I've been going through a time of my life where I've become very skeptical as well as even more cynical. I suspect alot of things of being not very good or just another consumer rip-off. One of these is flashlights.
Now I like new and better things just as much as the next guy. But don't rip me off with something that is just another "better mousetrap". I've been plying with flashlights for a while now. The ones out now are a huge step up from the stuff I remeber as a kid. A flashlight used to be something that lived up to its name. First you tried to turn it on with the switch, and when that failed, you shook it. This resulted in a dim yellow light that started to dim after just a few minutes. Those old mercury batteries did not hang around real long. Alkalines were a big step up.
The flashlight was usually a dented up tube of some sort of tinny metal, and corroded at the drop of a hat from leaking mercury batteries.
Now we have pretty neat looking knurled aluminum and damm near indestrctable plastics. The old incandesent bulb is going the way of the do-do bird with the new LED stuff taking over. I've got a little AAA Dorcy pocket LED that to an old fart from the '40s like me is a wonder.
But I still wonder if its really worth what some of these guys are paying? I have two mini-mags I've put the nite-eyz conversion into and I've been happy with them. Every night when I take Pearl the wonder corgi for her last walk before bed, I use the led converted AA minimags to light the path in the woods, and it does a good job. A nice soft white flood of light, and the battery life has been great. When a set of AA batteries in the regular minimag is to dim and just a yellow glow, I put them in the converted led minimag and it lights great.
But I still have my doubts. About two months ago I was going through the kitchen junk drawer and found the old flashlight I used to carry. Its a cheap yellow plastic AA light from Rayovac, regular old style bulb. I think you can still get one from Walmart for 4 or 5 dollars. Just for yucks I put a couple new AA energisiers in it and went to walk the dog. I also had my led minimag.
It was enlightning. It was a great light. I had forgoten I'd got used to the lack of throw with the led. The white flood lit the trail but that was it. This cheap plastic flashlight with the old bulb was a light saber in comparison. For about 20 minutes the dog and I wandered around and I would switch lights and I just may put the old light back into use. The batteries may not have the run time, but I could throw a nice tight spot through the woods for easily three times the distance of the led light.
But more than that, it worked great for how old it was and what a beating it had taken in its life. Before I bought my first minimag in the mid 80's, this was my "go to" light. It fit in a jacket pocket, and it had been knocked around on countless camping trips with my kids, dropped in the bottom of the boat and kicked around night fishing with my son on the river when he was growing up, tossed onto the floor of my truck, and countless other abuses. Its easily taken over twenty years of heavy use. Still works great.
And then I read about some of the younger guys having problems with expencive new lights. Is any pocket AA or AAA light really worth 40-50 dollars? What are you getting for that amount of money? Heck, the little AAA Dorcy has taken a beating over the past year and still works great. For 4.95 its a hard to beat bargin.
I'm not trying to be a smart ass or anything, but I just look at that beat up old yellow plastic flashlight and wonder about the new stuff. Midjets post is just one instance of this kind of stuff. My son had the same thing happen to him-he bought an expencive LED flashlight at Target, an Inova I think, and it was less than what he thought it should be. He was helping me fix my bathroom ceiling fan and it slipped out of his hand and dropped to the foor. That was it, kaput. The aluminum case was deeply dented near the head, and the light was finished. I think he paid something like 30 dollars for that thing. I know that old Rayovac had got dropped lots of times with no ill effects.
I know that some of these high tech flashlights have thier place. I'm sure police officers and Navy Seals have more strict requirments. But I wonder if the averidge joe is just as well served by a cheap plastic flashlight that costs a few bucks, and spend the extra dollars on a nice gun or car.
Now I like new and better things just as much as the next guy. But don't rip me off with something that is just another "better mousetrap". I've been plying with flashlights for a while now. The ones out now are a huge step up from the stuff I remeber as a kid. A flashlight used to be something that lived up to its name. First you tried to turn it on with the switch, and when that failed, you shook it. This resulted in a dim yellow light that started to dim after just a few minutes. Those old mercury batteries did not hang around real long. Alkalines were a big step up.
The flashlight was usually a dented up tube of some sort of tinny metal, and corroded at the drop of a hat from leaking mercury batteries.
Now we have pretty neat looking knurled aluminum and damm near indestrctable plastics. The old incandesent bulb is going the way of the do-do bird with the new LED stuff taking over. I've got a little AAA Dorcy pocket LED that to an old fart from the '40s like me is a wonder.
But I still wonder if its really worth what some of these guys are paying? I have two mini-mags I've put the nite-eyz conversion into and I've been happy with them. Every night when I take Pearl the wonder corgi for her last walk before bed, I use the led converted AA minimags to light the path in the woods, and it does a good job. A nice soft white flood of light, and the battery life has been great. When a set of AA batteries in the regular minimag is to dim and just a yellow glow, I put them in the converted led minimag and it lights great.
But I still have my doubts. About two months ago I was going through the kitchen junk drawer and found the old flashlight I used to carry. Its a cheap yellow plastic AA light from Rayovac, regular old style bulb. I think you can still get one from Walmart for 4 or 5 dollars. Just for yucks I put a couple new AA energisiers in it and went to walk the dog. I also had my led minimag.
It was enlightning. It was a great light. I had forgoten I'd got used to the lack of throw with the led. The white flood lit the trail but that was it. This cheap plastic flashlight with the old bulb was a light saber in comparison. For about 20 minutes the dog and I wandered around and I would switch lights and I just may put the old light back into use. The batteries may not have the run time, but I could throw a nice tight spot through the woods for easily three times the distance of the led light.
But more than that, it worked great for how old it was and what a beating it had taken in its life. Before I bought my first minimag in the mid 80's, this was my "go to" light. It fit in a jacket pocket, and it had been knocked around on countless camping trips with my kids, dropped in the bottom of the boat and kicked around night fishing with my son on the river when he was growing up, tossed onto the floor of my truck, and countless other abuses. Its easily taken over twenty years of heavy use. Still works great.
And then I read about some of the younger guys having problems with expencive new lights. Is any pocket AA or AAA light really worth 40-50 dollars? What are you getting for that amount of money? Heck, the little AAA Dorcy has taken a beating over the past year and still works great. For 4.95 its a hard to beat bargin.
I'm not trying to be a smart ass or anything, but I just look at that beat up old yellow plastic flashlight and wonder about the new stuff. Midjets post is just one instance of this kind of stuff. My son had the same thing happen to him-he bought an expencive LED flashlight at Target, an Inova I think, and it was less than what he thought it should be. He was helping me fix my bathroom ceiling fan and it slipped out of his hand and dropped to the foor. That was it, kaput. The aluminum case was deeply dented near the head, and the light was finished. I think he paid something like 30 dollars for that thing. I know that old Rayovac had got dropped lots of times with no ill effects.
I know that some of these high tech flashlights have thier place. I'm sure police officers and Navy Seals have more strict requirments. But I wonder if the averidge joe is just as well served by a cheap plastic flashlight that costs a few bucks, and spend the extra dollars on a nice gun or car.
