Well looking for a good bright white light to trail deer after dusk. Saw these and they are small compact but pricey. They also have colored filters, red and blue. Blue is supposed to pick up blood well at night. Will that really help tracking the animal or would i be better off with one of the cabelas tek torches. Thanks

Go with the Surefire lights, they cost a bit more and are worth the extra $ - I own four Surefires, two of the G2 nitrolon compacts which go with me everywhere; one has the P61 ultra high output lamp for lighting up stuff way off and the other has the standard P60 lamp (which is still very bright) - the other two are 8NX rechargeable units with a charger mounted in the car and in the house. The light output is BRIGHT WHITE with all of these, not yellow or hazy as with other lights; also available are LED lamp heads for longer battery life and still bright output - buy the best lighting you can get, you will be pleased with Surefire (I kinda sound like a sales rep) - KMule

for hunting I would not recomend the G2 Nitrolon, because is has no tail lock out cap, it is a great flash light, but I feel it need something to prevent the darn thing from running dry, I like mine, but I own the elite for hunting and it works GREAT

I looked at the Surefire range myself but was put off by their high price and relatively limited battery life.

For general hunting use and particularly for following or looking for a lost deer I am considering one of those 20 LED torches from Cabelas.
http://a1460.g.akamai.net/f/1460/1339/6h/www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/content/Item/51/57/27/i515727sq02
or maybe :
http://a1460.g.akamai.net/f/1460/1339/6h/www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/content/Item/51/49/32/i514932sq02.
They seem to be well made at a reasonable price and being LED are more reliable than a conventional torch with a much better battery life. However, not having been able to play with one I am not sure just how bright they are...

Regards,

Pete

[ 10-22-2003, 11:34: Message edited by: Pete E ]

The surefire lights are some of the best lights made. I have an E2E, 2 nitrolons and an M-3 millenium. All have been outstanding in use.
The E2 is with me every day, the M-3 is in the truck and the nitrolons go hunting.
The issue with the tail cap can be eliminated with a small piece of heavy paper between the battery and tail cap. Just remove the paper before it gets dark.
The nitrolon is a nice addition to the Petzel myo-3 headlamp I use.
I have red & blue filters but have not used the blue one to any degree.

I can't say enough good things about SureFires.

I carry an E1 daily and have bought a second and third for my wife & daughter. I also have the G2Z and it's a very good light. I am getting the E2 Outdoorsman to go on my night-varmint rig with a red filter as soon as I can squeeze the budget.

When walking around at night, like to / from a stand, the E1 is perfect to see the trail. The G2Z is SO bright, you cannot even shine it on the ground if your eyes are night adjusted. The G2Z is MUCH brighter than my 3-D Maglight, and about a tenth of the weight/bulk.

Batteries are $15 a dozen at Lightfighters and my guess is that they are more economical than D's or C's in a Maglight, not even considering the extra visibility.

I agree the price can put you off, but only until you handle and use one. Search the internet for much better pricing than Cabelas or the SureFire site. Lightfighter.Com is one of many sites that knock 20 or 30% off MSRP. When I think of all the times I crawled around and squinted over a sparse blood trail with a yellow maglite, or carried a big-a$$ed Colemen lantern to see blood . . . dang. If I paid myself $.50/hour to do the extra searching, my SureFires would have been paid for many times over.

[ 10-22-2003, 19:00: Message edited by: eshell ]

Sure-fires are kind of like T/C Encores - ADDICTIVE!

I have four of the flashlights, various models, and the "hurricane lamp" to store batteries/use as an emergency light. The G2 in my hunting gear has the blue filter, but I haven't used it for tracking, yet. I keep the "disperser" filter on my C2 daily carry light. Bought one of Ayoob's "belt holsters" to house my Nitrolon, and that would be a better light if it had a lockout. I wanted to carry the 6P in the holster, but fit was not satisfactory, so I traded with a good friend for the Nitrolon, which fits perfectly.

Yep, they are expensive, but I wouldn't trade mine for anything else....

Regards, Bill

You get what you pay for.

I have had to rely on flashlights a few times in Army Aviation and in my 29 years in LE, in real life and death situations. I carry a Surefire on and off duty. enough said.

Cheap insurance.

FN in MT

How much do these lights retail for in the US or Canada, I will be in Canada next week, here they go for as much 100EURO.

Express,
These guys ( Lightfighter.Com ) have been pretty competitive and I've bought a few things through them with OK service. I don't know how you might set up delivery if transient. Anyplace I've seen them stocked retail they are full MSRP, like at Surefire's Site.

Very nice lights, some are pretty high-tech (Aviator)and/or high powered (M-6) and very pricy, others are simpler (E-2, C-2, C-3) and more reasonable priced. Lots of choices between size, brightness and battery life.

[ 10-24-2003, 17:24: Message edited by: eshell ]

Do thye compare with maglites at all or are the better ??

PC,

They are far better than maglites...the quality, brightness and "eveness" of the beam is something else. Construction wise they are as good if not better than maglites too...the only down side I can see is that they tend to have poor battery life and are extremely expensive for what is after all just a torch!

Regards,

Pete

Thanks Pete,

I amy have to look at there website !!

Admittedly I was put off by the high price, but the plastic versions (G2's) are now relatively cheap. You may be surprised how long an one-hour battery life really is...I'm still waiting to replace batteries.

I've given some for presents and people are amazed!

I suppose Mag Lite will follow suit at some point. There are the imitations at WalMart but why bother?

For a smaller version of a LED light you might look at stream light. Being a mechanic I use one of these pen lights allthe time. Maglights are somthing I have stopped usingthe maglights at all .

Ihave been using this light for huntingon a regular basis, VERY bright more than enough to walk into your stand track game, ( they come in colors blue, yell, red ,grn) And all this for 20 bucks and is a penlight size. I keep one inthe wifes glove comparment, one in my back pack.

I am sure thay are not as nice as the surefire models but if you mis place it 20 bucks is easier to swallow.

John,
I have one. GREAT little torch. When it comes to getting batteries, order them from the SUREFIRE web site. I think with shipping it avg. about $1.50 per battery. I looked at the local Wal-Mart, and they were around $12.00 for two.