Hey guys and girls.
Noone else has been able to recommend something suitable…
Im looking for a new light… belt/side door carry for use when exiting vehicle.
No longer than a 2d cell maglite.
Run off 18650 or similar thin batteries
Extremely grippy handle.
50 to 60mm head preferred.
Smooth head. No raised lumps etc.
Smooth bezel.
Prefer solid steel construction 250g or so in weight.
No glass. Lense must be shatter proof.
Nothing that could cut.
Reinforced inside so you could drive a nail in or hit a baseball pitch with it and not have the light flicker…
Single mode instant on tail clicky with large button.
16 to 20hz strobe. With ocilating Pattern.
No high.
No low.
No sos.
Strobe only.
300+ otf lumen. More is better.
Semi focused beam. Will be used at ranges of 10m or less.
Run time does not need to be over 5min. Standby time needs to be as long as possible. Will be stored in a vehicle so exposure to high temps.
Would like to keep it under 200 bucks but dont really care at this point.
Have someone custom make the light for you, or settle for less. The drive a nail sturdy part I think eliminates any stock body. Long standby suggests other than a rechargeable battery.
What is this, purely a defensive weapon? Drive a nail? Strobe only? There is no such thing! But, you can easily make one. Just get a suitable driver (lots to choose from, depending on your choice of LED’s). Have the driver programmed for strobe only. Put it all in a short piece of black plumbing pipe for the strength you’re looking for. Make sure both ends are threaded. Use a threaded pipe cap on one end and a reducer for the lighting end, to bell it out so it can take a reflector. You may have to get some machining done to get it exactly right. I would recommend you make an alternate electrical path for the Battery minus, instead of using the pipe, since it is a poor conductor. If you want to get fancy, there are some youtube videos that show you how to do your own copper electroplating. Have the pipe machined smooth inside and out, then electroplate it with copper to give it better conductivity and a pretty finish that can be polished to a shine. You can leave the tail cap unfinished, and use it to drive your nails.
In order to keep from rambling here, I’ll stop and give you a chance to ask for more details if you want them. Besides, there are better modders here than me that can help you.
Defensive non “weapon” as per dumb laws over here where 3x d cell size lights are being classed as weapons in court cases.
So I definitely cant use pipe… and custom made could also raise issues.
Thinking about your usage, the Solarforce gladiator comes to my mind. But it does not meet many of your requirements, even if you add smooth stainless bezel on it.
Or if you want stainless for weight, you could buy the stainless L2T, and add extension tube(s) to get the length you want, but that wont look pretty unless they make stainless extension tubes too. But all those have some texture.
I think P60 format might be easiest for stuff like this. It should not be too hard to find someone to program that 1-mode strobe into P60 drop-in, and if you can not find/lego suitable combination out of the Solarforce/Surefire/Whatever parts, you could pay someone with suitable tools to make the “flashlight” body out of some pipe.
Or, if you find some flashlight that has body to meet your requirements, you could then mod/get it modded to have the mode you want.
Some extra thoughts:
Maybe aluminum lights would be ok too? Sure, they deform when you hit hard objects, but do you plan to use it to beat such things multiple times and still keep using it as a flashlight after that?
If the looks of the light wont matter, you could just grind out the unwanted “lumps”/texture out of any light.
To prevent shattering, you could just replace the stock lens with piece of plastic (or plastic optic). That results to some lumen loss tho.
Weight can be added by placing steel dummies inside the light.
What temps? How important is this?
You will need a custom driver. This dictates your battery options. Most custom drivers are linear drivers, battery voltage must be high enough to run the led, some extra voltage can be burned off.
I would start by looking at battery chemistries / arrangements that give suitable voltage and see if they can do the temps you want. Then look at flashlight hosts which fit the batteries.
Be aware you will likely need to compromise on some of the things you want. Most lights are aluminum for one.
Yeah. No bezels that are likely to break skin, cant be big enough to be defined as a weapon. But want it as effective as possible given the restrictions the local police have recommended.
As it will be left in the car… vehicles get very hot in the summer sun.
Im currently looking at a 18650 bored overready elzetta bravo with 900 lumen kit and hi/ strobe… hopefully with high removed.
However the head does not have as much weight or size in it as I would like. And I think I should be running primaries.
Hah. No I think its weird to. My understanding is that anything bigger than a 2d mag or agressive bezel they will go you for assault with deadly weapon over here even if you are defending yourself from an attacker with a gun or knife. Stupid laws i know.
If its under that size tho then its not a weapon. And it was only an accident that they ran into your light when attacking you rather you being armed.
