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Toys

Which LED Flashlight Do You Use? 147

Posted by Cliff from the brightening-your-way dept.
An anonymous reader asks: "There are now a LOT of LED flashlights on the market. A quick Google turns up 59,000 hits. Some of these flashlights are pretty ballsy. The LightWave 4000 contains 10 LEDs and offers one month of continuous light output. The Photon MicroLight is bright as all getout and goes on your keychain. The EverLED will go in a MagLight or any other high quality existing flashlight. There is even an entire web forum devoted to modifying existing flashlights to use LEDs. What experiences have Slashdot readers had with LED flashlights, and what recommendations would you make to a choosey buyer?"
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Which LED Flashlight Do You Use? More

Which LED Flashlight Do You Use?

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  • And more importantly... (Score:3, Funny)

    by quintessent ( 197518 ) <my usr name on toofgiB [tod] moc> on Thursday March 20, 2003 @04:55PM (#5559267) Journal
    Does it run Linux?
    • I was sitting in my bedroom, about to go to bed, listening to my iPod. I put the timer on 30 minutes, hook it into my headphones and hang them over my bed. Nice to fall asleep to music sometimes.

      Well, I put it down in a drawer, so I won't smack it off the table and turn off my lamp. The coolest thing ever happened. My drawer looked like a treasure chest with light pouring out a-la "Zelda 64" when you get a big chest.

      Points of this story?

      - The iPod makes for a good flashlight.
      - Yes, It runs linux [sourceforge.net].
    • Does it run Linux?

      Well it "supports" Linux (at least in a way). It was one of the free Polaroid style (uses the same flat battery technology Polaroind uses to power their film packs) lights Sun was giving out a Linux conference they were sponsoring.

  • Support OSDN (Score:5, Informative)

    by nocomment ( 239368 ) on Thursday March 20, 2003 @04:59PM (#5559317) Homepage Journal
    Imagine a beowol....ahhhh forget it.

    If you really wanted a cool flashlight you'd get one of these [thinkgeek.com] from thinkgeek [thinkgeek.com] and support OSDN! :-)
    • Yeah, but you look like a pervert every time you charge the thing :)
      • but it'll be dark everytime you shake it to kingdom come, if your quick enough you'll stop shaking just before the light comes back and nobody will see what you did to make it shine ;-)
      • Yeah, but you look like a pervert every time you charge the thing

        Think of it as practice.

    • Re:Support OSDN (Score:3, Informative)

      by sheddd ( 592499 )
      I like thinkgeek. but... Those flashlights SUCK. Even with a full charge a lighter would do better; They're neat but completely useless. And that damn fridge I bought from them quit cooling... how do you figure? 1 moving part (the fan) and a peltier. One of my projects this week is to figure out why it doesn't work worth a crap now (bought as a present for dad) and to hopefully fix it.
    • FreeS/WAN [freeswan.org] is the Linux free IPSEC implementation being developed outside the US by a group funded by John Gilmore, which is not only open-source, but isn't restricted by the US export regulations on crypto. (The regulations were relaxed a couple of years ago, largely due to EFF-related lawsuits, development like FreeS/WAN and Mozilla, and the needs of commercial business, but the Feds periodically threaten to tighten or reinstate them again.)

      So Gilmore and his crew have been giving out lights [freeswan.org] for a couple

  • Princeton Tec Pulsar (Score:3, Informative)

    by diesel_jackass ( 534880 ) <travis...hardiman@@@gmail...com> on Thursday March 20, 2003 @05:00PM (#5559329) Homepage Journal
    You can get them at sporting good's stores for less than $8. They are surprisingly bright, and amazingly useful. I've got a red one and a blue one.

    More info [princetontec.com]

  • Hey! (Score:5, Funny)

    by MarkGriz ( 520778 ) on Thursday March 20, 2003 @05:03PM (#5559383)
    I'm blind... you insensitive clod!

  • Turtlelite II (Score:4, Informative)

    by ivan256 ( 17499 ) on Thursday March 20, 2003 @05:04PM (#5559408)
    I love my Turtlelite II [ledcorp.com]. It's got everything you'd expect from an traditional flashlite minus the terrible battery life, yellow light, and fragile bulb. The 2 LEDs and the reflector make it perform quite similarly to a regular flashlight. The best part: I haven't changed the batteries in 18 months since I got it. You can stand it on it's back and light an entire room decently when the power goes out, and it'll last all night and through the next night. It's fairly compact, but not so small as to be unusable for long periods like the little squeezy flashlights, and to top it all off, it floats!

    They're a little pricy at $28, but I think it's well worth it. Also, if you have a regular flashlight that you particularly like, they'll sell you a 2 LED "bulb' and a reflector so that you can convert your favorite flashlight...
    • I love the linked image!!

      It has a tiny picture of a hand holding the flashlight, labeled "actual size". Do they mean that it's actually the ~1/2 inch size I see on my screen, or does it mean that they aren't using a stunt double super mega-large hand [geocities.com] to illustrate the size?
      • I was just going to say that! I can't figure out who could be so out of it to put that there. Even if the picture went into a magazine, there is no way it could be actual size.
    • I'll second that. Have one myself.

      Won't stand toe-to-toe w/ an incandescent for cutting the dark, but it'll sure as hell outlast it.

      Smells good, too.

      Still on my original batteries, ~18 months in.

  • Trek 4 (Score:3, Informative)

    by Jonathan_S ( 25407 ) on Thursday March 20, 2003 @05:10PM (#5559493)
    I've got the Trek 4 [ccrane.com] 4 led flashlight. Working great and still on its orignal set of batteries after 8 months.

  • For all your LED torch info ... (Score:5, Informative)

    by tdelaney ( 458893 ) on Thursday March 20, 2003 @05:12PM (#5559521)
    Go to Dan's Data [dansdata.com].

  • The EverLED ROCKS!! (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I bought one of these...nothing like the normal LED flashlights! This thing was BRIGHT...much brighter than a normal bulb, and it just lasted and lasted and lasted. It turns ANY flashlight into an LED flashlight...amazing. The only product like it. I highly recommend it!

  • I use two... (Score:4, Informative)

    by Eagle7 ( 111475 ) on Thursday March 20, 2003 @05:16PM (#5559568) Homepage
    For working around the house, pearing into dark corners, etc, I use an Opalec NewBeam [opalec.com] drop in for my MiniMag. It is voltage regulated, so you get 10 hours of constant brightness, and it has a low a battery indicator LED. It is driven with 3 bright white LEDs. Nice, tight focused beam. Not quite as bright as the Maglight with the incadescent bulb and fresh batteries, but perfectly usable. And not too bright to annoying when using it to read in the dark, work up close to yuor face, etc.

    For backpacking, I use a Black Diamond Moonlight headlamp, with 4 LEDs. Runs on 4AAAs, supposed to go for 70 hours, and is as bright as the NewBeam.

    I like both very much. Probably THE best place for information like this on the web is Candle Power Forums [candlepowerforums.com], and the LED Museum. At CPF you'll find all sorts of user experiences with most everything out there, and some home grown "pill" style ultra bright MagLight dropins. These are guys who collet $100+ flashlights! And LED Museum has a ton of technical information and reviews. [att.net]

  • Eternalight! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by travail_jgd ( 80602 ) on Thursday March 20, 2003 @05:17PM (#5559590)
    I got an Eternalight "Ergo-Marine" for Christmas, and it's defintely worth the money. The four LEDs are microprocessor-controlled, so they can be dimmed, made to flash in sequence, or strobe. There is a lot of "spill" light, so it's very useful for walking in the dark. Unfortunately, since there are no focusing lenses, the range isn't that great, and you need a precision screwdriver to change the batteries. More information can be found at Technology Associates [techass.com] (yes, their website is poorly named :).

    I also have an Energizer [energizer.com] folding LED light. It's a great booklight and nightlight, but it's fragile and hard on batteries.

  • Princeton Tec pulsar II (Score:5, Funny)

    by heldlikesound ( 132717 ) on Thursday March 20, 2003 @05:18PM (#5559601) Homepage
    I found these guys a REI.com on sale for $7 bucks a peice, I bought three of them about two years ago and am still on my first one. I put it on my keychain and use it at least once a day for finding stuff in my car at night, plugging and unplugging cables behind dark desks, and pushing it really hard into the palm of my hand so i can see my veins.

    Pretty cool stuff...

  • I got 4 different colors of the everLED. Check out the Teal. www.everled.com

  • Various (Score:3, Informative)

    by linuxwrangler ( 582055 ) on Thursday March 20, 2003 @05:25PM (#5559681)
    I have a couple of the PALight flashlights (blue and white). They are nice due to the very dim always-on setting so they can be found in the dark. They also run on 9V batteries which is ideal for me since once a year I go around and change the 9V batteries in my smoke detectors, water alarm, alarm-clock backup, etc. The batteries still have substantial life left and the PALlight about the only place I can use them. Of course the batteries last so long that it's almost impossible to use up even my used batteries. The PALlights also feature a couple of brightness modes and a strobe mode.

    For a head lamp I use the Princeton-TEK 3led light (stays in my networking bag for peering behind computers under desks) but if I were to buy today I would get the Zipka since it fits in a tiny space with not in use.

    I've kept a white photon micro-light on my keyring for years but there are many acceptable alternative keychain lights now.
    • I too am a big fan of Princeton Tec's [princetontec.com] Aurora [princetontec.com]. Very light weight, long running time on 3 AAA batteries batteries (150 hours) , three different light levels, a strobe feature, water tight, etc.

      I had occasion to use it just last night when we lost power due to Denver's 1 meter (approx.) of snow.

  • I keep the campfire white LED on the keychain. Itwas about $10 and has an on/off switch. Good for when you don' have a third had to squeeze it to turn it on. I have a "Torch" 3 white led / 3AAA battery for around the house. It was about $15. I'm waiting to replace my quartz halogen Torchars with a white led lamp.

  • Streamlight Pro Polymer 4AA LED (Score:5, Informative)

    by metamatic ( 202216 ) on Thursday March 20, 2003 @05:39PM (#5559817) Homepage Journal
    Key features:

    1. Lightweight.
    2. Very bright, 7 LEDs. (Brighter than my big Mag-Lite.)
    3. Soft diffuse glow over an area, good for reading.
    4. Runs for 155 hours on 4 AA cells.
    5. Waterproof to several meters.
    6. Floats in water.
    7. Rubber and polycarbonate construction, can easily survive a 2m drop onto solid concrete.
    8. Push-button rubber-sealed switch on the end.
    9. Available in black or safety yellow.
    10. Fits in a coat pocket.

    Got it for my significant other after she had a bad experience with a Mag Lite and a puddle in some dark woods.

    Apparently Streamlight is the brand of choice for rescue workers.
  • I have an original red Photon MicroLight [photonlight.com] on my keychain and am very happy with it. I choose red as it preserves my night vision when using it in the dark.

    You can find the advantages and disadvantages of all the different coloured LEDs here [photonlight.com].

    • I got the white MicroLight. I use it ALL the time. Best keychain I ever bought.
    • I have to agree, here. Photon MicroLight's work *really* well. Almost four years ago, I bought two of them (Red and Green). They both still work great, and I still haven't had to change the battery on the red one.

      After getting them, a handful of friends of mine decided to purchase some, and I don't think any one of us has been at all disappointed. I now keep two in my pocket with me, as well as keeping one in my car, and a couple with my camping gear.

      I would highly recommend these to anyone looking fo
  • It works great.

    However, if I were to buy a full sized one, I'd go for either: 1) A multi-LED drop-in for my 3 D-cell Mag Lites (any good ones out there?); 2) The Inova [karstsports.com] tactical light (drool!); or 3) the Lightwave linked to in the original post.

  • Driver-based vs. Resistor (Score:4, Informative)

    by doctor567 ( 660591 ) on Thursday March 20, 2003 @05:46PM (#5559909)
    I have been testing LED flashlights for 2½ years now. I can say that things are changing fast. Driver technology is being used to make LED flashlights brighter and way more efficient than the "old" days. This is basically a box that sits between the batteries and the LED bulb itself, making sure the LED gets the voltage and current it needs for max efficiency (like a transmission in a car).

    They are pretty hard to find, but if you want the ultimate battery life, look for an LED flashlight with a driver. We're talking about... like 4-10 times the battery life of a resistor run (no-driver) LED here. The EverLED [everled.com] is one such product, but the driver is somehow contained inside the bulb, so it can be used to replace normal incandescent bulbs (it's the same form factor as the normal drop in flashlight bulbs). Pretty cool.

  • This EverLED thing just goes in ANY flashlight? That is cool... And the Super LED they use is 10 times brighter than the ones used in those keychain flashlights. Anyone else thinking about getting one of these? They say it uses the flashlight's reflector, but I've never seen anything like this before.
  • I keep getting spam advertising for these everlasting flashlights! The Last Flashlight You Will Ever Need!

    So, I won't be buying one.

  • Extended question... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by MrIcee ( 550834 ) on Thursday March 20, 2003 @05:49PM (#5559949) Homepage
    The question posted is an excellent one. I've often wondered just how good the LED flashlights are for brightness.

    My specific use is that I hike the lava fields at night here in hawaii... On moonless or cloudy nights it can be pretty dangerous because of the huge cracks (some of them 30 ft or deeper) and very very uneven ground (you regularly go up and down 15 ft as you clambor over tumulous (lava tubes)).

    We use super bright flashlights so we can see distances as well as illuminate the area to find the best paths around obstacles. Since we're 20 miles from any services and any lights (hawaii is VERY dark at night) we often bring 3 or 4 flashlights and plenty of batteries.

    We prefer to use flashlights that have a fairly wide field so that it illuminates as much as possible in front of us (and a bit to the sides) without blinding others in the party.

    Any recommendations specific to these needs would be GREATLY appreciated since I feel that LED, if bright enough, would be great as it would be lighter and have infinatly better shelf life and battery life.

    Anything that is lighter than my 2 million candle power 6 volt rechargable would be a blessing ;))

    (btw, before you say it, yes, we do use nightvision too but that is very dangerous to wear and walk at the same time, plus it doesn't do that great a job of showing the cracks in the ground which are often in shadow... though it DOES do great for finding where the flowing lava is ahead of you - the NightOwl M is batteryless and uses squeeze pizeo for power - very neat).

    • Consider putting an EverLED [everled.com] in a Maglight. It's everthing you've come to expect from a Maglight plus the increased brightness and battery life you get from the EverLED. It works in all C and D cell Maglights, regardless of how many cells. Another big advantage for you is that the EverLED never just dies. When the batteries finally start to give it up, it dims slowly, giving you ample warning. And if you turn the light off for a few minutes and give the batteries a chance to catch their breath, you can get a
    • Have you considered caving torches [speleo.co.uk]?
      • Yes, we use similar equipment but it doesn't work will on the lava flow becuase we tend to look around us all the time to find the best paths... when we do that we end up blinding each other. When we turn our heads we don't want to have the light follow ;)
        • OK, but LEDs give a more diffuse light generally so it's harder to blind someone unless they're looking directly into the LEDs. Plus, your requirement was for duration, which caving lights are obviously designed for. But of course, I'm sure you have a better idea of what you want than I do...
      • How about some scuba diving lights? How much weight are you willing to deal with for this? And how much money are you willing to spend? And how long do you need it to last?

        Underwater Kinetics (UK) makes a Light Cannon [uwkinetics.com] that uses 8 C batteries, lasts about 3-4 hours burn time, and puts out 450 lumens. (Did I mention it's bright?) Uses a HID (high intensity discharge, basically a 15,000V voltage arc) bulb that lasts about 1000 hours. Fixed-focus reflector, but it comes with a wide-angle lens filter to spread
        • The only thing to be careful with if you go for diving lights is some of them don't like being used in air; not enough cooling.

          My recommendation for the type of hiking they are doing is multiple sources of light so you get shadows... a petzel and a torch.

          • The only thing to be careful with if you go for diving lights is some of them don't like being used in air; not enough cooling.

            Yes, that's one reason I like the HID bulbs instead of the "standard" cave-diver 50W halogen bulbs. The HID bulbs dissipate a lot less heat, and, from a heat perspective, have no problem being used out of the water.

            That said, the HIDs do put out a lot of UV light, and it is recommended that you not look directly at the bulb for long periods of time when it is out of the water. Und

    • Have you or your friends tried using a fluorescent lantern? I've never tried them myself, but battery life and light output are supposed to be decent.
      • Yes, we've tried fluorescent... in fact, I have 20 or so different flashlights - we've tried everything. It isn't a problem of flashlights that work or don't, it's a problem of going through batteries and durability. In other words, I'm looking for something with a huge battery life, light weight and an excellent beam. LED always seemed attractive but like my original post said, I'm unsure.
        • The LED museum has three flashlights that might seem to fit your needs. I don't own any of them, but they're the ones rated as brightest. The reviews are here [att.net], here [att.net], and here [att.net]
          • wow those are expensive. they certainly look like they will do the trick but geeze, $200+ for some of those. egads ;)) I can buy alota mag lites for $200 :)
            • I agree, they're defintely expensive. The LED industry is still young, and there are bound to be improvements in price and performance in the next few years.

              Still, I definitely like the Super-6. :)

        • Re:Extended question... (Score:2, Informative)

          by fperez ( 99430 )
          Have you tried a Petzl Duo belt with the 5 LED module? That's my mountaineering light of choice for big things (I use a tikka for backup purposes). You can use the 5 LEDs on easier/safer terrain, and switch momentarily to the halogen beam when needed.

          The halogen beam is zoomable, so you can fit it to your needs. The 5 LEDs are reasonable for watching where you are going, but not for seeing far in front of you. Having the battery pack on your belt/pocket makes it very light on your head, and it's built
  • I have a couple of the EVER-LED flashlight kits (I think LEDSupply.com is the only vendor so far). I bought them after seeing a friends blindingly small flashlight (a typical 2 aa shell) that he said lasted days. I have one in my car, which has been more than powerful enough to use at night to fix small problems with my car, yet small enough to get in tight places (try getting a D cell light in your engine bay to push a belt on!!). I have owned a couple other cheapy LED flashlights, but they seem to neve
  • The Lightwave 4000 [avshop.com] is great, but it needs a focusing lens. I wrote the manufacturer to tell them this but for some reason they haven't followed my advice ;-(

    sPh

  • Cool LED flashlight mod... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by kevin42 ( 161303 ) on Thursday March 20, 2003 @06:40PM (#5560451)
    If you buy an extra LED flashlight and some ultra-violet LEDs on ebay, you can make a nice *very* bright portable blacklight cheap. Great for rockhounding in the desert, finding bark scorpions (they glow), etc...Just don't shine it in your eyes...
  • I ride a mountain bike, and I was wondering about those LED lights. Are they better than halogens? Brighter? Use less power?
    • Well it depends :)

      LEDs CAN be far more efficient and produce light for a much longer time than halogens. The problem is that they need driver circuitry, specifically they need a constant current supply. This isn't that big a deal, the circuits are cheap and simple. The problem is that the cheapo lights usually don't use them. The higher end lights, like the EverLED bulb, usually do.

      Again it depends. The newer biking halogens are pretty darn bright. You would have to put several LEDs together to get the sa
  • I've got an EX40 from Tek Tite [tek-tite.com] with 40 white LEDs. It works very well and is incredibly bright. The lady they have who takes orders by phone is also very nice. I'd definitely recommend this flashlight..

  • LightWave 2100 - BAD (Score:3, Informative)

    by Yonder Way ( 603108 ) on Thursday March 20, 2003 @08:21PM (#5561338)
    I bought the LightWave 2100 flashlight a couple of months back to keep in my 72 hour emergency kit. In a nutshell, I'm disappointed.

    Here are some of the things that bug me about it:

    * Light is blue, not white. I was expecting a crisp white light, not a dull blue one.
    * No reflector. The LED's are nested in a black plastic dish.
    * No lense. Not only can you not focus the beam, but the LED's themselves have no protection.

    Ultimately I didn't do my homework when I bought this thing. I hope there are some better ones out there that address some of the shortcomings that I mentioned.
    • LEDs don't need a reflector. Unlike incandescent bulbs, there's no spillover from the sides, thus nothing for the reflector to reflect. Light pretty much goes where the LED is aimed.

  • A few recommendations (Score:3, Informative)

    by chriso11 ( 254041 ) on Thursday March 20, 2003 @08:28PM (#5561377) Journal
    I like the Inova x5 - it is small and exceptionally durable. Supposedly you can run it over with a car. They also have a steel version that you can run over with a tank (and it will still work). Perhaps if you are planning a trip to the middle east...
    Note that they use lithium batteries which have an long shelf life - so they are good to leave in the car. The downside is significantly more expensive replacement costs.

    I also have a turtlelite II. Also well made, but a different style. Plastic, light, and quite durable. Not as bright, but it uses AA batteries.

    Another flashlight was the LED-LENSER V2 Triplex. It is bright, small, and durable. But outclassed by the Inova x5 and turtlelite II.

    I also tried some of the adapters for maglights. I was not impressed - the output was significantly lower than the original incandescent bulb.

    • What I am looking for... (Score:4, Interesting)

      by chriso11 ( 254041 ) on Thursday March 20, 2003 @08:31PM (#5561402) Journal
      I would like to get an LED flashlight that has both a bright white led and also a red led to keep night vision. Has anyone seen one like that?
      • The EverLED comes in both white and red, although not in the same bulb.
      • I would like to get an LED flashlight that has both a bright white led and also a red led to keep night vision. Has anyone seen one like that?
        Yes. One of the night assistants at Palomar Observatory has one. It looked pretty spiffy to me. Sorry, I don't know where it came from, but you might start with companies that sell to amateur astronomers.
      • What you need is an astronomer's flashlight. Some models have red, for preserving night vision, and white for setup, and regular use. Search for the Rigel Skylite at Anacortes (http://www.buytelescopes.com) or the Orion DualBeam at Orion Telescopes (http://www.telescope.com) just to name two.

  • Shameless EverLED promotion (Score:3, Informative)

    by n1ywb ( 555767 ) on Thursday March 20, 2003 @09:53PM (#5561968) Homepage Journal
    As a distributor for the EverLED, I am a bit biased. But please allow me to briefly sum up why I think the EverLED really is the best LED flashlight solution on the market today.

    Most LED flashlights currently on the market suffer from one or more of these shortcomings
    1. Relatively poor battery life. Most cheapo LED flashlights just use a resistor to limit the current to the LED. This makes the LED only slightly more efficient than an ordinary bulb, and as the battery voltage drops the current to the LED also drops, causing the LED to dim long before the batteries are really dead.
    2. Lack of, or fixed focus/reflector. Most LED flashlights use the optical characteristics of the LED itself to focus the beam. You're stuck with whatever beamwidth the LEDs happen to be, which can be anywhere from 100 degrees to 10 degrees.
    3. Poor design/construction. Most LED flashlights are cheapo plastic. Even the well constructed ones often have design flaws, like the one mentioned earlier that requires a jewelers screwdriver to change the batteries. They might be fine for recreational use, but if lives are on the line, forget it.
    4. Not very bright. Some of the multi-LED array flashlights solve this problem, but in general the small T1-3/4 LEDs used in most flashlights are not exactly the brightest around.

    The EverLED addresses all of these issues.
    1. The EverLED bulb houses an efficient regulated driver circuit, which maintains a near constant current to the LED until the batteries are almost dead, then slowly cuts back so that the light dims gradually, but never totally shuts off. This way you have some warning that your batteries are dead, and even dead batteries will produce some light. See this graph [leddynamics.com].
    2. The EverLED uses a "side emitter" LED. Instead of a lens, like normal LEDs, the LED used in the EverLED uses a prism to direct the light out the sides in a toroidal pattern. The flashlight's existing reflector is used to focus the beam. If your flashlight features an adjustable reflector, such as the Maglight, you can retain it's use.
    3. The EverLED itself is housed in machined brass and potted in epoxy, so it's probably stronger than it needs to be. It will happily work inside almost any industrial strength flashlight.
    4. The EverLED uses a 1 watt LED. It's up to 10 times brighter than other LEDs, and up to 4 times brighter than a typical krypton flashlight bulb.

    So for the reasons above, plus the fact that the EverLED works with any size flashlight from 1 to 6 cells, pretty much makes it the best LED flashlight solution going. Nobody will touch you with a 6 cell LED Maglight. That's just my $.02
  • It's waterproof, made of aircraft aluminum, visible from 2 miles away, and casts a beam that's brighter than my maglite.

    Check it out here [sharperimage.com].
  • Greatest store ever... i found these [sciplus.com] little babys there. It says they're not the brightest ever, but they light up a room pretty well. I have 7 of them, one of each color(they had green and purple at the store, but not online) and an extra blue one on my keychain. The rubber button is great because if you push it down all the way you can jam it under the casing and the light stays on. About once a week i find the one on my keychain jammed on in my pocket, but its still birght as ever. The last one broke(t
  • I wonder why nobody mentioned arc flashlights

    www.arcflashlight.com

    The ARC AAA uses one AAA (surprize) and it will be BRIGHT for many hours (it's semiregulated). You can read or hike or do anything at night with one VERY small light (smaller than Mag$ Solitare). Just visit the web site and you'll see what I mean. The small light is of course waterproof; and the head is totally sealed; you can take the light apart under water without any problems. This small light has been freezed inside an ice cube, boiled
  • this is simply the best! leaves both hands free, always shines where you're looking. can be worn above a baseball-cap to reduce glare.
    i use a BLACK DIAMOND headlamp. it is light, nicely balanced (batteries in back) and works for a long time (about 70h with 3 aaa cells)!

  • My LED Flashlight (Score:3, Informative)

    by divide overflow ( 599608 ) on Friday March 21, 2003 @06:33AM (#5563594)
    I have three LED flashlights. My first was an Arc AAA flashlight. It uses a Nichia white LED, a DC-DC converter, and a single AAA cell. You twist the head of the flashlight to turn it on and off. It is very small, only a bit bigger than the AAA battery, but gives quite a bit of light and has a great runtime of approximately 5 hours on an alkaline cell. It's terrific.

    My second LED light is an Arc LS LED flashlight. It features a white Luxeon Star 1 watt LED, a DC-DC current regulator, and runs on a lithium 123 cell. It has a hard anodized finish that is extremely durable. It is only 2 3/8" long and is just under an inch in diameter. It has a very bright bluish-white light. It is very easy to carry in your pocket and I find myself using it daily. I bought it as a factory second directly from Arc. I highly recommend this flashlight. Arc sells their flashlights through distributors and from their own webpage at http://store.yahoo.com/flashlight/ [yahoo.com].

    My last LED light is an Electro Lumens Blaster II. It also features a white Luxeon Star 1 watt LED, but has a large aluminum body that holds three 1.5 volt D cells. This light is very bright and will run at nearly full brightness for about 24 hours, and at reduced brightness for another 48 hours. It is a very cool flashlight. You can find them for sale at http://www.elektrolumens.com/4_SALE/For_Sale.html [elektrolumens.com]
  • What I can't figure out is... why are they still specialty items? Why do you only see them in yuppie camping boutiques or boating accessories stores?

    The other day I was in the supermarket and saw a big display of flashlights from some familiar mass-market name... I'm afraid I forget which one... that said "LED!" on the package in big letters.

    It was a traditional flashlight with a regular incandescent bulb--and a flashing red LED on it, allegedly so you could find it easily in the dark. Why? WHY?
    • Why does MS sell wireless keyboard for over $100 by marketing them as BLUETOOTH?
  • My favorite is the Princeton Tec Attitude Light [zbattery.com]. We sell them along with a large selection of other LED's [zbattery.com].

    Because we sell LED flashlights I'm pretty familiar with what is popular among our customers. The time-tested favorite seems to be the Streamlight Stylus [zbattery.com] penlight.

    A great resource for reading about the differences between a lot of LED's is Brock's LED Page. [uwgb.edu]

    Bryan Noonan
    Zbattery.com [zbattery.com]
    800-624-8681
  • I have a CMG infinity with red led. It's a small, sturdy metal light that takes one AA battery and gives 40 hours of full brightness light, then another 30 or so of slowly dimming light. I use mine for general use and astronomy, and love it. It can take a beating, runs all year of heavy use on like a 4 pack of AA batteries. There's now an ultra version out with twice the brightness and half the battery life. See it here: http://www.theledlight.com/infinity.html [theledlight.com] Review here: http://ledmuseum.home.att.net/i [att.net]
  • I also have the Inova X5 Tactical flashlight that's already been mentioned and and love everything about it...except the blue light just doesn't really do it for me. Apparently it comes in both blue and white configurations (maybe green too), but I have only ever been able to find blue. While I'm sure all the arguments about blue light at night being better than white are true, I find that it is not totally useful at night for all situations. Maybe it's just that our eyes have been trained to white light bu
    • Blue light is pretty crappy for illumination in almost every situation. The wavelength is too short for our eyes to pick up properly.

      Quick experiment: Drive down the street and find a blue lighted sign and a red lighted sign. Best if they are both letters. The blue will appear fuzzier and will probably be hard to focus on. The red is going to be pretty good.

      All those crazy kids putting blue lights in their cars are morons. Driving lights should be white, fog lamps should be yellow-ish. None of that

  • Photon Mini (Score:2, Interesting)

    by bucklesl ( 73547 )
    I have purchased both the Photon II and Photon III keychain LED lights. They are quite bright for being so small, but I would not buy the "III" model again since it has all these annoying light modes, which are a pain when you just want to turn it off and on.

    These are the only LED flashlights that I've used.

    However, when you want a real flashlight, pony up and buy a SureFire [surefire.com] rechargable. You will not be disappointed.

  • Arc flashlights (Score:3, Interesting)

    by ecloud ( 3022 ) on Friday March 21, 2003 @02:23PM (#5566911) Homepage Journal
    I have a couple of these [yahoo.com], and have given them to all my friends and some of the family. (Disclaimer: the owner is an old friend and gave me a nice discount) They're wonderful! So tiny, so bright, so rugged, and run for hours and hours on one AAA battery. The secret is the tiny built-in DC-DC converter which extracts every last electron out of the battery while stepping it up to a constant current for the LED. The electronics are encapsulated, and the battery chamber is sealed, so it's even waterproof. Really, I think this is the most elegant design possible. Most others require special batteries, or have worse performance, or are excessively complex or fragile. One of mine has been on my keyring in my pocket for a couple of years. It's really scuffed up, but works like new and is only on its second battery, despite the fact that I find a use for it every few days, and can't imagine what I ever did without always having a flashlight at the ready.

    Only cons are that they're overpriced, and well, the case could've been titanium rather than aluminum. But still there is no competition, yet.

    See also the high-brightness Luxeon Star model [yahoo.com]; but those are beyond what most can afford, and then you have to pay extra to get the AA battery chamber.

    The next thing I want to see is a retrofit for my 3-D-cell Maglights, which I still use when a penlight isn't enough.

  • I've had it about four months. Havn't had to change the btteries yet. Kids keep stealing it and playing around.

    Good place to buy LED flashlights: Botach Tactical [botachtactical.com]

  • I went to Radio Shack, bought a pack of "Jumbo Red" LEDs, along with some resistors, went to the dollar store and bought a couple AA flashlights, threw out the bulbs and replaced them with the LEDs.


    Why? Because you don't want a bright white light at a telescope at night, but red LEDs are perfect - they illuminate the scene without ruining your night vision.

  • Luxeon Star-based flashlights (as mentioned earlier) are *amazing*. 1 watt and 5 watt Luxeons are available (although 5W whites are rare, but getting more common.) The 1W units are used in a number of lights such as the Arc LS (Expensive, but excellent) and the CMG Reactor (Don't get it, worst LS light out there). Another person mentioned EL's Blaster series, which are good lights. Also there's plenty of info on the forums linked from the article (candlepowerforums) on converting a 2D or 3D Maglight int
    • Where's the "I forgot something" button.

      The Arc AAA is an excellent light for those looking for something smaller (and less bright) than the Luxeon.
    • Hey don't forget the EverLED [everled.com]! It uses a 1 watt luxeon star side-emitter, which works with your flashlight's existing focusing reflector.

      The trouble with the 5 watt luxeons is that they make so much heat, it's difficult to dissipate it fast enough inside of a flashlight. Something like a maglight with a lot of metal is okay, but put it in a plastic housing and run it at full tilt and it will probably melt.

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