10 Million Candlepower Spotlight

I have no idea where to put this. It isn't exactly high tech.... Anyway, we live out in a rural (becoming suburban...) area which means good lighting is very useful. We have a good outdoor houselight, but have never wanted an always on area light. Flashlights are good, but even the biggest mag-lights seem ineffective against the depths of the dark nights around here.

What's more is that we're at the edge of the woods and in the last month have had a bear sighting. Now, maybe that was just an excuse, because for a long time I've wanted a REAL spotlight. So I ordered Northern Industrial Tools 10 Million Candlepower Super SearchEye Spotlight from Amazon... actually Northern Tool, but anyway I ordered it after reading review after review from several sites.

When it arrived, I broke down laughing after opening the box. It was simply the biggest flashlight I'd ever seen. It was daylight when I got it, so obviously I wanted to see how bright it was and shined it outside on the sunlight concrete. It was noticably bright, even in full sun.

I've got to say, in all I read, there were some that said something along the lines of "if you really want 10 million candlepower get a ..." and they went on to describe a ridiculously expensive light. But for the price this is probably the brightest portable light I'll ever get. It basically has 2 switches, (bright and "I think I'm going to burn the bark off the trees bright"), there are also to charging jacks, one for AC (adapter included) and one for DC.

They do ask that you not charge from AC and power the light, although it's ok to run off of DC to use the light. The battery is a sealed lead acid type and should last on the brightest for 15-30 minutes from what I've read. (I haven't tested that out yet, I don't want to be too rough on the battery.) Fully discharging SLA batteries is a good way to shorten their lives.

Of course, the light comes with warnings. (Don't look at it, the lens get's hot, those types of things..) We haven't had people come looking for the used cars for sale yet, but... There is a handle and shoulder strap.

Now that I've thought about it, I've thought I could get a similar effect from a SLA, toggle switch and car headlight from Advance or somewhere, but it wouldn't be quite as easy to carry around...

Now, if I can just get a sturdy keyring for it...