- Joined
- Oct 3, 1998
- Messages
- 4,842
The 3 lights I have are a Crane 3-LED light, a Rigel switchable
2-white or 2-blue-green light, and a Photon white LED light.
Photon: The Photon is by far the smallest and lightest of the
group. The white light has an eerie blue tint to it. The
beam is reasonably smooth, with much of the beam being a slightly
darker inner circle surrounded by a thin brighter corona.
Crane: This is the 3-LED light from Crane powered by a single
Lithium AA battery. It's 3.5" long and 1.125" wide at its widest
spot. You can actually see 3 separate bright spots in the beam,
with each one being well-focussed. At the same distance, the
Crane's beam is about half the width of the Photon's. The light
itself uses the same kind of head-turning switch as found on the
UKE lights, and should be waterproof. http://www.ccrane.com/ $29.95
Rigel: This is the Mil-Skylite, switchable between 2 white or
2 blue-green LEDs. It's powered by 2 AA batteries. Shaped like
a rectangle 4.25"x 1.25" x 1", this is easily the biggest and
heaviest of the bunch. A most useful feature is a dimmer switch.
The beam is slightly redder than the Photon's with about the same
spread. It's probably 50% brighter on its brightest setting.
On the blue-green setting, it projects a blotchy but much brighter
blue-green beam. http://pw2.netcom.com/~rigelsys/Rigelsys.html $29.95
Overall, the Photon retains the title for size/performance ratio.
It's less bright than the other two, but at 1/10 the size of the
Crane and 1/18th the size of the Rigel.
The Crane, having the tightest beam, has the most functional
brightness. And the lithium battery should give it plenty of
shelf time. I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do with it --
it's too big for a keychain light, doesn't have a dimmer so it's
not useful for reading, and isn't quite bright enough to replace
my 2 AA maglite. It will probably be my briefcase light, or I'll
leave it in the kitchen for miscellaneous usage. I've been thinking
about putting together a little carry sheath with a small light,
pepper spray, and multitool in it -- this small light might fit
the bill.
The Rigel is the biggest of the group, and really isn't targetted
towards the general-use market. However, the presence of the
dimmer has made it really useful for reading and the like.
None of these lights approaches the brightness of my 2-AA mini-mag.
However, they all have advantages, either in size (Photon & Crane),
run time (Photon but especially the Crane and Rigel), or other
features (e.g., Rigel's dimmer).
Joe
jat@cup.hp.com
2-white or 2-blue-green light, and a Photon white LED light.
Photon: The Photon is by far the smallest and lightest of the
group. The white light has an eerie blue tint to it. The
beam is reasonably smooth, with much of the beam being a slightly
darker inner circle surrounded by a thin brighter corona.
Crane: This is the 3-LED light from Crane powered by a single
Lithium AA battery. It's 3.5" long and 1.125" wide at its widest
spot. You can actually see 3 separate bright spots in the beam,
with each one being well-focussed. At the same distance, the
Crane's beam is about half the width of the Photon's. The light
itself uses the same kind of head-turning switch as found on the
UKE lights, and should be waterproof. http://www.ccrane.com/ $29.95
Rigel: This is the Mil-Skylite, switchable between 2 white or
2 blue-green LEDs. It's powered by 2 AA batteries. Shaped like
a rectangle 4.25"x 1.25" x 1", this is easily the biggest and
heaviest of the bunch. A most useful feature is a dimmer switch.
The beam is slightly redder than the Photon's with about the same
spread. It's probably 50% brighter on its brightest setting.
On the blue-green setting, it projects a blotchy but much brighter
blue-green beam. http://pw2.netcom.com/~rigelsys/Rigelsys.html $29.95
Overall, the Photon retains the title for size/performance ratio.
It's less bright than the other two, but at 1/10 the size of the
Crane and 1/18th the size of the Rigel.
The Crane, having the tightest beam, has the most functional
brightness. And the lithium battery should give it plenty of
shelf time. I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do with it --
it's too big for a keychain light, doesn't have a dimmer so it's
not useful for reading, and isn't quite bright enough to replace
my 2 AA maglite. It will probably be my briefcase light, or I'll
leave it in the kitchen for miscellaneous usage. I've been thinking
about putting together a little carry sheath with a small light,
pepper spray, and multitool in it -- this small light might fit
the bill.
The Rigel is the biggest of the group, and really isn't targetted
towards the general-use market. However, the presence of the
dimmer has made it really useful for reading and the like.
None of these lights approaches the brightness of my 2-AA mini-mag.
However, they all have advantages, either in size (Photon & Crane),
run time (Photon but especially the Crane and Rigel), or other
features (e.g., Rigel's dimmer).
Joe
jat@cup.hp.com
