Recommendation for Pocket sized flashlight?

U

underaged!

Joined
Sep 11, 2004
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Damn looking at all the recent threads here, makes me want to build a keychain :cool: , even though I only have a house key. I would like a pocket sized light to put on a key chain.

I was looking at the Maglite Solitare and thinking about those small LEDs, you know the ones your squeeze togther. But then I heard the Maglite bulbs go out really fast, and I don't really know the quality of those LEDs, as I have never owned one. CPF is too confusing and I'm scared to post there. Help :confused:
 
What about a longbow micra. I don't know whether it'll fit a key chain but it is quite small and pocketable.

I've never tried it though. Just ordered the Longbow with a Streamlight TwinTask 2l and only the Streamlight arrived back home in Malaysia. Some fu(k£r stole the longbow.

However my dad says from the looks of the box the Longbow looks really nice. hehehe...
 
I use a white Photon 2. Bright enough for a keychain light, lasts a long time, small and fairly inexpensive ($15).
 
The Solitaire has a beam so dim and narrow it's almost useless. Any led is better than that.

If you only have to carry one key (cool!) you could attach it to a Dorcy AAA -- or how about a Photon II and an Outdoor Edge Wedge?
 
I would recommend something from Peak LED Solutions. They have some "AAA Prototypes" still available on their Closeouts page for $14.95 shipped 2-day included. These are the famous Arc AAA bodies, just with different electronics. The LED's aren't spectacular, but they are plenty bright for navigating around at night, in a dark house, etc and the battery lasts forever. I have a red one and a white one. The red one is my reading lamp at night and I wouldn't use it for much other than that. The white one is a little brighter. The Peak production stuff has different bodies, which are superb, and the Snow LED's are supposed to be great. Their AAA Hi-Power with 3 LED's is comparable to a single LED Arc AAA, which is amazingly bright for such a small light.
 
A second for the Dorcy AAA. It is available at WalMart for under $7.

Bright lil pup, push button on/off at the rear, and twist for constant on.

Seems rugged. I haven't "field" tested, but I carry one in my jacket pocket. Lights up a room or the car interior very well.

My pocket carry is an ARC AAA. Haven't failed me yet. But, alas, with the recent demise of ARC, these are too cost prohibitive to pick up now, IMHO.

The Photons are nice light little keychain lights. Some Meijer stores have them for $10 each. I keep one on my "gadget keychain", and have several stashed in kits. They make great gifts too.
 
I will recommend a Photon. One key advantage of an LED light is that LED's last forever, it's just the batteries that need replacing. I have a Photon II that I bought a couple of years ago, and it is still running on original batteries. Plenty bright for the type of uses it gets, but I am considering a new companion in something from Surefire for when I want really bright light (mini sun :D ).

Also look into glowrings, they are really cool keyring gadgets, and as you only have a single key you have plenty of room for more gadgets!
 
I've got all kinds of stuff, except for the Arc, which I missed the boat on when I had the chance. But anyways, here's some suggestions for you -

The Peak LED is about as close as you can get to Arc right now. Don't bother with the Solitare. .

Dorcy AAA is cool, a bargain, and fairly durable. I beat the living snot out of mine. Beware, though, if you ignore temperature restraints and the battery decides to corrode it might mess things up. .

Inova Microlite is on my keychain, squeeze to light or there's a switch! Pretty cool. I ditched my PT Impact for it. .

If your pockets are big enough, you could get a CMG/Gerber Infinity. I'd suggest the CMG Ultra-G personally. It'd just barely fit on a keychain in my pocket, and I prefer it around my neck.
 
I vote for the Photon II. It disappears on a keychain and is great for a quick flash of light to see what you dropped, find a keyhole, look for something in a dark theater, etc. I like to put mine on a split ring, which I attach to another split ring that holds my keys. The keychain is long enough that I can hold it up to my front door at night, point the light at the keyhole, squeeze the light, and put the key in. You can also put them on your jacket zipper pulls, very convenient.

If you use your light all day, for example at work, then one of the AA or AAA models would be better for long battery life and easy replacement. I have a CMG Infinity Ultra that I like for that role. I had an Arc AAA also, but it stopped working.
 
A white Photon II gets my vote too. I carry both a modified Arc LS and an Arc AAA, but I don't want that much bulk on my keychain. Photons are bright, reliable, and very tough.

--Bob Q
 
I've got a few photons and would take 1 arc AAA for 1/2 dozen of them. As an emergency backup, they'll do, but IMO they cannot seriously be considered a utility light b/c they are unregulated, take expensive batteries w/o much power, and are not waterproof. Plus, the switch on my photon II broke. They'll fix it, but I haven't cared enough to send it in.

My $.02
 
Underaged, how bright do you want it? The Longbow Micra (Luxeon I) and the Nuwaii QIII (LuxIII) are 1x123 sized (think of a film canister, only a little narrower and a little longer) The Micra goes for $70 and the QIII is 50$. Both are pretty damn bright
 
Damn, why is light such a big topic! :(

IDK, how bright would I need? Something under, $56. Umm, uhhh, I feel like I'm at Young Guns for the first time. The lady asks me what I like in a knife... I guess I better not go there for a light. I'll carry something up to the aproximate size of a Scallion. IDK what else I carry that would be like a flashlight size, 722 is too big for a keychain i think. :rolleyes:
 
Yup...Get yourself a Photon II...I've had one for a couple years now (blue light), and I wouldn't leave home without it.
 
I just this evening ordered the Nuwai Q-III (aka Quantum III). As GarageBoy just reported, it's a lot of light for $50 bucks...and has been very well reviewed by LedMuseum and FlashlightReviews.

It's available from advancedmart.com along with several other "goodies." It was a tough choice (I like several of their brand new Nuwai's..They all offer a lot of bang for the buck). But like you, I was going for pocket size...(with some power). ;)
AdvancedMart-Luxeon Leds


Dennis Greenbaum

Yeah Baby! :cool:
 
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