Affordable long-throw flashlight?

[ArcticDude]

Well I pulled the trigger {pardon the pun} on the Gun Mounted Olight M3XS-UT with four Filters, RGB + Defuse White.
Now if only I could buy a Weatherby 270 Magnum.....:cryyy:

Thanks Tero.

Hey, thats great news! You'll gonna love it :beer:

Beamshots as soon as you can!

 

[RB astro]

Hey, thats great news! You'll gonna love it :beer:

Beamshots as soon as you can!

You got it buddy.

:beer:

 

[Benm]

Ben, I think Battery Junction will ship to the Netherlands, it looks as if they have the EC4GT in stock.

Edit: Going Gear has them also.

The first one keeps giving me some error on cookies, but i can get it on goinggear, but the shipping cost is over $40, over half the product price. This seems a bit excessive to ship something that small from the US to europe.

The problem with the ebay listings is that it's hard to tell which are the real product and which are imitations with sub-par performance.

What would it -actually- cost to send a package that size from the US to europe using the cheapest option?

 

[BowtieGuy]

Ben, I've got to believe that shipping from an individual in the US would be less expensive, but I can't say for sure.
I'll bet some of our host builders, or Jordan could give a better answer; I could check with the USPS tomorrow to see what they would charge, do you know what the package size and weight will be?

 

[paul1598419]

I ship to Europe a lot, but in order for me to print a label at home I have to use one of the priority mail options, which are not the cheapest. If I sold something by PayPal I think I could use their label printing options which I know are cheaper than mine.

 

[ArcticDude]

Here you go:
https://www.nitecore.co.uk/Shop/Torches/Explorer/13394-Nitecore-EC4GT.html

https://www.nitecore-shop.de/nitecore-ec4gt.html

I bought it from here, but they are out of stock:
https://www.karkkainen.com/verkkokauppa/nitecore-ec4gt-taskulamppu----2300mah-akut

 

[Benm]

Thanks, 5 gbp shipping seems much more reasonable, though combined it still tallies up to almost $100 us.

I've noticed it being sold out on other websites as well - banggood has a listing for it at us$ 76 shipped (https://www.banggood.com/Nitecore-E...000LM-LED-Searching-Flashlight-p-1056957.html), but that seems to be out of stock as well, no idea if this is permanent or not.

I wonder if something like https://www.banggood.com/Nitecroe-M...-p-1311776.html?rmmds=search&cur_warehouse=CN would be a reasonable alternative?

I do like the nitecore brand, and presume the ones on banggood are the real deal.

 

[RedCowboy]

I often compare things on YT before I buy if there's information available, flashlights do have a lot of interest so there are always videos, the side by side really gives perspective, just search xx vs. xxx on YT



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWigKsLxQis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b51DhSCxAE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfqUxRs9rto&t=51s

 

[Benm]

They do get some good videos, but usually not from the perspective i need them from: i mostly want something that is impressive to the person being illumninated by the beam, not so much from the perspective of the one holding the flashlight.

Obviously lasers do a great job at that, but they have the downside that the illuminated area is a bit hard to adjust, certaintly when trying to take a picture (with speckle and just monochromatic light causing problems).

We've had problems with people trying to break into cars and such around here, and as i'm on the 15th floor myself i even i hear the noise i can't make it down to do anything about it in time. Targetting them with lasers does send them running (quickly), but i'd love to have some more wide spectrum light down there so i could actually take a picture with a tele lens - i'm sure it will be grainy at best, but the more light the better.

 

[paul1598419]

A photo from the 15th floor is likely to give you pictures on the tops of their heads. Even with a good telephoto lens and great lighting, what can you tell about them if they don't look up?

 

[RB astro]

They do get some good videos, but usually not from the perspective i need them from: i mostly want something that is impressive to the person being illumninated by the beam, not so much from the perspective of the one holding the flashlight.

We've had problems with people trying to break into cars and such around here....

Ben, that's terrible, people trying to break into cars, while you can see them but not be able to do something in time.

Well, I've ordered this one, thanks to Tero, so maybe get this one and put it on a riffle.
That will impress the person being illuminated....

 

[paul1598419]

Every car I had that was ever broken in to was the work of kids out after bedtime trying to see what they could get away with. I once had a stereo system I put in myself get stolen, but because I was very busy at the time and because I felt the chances of it being returned were small I didn't bother reporting it. A few months later I got a knock on my door at 4 A.M. and after they wouldn't stop, I went to answer the door. It was the police. They were pissed at me for nor reporting the stolen stereo as they had apprehended the kids and they told the police where they had stolen it from. At any rate, I don't think you want to shoot a kid who is trying to break into your car. Around here, it would get you a hefty prison sentence.

 

[Skittles]

I wonder if this is good for the price, I know the TN-42 has a good throw but it cost more.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/ThruNite-C...055?_trksid=p2349526.m4383.l4275.c10#viTabs_0

Amazon has these for lower price, I am thinking about getting one, they are very recent and have an amazing throw for their small size.

 

[RB astro]

I don't think you want to shoot a kid who is trying to break into your car. Around here, it would get you a hefty prison sentence.

hahaha, no, of course not, it was a 'tongue in cheek' comment.
Obviously don't condone shooting at people, LOL.

 

[Benm]

First of all, in live in the netherlands and getting a firearm is not a realistic option here, nor would i want to fire on anyone since i'm not -absolutely- sure they are doing something criminal, it could just be someone fetching something from his own car in the middle of the night.

These are mostly petty thieves, usually not even trying to steal the car, but just break them open to find something in the dashboard case or even some small change people leave around to feed parking meters.

The upside is most of them run for the hills as soon as they know someone is aware of them, so even just pointing a harmless (at that distance) laser pointer often does the job, and if i track them they will keep running until obscured by other buildings etc.

As for photo's and angles: although i'm about 50 meters up, the parking lot is some 150 meters long, so by the far end of it you can a reasonable angle on people, i can certainly recognize someone i know anywhere on the lot that i can see using some simple 10x50 binoculars (or even without them).

So the goal for the light is dual: scare them off, possible a bit more than with just a low power pointer, and get a chance to take a picture which is secondary but would still be nice.

Also i'd like to use the light for other things, the ones they are generally intended for like longer range orientation at night, signalling and such.

I'd prefer something that runs of 2 18650 cells rather than 1 or 2 26650 cells since i don't have any of those nor any charger that fits them.


Anyway, would you think a listing on ebay like this one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nitecore-E...941?_trksid=p2349526.m4383.l4275.c10#viTabs_0
would be the legit product? Price seems about right, they do ship here, but i always have my doubts about such listings.

 

[paul1598419]

It seems unlikely anyone you know will be trying to break into your car, Ben. Do you park at the outer edges of your parking lot? I generally have always tried to park as close as possible not only for convenience, but for added security. I have a handicapped placard now, so if there is an open spot, I take it.

Glad to hear that was just tongue in cheek, Andrew, as I don't think there are a lot of people who would like to kill someone for trying to steal change out of their cars. But, I could be wrong about that.