LED or Bulbs which is better in smoke?

[Wo202ody]

I would like to purchase a personal flashlight but i am not sure to get the light with LED's or just regular bulbs....which does everyone feel would have better use and cut through smoke better...i know flashlights under certain conditions don't make difference but regardless... Opinions?

[Recon509]

I've had both in the survivor lights. Personally I like the new led one better, charge seems to last longer also. Seems brighter too. However most the time I still can't see crap so It usually stays off until venting is pretty well taking over. Hope that helps!

[ENG103]

The new super LEDs are great. They put out a nice tight spot light as opposed to the multiLED floods

[FyredUp]

I have tested the Survivor LED side by side in a smoke environment with the older style Survivor with the Black Xenon bulb and the answer is clear to me. While the LED is substantially brighter the Black Xenon bulb penetrates much farther into the smoke than the LED does.

The major advantages of the LED in a Survivor are the ability to use regular C batteries and the length of use on a charge is better than the Black Xenon bulb style.

My opinion...stay with the Black Xenon bulb.

[johnny46]

Develop the power of echolocation and you won't need a light.

[eaglesrule1024]

Develop the power of echolocation and you won't need a light.

Only if we had bat powers that might be possible.

[arff17]

FoxFury makes a Light with 2 green LED's. They say that greem penetrates better

[flamewalker25]

Take a look at the Pelican Recoil LED series. I sell Streamlight and Pelican, but in my opinion the Recoil head does a very good job in smoke. If you try a Pelican side-by-side with any other light in a normal environment the other light will look brighter, but put them in smoke and you'll see a difference. They run on LED's that, rather than aiming straight out like a regular light, the LED aims back at the refractor which is what helps the light cut through smoke.

[BULL321]

I have tested the Survivor LED side by side in a smoke environment with the older style Survivor with the Black Xenon bulb and the answer is clear to me. While the LED is substantially brighter the Black Xenon bulb penetrates much farther into the smoke than the LED does.

The major advantages of the LED in a Survivor are the ability to use regular C batteries and the length of use on a charge is better than the Black Xenon bulb style.

My opinion...stay with the Black Xenon bulb.

You got that right brother, It's the best light out on the market for cutting through the smoke. The LED last longer but how long do realy plan on being in a burning building? The charge on the Xenon bulb last up to 1 1/2 to 2 hrs. or so and if you are still fighting fire inside a building for over that ammount of time, the type of flash light you have is going to be the least of your worries. If you are still worried about run time, purchase the piggy back charger w/the extra battery.

Stay Safe
Bull

[trevolp]

I have a pelican helmet mount with a xenon bulb and it's bright. I also have a sabrelight in my pocket. In regards to lights, the brighter they better but not in very smokey conditions. It blinds you, and if you are on the attack line searching for the fire it is easier to locate the fire without a helmet light turned on. It mimicks the effects of driving in fog or heavy snow with your high beams on......very blinding

[firebug1105]

I would go with the LCD. Better battery life and better smoke cutting power

[johnny46]

I would go with the LCD. Better battery life and better smoke cutting power

But do you really need a high definition light?

[THEFIRENUT]

I would go with the LCD. Better battery life and better smoke cutting power

What is the difference between the LED and the LCD flashlights (thought that he missspelled it until I did a search and found an LCD flashlight)?

[THEFIRENUT]

They say that greem penetrates better

I have some greem shorts to go with that light. Looking for a matching hat

[jbrescue]

From a purely physics standpoint, the LED will not have the same distance as a regular bulb. The individula bulb candle power is still the same at distance. They are brighter up close for sure. They use less energy, thus longer battery power. All LED lights do. The are too bright for smoky environments and cause too much glare.

[RayLight]

In terms of total light output, the xenon bulb produces more light than current LED lights on the market. LED's continue to evolve and improve their lumen per watt output (on average every 2 yrs they drastically improve their performance) but don't yet meet a xenon bulb's output for the same price point.

It's important to remember that the bulb or LED is not the only thing determining how much light is coming out of the front of the flashlight. The reflector is very important. Matching a good light source (xenon bulb or LED) to a good reflector is critical. The better they are matched, the better the usable light output.

Multiple LED's in a flashlight signify it is an old design. Back then, you had to use many LED's in order to get any meaningful output. Today's newest designs use only one ultra-bright LED. They are plenty bright and use highly polished reflectors to focus the light.

The best bet is to look at a few of the newest designs and decide for yourself. Two newly designed LED lights come to mind: Streamlight Survivior LED and Bright Star Lighthawk LED.

But as I said earlier, xenon still produces more light. If the LED is not yet bright enough for you...wait 2 yrs, they are sure to get brighter!

Ray

[jbrescue]

AHHH, but there is still the problem of penetration and distance. The inverse square law of light still applies. So, it does not really matter how bright a bulb is if it does not have the penetration of distance. LED's have gotten better, they are still very bright at short distances, but do not have the penetrating abilities.

[ex7500]

I guys, I have been playing around with he FoxFury, I found a video of one in use, it's not me using it. but you can tell the difference. At first I was a little old school about having this light on my helmet, I always used the Advanced light FD-1, which I do still Love, but with the Foxfury on my helmet, I didn't have to point the light, it pointed where my head direction was.
Here is the link http://site.emergencyresponderproduc...eo/foxfury.wmv

this is where I bought it.
http://www.emergencyresponderproducts.com/helico20.html

Stay Safe.