Originally Posted by
CalHunter
I'm starting to gear up for night hunting yotes and can only use 9V lights or less (dumb CA law but confirmed with a Game Warden yesterday).
Anybody able to recommend a good light(s) they've used? If so, what distances have the light(s) worked at?
I have no answer per say, just a couple of observations. Volts don't really count for much with the newer LED lights. Lumens (or Lux) is what you want to look at. The higher the Lumens the quicker it drains the battery. Miliamps or amp hours is a decent indicator of how long the battery is likely to last.
There is (supposed to be) a lumen limit, my guess is against eye damage. I have 2000 Lumen lights on my shotguns, good to a hundred yards. I've seen lights small enough to rifle or shotgun mount with 5000 Lumens (advertised Lumens). Advertised Lumens may not be actual Lumens. I have two lights, one 1000 Lumens one 2000 Lumens, the 2000 isn't twice as bright. Best guess is advertised and actual Lumens varies.
I think that 9 volt law is way behind the actual technology of today. My guess is that 9 volt limit is at the battery and not at the bulb. It is more about how long the battery lasts and how hot things get, than the voltage. Now on days they can generate illegal amounts of Lumen with less than 4 volts. It also counts on how big of a spread you want on your light (Lux). I rarely use more than a 10 foot circle (spread) at a hundred yards. The LED actually pulse, but pulse so fast they look continuous. They take a moderate battery voltage and electronically amplify it into a much higher voltage at the bulb (in pulses).
Rechargeable batteries are a big plus. Buying quality batteries is advised, brand name, the highest milliamp rating, is likely to work out better than budget packs of cheap batteries.
Switch placement, whether you can recharge with the battery still in the light, ease of focus and other factors are also to be considered. A five mode light is kind of a pain, you normally have to switch through four modes you never use to get to the one you want first the next time. High-low is really all you need, strobe SOS or whatever is redundant junk IMO.
Last observation, almost the exact same light comes in a large variety of prices and labels. I've found the Amazon specials to be just as good as lights costing 5 X as much. You really don't need as much light as you think you do. The first thing you see is the eyes reflecting, then when you look through your scope things brighten up a lot. Lighting up a whole hillside is largely unnecessary IMO.