LED Lights?

PaladinVC · January 7, 2002, 01:40 AM

While enjoying my Photon III, I got to thinking about LED lights and how terrific they are. Are there any tactical lights that use LED's for illumination? They seem powerful, long-lived and durable, and yet I can't find a single LED light that can be attached to a firearm. Is there a good reason for this, or should I start running for the patent office?

Foxy · January 8, 2002, 10:06 AM

Surefire's Millenium foregrip has LED navigation lights, and one of their monster bright lights on it. I guess you use the LED's for moving around and the main one for blinding people

Lightfighter · January 8, 2002, 12:34 PM

A company called TRG makes LED powered Lithium battery Tac Lights. They run for 24 hours on a set of batteries and the bulb life is 100,000 hours. I have sold a few and they are nice. Not as bright as a surefire, but not so dainty as to require limited use.

labgrade · January 9, 2002, 12:57 AM

I've plugged in "standard-sized" red/orange/green LEDs into the AA mag-Lite & Snap-On MiniMaglites (ensure polarity to work - it's an On/Off test) which give "acceptable" map-reading capabilities, but have yet to find a source for any "high-intensity" white LEDs.

Again - I've yet to be able to test any WHITE LEDs - of ANY flavor.

Although the high-intensity white-ones would be "preferrable" for a high-intensity type-of-thing (& that debatable w/o any testing for "room-illumination," etc.), the "other colors" (especially red, for non-diminished night-vision), will last, on one paired-set of AA alkalines, will last, for a continuously ON, for over 2 years.

Read that last again.

I have personally tested a standard RED LED panel light, & perfectly suitable for any low-light map-viewing, & that can merely be plugged directly into a standard MagLite MiniMag (AA flashlight, or an (actually "better") Snap-On AA) .... they'll last for 2 years continuous, & have yet to see any degradation for using others intermittently.

Has its possibilities ....

Coronach · January 9, 2002, 08:36 AM

Surefire also makes a LED flashlight. IIRC it has about a dozen white LEDs and runs off of D or C cells.

Mike

stringj · January 9, 2002, 12:02 PM

PaladinVC,
LED lights are not yet up to tactical light specs. A single LED cannot put out the amount or intensity of light as a single bulb as used in the SureFire line can. To achieve "bright" light from an LED requires utilizing several LEDs in the design. There are some very bright LED based flashlights out there, but I wouldn't consider any of them to be tactical lights due their size. I have a 3D-cell, 10 LED flashlight that is bright, but large. The technology is improving, but still has a way to go before a tactical LED flashlight is feasible.

Jerry

P.S. Check out this forum for most anything to do with flashlights :
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi

You will be assimilated!

January 7, 2002, 01:40 AM	#1
PaladinVC Senior Member Join Date: April 10, 2001 Location: Erie, PA Posts: 236	LED Lights? While enjoying my Photon III, I got to thinking about LED lights and how terrific they are. Are there any tactical lights that use LED's for illumination? They seem powerful, long-lived and durable, and yet I can't find a single LED light that can be attached to a firearm. Is there a good reason for this, or should I start running for the patent office? __________________ Corruptissima re publica plurimae leges. —The more corrupt the state is, the more numerous are the laws. (Tacitus, Annales)

January 8, 2002, 12:34 PM	#3
Lightfighter Member Join Date: September 15, 2000 Location: Hopkinsville, KY Posts: 67	A company called TRG makes LED powered Lithium battery Tac Lights. They run for 24 hours on a set of batteries and the bulb life is 100,000 hours. I have sold a few and they are nice. Not as bright as a surefire, but not so dainty as to require limited use. __________________ *High Performance Tactical Gear!* www.Lightfighter.com

January 9, 2002, 08:36 AM	#5
Coronach Senior Member Join Date: March 25, 1999 Posts: 3,147	Surefire also makes a LED flashlight. IIRC it has about a dozen white LEDs and runs off of D or C cells. Mike __________________ The axe bites into the door, ripping a hole in one panel. The maniac puts his face into the hole, cackling gleefully, "Here's Johnny...erk." "And here's Smith and Wesson," murmurs Coronach, Mozambiquing six rounds of .357 into the critter at a range of three feet. -Lawdog "True pacifism is the finest form of manliness. But if a man comes up to you and cuts your hand off, you don't just offer him the other one. Not if you want to go on playing the piano, you don't." -Sam Peckinpah "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." -Robert Heinlein

January 8, 2002, 10:06 AM	#2
Foxy Senior Member Join Date: September 14, 2001 Location: Maryland Posts: 846	Surefire's Millenium foregrip has LED navigation lights, and one of their monster bright lights on it. I guess you use the LED's for moving around and the main one for blinding people

January 9, 2002, 12:57 AM	#4
labgrade Member In Memoriam Join Date: November 29, 1999 Location: west of a small town, CO Posts: 4,346	I've plugged in "standard-sized" red/orange/green LEDs into the AA mag-Lite & Snap-On MiniMaglites (ensure polarity to work - it's an On/Off test) which give "acceptable" map-reading capabilities, but have yet to find a source for any "high-intensity" white LEDs. Again - I've yet to be able to test any WHITE LEDs - of ANY flavor. Although the high-intensity white-ones would be "preferrable" for a high-intensity type-of-thing (& that debatable w/o any testing for "room-illumination," etc.), the "other colors" (especially red, for non-diminished night-vision), will last, on one paired-set of AA alkalines, will last, for a continuously ON, for over 2 years. Read that last again. I have personally tested a standard RED LED panel light, & perfectly suitable for any low-light map-viewing, & that can merely be plugged directly into a standard MagLite MiniMag (AA flashlight, or an (actually "better") Snap-On AA) .... they'll last for 2 years continuous, & have yet to see any degradation for using others intermittently. Has its possibilities ....

January 9, 2002, 12:02 PM	#6
stringj Member Join Date: June 28, 2001 Location: Jackson, MS Posts: 73	PaladinVC, LED lights are not yet up to tactical light specs. A single LED cannot put out the amount or intensity of light as a single bulb as used in the SureFire line can. To achieve "bright" light from an LED requires utilizing several LEDs in the design. There are some very bright LED based flashlights out there, but I wouldn't consider any of them to be tactical lights due their size. I have a 3D-cell, 10 LED flashlight that is bright, but large. The technology is improving, but still has a way to go before a tactical LED flashlight is feasible. Jerry P.S. Check out this forum for most anything to do with flashlights : http://www.candlepowerforums.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi You will be assimilated!