piece of clothing or turnout gear because I may wear one or all of them depending on the weather and the call. I also carry a Klarus xt12gt in my bug out bag (where I keep misc tools, spare gloves, hood, trim removal tool, wrenches and extra 123a primaries) and a convoy L6 in the cab for lighting up anything and everything at night.
We have streamlight vulcans on the trucks, they work well and are reliable but don’t have to wow effect I desire. I love the streamlight portable scene light, but it too expensive for a impulse buy and not practical.
The light I would like to see is something like the streamlight vantage with an updated emitter and multistage brightness. The switch on the back can move 1 click left or right to turn on. I would love to see it go to a 2nd click and give you 250 or 500 lumens for a short period of time.
I am seeing good review about these two flashlights. Streamlight 69140 Vantage LED Tactical Helmet Mounted Flashlight and Streamlight 90503 Survivor LED Flashlight. You can take a look if those can fill your criteria. But, for the firefighter you can also try fenix hl60r headlamp Fenix hl60r review 2023: Rechargeable Headlamp. I guess this will match with your work perfectly.
I could be talking out of my ’arse as a layman— but 2 criteria I can imagine
1- The comment about ArmyTek rings true for me— not because of the brand—
but because the ArmyTek light I have is POTTED. Dunno how potting affects
heat transfer, but I would imagine it would help greatly to add durability by
keeping components in place during drops and such.
2- I remember Forum discussions with Law Enforcement personnel about the evolution
of duty lights— and one criteria was that the beam be moderately wide— so that
when entering an enclosed area— the officer could obtain a good visual survey without
the need to sweep the light across the room.
Food for thought
Hmmm… I could be way off here, but would a warmer color temperature, say 3000K, help a firefighter see through the smoke better? And would a higher CRI be helpful?
At my work they are using Nitecore EF1, which is ATEX and EX, extremely sturdy, the wall of the tube is 3 mm thick alu. and lens is 10 mm thick epoxy.
Most of my guys would use a light for interior firefighting. Scene lighting is supplied and adequate in most departments. Command doesn’t really need a light unless it’s a fast attack. Medical can be addressed with a $5.00 penlight. Safety does need a light but a whole different type and a BLF Q8 actually fits nicely :D. The light selection for actual firefighting is limited and often very expensive.
Agreed
This is why I suggest a brighter more penetrating beam.
It seems you may be a bit of a light buff (as I’ve become) but most of the guys don’t know much about lights. Most firefighters still rely on supplied lights or lights from local hardware stores. That’s why I was hoping for something effective and priced within reason. I am not AWARE of something that fits the bill like it could/should.
I don’t know about the beam on these but maybe these would be a good starting point. In my opinion a helmet mount is a need because it’s hands free. Being able to remove it for hand held use is a plus and a decent narrow beam would be helpful in smoke because that is where it is most critical. I like your idea about a simple switch with a couple settings. I know a narrow beam could work with a little more intensity/power.
I’ve been a career firefighter for 33 years and have seen many changes including technology in lights. It would be great if a little bit of that technology could focus (Pun intended) on a decent light for firefighters. Most of us are still forced to buy our own personal lights because the mainstream suppliers can still milk the municipalities with out dated and very expensive lights.
As to whoever mentioned the police, their needs are very much different from ours.
I’m not here to argue with anyone. I just thought I’d throw out a suggestion to those who have such depth of knowledge on this topic. Maybe a mount for an existing light or an upgrade/tweak to a mountable light or maybe there is one that exactly suits that I don’t know about. One thing I’m sure about is there are those here who have skills and perhaps interest in problems related to lights and, it seems, a desire to tinker with ideas.
Cheers.
Questor, did you see this one?
I think it might be perfect for you
http://flashlight.nitecore.com/ILLUMINATION/EF/EF1/
(Quite expensive though)
Very nice, but wow on the price.
It would still need to be mounted plus batteries plus charger.
It is nice but probably overkill in a number of ways.
Thanks for pointing it out though.
Ummm, DV-S9 or similar? (See above.)
I was searching the forum for a some firefighter light recommendations. The information about firefighter needs in this threat are good.
Can anyone chime in about newer lights that would fit the bill?
In need of several lights:
- A helmet light to penetrate smoke/fog for fires, I’m assuming tint and reflector will be an important factor.
- Another helmet light for motor vehicle accidents (MVA) to illuminate the immediate working space in front of me. This involves cutting and sheering metal and glass. Extricating victims, so being able to see blood is important. Scene lighting is often inadequate. Think of a rollover situation or working against a guardrail where scene lighting can’t get to. This light needs to have good runtime at medium to high output for the duration of the call/extrication and in case there’s another call immediately after.
- A right angle jacket/turnout coat light for fires and extra scene lighting.
*All of these lights should have a button that can be used with thick gloves.
*Weight is also a factor, especially on the helmet lights.
4) Water search and rescue light. Typically this involves being on high speed water craft, being close to and searching the water surface, up close and at a distance. The lights provided by the department are horrible. The beam bounces off the water, creating a V shaped beam, which makes it very difficult to see and search the water surface. You’re practically blinded by two beams. It also causes to illuminates the shoreline if close enough, this again bounces back the light. But more importantly, the darker the shoreline the easier to see on the water.
5) A thrower without much spill to illuminate the shoreline or farther distance.
*these light MUST have long runtime at sustained high output.
*they can be handheld.
Any suggestions or recommendations welcome
Streamlight 90503 Survivor LED is what our dept issues us. I still carry a convoy s2+ in my pocket.
Like it was said before, the light has to be approved, you can not just bring what you want, My friend works for transit rail company, they are only allowed to use agency approved gear, he once brought to work a light that i build, since it had green\red leds, which he needs to direct train traffic, before the day was over, he was called in to his supervisor, was told that 2 train operators complained, his light was blinding them, he was told to only use approved gear, they take it very seriously, lights that approved in his dept are lame plastic pelicans and bright stars.
The Survivor is good. But I don’t want to use their helmet light. It’s too overpriced for what it is. Plenty good lights with similar functionality at more affordable prices available.
Yes, the s2+ is trusty, but with integrated charging so prevalent I wouldn’t mind upgrading. Plus with the new emitters that are available now I’d love to have some more/new options.
This sounds like a government or union joint. We’re an all volunteer outfit. Almost everyone has their own lights, mostly store brought stuff, and other tools to get the job done.
What beam color penetrates smoke or fog and still has enough light to see the surroundings?
@Tender. As you spell out above, you need five different lights. The one advantage to the clunky streamlight stuff is that it’s not so bright that it’s blinding the firefighters or EMS around you when you turn in their direction. As soon as you start throwing more than 100 lumens out in front that becomes a problem. So if it’s going to have more than 100 lumens you have to be able to turn it on and off or adjust it quickly and easily if it is helmet or chest or pocket mounted. That is the biggest obstacle as I see it. Some version of an S2+ probably is the best option for a pocket carry. Many different LED and driver and UI options. I would pick something at 4000k or less. It might actually be a good choice for one of the two different helmet lights you need also. Again there are so many LED and reflector and floody versus throwing options. A very floody 50,100,200 lumen small, easy to operate, rechargeable, high CRI 3000k, second helmet light is also required but what that would be?, I don’t know.
For fog/smoke, you want as warm-white a beam as you’re comfortable with. Cooler-white beams just scatter and reflect back back at you.
For less spill, get a light with a big-ass TIR lens in front, like a Catapult Mini and/or IF22A. The Cat has a way tighter beam but isn’t as bright, whereas the IF22A has a wider beam but is brighter and has more reach.
Dunno about right-angle lights, but I’m sure people will chime in.
Helmet-light to see das blut, you’d want a “high-CRI emitter with high R9 value”. I’m sure others will chime in which lights have the appropriate emitter. People like the 519.
Not sure about the beam profile you’d want/need, though. Reflectors will have the usual hotspot + spill. TIR lenses will have a nice uniform hotspot, size determined by the emitter and lens. You could get a small tight beam like I mentioned with the Cat Mini, or a wider beam like the IF22A, to wider and quite useful at close range beams like from the E2L and other triples/quads. Finally, if you want a wide-angle blanket of even light, an aspheric lens is wonderful. (But get a fixed lens like a Pokelit and not a zoomie because a zoomie is about as watertight as a cardboard cereal-box.) Yet Another Possibility is to get a regular reflector light and slap on some diffusion film to smooooooth out the beam for wider angle close-in viewing. I got a Tacklife with a tight beam which really isn’t useful around the house, that with diffusion film applied to the inner-side of the front glass, makes it a much more useful light with a nice diffuse beam.