Keychain flashlight advice?

I can't believe no one mentioned the MaxII either. I have one that a friend gave me and have to say I have never looked back. This little light is the most impressive light I have and I'm not flashlight poor. Get one. Its the best for size and it has a dual action button you can either press or turn on. The battery isn't too shabby either and easily replaced and the light is surprisingly inexpensive. Even more surprising is how bright this little light is. It lights up as good as the big boys. You won't even know you have it on you either.

STR

http://www.tadgear.com/x-treme gear/flashlights main/photon_ii_to_the_max.htm
 
Since you mentioned price and and AA or AAA batteries try the Gerber (used to be CMG before the were bought out) Infinity Ultra (AA), around $15, or Sonic (AAA), around $10, LED Lights. I have used both for the last several years and they are very hard to beat. Photons are great lights but they take 2016 watch batteries. ARC LED lights are also supposed to be great lights at 3-4 times the price of the gerber lights. The Gerbers are also regulated to give max brightness (so are the ARCs) and don't really dim until the end of battery life.
 
What's considered a keychain light varies by different people......

I have found any AAA light much too BIG for my keyring - so I carry a Photon 2 in Yellow on mine - the Photon 2 is a "nearly not there" size and weight - and Yellow mainly because of the very, very long runtime (used to be advertized at 120 hours - I had a Photon 1 also in yellow that was on my keyring for nearly 8 years until I retired it - and battery is still going strong now - probably nearly 10 years now....). Yellow also because it seems to least disturb any semi-dark adaption I have acquired - yet I seem to see well (contrast and definition) under yellow light - this could well just be conditioning since most of us see under yellow in room lighting and early morning and late afternoon light is also "yellow".

Anyway getting back to AA or AAA lights - with LEDs the possibilities of pretty bright single AA or AAA battery lights is a reality.

I regard single AAA or AA as "Pocket" lights, and EDC one in addition to the Yellow Photon 2.

Starting at the budget end the already mentioned Dorcy 1AAA is a bargain from a local WalMart @ $5.94.

A Classic Revisited - Dorcy 1AAA

I still EDC one as a pocket light - but beware the loop for the keyring has been cited by many as a weak point. Since I don't use it on a keyring it is not a problem for me.

Things have recently taken a quiet (but significant) leap forward in LED flashlights -

The Fenix E0 (~$19.95 shipped) is a 5mm white LED light that's about 2x brightness of the previous generation 5mm white LED 1AAA lights (eg: the Dorcy 1AAA above, or the classic ArcAAA).
It runs on a single AAA battery that gets about 9-10hours of nearly constant output, and 11-12hours to 50% brightness and then gradually diminishing brightness out to 20+hours - this was unheard of only a few months ago.....

Fenix E0 "Dart" - comparison review
including comparisons with the Dorcy 1AAA and the classic ArcAAA (circa 2003)

If that wasn't enough, Fenix recently introduced the Fenix L0P Special Edition (~$39.00 shipped) - this is a premium R-bin Luxeon light on a single AAA that has 3 levels of brightness. On high it is significantly brighter than the Fenix E0 and the beam characteristcs and tint are going to be a lot better too.

It's an amazing little light (for now) with good runtimes.
I called it a gem among jewels of a flashlight......

Fenix L0P-SE Special Review

Fenix L0P-SE runtimes

Hope some of this helps,

--
Vincent
http://clik.to/UnknownVT2006
http://clik.to/UnknownVT2005
http://clik.to/UnknownVT2004
http://clik.to/UnknownVincent
 
I like the Fenix E-1 cause its brighter than the E-0, but both are awesome...well worth the 20 or 25 bucks depending which you get..they are awesome
 
I personally would buy the Fenix L0P-SE.. 3 fully regulated brightness settings at such a killer price cant be beat. Cheaper than the Arc too.

If you want something cheaper, at 24$ the E1 is the way to go.

If you want something smaller... at Photon Freedom might be nice, it has even more settings than the other Photon microlight models - stepless brightness adjustion, Fast/Medium/Slow Strobe mode, SOS mode.
Might also be a nice addition to any of the AAA/AA-Sized lights.. kind of a last-resort light.
You can get them for as little as 10$ here (i used to pay over 30 € for mine, here in germany... argh! Didnt know about all the other sellers back then).

Oh, and if you consider buying a "rather pricey" light too.. well, then you even can have smaller AND brighter in one package - the Orb Raw NS.
Its about as big as a Minimag's head, and at high its brighter than some of the full-sized Surefires. :eek:
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/orb_rawns.htm
 
If you guys really want to impress yourself get one of these in the black plastic with the white light. I've got one and its just as impressive as the one from Tad Gear.

In fact its basically the same thing in generic form and for $.99 who can argue?

I know a lot of guys that will be getting and giving this for Xmas this year.

STR
http://www.lighthound.com/sales/keychain_flashlights.htm
 
STR said:
... get one of these in the black plastic with the white light. I've got one and its just as impressive as the one from Tad Gear.

In fact its basically the same thing in generic form and for $.99 who can argue?

http://www.lighthound.com/sales/keychain_flashlights.htm
Click to expand...

Amen! I bought a dozen of these "faux-tons" awhile back. GREAT little lights for the money. Maybe they're not as good as a real Photon but I'm hard pressed to tell any difference in quality. My only beef has been that I figured a dozen would last me several years, but it's just too tempting to give these suckers away. Hit a buddy or your lady friend with one of these and just watch their faces light up. ;) Now I'm down to just two or three, plus the one on my keychain. I might add that LightHound.com treated me right.
 
Although this custom key-chain light is a bit beyond this thread's intent, I thought some of you might like to see it anyway. The light is called the Draco. The pictures were taken by 4Sevens of CPF. He is also the owner of the Fenix-Store where many of us have bought our Fenix lights.

draco_with_other_lights-400x300.jpg
draco_with_Luninox-400x300.jpg


draco_disassembled-400x300.jpg


This light is not inexpensive, $130 plus. If interested, here is a link to get one (see post #1 from the light's builder):

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=128353&page=2&pp=100
 
Dorcy, generation 4 LED 1AAA, 41-4222 on sale QVC Friday PM. All anodized aluminum, no rubber bands, per Dorcy customer service 2 day. Just in case your WW doesn't have them.

http://www.dorcy.com/products.aspx?p=414222

UnknownVT, many thanks for the outstanding review on Dorcy's brilliant line of 1AAA LEDs.

All the best,

oregon
 
oregon said:
Dorcy, generation 4 LED 1AAA, 41-4222 on sale QVC Friday PM. All anodized aluminum, no rubber bands, per Dorcy customer service 2 day. Just in case your WW doesn't have them.
http://www.dorcy.com/products.aspx?p=414222
UnknownVT, many thanks for the outstanding review on Dorcy's brilliant line of 1AAA LEDs.
Click to expand...

Thank you oregon for the very kind words -

I've done a review of the "new" (gen 4) Dorcy 1AAA (model 41-4222) comparing it with lots of pix and beamshots to the previous gen 2 and gen 3 versions -

a New Dorcy 1AAA

It certainly looks brighter and whiter than the previous gen 3.

--
Vincent
http://clik.to/UnknownVT2006
http://clik.to/UnknownVT2005
http://clik.to/UnknownVT2004
http://clik.to/UnknownVincent
 
I doubt that I would ever have know that there were different generations of the Dorcy 1AAA without your review.

You are a legend in your own time Vincent.:thumbup:

The BladeForum member who started the extraordinary "EDC - What's in Your Pocket(s)??" thread in 2003. Five stars, over 364,000 views, over 2,500 replies and over 125 pages. Long may it run.

Your style and content make the internet interesting and attractive to a great many.

Maybe you could update your EDC on that thread, if it’s changed that is.

A metric ton of thanks.

All the best,

oregon
 
oregon said:
Maybe you could update your EDC on that thread, if it’s changed that is.
Click to expand...

Thank you again oregon - you are too kind,
and embarrassing me now....:o

I have taken your advice and updated my EDC in the mega thread -

EDC - What's in Your Pocket(s)?? (
multipage.gif
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ... Last Page)

in Post #2535 (link)

Home0611.jpg


The flashlights are -

Fenix L1T (review link) - 1AA 2-level LED light using a T-bin LuxeonIII

Fenix L0P-SE Special (review link) a kind of a "special-special" (SE= Special Edition) 1AAA 3-level LED light mod with a U-bin LuxeonIII.


--
Vincent
http://clik.to/UnknownVT2006
http://clik.to/UnknownVT2005
http://clik.to/UnknownVT2004
http://clik.to/UnknownVincent
 
Charlie Moore said:
Although this custom key-chain light is a bit beyond this thread's intent, I thought some of you might like to see it anyway. The light is called the Draco. The pictures were taken by 4Sevens of CPF. He is also the owner of the Fenix-Store where many of us have bought our Fenix lights.

draco_with_other_lights-400x300.jpg
draco_with_Luninox-400x300.jpg


draco_disassembled-400x300.jpg


This light is not inexpensive, $130 plus. If interested, here is a link to get one (see post #1 from the light's builder):

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=128353&page=2&pp=100
Click to expand...


so how do ya like the draco & what makes it so much better than an arc or fenix?

is a cool light for sure.
 
SIFu1A, the only thing I don't like about the Draco is its price tag.

The light is only 7 grams (half that of the Fenix L0P) and it's really bright on high -- way brighter than the Fenix L0P SE on high. The Draco has three levels of light output, one of them is user selectable among 10 different output levels.

I'm a sucker for really small, bright LED lights -- this one is the best I've seen by far in this arena. Despite the price and the limited runtime on its highest output level (about 18 minutes), I've made this light my EDC. I only really use the highest level for showing off -- it's too bright for nearly all my real uses for a small flashlight.
 
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