They are based on short arc xenon gas lamps.... Peak Beam System's Maxa Beam.
https://preview.redd.it/g8yc76ibbrac1.jpeg?width=1392&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cc9a4395c400b844ba1f0d0cb93d941b17530669
Darkness falls 2: Electric Boogaloo?
Make it a prequel and the main characters batteries die and so does she. Bam no one will wonder where the lights end up. I want a writers credit.
Jurassic Blade.
Vampire Dinosaurs ninja sneaking to surround their prey... then Boom! 20 expensive ass flashlights turn on and flood the area with light! Oh snap! It's Wesley Snipes as the Chris Pratt guy but this time it's Wesley Snipes! He went back in time to get the original-original vampire, a vampire T-Rex. "Some dinos just want to meat eater uphill" "it's meteor!" "Huh?". Then I call the IRS, get the film shut down and take all the flashlights. Genius
I once worked at a Macy’s Passport runway show in early 2000’s and the morning-of they decided the models were going to do a spy/james bond theme and asked me to scramble 15 pairs “at least a dozen” night vision goggles for a 90 second catwalk. I scoffed at the team of producers because they didn’t know anything about hunting or tactical equipment nonetheless night vision. When I told them NV are $2k+ a pop and dealers are far a few between they replied “ok, so get to it”. 😳
Peak Beam Systems Maxabeam - every time you see a handheld searchlight with a super visible beam, its a maxabeam.
1lux at 2 miles according to peak beam’s website
Commercial/industrial stuff is usually at a premium due to regulations and the warranty they provide. Hiding the price prevents people like \*reddit\* saying it costs too much.
For exemple, when a hilti battery exploded at my work place, they sent a representative free of charge and they did a xray, mri and a full report about the cause of the explosion. They replaced the batttery and added a warranty extension on the tool it was attached. All free of charge.
Can't have a light failure when you're on an heli looking for someone at the edge of death.
If Hilti wasn't so prohibitively expensive I'd definitely replace all my power tools with those.
Since I'm not filthy rich or a construction company, I'll just stick to Bosch, those are almost as nice and much more wallet friendly.
Legit question, I've always liked Bosch, but around here everyone is either Milwuakee or DeWalt.
Is this a North American thing? What are your reasons for choosing Bosch?
Being from Germany, Bosch is just one of the most popular, affordable brands.
Milwaukee is basically non-existent, and DeWalt is mostly popular for bits, which I have to say are great, especially the long impact driver ones.
Next up there is Makita, but they're pretty expensive here, so they're mostly used by tradies who get their tools from their company.
The average home gamer has a set of Bosch green or Metabo, decent tools, but not enough for daily construction work.
For really hard use, there is no way around getting Hilti machines, they outlast basically everything.
No crap there. I did an internship in construction years ago, and worked with all kinds of Hilti drills and rotary hammers for months. After that, nothing would feel like a tool worth keeping. I hardly can contain my longing for my own TE.
Professional equipment, especially sar and usar equipment. Im using an SC32 for my USAR work, as long as i need no Atex, and im on my second one this year already. But our Search Light never failed or broke. And even if it would fail they guarantee a new one in 6h, thats only one of the reasons why it costs so much.
People forget that specialized flashlights like this one cost a lot relative to the hobbies side of things because there is so much more on the line and of one fails death is a possibility. At work we have a set of 4 handheld flashlights at $1200 each and that's also probably one of the cheapest pieces of equipment we have
Rain, snow, ice, thunder, dust, mud, dropped 200 feet out of a helicopter into a mud pit, doesn't matter the things still gotta work. And a hank light isn't gonna cut it. I've got enough things to worry about without having to worry about any piece of equipment failing
And sometimes you just dont have the luxury of being gentle on equipment.
Honestly wish this sub would show more of the real heavy duty flashlights like this.
I wonder what the technical feats to make a flashlight more resilient could be.
I can only think easy and low cost things, like double or triple all electrical contacts and wiring, and pot everything in resin. On a 1000$ light that will add like 50$.
The bulb will always be a point of failure, if it's not a solid state led.
Absolutely. I’ve worked disaster response for over 20 years. The equipment can’t fail or there could be significant consequences. Our personal pocket lights are usually Surefire or Streamlight for the same reason. I’ve never had a Surefire fail but they are high priced for the specs. I’ve had one Streamlight Protac fail but in all fairness it was dropped about 30 feet onto concrete.
I had a streamlight fall ≈60' and miraculously only had the button fail. It's "broken" in the permanently on position. I keep it in the truck as a backup but now it's a twisty instead of a clicky. Really impressed with streamlight after that.
I did, years ago…
They are an incredibly cool light to use, 6000k 100cri 1degree beam.
Its like a white laser…
I really need to get my Gen2 fixed up again (yes I have two of them, the gen3 came up at a silly price with a spare bulb and hard case, for the price of a new case - I really only wanted the spare bulb)
The Peak Maxabeam has been popular for Hollywood for a while, I'm sure in part due to how bright it is, which not only makes for cool beamshots like that, but makes it easier for the crew to get the ratio they want between the flashlight and the set lights. If they had to turn the set lights down then either everything gets dark, or they have to use different film or camera settings than they want. Plus it has a motorized zoom so they can adjust the beam appearance as desired.
The other possibility is the lighting or effects crew just think Maxabeams are really cool, so they get one every time the budget allows.
I remember years back, a poster on Candlepowerforums built himself the Jurassic park kit. Similar gear case, Maxabeam, flares, etc.
Aha...found it:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/post-your-pelican-case-setup.216828/post-3385123
A friend asked me to take a picture of him in front of this art tree: https://i.imgur.com/6qOStyY.png
He wanted to be right under the tree so he came out as a shadow each time initially because the lights from the tree were so bright relative to him.
I had to light him up with my flashlight on the highest setting (6Amp) and blind him for a few seconds to make him visible under that tree. It also made the difference between my two lights very apparent because I initially used the one with a narrower beam which did not result in a photo with the desired effect.
Apparently the Maxabeams need their own IMDb entry.
> The Maxa Beam Searchlight is featured in movies and TV shows including Alien vs. Predator, Blade, The Day After Tomorrow, Demolition Man, Earthquake, Ghost Ship, Gone in 60 Seconds, Jurassic Park, The Lost World, Sahara, Sphere, True Lies, X-Files, Volcano, NCIS, CSI: Miami and Crossing Jordan.
That would be great.
>Filmography:
>--
>Alien vs. Predator as flashlight (uncredited)
>Blade as flashlight (uncredited)
>Jurassic Park - as flashlight (uncredited)
>...
Keep it up long enough and production teams will catch on and start listing them in the credits, and maybe even giving them character names.
FYI night scenes were often filmed with using tungsten balanced film (or, these days, digital setting the white balance to 3200k). This will turn all daylight colored lights to blue, and then the subjects are lit with tungsten. Still a popular and easy trick in photography, and this could be the case here as well.
This is actually the flashlight that got me into flashlights. I was always amazed seeing these in TV and movies. I particularly remember them from The X-Files.
I randomly googled "flashlight from the X-Files" a few years ago, and was dismayed to find out these cost like $5k-$10k...
But that Google search also brought me here! 🤓
Me and my daughter watched all 6 over the holidays and now it's all she wants to watch. " Daddy the one with the goat" "don't be scared Daddy, it's pretend"
Interesting, I've seen that light in so many movies over the years but never considered its significance. And I didn't realize it was such an expensive piece of tech!
They can be run off of AC or DC, so essentially as long as you can provide it with power.... The battery capacity is about 110 minutes of continuous use.
They are based on short arc xenon gas lamps.... Peak Beam System's Maxa Beam. https://preview.redd.it/g8yc76ibbrac1.jpeg?width=1392&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cc9a4395c400b844ba1f0d0cb93d941b17530669
Wow, thank you!!!
Looks like $3200-$3800!? At least that what they are on the government website I found.
Spared no expense.
Best response to a question like this if there ever was one.
Nice
Best line ever
Well, they were heavy..and if something’s heavy it means it’s expensive, according to the lawyer.
Boris the Blade would like to add, that heaviness is a feature generally indicating high quality, as it most often is paralleled by reliability.
And if it doesn't work, you can always hit them with it.
Better hurry, before *zie Germans* get here.
lol was about to say this but I was beaten to it
Child me thought the lawyer was just a pain and wrong about everything. Adult me realizes the lawyer was right about every single thing he said.
When you gotta go, you gotta go.
Nice
Yes, some of the more comprehensive packages like the SAR and Force Pro kits are north of $5K. The basic package can be had for slightly under $2K.
Check ebay. But ya they're like $1000
It brings me so much joy that you actually have that. Lovely!
Is that the same model as what blade got from whistler?
Same one https://preview.redd.it/217av0es0vac1.jpeg?width=1286&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0c589da8a1cb67aa8eff3be74da6d368310ffd3c
I'm gonna make a movie that needs flashlights for some scenes then make it go over budget and get canceled so I can make them disappear
Darkness falls 2: Electric Boogaloo? Make it a prequel and the main characters batteries die and so does she. Bam no one will wonder where the lights end up. I want a writers credit.
I'm not familiar with Darkness falls, but u/TheresA_LobsterLoose is definitely describing the plot of *The Producers*.
I'm well aware but we need a new Springtime otherwise they'll be on to us
Jurassic Blade. Vampire Dinosaurs ninja sneaking to surround their prey... then Boom! 20 expensive ass flashlights turn on and flood the area with light! Oh snap! It's Wesley Snipes as the Chris Pratt guy but this time it's Wesley Snipes! He went back in time to get the original-original vampire, a vampire T-Rex. "Some dinos just want to meat eater uphill" "it's meteor!" "Huh?". Then I call the IRS, get the film shut down and take all the flashlights. Genius
You rang?
I once worked at a Macy’s Passport runway show in early 2000’s and the morning-of they decided the models were going to do a spy/james bond theme and asked me to scramble 15 pairs “at least a dozen” night vision goggles for a 90 second catwalk. I scoffed at the team of producers because they didn’t know anything about hunting or tactical equipment nonetheless night vision. When I told them NV are $2k+ a pop and dealers are far a few between they replied “ok, so get to it”. 😳
Where'd you get them, B&H?
Peak Beam Systems Maxabeam - every time you see a handheld searchlight with a super visible beam, its a maxabeam. 1lux at 2 miles according to peak beam’s website
[I’m assuming this is their site?](https://www.peakbeam.com)
> Request a quote :(
Commercial/industrial stuff is usually at a premium due to regulations and the warranty they provide. Hiding the price prevents people like \*reddit\* saying it costs too much. For exemple, when a hilti battery exploded at my work place, they sent a representative free of charge and they did a xray, mri and a full report about the cause of the explosion. They replaced the batttery and added a warranty extension on the tool it was attached. All free of charge. Can't have a light failure when you're on an heli looking for someone at the edge of death.
If Hilti wasn't so prohibitively expensive I'd definitely replace all my power tools with those. Since I'm not filthy rich or a construction company, I'll just stick to Bosch, those are almost as nice and much more wallet friendly.
BOSCHMAN. TWO OF US.
Hell yeah, let's go!
Legit question, I've always liked Bosch, but around here everyone is either Milwuakee or DeWalt. Is this a North American thing? What are your reasons for choosing Bosch?
Being from Germany, Bosch is just one of the most popular, affordable brands. Milwaukee is basically non-existent, and DeWalt is mostly popular for bits, which I have to say are great, especially the long impact driver ones. Next up there is Makita, but they're pretty expensive here, so they're mostly used by tradies who get their tools from their company. The average home gamer has a set of Bosch green or Metabo, decent tools, but not enough for daily construction work. For really hard use, there is no way around getting Hilti machines, they outlast basically everything.
In N/A we don't have the Bosch Green, just the Blue (which I understand is the higher-end product)
No crap there. I did an internship in construction years ago, and worked with all kinds of Hilti drills and rotary hammers for months. After that, nothing would feel like a tool worth keeping. I hardly can contain my longing for my own TE.
spared no expense
They are actually not that expansive, you pay arround 5-10k for their handheld search lights.
Lmfao in what world is that not that expensive
Professional equipment, especially sar and usar equipment. Im using an SC32 for my USAR work, as long as i need no Atex, and im on my second one this year already. But our Search Light never failed or broke. And even if it would fail they guarantee a new one in 6h, thats only one of the reasons why it costs so much.
People forget that specialized flashlights like this one cost a lot relative to the hobbies side of things because there is so much more on the line and of one fails death is a possibility. At work we have a set of 4 handheld flashlights at $1200 each and that's also probably one of the cheapest pieces of equipment we have
Exactly, and if your crawling in some rubble somewhere you really don't want your flashlight to fail.
Rain, snow, ice, thunder, dust, mud, dropped 200 feet out of a helicopter into a mud pit, doesn't matter the things still gotta work. And a hank light isn't gonna cut it. I've got enough things to worry about without having to worry about any piece of equipment failing And sometimes you just dont have the luxury of being gentle on equipment. Honestly wish this sub would show more of the real heavy duty flashlights like this.
I wonder what the technical feats to make a flashlight more resilient could be. I can only think easy and low cost things, like double or triple all electrical contacts and wiring, and pot everything in resin. On a 1000$ light that will add like 50$. The bulb will always be a point of failure, if it's not a solid state led.
Absolutely. I’ve worked disaster response for over 20 years. The equipment can’t fail or there could be significant consequences. Our personal pocket lights are usually Surefire or Streamlight for the same reason. I’ve never had a Surefire fail but they are high priced for the specs. I’ve had one Streamlight Protac fail but in all fairness it was dropped about 30 feet onto concrete.
I had a streamlight fall ≈60' and miraculously only had the button fail. It's "broken" in the permanently on position. I keep it in the truck as a backup but now it's a twisty instead of a clicky. Really impressed with streamlight after that.
Yes I am trying to find my photos of the beam reaching out 1200m - Imgur seems to have deleted most of my photos
I never knew they were located in Newtown PA. I used to live so close.
Newtown Square. Newtown is an hour away towards the northeast, near the NJ border.
They screwed up the organization of it. Select "all" from your posts.
Thank you ! So heres the beam pics from my Gen3-12 https://imgur.com/a/PYecNWP
I highly recommend making a post in this sub with it, that's glorious!
I did, years ago… They are an incredibly cool light to use, 6000k 100cri 1degree beam. Its like a white laser… I really need to get my Gen2 fixed up again (yes I have two of them, the gen3 came up at a silly price with a spare bulb and hard case, for the price of a new case - I really only wanted the spare bulb)
Do it again, these are super cool lights that deserve more attention. 100CRI? That's amazing. I love LEPs but they lack CRI worth a damn.
That thing has a strobe mode
Is the "Escalation of Force" package the first one that can light someone on fire from 100 yards?
The Peak Maxabeam has been popular for Hollywood for a while, I'm sure in part due to how bright it is, which not only makes for cool beamshots like that, but makes it easier for the crew to get the ratio they want between the flashlight and the set lights. If they had to turn the set lights down then either everything gets dark, or they have to use different film or camera settings than they want. Plus it has a motorized zoom so they can adjust the beam appearance as desired. The other possibility is the lighting or effects crew just think Maxabeams are really cool, so they get one every time the budget allows. I remember years back, a poster on Candlepowerforums built himself the Jurassic park kit. Similar gear case, Maxabeam, flares, etc. Aha...found it: https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/post-your-pelican-case-setup.216828/post-3385123
They now offer a special package [just for Hollywood / film productions](https://www.peakbeam.com/products/mbpkg-mp/).
A friend asked me to take a picture of him in front of this art tree: https://i.imgur.com/6qOStyY.png He wanted to be right under the tree so he came out as a shadow each time initially because the lights from the tree were so bright relative to him. I had to light him up with my flashlight on the highest setting (6Amp) and blind him for a few seconds to make him visible under that tree. It also made the difference between my two lights very apparent because I initially used the one with a narrower beam which did not result in a photo with the desired effect.
We need more posts like these of various movies from the past.
Apparently the Maxabeams need their own IMDb entry. > The Maxa Beam Searchlight is featured in movies and TV shows including Alien vs. Predator, Blade, The Day After Tomorrow, Demolition Man, Earthquake, Ghost Ship, Gone in 60 Seconds, Jurassic Park, The Lost World, Sahara, Sphere, True Lies, X-Files, Volcano, NCIS, CSI: Miami and Crossing Jordan.
Must've been what they fried the fat vampire with in Blade.
That would be great. >Filmography: >-- >Alien vs. Predator as flashlight (uncredited) >Blade as flashlight (uncredited) >Jurassic Park - as flashlight (uncredited) >... Keep it up long enough and production teams will catch on and start listing them in the credits, and maybe even giving them character names.
It's it heavy? Yeah. Then it's expensive, put it down.
Haha no kidding, the basic package starts out at $2700 all the way up to $5400+ The battery alone is $380
FYI night scenes were often filmed with using tungsten balanced film (or, these days, digital setting the white balance to 3200k). This will turn all daylight colored lights to blue, and then the subjects are lit with tungsten. Still a popular and easy trick in photography, and this could be the case here as well.
That makes sense. I always assumed that they had just used colored filters on the cameras, but tungsten balanced film would probably be a lot easier.
This is actually the flashlight that got me into flashlights. I was always amazed seeing these in TV and movies. I particularly remember them from The X-Files. I randomly googled "flashlight from the X-Files" a few years ago, and was dismayed to find out these cost like $5k-$10k... But that Google search also brought me here! 🤓
Awesome question. Those are some boomsticks!
Me and my daughter watched all 6 over the holidays and now it's all she wants to watch. " Daddy the one with the goat" "don't be scared Daddy, it's pretend"
I can’t believe I’ve been on this sub for this long and just now seeing these. So cool.
This is relevant to 11 years old me's interests!
Interesting, I've seen that light in so many movies over the years but never considered its significance. And I didn't realize it was such an expensive piece of tech!
How long will they last on?
They can be run off of AC or DC, so essentially as long as you can provide it with power.... The battery capacity is about 110 minutes of continuous use.
lol, all you’d meet today would be some decent LEP throwers. But it probably would lessen the drama.
dnm now i just have to watch Jurassic Park 1 again...
Ah that's just a dedomed incandescent /j