Waterproof P7 torch under £50?

rodgers73

Going to treat myself to a proper torch for the bike but not sure if I buy an ordinary P7 whether it will be ok for cycling - i.e fully waterproof with strobe/flash mode.

Can anyone recommend a high quality P7 that will flash/strobe and not pack up when it starts raining? (not £10 ebay ones - have got one of those now and not too happy with quality).

Thanks (and sorry for starting another lights thread!)


Tom

badgerman26

http://www.mtbbritain.co.uk/mountain_bi ... w_led.html

Everything u need to know in there.

bartimaeus

My DX P7 has been running for 5 months now with no problems whatsoever. I've used it once or twice each week throughout this period, though only two or three times in the rain and no serious downpours. It does have o-rings, so I'm going to dig out some grease from my old diving kit - I reckon that will keep it safe through the winter. Time will tell!

I have a 3 mode P7... HI, LO and STROBE (see What Lights in the MTB forum). If I get another I'll go for 5 mode as the HI/LO is not great for the road with HI too bright for traffic, and LO a bit too dim. The 5 modes have HI, MED, LO and two STROBES, and I reckon the MID would be fine for a commute.

I guess it all depends on how much money you are willing to spend an how much light you think you need. I wanted a cheap set-up to ride at night. £65 gets you a P7, a C1 (now with XPG), mounts, batteries, chargers and spares - and enough light for serious off road in pitch dark. For commuting I guess you'd be happy to spend the same for less light output - but with better build quality. The Madison Terra set-up was the best budget light in this months WMB test... but it is £100 for 2x120 lumens, when my DX set up is probably giving me 500+200 lumens.

andy83

Bartimaeus wrote:

My DX P7 has been running for 5 months now with no problems whatsoever. I've used it once or twice each week throughout this period, though only two or three times in the rain and no serious downpours. It does have o-rings, so I'm going to dig out some grease from my old diving kit - I reckon that will keep it safe through the winter. Time will tell!

I have a 3 mode P7... HI, LO and STROBE (see What Lights in the MTB forum). If I get another I'll go for 5 mode as the HI/LO is not great for the road with HI too bright for traffic, and LO a bit too dim. The 5 modes have HI, MED, LO and two STROBES, and I reckon the MID would be fine for a commute.

I guess it all depends on how much money you are willing to spend an how much light you think you need. I wanted a cheap set-up to ride at night. £65 gets you a P7, a C1 (now with XPG), mounts, batteries, chargers and spares - and enough light for serious off road in pitch dark. For commuting I guess you'd be happy to spend the same for less light output - but with better build quality. The Madison Terra set-up was the best budget light in this months WMB test... but it is £100 for 2x120 lumens, when my DX set up is probably giving me 500+200 lumens.

What charger do you use? im looking to order me some p7 torches and charger etc from dx but unsure of which charger to get. could I just use a normal kettle lead with this?

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1251

also does the light take one or two batteries

thanks

rf6

Yes, you can use a normal kettle lead with that charger.

bartimaeus

Each torch takes only one battery... there are 2*18650 torches but they would be too big and heavy. A Magicshine is essentially a P7 in a bike-specific housing, with a separate external rechargeable pack of 4*18650 cells... one of these is £50 from DX and will give you a longer burn time. There have been reported issues with water getting in the battery connections and killing these - but I think there is a new-and-better version.

My set up is:

19189 TrustFire P7-F15 SSC P7-WC 3-Mode 900-Lumen LED Flashlight (1*18650) Main light (There is a 5 mode which may be better, as the LOW on HI/LOW is fairly dim... the C1 has a very useful MID mode. Do a search on P7 as I think sonic recommended one of these 5 mode lights)

14443 Ultrafire C1 Cree R2-WC 5-Mode Memory LED Flashlight (2*CR123A/1*18650) Helmet lights (You can now get an XPG version of this light which is apparently better - look at this and this I think )

15642 Universal Bicycle Mount for Flashlights and Gadgets (2cm~3cm Diameter Adjustable) Attach P7 to bike
12000 Universal Nylon Mount for Flashlights and Lasers Attach C1 to helmet
13820 OEM 2*18650 Lithium Battery Charger (110V~240V AC) Charger for 18650s
02709 Universal UK Travel Power Adapter Plug Adapter for charger
05790 TrustFire Protected 18650 Lithium Battery (2500mAh 2-Pack Blue) Batteries

Zachariah

The DX P7 torches are all excellent. Mine (SSC Aurora 5 function) is certainly waterproof against a 2hr cycle in heavy rain. The low setting is fine if you want to be seen. High is equivalent to a motorcycle beam.

Do not count on using the strobe function in traffic. It's a very fast, bright strobe more suited to an SAS house clearance than bike riding!

rodgers73

Bartimaeus wrote:

My DX P7 has been running for 5 months now with no problems whatsoever. I've used it once or twice each week throughout this period, though only two or three times in the rain and no serious downpours. It does have o-rings, so I'm going to dig out some grease from my old diving kit - I reckon that will keep it safe through the winter. Time will tell!

I have a 3 mode P7... HI, LO and STROBE (see What Lights in the MTB forum). If I get another I'll go for 5 mode as the HI/LO is not great for the road with HI too bright for traffic, and LO a bit too dim. The 5 modes have HI, MED, LO and two STROBES, and I reckon the MID would be fine for a commute.

I guess it all depends on how much money you are willing to spend an how much light you think you need. I wanted a cheap set-up to ride at night. £65 gets you a P7, a C1 (now with XPG), mounts, batteries, chargers and spares - and enough light for serious off road in pitch dark. For commuting I guess you'd be happy to spend the same for less light output - but with better build quality. The Madison Terra set-up was the best budget light in this months WMB test... but it is £100 for 2x120 lumens, when my DX set up is probably giving me 500+200 lumens.

Can you tell me where you got your DX P7 from and how much it cost?

Cheers

Tom

rodgers73

Bartimaeus wrote:

My DX P7 has been running for 5 months now with no problems whatsoever. I've used it once or twice each week throughout this period, though only two or three times in the rain and no serious downpours. It does have o-rings, so I'm going to dig out some grease from my old diving kit - I reckon that will keep it safe through the winter. Time will tell!

I have a 3 mode P7... HI, LO and STROBE (see What Lights in the MTB forum). If I get another I'll go for 5 mode as the HI/LO is not great for the road with HI too bright for traffic, and LO a bit too dim. The 5 modes have HI, MED, LO and two STROBES, and I reckon the MID would be fine for a commute.

I guess it all depends on how much money you are willing to spend an how much light you think you need. I wanted a cheap set-up to ride at night. £65 gets you a P7, a C1 (now with XPG), mounts, batteries, chargers and spares - and enough light for serious off road in pitch dark. For commuting I guess you'd be happy to spend the same for less light output - but with better build quality. The Madison Terra set-up was the best budget light in this months WMB test... but it is £100 for 2x120 lumens, when my DX set up is probably giving me 500+200 lumens.

Can you tell me where you got your DX P7 from and how much it cost?

Cheers

Tom

bartimaeus

Sorry, DX is shorthand for Dealextreme... so my P7 is a Trustfire P7: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.19189 $35 USD (that's about £22 GBP)

You also need the cells (18650s), a charger and some mounts.

UndercoverElephant

Zachariah wrote:

The DX P7 torches are all excellent. Mine (SSC Aurora 5 function) is certainly waterproof against a 2hr cycle in heavy rain. The low setting is fine if you want to be seen. High is equivalent to a motorcycle beam.

Do not count on using the strobe function in traffic. It's a very fast, bright strobe more suited to an SAS house clearance than bike riding!

That's just what they've dispatched to me... I read the the Aurora ones are very high quality.

How fast is the strobe, roughly? My current torch strobes at about 3-4 Hz, which is pretty fast and works well as a bike light, IMO.

Zachariah

I don't know exactly, I'd estimate 3-5 flashes a second. For me and everyone else I've tried, it's almost impossible to look at for more than a few seconds. I would expect to be told to turn it off by any coppers who saw me using it on the road.

tomb353

am no expert on torches but aldi currently have 3W CREE 130 lumen ones at £9.99 each, put a couple of these together with buying a £1 pack of kodak batteries from poundstrecher and some ebay mounts and you have a very cheap lighting set without the hassle of imports.

Are there any advantages to rechargeable batteries other than environmental?

Headhuunter

tomb353 wrote:

am no expert on torches but aldi currently have 3W CREE 130 lumen ones at £9.99 each, put a couple of these together with buying a £1 pack of kodak batteries from poundstrecher and some ebay mounts and you have a very cheap lighting set without the hassle of imports.

Are there any advantages to rechargeable batteries other than environmental?

Rechargeables hold their charge better than disposables, well alkaline ones do anyway (AAA or AA). Disposable batteries start to lose voltage from the minute you start to use them, so the torch begins to dim immediately, fading bit by bit by bit until it goes out, whereas rechargeables will maintain the same brightness for a long time and then suddenly go very dim and go out (so always carry some spare batts).

Can you post a link to the 9.99 Aldi torches? They sound worth a look... I use a Fenix torch which takes 2xAA and i use a Technoline intelligent charger to keep the AAs working weill. Rechargeable AAs are very cheap.

andy83

Thanks for the advice everyone.

To be honest i have a few other blinker lights to be seen its just part of my commute can be country lanes so will have the full beam on for this and low beam most of the time

lights now ordered. Hope they alright as got one for friend aswell

Zachariah

The principle benefit of rechargables is money. You will save surprsing amounts when you dispose of the disposables and get the recharging batteries. If you use your torch a lot, rechargeables are a must.

tomb353

http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/sp ... _15768.htm
from last thursday so you should stil be able to find some.

johnny-marrone

If you are worried about your torch being waterproof, I would recommend using an old MTB innertube (26" x 1.5" I think) which makes an excellent waterproof 'sheath.' I've done this with my DX P7 and have had no problems with either overheating or water getting in.

Valy

Yeah all this talk about water-proofing. Do you not have to cover the battery pack somehow?

What do you guys use? I think the torch itself should be fine, it's just the battery pack I'm unsure about.

Regieuk

I picked my P7 Ultrafire off Ebay (from China) and ordered the 18650 batteries & charger separate, cracking torch. I ride a lot of unlit country roads (13 mile commute, 90% unlit). This is the best light I have bought, really lights the way. If angled right it will not effect car drivers but will light up a lot of road.
I intend to purchase this for the bar light and use my P7 as a helmet light.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/LED-Light-SSC-P7- ... 7609wt_882