missionaryman Posted March 1, 2006 Report Share Posted March 1, 2006 Hi everyone, This is my first post here and I am curious about illumination and wondered if you could help me... What is the most popular type of illumination people use when hunting? Do you mount a torch to your guns or is that too cumbersome/intrusive/underpowered? Do you hold a spotlight or get someone else to hold it for you? Do you need to be able to roam freely or do you stay with the vehicle and use cigarette lighter type or mounted spotties? What would be the ideal illumination for most people's needs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rono Posted March 1, 2006 Report Share Posted March 1, 2006 Hi everyone,This is my first post here and I am curious about illumination and wondered if you could help me... What is the most popular type of illumination people use when hunting? Do you mount a torch to your guns or is that too cumbersome/intrusive/underpowered? Do you hold a spotlight or get someone else to hold it for you? Do you need to be able to roam freely or do you stay with the vehicle and use cigarette lighter type or mounted spotties? What would be the ideal illumination for most people's needs? G'Day missionaryman welcome to the site There is always 2 of us so we use a spotlight. 1 of us carries the battery in a back pack and holds the spotlight while the other carries the gun and shoots. We normally swap when the person with the gun shoots a bunny or fox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wharf Posted March 1, 2006 Report Share Posted March 1, 2006 There are so many different ways to spotlight.I have a scope mounted 140 lightforce on my brno 22 And here is a pic of a remote mounted unit here is some advice for those of you using your spotlight through your cig lighter.DONT DO IT.In my experience you will do your alternater damage.I have seen it happen a number of times.Always connect it straight to your battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missionaryman Posted March 2, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2006 thanks for the rsponses - Rono don't you find that it's too cumbersome to carry the whole light & separate battery? what type of light is it? Wharf - that's a huge reflector I didn't think you could mount something so big onto a gun, what type of battery does that use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rono Posted March 2, 2006 Report Share Posted March 2, 2006 G'day missionaryman I dont find it to bad but after about 1 hour it starts to get a bit heavy but thats what you get i supposes. The area we spotlight is to hilly to travel in a car so thats why we use a back pack. The light i use is about 15 years old and will go and have a look what brand it is for memory it cost abot $150 back then. Will get back to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete152 Posted March 2, 2006 Report Share Posted March 2, 2006 What sort of battery do you use and how long does it last? Cheers, Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wharf Posted March 2, 2006 Report Share Posted March 2, 2006 The battery I cart around is just on the border line of being to heavy,It will last a couple hours of continual use,so i use a headlamp to cut the use of the big light.The light set up is not heavy at all,and is easy to swap to other rifles.Here is a pic of my battery with a bundy can to give it some scale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete152 Posted March 2, 2006 Report Share Posted March 2, 2006 Why is the can open? I one i use is one of those lead sealed 12 volt 7 amp jobs. i will see if i can take a photo of it. So it will last a couple of hours? mine will only go one or one and a half. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rono Posted March 2, 2006 Report Share Posted March 2, 2006 The one we use is a forklift battery and we have never flattened it to date as i said after about an hour of walking up and down hills with it it starts to get a bit heavy towards the end Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missionaryman Posted March 2, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2006 So it looks like everyone is generally using faily bulky & heavy lights. The reason I ask is that I have recently got into modifying m@glites and I can get about the same amount of light out of a 3D (about 30cm long) as I do from my Coleman million plus but brighter and whiter with a run time of about 40 minutes. I'm waiting on new batteries to be tested that will allow the same light to be packaged into a 3C which will fit in your pocket and run for an hour. These lights are well built with lots of custom machined parts and fully rechargeable, all replacement parts are available. In the USA people mount these to their guns in place of carrying a big spotlight around and they carry a spare battery cartride in their pockets. Is this something people on the AusHunt forums would be interested in? If so I can post photos of the torches with beamshots and offer mine for evaluation testing by someone in the Sydney area then if it seems like it's one of those "how did I ever hunt without it" items I can look at making some up locally for sale on these forums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rono Posted March 2, 2006 Report Share Posted March 2, 2006 Would be good to see some pics missionaryman would be interested to see how the preform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missionaryman Posted March 3, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2006 ok I will post some pics and details tonight - because I've moved house I don't have my pc with all the photos preloaded so I need to wait for dark and take some more. I'll do comparison pics with the Coleman and maybe a dolphin just for the sake of showing the difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete152 Posted March 3, 2006 Report Share Posted March 3, 2006 Good mate I am interested in how it goes as well. Cheers, Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missionaryman Posted March 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2006 sorry for the no-show on the photos but I am sharing my digital slr with some one else who I will see on Tuesday night, they live in glenmore park so I'll get better pics there then I would have in wentworthville anyways. In the meantime I'll give you a brief run down on specs: Host: 3D cell body aluminium torch (M@glite) Battery pack: 9 x High current/High cpacity AA in a custom made cassette Run time: 40mins per charge Battery life: up to 1000 cycles Charge time: in a 10 bay slow charger 8-12hrs, in an energizer ultra fast about 3.5hrs or with an RC toy type charger straight into the battery cassette 1 - 8hrs Output: 1000lumens (about the same as the high beams on my Magna) Colour temp: 3400Kelvin (whiter than most halogen spotties) Weight: 900g I have in the works the same light engine powered by 3 x C cell lithium protected batteries for 60mins run time in half the size & weight, I'm waiting on the regulator to be made so the batteries don't safety cut out on initial cold start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gryphon Posted March 5, 2006 Report Share Posted March 5, 2006 For walking on foxes i used a motor bike battery hooked up to a 100w light,we made a battery holder out of a cut down 5 litre plastic oil container lined with carpet to stop the rattle and simply used a strap made out of a seat belt to carry it over one shoulder..i walked on hundreds of foxes by myself carrying an old single barrel 12g. with much success.I say forget a lot of the other batteries as you dont get the life out of them. up to 3 hours walking time too from a m/bike battery even more if a 50w globe is used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wharf Posted March 5, 2006 Report Share Posted March 5, 2006 The charging life on a car or bike battery isnt the same as a deep cycle battery.Deep cycle will handle a lot more flatenings and chargings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juniorhunter Posted March 5, 2006 Report Share Posted March 5, 2006 The scope mounted spotties arent awkward at all, a mate of mine and i use one when we go out stalkin foxes. Just use a small century battery in a backpack and trudge around the paddocks, it lasts for ages I also have a coleman 800,000CP spotty which goes to the cig lighter and i use that when spotlighting around paddocks that i can drive in Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missionaryman Posted March 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 Here are some photos that I took in my back yard - still haven't had a chance to go to Penrith and use a proper camera. The range on these is only at 14m and I have picked a dark brown fence so that you don't get reflection. You can see how white the beam is especially when compared to the eveready dolphin. It's also whiter than the 5w Luxeon LED. It is the only photo that you can't really see the lights on in the neighbour's homes in the background because it's so bright the camera didn't pick them up. I will soon post some proper pics shwing the range and comparing to a powerful 12v Coleman lantern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missionaryman Posted March 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 The scope mounted spotties arent awkward at all, a mate of mine and i use one when we go out stalkin foxes. Just use a small century battery in a backpack and trudge around the paddocks, it lasts for agesI also have a coleman 800,000CP spotty which goes to the cig lighter and i use that when spotlighting around paddocks that i can drive in Mick Hi Mick - if I were you I would be using a good quality sealed lead acid battery instead of a century car battery for this purpose. If that battery you're using ever spills or explodes (I had one explode and splash me in the face with battery acid when the terminals short circuited accidentally) and the acid gets you in the back you will finish your hunt before you've even noticed that you're burnt. It's a slow burning acid that is used alot of the time and you don't even know it's burning you. Car batteries are not safe outside of a car battery bracket in my opinion. You can get 28AH SLA batteries that will do a great job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juniorhunter Posted March 8, 2006 Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 The scope mounted spotties arent awkward at all, a mate of mine and i use one when we go out stalkin foxes. Just use a small century battery in a backpack and trudge around the paddocks, it lasts for agesI also have a coleman 800,000CP spotty which goes to the cig lighter and i use that when spotlighting around paddocks that i can drive in Mick Hi Mick - if I were you I would be using a good quality sealed lead acid battery instead of a century car battery for this purpose. If that battery you're using ever spills or explodes (I had one explode and splash me in the face with battery acid when the terminals short circuited accidentally) and the acid gets you in the back you will finish your hunt before you've even noticed that you're burnt. It's a slow burning acid that is used alot of the time and you don't even know it's burning you. Car batteries are not safe outside of a car battery bracket in my opinion. You can get 28AH SLA batteries that will do a great job. Good thing it sits atop of my mates 17HMR and the pack is on his back seriously tho thanks for the info i will pass it onto him Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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