There are two different types of people in the world, the sensible ones and the non-sensible ones. The sensible ones think that purchasing a nice shiny new BMW Z4 in Alpine White is not a sensible idea. Perhaps they don’t like the colour, or perhaps because it will sit in the driveway most of the time doing nothing. And despite the fact that it will get washed and polished twice a week, fettled and cherished every day and taken for drive in the country on Sunday. A certain non-sensible person does not agree with this. So, as I’m not allowed to buy big toys, smaller toys will have to do.
If you are a regular reader of the Turf Blogs on Planet Gary you will know well my enthusiasm for nocturnal turfing adventures in the wee small hours. Now, as it is dark at night, as you might expect, I carry a small torch with me. In fact, I’ve been using my Knog Road 400 bike lights and while they serve well most of the time, I’ve had a few recent problems and they are proving very unreliable. For example, I charged up my spare light, tested it at the time but when I came to switch it on the bloody thing failed to work. Not very helpful in the middle of pitch-dark woodland. Time to get something better.
As usual, I started by setting out the criteria for my purchase:
- must include a replaceable rechargeable battery.
- have a minimum duration of around 8 hours.
- be lightweight and compact for easy carrying.
- be reliable, solidly-built and waterproof.
- include long-range spot and flood beam patterns.
- be easy to switch on and off one-handed.
- have a range of different light intensity settings.
- include a protective belt pouch 0r case.
- be able to be fitted with a red lens filter.
It took hours of searching online, reading reviews (all be it with a pinch of salt) and comparing dozens of different makes and models. Eventually, I found exactly what I was looking for in the Ledlenser MT14, bought on Amazon for £85.00. The Ledlenser MT14 is made from aircraft grade aluminium, measures 151mm long with a head diameter of 39mm and weighs in at 253g with an additional 105g for the battery.
It offers three different brightness settings along with strobe. Maximum light output in lightsabre mode is an excellent 1000 lumens from a single Xtreme white LED, more than enough for my needs, with a claimed duration of 9 hours and a range of 320m. Good for lighting up distant objects, route planning and seeing what wildlife are about. The lowest setting, the trip over everything mode, is only 10 lumens with a range of 30m, and I’m not sure how much use that will be. However, the middle setting of 200 lumens is ideal with a 120m range, not too bright and not too dim, just perfect. And it will last a claimed 20 hours duration.
Other features include a means of preventing the torch being accidentally switched on, a programable switch and a power indicator showing remaining battery power. It comes with a nylon case/belt pouch. The torch is not waterproof but is water resistant to IP54, so should be okay for my requirements. And finally, it comes with a 7 year warranty.
So, there we are. The torch should arrive today, hopefully with enough time to get it charged up and head off down to the coast down at Aberlady Bay Nature Reserve after sunset and do some turfing/sky watching/wildlife watching and some other top-secret activities I’m not allowed to mention. Will post an update on the Ledlenser MT14 soon, probably tomorrow.
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