- Joined
- Sep 25, 2002
- Messages
- 3,179
First up is the River Rock LED keychain light. $5.99 at the local Target. It's similar to the Streamlight Keymate. The head's a little thinner and it uses three button cells instead of four. It's also lacking the Keymate's stout clip. It feels a hair lighter than the Keymate but the postal scale at work says they're both .9 oz. I expect the green anodized finish will show scrathces soon enough. Under the flat lens is a dome like lens giving the light a strange pattern. It's like looking at Saturn. A perfectly circular spot with rings instead of a gradual spill. Not that big a deal on a light this size. It's a "find the keyhole" light, not a "find the trail light". It's brighter than my Keymate but my baby Streamlight isn't running of the freshest batteries. I suspect the Keymate would be brighter if it had fresh cells. I think this one will go on my work keys. For a six dollar torch the finish is uniform and the knurling on the head and body is good. For a dollar more the Inova Microlight is probably a better buy but my wife has one of those and I wanted to try something different. I would rate it behind the Keymate and Microlight but ahead of Princeton-Tek's Photon clone (pass on the PulsarII) and the Mag-Lite Solitare.
Next up is the River Rock .5 Watt LED that runs on 2AAA ($10). This does not look like it rolled out of the same factory. Satin black finish, no knurling, pocket clip (none too strong), no Rings of Saturn dome lens, 4.5" x .75". The insert says it's regulated. Of course the insert also says it weighs 4.5oz while the postal scale says it's 2.1oz (the real weight). I actually forgot it was in my shirt pocket until the wife brought me lunch and asked how many flashlights I needed. "Uh, three?" The tailcap turns for continuous light and the button is momentary. It won't knock your socks off but I don't think you'll throw it out of a moving car in disgust. It would make a good stocking stuffer for a kid or one for the desk drawer.
Also at the $10 mark I picked up the Nite-Ize LED conversion for my ancient Mini-Mag. It was easy to put in, only took me a few minutes (and I hadn't even had my first cup of coffee). Works just fine. Really need some fresh batteries in there, though (It's been sitting in my desk drawer for a year and a half. Even with the old batteries it's still bright enough to find your way out of a dark room. The tail cap switch is a big improvement. It's not recessed and the the spring isn't that strong but the kit it still better than the spotty/twisty beam the stock bulb puts out. The Mini-Mag's not a great light but this one has stood up to 7-8 years of being tossed around and dropped. I guess I got my dollars worth.
Lastly, one more River Rock. This one was $20. A 1.5W, 2AA number. It looks like the grown up version of the keychain light. Not bad looking, really. It's 1.1" x 6.8", 4.7oz. Green anodized, knurled and fluted. Says it's regulated. And we're back to the Rings of Saturn dome (really bright, though). Enough spill you won't run into a wall but this one's really a spot. The on/off switch is on the side behind the head, engages with a positive click. Comes with a wrist lanyard, nice touch, I guess. This is at least as nice as the Metal Gear by Dorcy and about the same price. Pretty nice light for $20. If you're in Target and simply must come home with a goodie this is worth consideration.
I know I could have ordered one good light online but we have at least a couple of power outages every summer and I wanted lights all over the house. They had a couple of Dorcys I might go back for (when I go back for batteries). Maybe I'll put a Fenix on my Christmas list, by all accounts it's an excellent EDC.
Frank
Next up is the River Rock .5 Watt LED that runs on 2AAA ($10). This does not look like it rolled out of the same factory. Satin black finish, no knurling, pocket clip (none too strong), no Rings of Saturn dome lens, 4.5" x .75". The insert says it's regulated. Of course the insert also says it weighs 4.5oz while the postal scale says it's 2.1oz (the real weight). I actually forgot it was in my shirt pocket until the wife brought me lunch and asked how many flashlights I needed. "Uh, three?" The tailcap turns for continuous light and the button is momentary. It won't knock your socks off but I don't think you'll throw it out of a moving car in disgust. It would make a good stocking stuffer for a kid or one for the desk drawer.
Also at the $10 mark I picked up the Nite-Ize LED conversion for my ancient Mini-Mag. It was easy to put in, only took me a few minutes (and I hadn't even had my first cup of coffee). Works just fine. Really need some fresh batteries in there, though (It's been sitting in my desk drawer for a year and a half. Even with the old batteries it's still bright enough to find your way out of a dark room. The tail cap switch is a big improvement. It's not recessed and the the spring isn't that strong but the kit it still better than the spotty/twisty beam the stock bulb puts out. The Mini-Mag's not a great light but this one has stood up to 7-8 years of being tossed around and dropped. I guess I got my dollars worth.
Lastly, one more River Rock. This one was $20. A 1.5W, 2AA number. It looks like the grown up version of the keychain light. Not bad looking, really. It's 1.1" x 6.8", 4.7oz. Green anodized, knurled and fluted. Says it's regulated. And we're back to the Rings of Saturn dome (really bright, though). Enough spill you won't run into a wall but this one's really a spot. The on/off switch is on the side behind the head, engages with a positive click. Comes with a wrist lanyard, nice touch, I guess. This is at least as nice as the Metal Gear by Dorcy and about the same price. Pretty nice light for $20. If you're in Target and simply must come home with a goodie this is worth consideration.
I know I could have ordered one good light online but we have at least a couple of power outages every summer and I wanted lights all over the house. They had a couple of Dorcys I might go back for (when I go back for batteries). Maybe I'll put a Fenix on my Christmas list, by all accounts it's an excellent EDC.
Frank
