Pelican BIG ED Flashlight????

[NUMBY]

I am thinking about buying one of these new lights and was wondering if anyone has had the chance to use one yet. The dept I work for issues us a pelican 3C flashlight. They are very dependable and are mostly unbreakable, and if you do break it, there is always the pelican unconditional lifetime guarantee. I would like to have one that has the 90 degree angle at the bottom to hang from the hook on my jacket. Im trying to chooses between the Survivor and the new Big ED. The price of the Big Ed is normally 200 bucks, but pelican is now running a special for 99, so the price between the 2 is about the same. So, if anyone has had any experience with the Big Ed, id like to hear about it. Thanks in advance.

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Anything i say in the forums is my opinion and does not reflect my department or any organization i belong to.

[Resq14]

Don't overlook the Koehler Responder light...

stores 2 spare bulbs and in a pinch, can run on alkaline batteries.

it's a more durable light than the survivor light, and i preffered it over the survivor.

[Da Sharkie]

I have to agree with Resq14. The Koehler Responder is the best I have seen yet. It's 3 times brighter than the survivor, weighs roughly the same, is easier to use since it has one big button on the side instead of a switch. And, it is only about $20 more than the survivor, that's the least expensive price I have found.

I know you asked about the Big ED. I looked on the web site for pelican and really didn't feel I got a whole lot of information out of it especially regarding candlepower of the light. Not a big deal but nice things you want to know when doing a comparison for a purchase.

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I didn't do it, nobody saw me do it. You can't prove anything.

[NUMBY]

Thanks for the replies. The responder is another choice. I still havent found out much about the Big Ed. Pelican says it will be the brightest, toughest flashlight you can buy. But they dont say how many candle power it actually is. One of the guys I work with bought one of the Koehler Responders that is the 3C version. It is claimed to be 50,000 candle power. After testing it out we were totally unsatisfied. The pelican 3C that is 12,000 candle power was actually brighter. If anyone has any experience with the Big Ed, let me know how you rate it.

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Anything i say in the forums is my opinion and does not reflect my department or any organization i belong to.

[Da Sharkie]

NUMBY,

I just did a little more research for you. Go to http://www.flashlight.com and look around for "Responder Rechargeable Personal Light" and you will have some info on it. It cannot be confused with the 3C model you referred to. They look like a survivor light but with a lens twice as big. I hope this helps you out. By the way, the least expensive price I have found is from the Fire Barn in Milford, NH for $124. www.firebarn.com is their web site. You can get the phone numbers from it but the light itself is not on the on-line catalog. I hope this helps in your search for a good light.

Take care and stay safe.

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I didn't do it, nobody saw me do it. You can't prove anything.

[RADFIRE]

I have a Streamlight Vulcan on a short seatbelt of my own improvisation. The light has 60,000 candlepower, is pending for being intrinsically safe and has an easy switch for gloved use. The little right angle Streamlights only have 15,000 cp.
The belt has the buckle and is the right length for the light to sit along my ribcage under my arm. It steadies the light as you cut, search and stretch line.
The light is the best I've ever owned, but others may have better purchases.
Good luck........it's just my opinion.

[This message has been edited by RADFIRE (edited 01-17-2001).]

[JetAxe]

I ordered one (Big Ed) because of the satisfaction guarantee. I figure if I don't like it, I'll send it back. However I am tired of waiting for it. It's on back order.

[Captain112]

Big Ed flashlights

We are using them in the majority of our apparatus here in Ontario, Canada. The warranty provided is outstanding and we are so impressed with the produt that we are standardizing the fleet with these lights. Our FF's preferred these lights to the Responder and other products we were using. Just my 2 cents. Ben

[doughesson]

File this and similar threads under"Things you'll never hear a firefighter say":Pelican(tm),Streamlight(tm)?What's the difference?"

[callaway75]

After 7 years, he probably already found a flashlight that worked for him.

[jayfire2620]

I just got the new Survivor LED light a few months back. It gets a ton of use and holds up great. It was suggested to me by some of our guys that have had them for awhile and loved them. They are more than enough bright and have a push button on top now that is easier to use than the old switch. Our FF's see alot of fire, on avg 2 workers a day and no one has had a problem. We've had guys melt and/or bubble their helmet shields and their coats change colors, and the lights just get smoked up. But, if they do get smoked up (lens) wipe the lens after the call or scrub them lightly once in awhile and they come clean no problem. Plus you hold the button down for a sec and it goes to half power, sec longer and it flashes in case something ever happens. And the best part. We only have to charge ours once in a great while. The guys that have the older Survivor or Pelican halogen lights have to charge them all the time and you can see them dimming during every fire.
I love Pelican stuff and have the 3C, the stealthlite, a L1..little LED, and some pen lights and love them all, but from the variety that our guys carry Survivor lights are great and LED's hands down cannot be beat..lasting power, wear on batteries/rechargables, and pretty bright as long as you don't get the early model LED's that are short distance flood lights more than flashlights. We can put the old Survivior lights beam on a wall and the LED ones next to them and they look alot brighter..my opinion though.
If your set on Pelican though get the recoil stuff. You get a straight bright beam that way, not a flood light. Can't comment on Streamlights backing of their lights though, this is my first one from them and I haven't had a problem with it. But I know some people that have had their stealthlites melt some and pelican has replaced them with no fuss.

[jccrabby3084]

If your set on Pelican though get the recoil stuff. You get a straight bright beam that way, not a flood light. Can't comment on Streamlights backing of their lights though, this is my first one from them and I haven't had a problem with it. But I know some people that have had their stealthlites melt some and pelican has replaced them with no fuss.

Couldn't agree more. I have a Little Ed light with the recoil technology. Basically shining a flashlight in smoke, the light bounces off the smoke like a headlight in fog. With the recoil technology, the beam is more concentrated and cuts through the smoke better.

[volfireman034]

Can I ask a side question? We are thinking about purchasing one of these lights to. Trying to decide which one, but we were wondering how any of the choices would hold up sitting in there charger for maybe 2 months at a time before use. We only have maybe 8 to 12 calls a year to so there would be a long time between between uses. Would this greatly reduce the lenght of time of useful light? I know if our handheld radio's stay in the charge for days or weeks on end the lenght of charge is greatly reduced. Would it be a better idea for us to use the Big ED 4 C battery model? Thanks

[Alex1137]

Would this greatly reduce the lenght of time of useful light?

Simply put, yes. Sitting in the charger for weeks or months will destroy the battery.

[jayfire2620]

The only thing I could think of would to be either buy one that takes batteries or charge the rechargable battery full and then take it out of the light and set it next to the light till you need it and then pop it in as needed. It will run down out of the light also but not as fast. Probably be some trial with that, charge then take out, recharge after 4 months have to see how long it will last till it needs chargin again. But I would say since the use is low and the rechargables can be pricey for the light and the batteries, save the money buy one that takes store bought batteries and if they die your out a couple bucks rather than thirty plus dollars on the rechargables.
Oh and I just realized what callaway75 meant by 7 years...he probably did find one since it was posted that long ago, nice catch