Best cheap torch?

Kelpie

Kelpie

Well-Known Member
Joined
15 May 2005
Messages
7,766
Location
Afloat
Visit site
Looking to get a torch to keep on the boat... imagine it will be handy for some early season cruising which I am planning in a couple of months time. LED headtorches are well and good but lack the throw to pick things up at any distance.
I was going to just get one of those five quid simple sealed/floating jobs that works off a 6v lantern battery, e.g.:
images


but has the world moved on? Is there a better cheap and cheerful alternative, maybe a bit more compact, can be charged off a 12v socket, etc?
Not planning on spending silly money on this, by the way!
 
Got a torch and inspection light from Aldi a couple of days ago. Led torch and body pulls out to become a LED work light. Lots of light and reasonable well directed from torch. Chargeable from mains or 12V.
 
I have a Lenser P7, fantastic piece of kit but expensive and not waterproof. However I saw a twin pack of LED Tactical weather proof torches in Costco at the weekend for about £15.

They are staggeringly good, almost as good as the lenser that was 10x as much ! They far out perform a 3 D Cell LED Maglite and they only take 3 AA batteries.

Well worth buying if you have access to Costco and at £7 each they are cheap enough when my son inevitably drops it overboard !
 
Definitely buy something LED.

Beyond that I guess it depends what you want the torch for. I have two lights on board:

1) a tiny Petzl head-torch that runs off a pair of CR2032s (big flat watch batteries) and 3 LEDs - brilliantly small and comfortable for seeing things that are close to me. But as you say, not much throw for things outside the boat.

2) a honking great halogen searchlight that can throw a spot halfway down my road in bright daylight. Ok, not LED, but that's cos it's on a wire to the main battery.

There's maybe an argument for something in between, but personally I'm not really sure what I'd use it for. Your use is probably different from mine.

Pete
 
prv said:
Definitely buy something LED.

Beyond that I guess it depends what you want the torch for. I have two lights on board:

1) a tiny Petzl head-torch that runs off a pair of CR2032s (big flat watch batteries) and 3 LEDs - brilliantly small and comfortable for seeing things that are close to me. But as you say, not much throw for things outside the boat.

2) a honking great halogen searchlight that can throw a spot halfway down my road in bright daylight. Ok, not LED, but that's cos it's on a wire to the main battery.

There's maybe an argument for something in between, but personally I'm not really sure what I'd use it for. Your use is probably different from mine.

Pete
Click to expand...

Erm, now I'm confused! I don't think I want something LED. It want it to have a decent throw on it.
It will be used alongside LED headtorches, not instead of.
Your halogen light sounds interesting. Is it easy to use with one hand or is it too big?
 
For the price i reckon the one i mentioned above is the best bet.I have a bit of an addiction with torches/lights and that one is very very good.Other good one is Stealth lite but not sure where you get them....think it was in the US.For waterproof little ones the Millets ones are very cheap....got loads of them dotted round.
 
Got a Cree LED 3xAAA torch from Lidl this week - very bright focusable beam from an o-ringed apparently robust body. Bright enough to be painful to look at. It will fit oilie pocket nicely. Sorry Rob, I know Lidl haven't reached S'way yet. I also carry a yellow 3M candle rechargeable monster which finds buoys, has been flashed on my sails and gives me night-time confidence but usually just takes up too much space.
 
Robwhelton said:
Erm, now I'm confused! I don't think I want something LED. It want it to have a decent throw on it.
Click to expand...

Ah, ok - when you said "torch" and showed the kind of weedy looking thing my parents used to take camping, I incorrectly assumed you wanted something for "close range" use, or maybe in a dinghy.

Robwhelton said:
Your halogen light sounds interesting. Is it easy to use with one hand or is it too big?
Click to expand...

No, definitely one handed. It's this one:

(click for the product page).

They didn't have the LED version when I bought mine, so no comment on that one. But I'm very happy with the halogen. Only downside is the wire is quite short - I think it's meant to be used out of a car window. I extended mine but it wasn't easy to find curly wire of sufficient current-carrying capacity. I believe they're manufactured in Portsmouth so you might find they'll do a special longer one if asked - wish I'd thought of that before I bought mine.

Pete
 
Robwhelton said:
Erm, now I'm confused! I don't think I want something LED. It want it to have a decent throw on it.
It will be used alongside LED headtorches, not instead of.
Your halogen light sounds interesting. Is it easy to use with one hand or is it too big?
Click to expand...
LED torches can have lots of throw. The small die size of the modern emitter and the much higher lumens means that a good led torch will throw much better than a halogen torch.
The trouble is many people think of an LED torch having multiple 5mm LEDs. The world of LEDs has moved on. Modern, good, LED torches will use a single emitter. Something like a CREE XM-L.

Try a Fenix TK40 (AA batteries, rechargable or alkaline) or the Thrunite Catapult XM-L (lithium primary or rechargeable) or a Fenik TK50 (D cell batteries rechargable or alkaline)) these will have much better throw than a 6V halogen lantern style light or a 4D Maglight.The brightness and throw are so good that they will beat many of the handheld spotlights like above, without the nuisance of a cord and with a much more even beam which makes distant objects easier to pick out.
They also have a much longer runtime multiple brightness levels and are regulated (so the brightness stays the same until the batteries are close to empty.
 
Last edited:
I have a lenser P7 and it produces a stonking beam, better than most halogens.
It will illuminate things a 100 metres away.
 
Another vote for the Techlite tactical torches from Costco, brilliant light (Cree LED), and at £15 for two in a blister pack they are cheap enough to lose overboard. described as weatherproof rather than waterproof, but they have O ring seals, and seem very well made. The light is astonishingly bright, three way push switch on the back end, low beam, high beam and strobe. 100 lumens (I think)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top