Personal Equipment - Torch
 

Anyone have any recommendations / preferences on small torches for dailies & cockpit.

I've had too many miserable experiences with maglights

had a look at the Surefire Aviator A2
xenon white bulb with 3 x colour LED for cockpit emergency low-level illumination, but it is a pretty pricy bit of kit.

for those who use mic lights & have a torch purley for Daily Inspections, what is your light source of choice

what have you found better for brightness & clarity of beam, battery longevity etc., ruggedness

thanks in advance

Funny that you mention Maglights as I use a little AA Maglight and have never had a problem other than the occasional bulb replacement. Have heard that the Surefire is good. You can never have too many toys, gadgets, bits of kit!!

BM

I'd love to know the answer to this one.

I need a bright white light for pre flight, a dim red light for the cockpit and a clip to keep it on your jacket . No torch I've seen combines all of these. The search continues.

red vs green
 

18g
the surefire mentioned above does what you want - but at a hell of a price
http://www.surefire.com/surefire/con...2ha_full01.jpg

curious are there any arguments for red vs. green low-light illumination in the cockpit

most NVG compatible mike lights are green or infrared LEDs

is red optimum, or is green also adequate
in regards to adequate illumination whilst low enough not to detriment night vision capabilities of the Mk1 eyeball, nvfr manual mentioned red only, but no other colour.
(you can't read contour lines on a map with red, but granted that might be a stretch between requirements to look at contours)
but red or green the T's & P's are just as difficult to interpret without some white light (white finger light or white led in mike lights.

for the price difference I am considering a Pelican M6 LED for external
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/rev...m6led_size.jpg
& compliment that with a seitzinc Mike Lite (ML-22) (2x standard green & 1x white LED)
http://www.seitzinc.com/shop/media/Ml-8m162s.jpg
this brings me well under the aviator A2 with arguably better application

I use a maglight for walk rounds, but use an old fashioned bycicle front lamp in flight. My instructor had one and bought me one. The old style have a clip on the back to mount to the bike. put a piece of string through the clip, hang it round your neck and it will sit flat against your chest shining in the right direction. He also got me to paint the lense with red nail polish wish gives a perfect level of light at night. I have kept this light since it was given to me and it now has around 9000 hours as well as an important place in my bag.:ok:

I like the surefire but for inspections and it is a bit pricey. None the less I own one. Got it on www.ebay.com and saved a few dollars.
In the cockpit(sic) I prefer using something already attached. I use the Seitz Lip lights and if really necessary a Finger light, they sell all kinds of things and the company was formed by a former Army Pilot. www.seitzinc.com
Their prices are good and I have been using their product for at least 15 years. It attaches easy to my Gentex skidlid and on my David Clarks. The liplight is somehwat hard to turn on and off with the DC flexible Mike Boom, but a minor inconvenience considering how useful it is. I also agree on one white Xenon and two Green LEDs.
GadgetGuru above mentioned Pelican www.pelican.com I also fly over water a lot and use a couple of their small locator lights attached to my vest. Cheap and hopefully never used, but if used worth every Penny.
Pilots never can have enough toys... I also love my Colt CAR-15 but thats another story on toys.

CAR-15?! Do passengers in Las Vegas get a bit out of hand?

For daily's I use a white LED torch (although it has a bit of a problem sometimes illuminating the gearbox oil).

For night flight I have a Mike Lite (green) and a maglight with orange lense. To me this is not as harsh on the eyes and allows for map reading.

Hope this helps.

Like watches and PDA's, the torch sets the pilot apart from the ground-hugging mortals, at least according to the adverts.

Actually, in 7500 hours of flight, I have never felt the need to buy other than a nice mortal wrist watch (with push buttons), a normal small pocket torch goosenecked, and a normal calculator.

Those who fly NVG's need specialized kit, of course, but the rest of us buy the fancy stuff to set us apart, I think. Am I guilty of this in some ways? Of course, I wear my flight jacket, with patches, to every inappropriate occasion!
Here is a $4 one that fits the bill:
http://www.airsoftarms.com/viewprodu...hp?ProdID=6030

Every imaginable type is here (vive free enterprise!):
http://www.myles-rec.com/12%20Volt%2...12/lights.html

For preflights there is no better than a German Made LedLenser V2 is the best I've had, and I have had many since its kind a sick obsession I have with flashlights. These flashlights use common AAA batteries that last a LONG time, single very powerfull led, brighter than a Surefire A2 that costs almost 4 times as much, smaller too. You won't regret having one of these. Just make sure you buy the AAA battery single led model not the AAAA single led model, since AAAA are more difficult to find.

I carry a number of different "torches" or whatever you call'em. You guys in the old country still using burning sticks?
For preflight, a headlight is the way to go. I have both hands available for tasks, it points where I'm looking, and I don't drop it. I'me using a "Streamlight Clipmate"- just clip it to my cap- and monkey all over the helo.
Lip light in the cockpit, helmet and headset. Put an inline switch on it after they turned on in the bag, the cell's ruptured, and split the battery clip.
I use a Streamlight Twintask for general stuff.
Employer equips aircraft with a D-cell Maglight.
And, I keep a PALight with a clip in my pocket. The rubberized rectangular case means it doesn't roll around and I'm not biting down on metal when I need both hands, selectable light levels for whatever- it does everything pretty well, except bludgeon- which, I guess, is why I have the Maglight.

LED all the way!

Cheap, cheerful and plenty on ebay.;)

many thanks
 

feedback much appreciated

cheers

I use a heavily-modified mini-maglite. I have a 2-watt LED bulb and a diffusion lens installed, and it puts out more light than a 4-D cell maglite. I also have an Inova w/ 5 LEDs, which puts out about the same amount of light, but it takes Lithium 123 batteries, which are expensive. The Maglite uses standard AA batteries. I also use an LED headlamp, with white LEDs for preflights, starting, etc, and a green LED (it came with red, and I replaced it) for use when flying, when the white lights are too bright. It comes in handy for doing paperwork, reading approach plates, etc without blinding my copilot. It puts the light wherever I look. I had an LED liplight mounted on my mike, but the headlight is cheaper and more useful.

Like Nick, I use a standard watch, no buttons, though. I do like a watch with dual display, both analog and digital. Timex et al sell these cheaply, and they are as accurate as a Rolex, if not more.

The "streamlight " from Stylus with LED bulb is definately a good product. They are the size & shape of a pen & are available in red,green & white for around USD20. You can clip all three in your pocket if you want to without the weight tearing your shirt off & the 3 x AAAA batteries last a long time.

I use a single red LED key ring light attached to the back of my sunglasses strap with a tiny s.s d-shackle. During the day I have my sunnies to the front( which is only right).
Come night time I spin them to the back of my neck which puts my small LED light on the strap to the front. Its powerful enough to illuminate the cockpit and read/ write by without affecting my night vision. And, I've always got a light as long as I'm wearing my Sunnies.For pre-flights I have a Pelican clip light with a swivelling neck which clips to either cap or pocket and is small enough to hold between my teeth if necessary.

Yup still using the stick, tightly wrapped straw & burning oil trick.

Its a bitch on fuel dips but great on cold nights.

Coast TAC Torch 4 Color LED Recon Light

If you're a torch/flashlight geek then this one is for you!
It has 4 LED colours - red,green, blue and regular white, so it's good for preflight and cockpit.
It has buttons for on/off, so you're not fumbling around trying to twist/turn the thing on with one hand, like a Maglite.
It takes 3 AAA batteries and they last for ages.
It's plenty bright.
You can hang it around your neck and best of all ....... If you feel the need, you can turn all four colours on at once! ....... DISCO!

Coast TAC Torch 4 Color LED Recon Light

Heliduck

I have one of the LED Streamlights, nice and slim and sits nicely in my pen pocket or in the spring on a clipboard. And if ever you need new AAAA batteries, rip open a square 9v battery and there are 6 of them inside :ok:

Wonder how it would be to fly with these.. light gloves has anyone tried them??