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Best torches for hunting

Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 6:13 pm
by Chriswillis696
Guys looking at buying a new torche for shooting some rabbits and the odd fox. Whats the best one out their? EDI-T, led lenser? Most lumens give me some ideas.
Cheers

Re: Best torches for hunting

Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 6:27 pm
by Seagull
great question mate... I would like to know as well

Re: Best torches for hunting

Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 7:01 pm
by fenring
You should ideally match your light to your gun. A 200 metre thrower can be counterproductive on a .22 used to shoot bunnies - they can refuse to sit in the intense spot.

More lumens do not mean more throw. Throw comes down to beam intensity (measured in lux).

And then budget comes into it.

I like Solarforce lights for their value, performance and variety and have different ones depending on useage.

Re: Best torches for hunting

Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 7:05 pm
by MISSED
I have tried a couple of Wolfeyes an original Sniper,defender,sealion ,sniper 11 ,defender11 and a Nighthunter as well as the old school Eveready Big Jim.
My l current go to torch is a Trustfire 1200

Re: Best torches for hunting

Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 9:13 pm
by BP72
Sorry to cut in on your topic, but I'd be interested in people's thoughts on a long range thrower to put on a 22-250 for 150-300 m . Currently running a edit p15 good to 100 m only in my opinion

Re: Best torches for hunting

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 7:37 am
by fenring
Solar force Pro-1 or Derelight Night Master.

Night Master has no spill and can also be converted to red or green emitters. Pro-1 will not throw quite as far but has a good spill.

Re: Best torches for hunting

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 8:08 am
by bimbo
as others have said it depends abit on how far you plan on shooting. I have just bought a WF800 recoil from deal extreme and it is awesome on the 22lr. good light out to 100m or so but definatly runs out of punch past 130-150ish unless you have a good scope (picks up eyes way out furthur but can't see the animal clearly). Cost me about 15 bucks and then anoither 20 odd in batteries and charger and mount.
Had it out spotlighting off the back of a ute one night over the long weekend and shot 30 or so bunnies. We where using a big powerbeam spotty as well bit it ment that I could be shooting off to the side as well while the other shooter had one lined up in the other spotty - or just at the edges of the spotlight if you get what I mean.
Worked well only problem I had was getting used to the fact that even when not looking through the scope where the light was pointing there was also a barrel pointing, so when the driver jumped out to go and pick up bunnies you couldn't keep the torch on them and had to use another light

Re: Best torches for hunting

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 8:48 am
by BP72
Hey fenring had a look at the derelight which pill would you recommend the 2mt-s or the 2mt-m ? I'll get an extension tube anyway so an extra battery won't be an issue

Re: Best torches for hunting

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 11:29 am
by fenring
2mt-m is for multiple batteries. Avoid stupid strobe and flashy modes.

Re: Best torches for hunting

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 12:31 pm
by The Raven
Out of interest, what do people think of dimmers on torches?

I use LED Lenser torches (various models) and some have either a variable dimmer or a high/low setting. I've found that some other torches (without variable brightness) can often be too bright to use on animals as it scares them off (they will avoid the beam long before it's on them).

For me, who hasn't any real spot lighting experience, I find that being able to control the beam strength would be highly desirable.

Re: Best torches for hunting

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 8:25 pm
by BP72
Just ordered a derelight night master v2 , thanks fenring

Re: Best torches for hunting

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 10:55 pm
by fenring
The Raven wrote:Out of interest, what do people think of dimmers on torches?

I use LED Lenser torches (various models) and some have either a variable dimmer or a high/low setting. I've found that some other torches (without variable brightness) can often be too bright to use on animals as it scares them off (they will avoid the beam long before it's on them).

For me, who hasn't any real spot lighting experience, I find that being able to control the beam strength would be highly desirable.
On the likes of a .22 I do like a couple of modes. It can be handy. But avoid strobe and sos modes as they have a bad habit of coming on when not desired...

Re: Best torches for hunting

Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 6:54 am
by makrand
Just ordered a Fenix TK15 which they design specifically for hunting. Fully waterproof and very rugged. I have had their T1 for many years and never had any trouble with it.

It's not gonna arrive for a couple of weeks but they say a throw of 250m with spill.
It is coming with a red filter which should help with those critters that are more sensitive to light and has variable brightness, so full (400 lumens, 2 hours) for long range on the .223 or .308 and medium (165 lumens, 6 hours) for the .22lr.

http://www.fenix-store.com/fenix-tk15/

Re: Best torches for hunting

Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 8:03 am
by The Raven
fenring wrote:
The Raven wrote:Out of interest, what do people think of dimmers on torches?

I use LED Lenser torches (various models) and some have either a variable dimmer or a high/low setting. I've found that some other torches (without variable brightness) can often be too bright to use on animals as it scares them off (they will avoid the beam long before it's on them).

For me, who hasn't any real spot lighting experience, I find that being able to control the beam strength would be highly desirable.
On the likes of a .22 I do like a couple of modes. It can be handy. But avoid strobe and sos modes as they have a bad habit of coming on when not desired...
Agreed. A friend has a strobing model and no dimmer.... enough said.

Re: Best torches for hunting

Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 8:58 am
by BP72
Just got my derelight night master , what an awesome torch ! Eats the edit p15 good for 200m easy will give it a proper run tonite