Goldern L:E:D I robbed myself

K

Kevin the grey

Joined
Aug 26, 2005
Messages
4,106
Hey what do you want for a dollar fifty? A neat little flashlight. It was integral
as in being part of a carabinier.

Heck I said for the price I can,t go wrong. So what if AAA batteries are expensive an L:E:d doesn,t draw much. I even picked up a pack of batteries on the way home. Open her up. Battery is just the right size. Except its too long.

Is something blocking it? Nope just the spring. So I look at the L:E:d assembly . Then it dawned on me its a little battery pack. A watch battery pack. Those dinky galdern not good for much watch batterys.

So whats a fella to do . The flashlight is called a "Maxi" something or other.
I sure don,t want to trust it for woods or emergency use. The batterys are too small and the whole thing is starting to look mickey mouse to me.

Does anybody have any experience with these. Is there such a thing as a long lasting reliable watch battery ?
 
If it's an LED it'll last a while. Are you sure it's not one of those 2/3rds AAA, or half AAA sizes? Still cylindrical, just shorter?

And, this brings up a question for my minimalist survival kit, what would be a good small LED light? Not MiniMag size, smaller. Just for survival light.

any ideas? anyone have a good brand to tell me and Kevin about?
 
Look around for small "squeeze" lights. They are about the size of a quarter, disposable, and fit on a keychain. And cheap. Not good for a lot of light, just small and handy. Maybe at the hardware counter where keys are made. I bought my teens a pair of cheap LED lights from WalMart. Slim rectangular jobs, don't remember the brand, but they are bright. About 1" wide x 1/4" thick x 3" long.

Codger
 
http://www.qvc.com/qic/qvcapp.aspx?app=detail&params=item^V24371 I ordered 3 sets for Christmas gifts.

Dorcy 1AAA generation 4 LED.

Small, light, strong, simple and inexpensive. It is the light you will carry. I packed a generation 2 into the outback in Yellowstone and it worked brilliantly.

unknownVT has a terrific review here: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=140606

PS: WalMart has generation 2 Dorcy 1AAA LEDs (I've only seen one gen. 4 at WW and it was pink, got it anyway) for $6.

All the best,

oregon
 
Hey KTG;

If you're talking about the little batteries that look like a chrome aspirin, you can quite often find them at the dollar store, 5 for a buck (that's a Canadian buck or 4-1/2 cents U.S.)and they're alkaline.

Lee Valley sells a light called a LED Lenser for about $16, that is very small and gives a relatively bright (although very blue) spotlight and it uses the little AG-13 batteries.

Another choice might be the Inova X-1. It uses a single AA battery and puts out a pretty good light. Personally, my choice would always be an AA light. Couple this with a solar charger and rechargable AA batteries, and you're 'good to go'.

Doc
 
SkunkWerX said:
If it's an LED it'll last a while. Are you sure it's not one of those 2/3rds AAA, or half AAA sizes? Still cylindrical, just shorter?

And, this brings up a question for my minimalist survival kit, what would be a good small LED light? Not MiniMag size, smaller. Just for survival light.

any ideas? anyone have a good brand to tell me and Kevin about?
Click to expand...

Here's one that I carry on my keychain. It's an Inova and Target has them for about $7.00. It has high power, low power and strobe modes. Here's a photo of it next to a AAA minimag.

P1010880.jpg
 
For the moment I won,t be picking up any new lights. The only reason I picked this one up cause it was dirt cheap in a configuration thats very handy. Hard to lose something that is hooked on like that.

I find those dollar store batterys to be pretty much crap. I have had them be dead right out of the wrapper. If I can get a good supply of batterys I would pick up a couple of these .

Edited to add" There are four of those flipping batterys in there. That ups the voltage at least. Proabably why it gives off a half decent beam. I still need a good supply of batterys for it.
 
SkunkWerX said:
If it's an LED it'll last a while. Are you sure it's not one of those 2/3rds AAA, or half AAA sizes? Still cylindrical, just shorter?

And, this brings up a question for my minimalist survival kit, what would be a good small LED light? Not MiniMag size, smaller. Just for survival light.

any ideas? anyone have a good brand to tell me and Kevin about?
Click to expand...
try http://www.flashlightreviews.com for good ideas. there are a number of very good single-AAA lights.
 
Kevin:

I think your purchase is okay. I've used a Streamlight KeyMate with great reliability and results for a couple of years now, and it runs on a "battery pack" of three or four (haven't had to replace it in so long, I've forgotten) hearing aid batteries.

Totally reliable batteries, readily available in any drugstore or grocery store.

The only "con" I can think of is having to stock too many battery types.

Bear
 
Doc I tried those chrome aspirin as you suggested. :(

They didn,t get rid of my headache. :grumpy:

I did get a charge out of using them. :rolleyes:
 
What I like about this carabinier flashlight is the casing is well built. The battery pack l;e;d assembly is a bit mickey mouse. The whole assembly slips in and out like a short AAA battery. There is even a spring in the bottom of the tube casing like a regular mag-lite.

Edited to add. If this light doesn,t meet my expectations and I can,t fix it I would make it into a mini emergency kit. Just enough room inside for a little something. Maybe some matches.
 
The local Walgreens had AAA carabiner lights. Got one, it's a very poor light, both in construction quality and brightness. But it runs on AAA, clips to my backpack and gives enough light to see the keyhole on the front door. It's been on my pack for a couple of months, so far held up, but wouldn't really recommend it. It was cheap (like 2 for $5 or so). The $1 little flat knockoff led lights that use a button cell (similar to inova or photon) are brighter.
 
Target carries a 1AA LED that seems OK. Comes in silver or easy-to-lose black. Intermittent button. Safe "can't go on accidently" position for carrying. Twist for steady on. "River Rock" brand. Somewhat long for 1AA. Under $10.00.
 
Thanks Thomas . I don,t mind if its a bit long. I could use it as an exclamation point during non verbal discussions. :eek: Punctuation is so important. :cool:
 
New research just in....

I snooped around for specs on some of these LED lights.
The Inova that Longbow mentions gets good reviews.

Any of the keychain lights will give about 8 hours of light per battery replacement. To me that's fine for a little quick on/off looking at your map or car door key slot.

I'm thinking , in terms of survival, BOB, PSK, minimalist kit, or whatever, you want the most light, for the longest time.

Disclaimer: My personal criteria may vary from others.

-Minimum acceptable light level= enough to light the trail so you can travel at night or gather firewood, or when nature calls.

-As many Hours per battery charge as possible.
I found some that look appealing:

Pirnceton Tec "Attitude" 12 lumens 150 hour. [4] AAA's
Princeton Tec Impact XL 17 lumens for 50 hours. [4] AA's
" Impact II 7 lumens 75 hours. [4] AAA's
" Genesis 47 lumens 20 hours. [2] CR123 lithiums
http://www.princetontec.com/products/index.php?id=42&type=0&use=1

Compare to a Mini-Mag standard bulb 2 hours. 15.6 lumens [2] AA's
Mini-mag converted to Microstar LED 25 lumen 18 hrs. [2] AAs
http://batteryjunction.com/mifledupform.html

I think one of the keychain lights , in combo with one of the new LED long run lights woul be a good survival combo.

I'm liking the "Attitude" due to it's long run time.

I have an old Princeton Tec Aurora headlamp with 3 LEDs.
Rated at 15 Lumen, and I can tell you that is more than enough to walk a trail at night. The Aurora is in my Medium Kit.

I'm thinking the Attitude in the smaller kit?

Oh yeah, The Attitude is at Campmor... normally $19.99
on sale, for $12.99 ( such a deal!)

For brighter, the Genesis is looking good 47 lumens is bright!
20 hour run time isn't shabby for that kind of power.
 
img2621bc1.jpg


I love Inova's squeeze keychain lights, for multiple reasons:
3 modes of light
They come in 3 LED colors
You can accidentally put them through the washing machine
The light is cheaper than the batteries it uses
The batteries are the exact same type as my car remote uses

A single AAA carabiner light would be great, though. I already have a battery charger that takes AA and AAA batteries for my LED Mini-Mag
 
Thi Inova is a good bright LED

Be cautious with LEDs many are good for finding a key hole in the dark ar finding your real light in your pack but really fall short when it comes to wilderness navigation. The little carbiener key chain Leds that i have seen seem to fall into this catagory.

Doug ritter at Equipped to survive.com has designed some pretty good LED lights

I use a Princeton Tech EOS Led headlamp all the time in the out doors and it has been running for months on the origional batteries.
 
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