Spotlights for HD?

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dmarbell

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I spent a long weekend in the foothills of NC recently. The homeowner had a handheld rechargeable 1 million candlepower spotlight. He used it to illuminate the driveway to his cabin, and to look for animals at night.

This started me thinking. Facing down an intruder at night, your eyes will be dark adapted as well as the intruder's. You might have the disadvantage of being roused from sleep. How much advantage would this very bright light give you?

It seems obvious that if you missed shining it into the intruder's eyes, you might be at some disadvantage. But with any accuracy at all, the blinding effect of such a light should give you the one- or two-second head start needed in these situations.

I'm thinking of situation in which you hear a noise, arm yourself, and face the intruder as he/she enters your bedroom, hall or other area.

Our Home Depot has them for $9.99.

Danny
 
Yep, had the same thought

I keep one by the bed for exactly that reason. Tough to shoot what you can't see and those things are blinding - to someone who's eyes are already adapted to the dark, maybe even painful. Good.

In the other hand goes the .38.
 
I have one and keep it connected to the charger, but this is primarily for power outages and sometimes thrown in the car for long drives. It is a powerful light, but much bigger than my Surefires.

I am too used to my Surefire that I've trained with over the past decade to consider changing now. I like the size and the buttcap power switch and it works with both pistol and shotgun (held alongside the stock and activated by 'squeezing') that I don't forsee changing manual of arms at this point.
 
Try hitting a SureFire in your own eyes. Not only will you be blinded for a good 10 seconds but you'll spend the next minute cussing and recovering. :eek: :cuss: :banghead: . The main thing at night that I worry about is the fact that I have to find my glasses!
 
I have one of those 1 million candle lights. I use it while I'm driving pizzas for work. I also have a Surefire E2D. For a HD situation, I think the Surefire is much more appropriate. It's tiny, one handed, and light. But it's more than bright enough to blind someone. The spotlight, while plenty bright, is just too large and cumbersome to be useful in that kind of situation.

You may want to get spotlights with motion detectors on the exterior of your house though.
 
My spotlight story.

I was chased in a car by a car load of guys one time in an area I didn't know. (yeah I was an idiot and pissed them off and they were looking for a fun time!)

I ended up on a dead end.

Got the car turned around and shut off the lights.

Watched them get out of their car and come towards me. waited waited waited..at about 20 feet I CLOSED my eyes. Flipped on all the high beams and driving lights. Flipped the lights off and opened my eyes.

Still had my night vision and drove like hell to get out of there in the dark.

They were basically blinded enough that they couldn't make a move towards me once I was in gear and headed towards them.

I actually pulled into some guys open garage and they went by me 15 seconds later. I went the opposite direction and never went back!!!

What a Freaking nightmare...and that was 25 years ago...
 
I saw a show on TV where a (supposedly) ex British agent (MI6?) said he had training in using a "light gun" which he said was a very bright light.

The situation was to "eliminate" a target by hitting their driver with the light when he was going around a corner or curve at high speed thus causing an accident. He said this was what was done to Diana's driver.
 
Surefire E2D is 60 lumens. The spotlight is 1 million candlepower. I've researched, and candlepower is at the source, lumens are actually lumen meters or some such. Best I can tell, at close ranges, 1 million candlepower is way brighter than 60 lumens. $9.99 vs. $110. The spotlight is also a much bigger beam.

Can anyone with both sources weigh in on this? I'm leaning towards getting a couple of the spotlights at the $9.99 price, and keep one in my bedroom, one downstairs, etc.

Maybe I could find someone local with the Surefire and make a movie for comparison.

Danny
 
I keep a couple Surefire tac-lights around for gun use.
I also keep a Dorcy 2 mil like this one:
http://www.dorcy.com/products.aspx?p=411086

Sears has them on sale about once a month for under $20 bucks.
This sucker will peel the paint off the house next door.
Attila the Hun couldn't keep his eyes open while looking at it!

I only use it for outdoor look-see's and such, but if you want to light up the night for a very long ways, this will do it!

BTW: Most of these type lights use a lead-acid gel-cell, and should not be left on the charger all the time. I plug mine in about once a month, or when I remember to do it for 12 hours or so to top it off.

1224.jpg

rcmodel
 
lumens / candlepower challenge

Someone with a Surefire light take this challenge. I will do the same with the 1 million candlepower spotlight when I get it.

Take a camera capable of mpg movie recording, and stand 21 feet from the light in complete darkness, inside a house, preferably in a narrow hallway. Aim the camera at the light, and have someone turn it on.

We'll post the movies and see what they look like.

Danny
 
Why bother.
There is no comparison at all.
The spotlight will win hands-down.
And you might damage your camera!

You can feel the heat off the 2 mil spotlight beam 3' - 4' feet away, at least.
You can feel the Surefire 6P beam about 8" - 10" inches away, at most.

1224.jpg

rcmodel
 
It really doesn't matter how much over the blinding threshold either of them go. The fact the the surefire "really blinds" and the spotlight "really really blinds" doesn't matter. They both blind. That's really what matters. Feel free to get a spotlight. I have 2 of them, and use them every single night. They are large, heavy, bulky, and cumbersome. They are fine when you life is not threatened. Like illuminating the address on a house 60 feet away.

But I wouldn't want to have to hold one in my left hand and my pistol in my right hand when my life is in danger.


Also, most of them operate off a battery fed capacitor. So you get about 2 minutes of bright light, then you have to turn it off for about 5 minutes to let it charge itself.
 
sportsmansguide has been selling a pair of TWO million candlepower re-chargable spotlights for under $20. i got them and they seem decent enough for occasional use, though i've got two surefires as well as numerous other LED lights.
but if you want a respectably bright QUALITY light, surefires are almost universally considered the finest lights on the planet,warrantied for life,and USA manufactured, so no shipping returns to honk kong like with fenix's and the like.
IMO,the killer deal on surefires is their G2L @ $65 and the 6PL at $85, both of these are tossing 80 lumens with a runtime of 11-12 hours using 2 cr123 batteries. 80 lumens is a lot of light, way more than enough to destroy someones night vision,or to light up the woodsline across the street.
opticsplanet has (had?) the polymer body G2l for $54 shipped, and battery junction (to name one) has the aluminum body (a little better for heat disipation)
6PL for $85, W/free shipping and 8 cr123 batteries.
 
I wish these guys would sell to the public.

http://www.laserdazzler.net
Click to expand...

Why? Do you need to 'dazzle' people at 20m stand-off distances? This isn't an illuminator, you'd still need some sort of white light to identify your target. Pointless for civvies to use, and is way too big (and pointless) to be used in conjunction with a firearm.
 
Can the Sprotsmanguide spotlights be left on the charger?

I have a cheap spotlight andwhen I read the instruuctions iot says not to leave it on the charger more than 24 hours.

I want one I can leave on the charger so I know its charged when I need it.
 
I don't know, maybe. Mostly I just don't want others deciding for me what I "need."
Click to expand...

Yes, while I agree with you in principle, these things can cause permanent eye damage within 20 yards. It does not meet any useful standards for typical civilian applications, even for riots I'd still go to shotgun/long gun solutions.
 
Yes, while I agree with you in principle, these things can cause permanent eye damage within 20 yards.
Click to expand...

So can my 357, it's just another tool in the box.

It does not meet any useful standards for typical civilian applications
Click to expand...

Apartments? Dorms? Something to keep in the car for defense and as a signaling device? Take away the option of a firearm and the dazzler looks pretty nice. Multiple attackers? Guys hopped up on drugs? Mace is likely to be insufficient, maybe the dazzler would have the edge. At least it'd make a good club. Sure the current versions are big, but that'll change. What if your surefire had that capability? Who's to say one couldn't be built with a standard flashlight as well. Guy breaks in at night, you identify him as a threat with the flashlight and hit the button under your thumb to dazzle for a second or so. Better than shooting the guy when there are kids on the other side of the house. Course, I'd want a gun in the other hand just in case. Much of the same can be said of the spotlight, which I think is a good idea as well. They're just very big and have a tendency to blind the user should the light reflect.

Also, do we want laser technology to be kept from the american people from the get-go? You watch, when blasters roll around we're all gonna be kicking ourselves for allowing the groundwork for light technology bans. :D
 
The situation was to "eliminate" a target by hitting their driver with the light when he was going around a corner or curve at high speed thus causing an accident. He said this was what was done to Diana's driver.
Click to expand...

Someone did this to me about 40 yrs. ago when I was in high school. I was driving on a dark country road and was hit with a light just as I was approaching a curve.

I ended-up in a corn field.:fire:
 
The best light I've used is sold by Blackbear. He has several models all utilizing Mag light outer shell with his battery design and bulb. It will outshine a 2 million candle power spot light hands down. Do a search on this forum for details.

Jim
 
I saw a monster HID flashlight (like the new car headlights) at Sams Club last week. They had one out of the box and plugged into the charger. Man, those things are bright! It absolutely gigantic and probably weighed 10 pounds. I recall it being around $100. I don't recall the brightness ratings.

The wife said no.
 
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