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What is the best alkaline battery flashlight?
- Thread starter jefroman
- Start date
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2000
- Messages
- 142
I agree that the lithium batteries are expensive but they shouldn't be hard to find. Try your local camera store; 123A lithium batteries are used in a lot of cameras.
Bronco
Moderator
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- Feb 25, 2000
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- 7,601
You can also check out a company called Underwater Kinetics, or UK for short. They make some pretty nice AA dive lights (along with many others) that are well constructed, plenty bright, and, as might be expected, extremely waterproof.
Pelican is another company which makes good little dive lights in this category.
Pelican is another company which makes good little dive lights in this category.
For ten or twelve measly dollars you can buy a large Eveready double barrel. These lights, for their size, are much brighter than the Maglites. They seem pretty durable, and they have an adjustable beam. And the batteries last a while. They are excellent little flashlights and I am dumbfounded as to why no one ever mentions them.
I have to agree with Bill. The Underwater Kinetics lights are some of the best alkaline lights you can find. They are lightweight, prefocused and watertight. The 2AAA Pocketlight is about the size of a Mini Maglite, but much brighter. Also the 4C cell Sunlight is a great light. The beam pattern is a little tighter than I like, but it puts out alot of light.
Also check out the Princeton Tec lights. They are similar to the UKE lights.
Also check out the Princeton Tec lights. They are similar to the UKE lights.
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2001
- Messages
- 1,794
I've got a Pelican Versabrite II which I like. It has a swiveling head, takes two AAs, and the beam is not too narrow like some of their others. Also, I have an EverReady Double Barrel I got at a closeout place. It's a four AAA model and has a Xenon bulb for lots of light. Seems to be a good one.
IMO, the cheapest, ruggedest, and still pretty bright AA light will be a LumiLite Z Lite (rubber covered) or its even cheaper companion, the LumiLite Krypton model. Prices are about five and three bucks respectively.
You might want to rethink the DL 123 lithium batteries. Go to Arizona Gun Runners and check out the prices on their SureFire E2 (about 70 min run time) and a six-pack of 123 lithiums. Just under $49 and $16 respectively. Also, I'm not sure how much they charge for the E1, but it gets ninety minutes out of one lithium battery and puts out 15 lumens. I found with my Streamlight Scorpion that after the first month of playing with it, I settled down into using about a pair of batteries per month, and I'm a security guard who works at night. That's about three bucks per month for lithium 123s if you buy off the web in bulk as I mentioned above. And batteries may last longer for you if you don't use them as much as I do. (I now use a SureFire 8X rechargeable and standard MagLites.)
I'm gonna order soon for a buddy and myself--I'm going for a SureFire M3 Millenium this time! Dam I'm obsessed with knives and lights!
Karl
IMO, the cheapest, ruggedest, and still pretty bright AA light will be a LumiLite Z Lite (rubber covered) or its even cheaper companion, the LumiLite Krypton model. Prices are about five and three bucks respectively.
You might want to rethink the DL 123 lithium batteries. Go to Arizona Gun Runners and check out the prices on their SureFire E2 (about 70 min run time) and a six-pack of 123 lithiums. Just under $49 and $16 respectively. Also, I'm not sure how much they charge for the E1, but it gets ninety minutes out of one lithium battery and puts out 15 lumens. I found with my Streamlight Scorpion that after the first month of playing with it, I settled down into using about a pair of batteries per month, and I'm a security guard who works at night. That's about three bucks per month for lithium 123s if you buy off the web in bulk as I mentioned above. And batteries may last longer for you if you don't use them as much as I do. (I now use a SureFire 8X rechargeable and standard MagLites.)
I'm gonna order soon for a buddy and myself--I'm going for a SureFire M3 Millenium this time! Dam I'm obsessed with knives and lights!
Karl
I would suggest the E2 you won't regret it. The beam quality is amazing. I use an E2 at work all the time and use a set of batteries about every other week. The small size is worth the $8 in batteries a month.
If you really want an alkaline light I would look at Princeton Tec, they are waterproof and use a side-by-side battery configuration. Or UKE 2 AAA (also very waterproof) used to be what I carried before I found Surefires. The UKE 2 AAA is about the same brightness as a Mag 2 AA with a Brinkman Nextstar lamp. If you do go with a Mag I would suggest upgrading to a Brinkman lamp.
The reason I don't personally like the double barrel lights are their size vs. light output. They are just too big for me to carry around on a regular basis.
If you really want an alkaline light I would look at Princeton Tec, they are waterproof and use a side-by-side battery configuration. Or UKE 2 AAA (also very waterproof) used to be what I carried before I found Surefires. The UKE 2 AAA is about the same brightness as a Mag 2 AA with a Brinkman Nextstar lamp. If you do go with a Mag I would suggest upgrading to a Brinkman lamp.
The reason I don't personally like the double barrel lights are their size vs. light output. They are just too big for me to carry around on a regular basis.
If you want in depth discussions, you can go to www.candlepowerforums.com , or http://ledmuseum.home.att.net/ , or http://electriclights.tripod.com/ , or (there's one more but I can't find it)
If you want the quick, down and dirty (IMHO):
Best LED pocket light: Arc-AAA flashlight (small like a Mag Solitaire with bright white light over 5hour life of standard AAA battery followed by extended run time at lower light level till battery really dies)
Best non-LED pocket light: UKE 2AAA (brighter than Mag Solitaire with barely noticeable increase in size due to the side-by-side battery placement. Is also dive-capable.)
Are you going any bigger? (I assumed you were going for pocket-sized lights) There are so many really good flashlights around. (And just as many crappy ones)
BTW, if you buy Lithium batteries in quantity and wish to store them, firstly, you don't have to worry about leakage and loss as they have a 10yr shelf life with 70% power remaining. But you can greatly increase that by putting the batteries in an air-tight container and leaving it at the bottom shelf of your fridge, in the vegetables compartment.
If you want the quick, down and dirty (IMHO):
Best LED pocket light: Arc-AAA flashlight (small like a Mag Solitaire with bright white light over 5hour life of standard AAA battery followed by extended run time at lower light level till battery really dies)
Best non-LED pocket light: UKE 2AAA (brighter than Mag Solitaire with barely noticeable increase in size due to the side-by-side battery placement. Is also dive-capable.)
Are you going any bigger? (I assumed you were going for pocket-sized lights) There are so many really good flashlights around. (And just as many crappy ones)
BTW, if you buy Lithium batteries in quantity and wish to store them, firstly, you don't have to worry about leakage and loss as they have a 10yr shelf life with 70% power remaining. But you can greatly increase that by putting the batteries in an air-tight container and leaving it at the bottom shelf of your fridge, in the vegetables compartment.