LAST UPDATED: May 8th, 2015
For many years the standard Maglite has ruled the roost for the majority of hunters. I've owned more D-Cell Maglites and Mini-Maglites than I can even recall, half of them which mysteriously ended up in the black abyss of flashlight oblivion, the other half of which the flashlight gnomes made off with while I slept. While on the hunt (no pun intended) for a new light I ran across the new Hunting Light Series from Primos.
The first thing that caught my eye on these new lights was their brightness in comparison to their size. While the standard Maglite does a great job for what it is, carrying around a 4, 5, or 6 cell Maglite can be a real pain. The largest of the Primos Hunting Lights is the PH-6 which runs on 6 AA batteries and puts out a whopping 220 lumens. On the brightest setting the PH-6 has a continuous burn time of 10 hours, and 18 hours on the low setting. By comparison, a 4 D-Cell Maglite with standard Krypton lamp puts out 122 lumens with a run time of 9-10 hours. So you're looking at nearly twice the brightness with the same continuous run time in a considerably smaller package. Even the monster 6 cell Maglite with Xenon lamp only puts out 12 more lumens than the PH-6.
Stepping down one size in the Hunting Light Series is the PH-2 which is comparable in size to a Mini Maglite 2 AA model. The PH-2 uses the same AA batteries and has a 90 lumen rating and 6 hour burn time compared to the Mini Maglite's 15 lumens and 5 hour run time. One additional feature of the PH-2 that I like over the Mini Maglite is the push-button on/off switch located on the back of the light. I know from using my Mini Maglite all season that it can be a pain to turn it on or off using the twist switch when you've only got one free hand – especially with gloves on. The PH-2 also features a rubber "bite guard" which allows you to hold the light in your mouth easily when you need both hands.
The smallest model in the new Primos lineup is the PH-1. This light uses a single AA battery, has a bright 90 lumen rating, and 3 hour burn time. The coolest feature about this light is that it comes with a metal hat clip for use when walking in or out of your stands in the dark. What I like about this is that you can use the light to walk into your stand, then take it off your hat and use it if needed once you get into your stand. This will really come in handy next fall when we're filming hunts, as setting the camera up in the dark can be a pain in the butt. While you can always take a traditional headlamp off and use it as a flashlight, having the rubber bite-guard definitely puts the PH-1 near the top of my list of gear additions for this fall.
The Hunting Light series from Primos should be available in May, and as soon as they are released you can bet we'll have them in stock and ready for sale here at Bowhunting.com. Suggested retail costs are as follows:
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PH-6 – $54.99
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PH-2 – $34.99
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PH-1 – $29.99
