Recommend me a keychain flashlight

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xing

Joined
Sep 12, 2009
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108
Hey everyone, Ive been shopping around lately for a good keychain flashlight. Ive had my eye on the Maratac/ITP AAA flashlight but have a few concerns with it. I would prefer the AA version but Im not sure if that would be too big for keychain carry or not. So my first question is how would the AA version carry on a keychain? My second question is if there is any other flashlights I should consider. I want one that is all metal, small enough to carry on a keychain and forget about, uses either an AA or AAA battery, and has more than one power setting. Thanks in advance.
 
I don't have the AAA version but I have the AA one. It can be carried on a keychain but it might be a little big. I usually keep it seperate in a pocket or clipped to one. It is a very good flashlight. Better than most of my lights. Great power, good choice of power settings, uses common batteries, and relatively cheap.
 
I used to have a fenix e01, it was a nice little keychain light. During hurricane Dolly we had 75-90mph winds and it took the power down for around 12 hours. It hit at night and the winds where howling really bad. The wife and kids were scared. I stood it up and left it on all night long like a night light. It lit up the room enough for my kids to not be so scared of the dark and go to sleep that night. I am going to get me another pretty soon.
 
I seriously doubt you could find a better keychain light than the Maratac AAA. Especially if you use the 3.6v rechargeable (ultrafire 10440) battery in them. Talk about bright! I gave my Fenix EO1 away after I got the Maratac. The Maratac is just a few dollars more but you get a longer run time on low, an actual lens protecting the LED and reflector, and 8 times brighter on high with a normal AAA.
With the 3.6v Medium is as bright as High was with a regular AAA which is supposedly 80 lumens. I would not be surprised at all if High with the ultrafire is 160+ lumens.
 
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The iTP A2 is not too big for keychain carry, depending on how big you want your keychain to be. The A3 is almost as bright, especially for up close tasks, so I would go with that as long as you are not trying to spot a deer from 100 yards. You will notice a big difference in the brightness over distance due to the reflectors, but up close, they are pretty similar.
 
storl said:
The iTP A2 is not too big for keychain carry, depending on how big you want your keychain to be. The A3 is almost as bright, especially for up close tasks, so I would go with that as long as you are not trying to spot a deer from 100 yards. You will notice a big difference in the brightness over distance due to the reflectors, but up close, they are pretty similar.
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Not to bash on your site, but on ITP - Those lights seem to be Chinese made knockoffs of the American made Maratac(CountyComm) lights but sell for almost the same price.....
 
HardUse said:
Not to bash on your site, but on ITP - Those lights seem to be Chinese made knockoffs of the American made Maratac(CountyComm) lights but sell for almost the same price.....
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Well, considering that iTP makes Maratac's lights, there is a good reason that they look very similar.
 
storl said:
Well, considering that iTP makes Maratac's lights, there is a good reason that they look very similar.
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Yeah I did some research and it looks like ITP makes them for Maratac. Kind of weird since I thought Maratac was an American company but I can't seem to find any info on them.
 
HardUse said:
Yeah I did some research and it looks like ITP makes them for Maratac. Kind of weird since I thought Maratac was an American company but I can't seem to find any info on them.
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Maratac is County Comm's house brand, so I'm guessing that some stuff is made here, some is made elsewhere, depending on what the item is.
 
You may want to check out the knew 4Sevens Quark Mini CR2. IMHO the best keychain light available so far. Anyone who sees mine gets stunned by the amount of light emitted from such a small light, it's unbelievable. On the plus side the beam pattern is perfect with a big hotspot and great spill, it will serve you nicely for closeup work or for illuminating a large area.

http://www.4sevens.com/product_info.php?cPath=297_355&products_id=2197

Type CPF8 on the coupon field for an 8% discount.:)
 
koubilaihan said:
You may want to check out the knew 4Sevens Quark Mini CR2. IMHO the best keychain light available so far. Anyone who sees mine gets stunned by the amount of light emitted from such a small light, it's unbelievable. On the plus side the beam pattern is perfect with a big hotspot and great spill, it will serve you nicely for closeup work or for illuminating a large area.

http://www.4sevens.com/product_info.php?cPath=297_355&products_id=2197

Type CPF8 on the coupon field for an 8% discount.:)
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+1 - great light. I got mine in titatium.
 
panch0 said:
I used to have a fenix e01, it was a nice little keychain light.
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+1 for the E01. :thumbup:

There are brighter choices, but AFAIK they are all larger and personally the E01 is about as large as I want on my keyring. ;)
 
Arc AAA

Or, if you're looking for something a little more on the less expensive spectrum, try a Fenix E01. They're actually very high quality [great machining, quality hard anodized coating, excellent runtime] for the price.
 
I have a AAA Maratac. Love it! Very bright, only problem is that sometimes some crud builds up around the o-ring and it gets finicky switching between settings. Just unscrew it and scrape with your nail. I don't think the AA gets much brighter, it just lasts longer.
 
Not easy to find them and not easy to order them, but if you can get your hands on a Wee or Raw from Lummi you will be 100% satisfied. The Raw is larger and offers two light settings while the Wee is very small and has only one setting.
 
The iTP EOS A3 is an AAA sized light that uses a single battery. The three levels of output are something like 1.5, 18, and 80 lumens. The body is offered in Aluminum, Titanium, and stainless steel. The difference in weight between the Al and Ti models is 3.5 gm (13vs.16.5). I carry the Titanium model on my keychain because there is no finish to wear off. The difference in price is roughly $25 ($20vs.$45). If you put the pocket clip on backwards, it will clip to the bill of a baseball cap. It takes about two hands to turn it on because it is a twisty, but the absence of a button switch keeps the size quite short.
 
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