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Which LED Flashlight Do You Use?
An anonymous reader asks: "There are now a LOT of LED flashlights on the market. A quick Google turns up 59,000 hits. Some of these flashlights are pretty ballsy. The LightWave 4000 contains 10 LEDs and offers one month of continuous light output. The Photon MicroLight is bright as all getout and goes on your keychain. The EverLED will go in a MagLight or any other high quality existing flashlight. There is even an entire web forum devoted to modifying existing flashlights to use LEDs. What experiences have Slashdot readers had with LED flashlights, and what recommendations would you make to a choosey buyer?"
Imagine a beowol....ahhhh forget it.
:-)
If you really wanted a cool flashlight you'd get one of these from thinkgeek and support OSDN!
/* oops I accidentally made a comment, sorry */
You can get them at sporting good's stores for less than $8. They are surprisingly bright, and amazingly useful. I've got a red one and a blue one.
More info
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I love my Turtlelite II. It's got everything you'd expect from an traditional flashlite minus the terrible battery life, yellow light, and fragile bulb. The 2 LEDs and the reflector make it perform quite similarly to a regular flashlight. The best part: I haven't changed the batteries in 18 months since I got it. You can stand it on it's back and light an entire room decently when the power goes out, and it'll last all night and through the next night. It's fairly compact, but not so small as to be unusable for long periods like the little squeezy flashlights, and to top it all off, it floats!
They're a little pricy at $28, but I think it's well worth it. Also, if you have a regular flashlight that you particularly like, they'll sell you a 2 LED "bulb' and a reflector so that you can convert your favorite flashlight...
I've got the Trek 4 4 led flashlight. Working great and still on its orignal set of batteries after 8 months.
Go to Dan's Data.
I bought one of these...nothing like the normal LED flashlights! This thing was BRIGHT...much brighter than a normal bulb, and it just lasted and lasted and lasted. It turns ANY flashlight into an LED flashlight...amazing. The only product like it. I highly recommend it!
For working around the house, pearing into dark corners, etc, I use an Opalec NewBeam drop in for my MiniMag. It is voltage regulated, so you get 10 hours of constant brightness, and it has a low a battery indicator LED. It is driven with 3 bright white LEDs. Nice, tight focused beam. Not quite as bright as the Maglight with the incadescent bulb and fresh batteries, but perfectly usable. And not too bright to annoying when using it to read in the dark, work up close to yuor face, etc.
For backpacking, I use a Black Diamond Moonlight headlamp, with 4 LEDs. Runs on 4AAAs, supposed to go for 70 hours, and is as bright as the NewBeam.
I like both very much. Probably THE best place for information like this on the web is Candle Power Forums, and the LED Museum. At CPF you'll find all sorts of user experiences with most everything out there, and some home grown "pill" style ultra bright MagLight dropins. These are guys who collet $100+ flashlights! And LED Museum has a ton of technical information and reviews.
_sig_ is away
I got 4 different colors of the everLED. Check out the Teal. www.everled.com
I have a couple of the PALight flashlights (blue and white). They are nice due to the very dim always-on setting so they can be found in the dark. They also run on 9V batteries which is ideal for me since once a year I go around and change the 9V batteries in my smoke detectors, water alarm, alarm-clock backup, etc. The batteries still have substantial life left and the PALlight about the only place I can use them. Of course the batteries last so long that it's almost impossible to use up even my used batteries. The PALlights also feature a couple of brightness modes and a strobe mode.
For a head lamp I use the Princeton-TEK 3led light (stays in my networking bag for peering behind computers under desks) but if I were to buy today I would get the Zipka since it fits in a tiny space with not in use.
I've kept a white photon micro-light on my keyring for years but there are many acceptable alternative keychain lights now.
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"You are not remembered for doing what is expected of you." - Atul Chitnis
Key features:
1. Lightweight.
2. Very bright, 7 LEDs. (Brighter than my big Mag-Lite.)
3. Soft diffuse glow over an area, good for reading.
4. Runs for 155 hours on 4 AA cells.
5. Waterproof to several meters.
6. Floats in water.
7. Rubber and polycarbonate construction, can easily survive a 2m drop onto solid concrete.
8. Push-button rubber-sealed switch on the end.
9. Available in black or safety yellow.
10. Fits in a coat pocket.
Got it for my significant other after she had a bad experience with a Mag Lite and a puddle in some dark woods.
Apparently Streamlight is the brand of choice for rescue workers.
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
They are pretty hard to find, but if you want the ultimate battery life, look for an LED flashlight with a driver. We're talking about... like 4-10 times the battery life of a resistor run (no-driver) LED here. The EverLED is one such product, but the driver is somehow contained inside the bulb, so it can be used to replace normal incandescent bulbs (it's the same form factor as the normal drop in flashlight bulbs). Pretty cool.
Damn, better be careful with that...easy to get eye damage with UV LEDs..
I have to agree, here. Photon MicroLight's work *really* well. Almost four years ago, I bought two of them (Red and Green). They both still work great, and I still haven't had to change the battery on the red one.
After getting them, a handful of friends of mine decided to purchase some, and I don't think any one of us has been at all disappointed. I now keep two in my pocket with me, as well as keeping one in my car, and a couple with my camping gear.
I would highly recommend these to anyone looking for a small (and *bright*) flashlight.
Topher
I bought the LightWave 2100 flashlight a couple of months back to keep in my 72 hour emergency kit. In a nutshell, I'm disappointed.
Here are some of the things that bug me about it:
* Light is blue, not white. I was expecting a crisp white light, not a dull blue one.
* No reflector. The LED's are nested in a black plastic dish.
* No lense. Not only can you not focus the beam, but the LED's themselves have no protection.
Ultimately I didn't do my homework when I bought this thing. I hope there are some better ones out there that address some of the shortcomings that I mentioned.
I like the Inova x5 - it is small and exceptionally durable. Supposedly you can run it over with a car. They also have a steel version that you can run over with a tank (and it will still work). Perhaps if you are planning a trip to the middle east...
Note that they use lithium batteries which have an long shelf life - so they are good to leave in the car. The downside is significantly more expensive replacement costs.
I also have a turtlelite II. Also well made, but a different style. Plastic, light, and quite durable. Not as bright, but it uses AA batteries.
Another flashlight was the LED-LENSER V2 Triplex. It is bright, small, and durable. But outclassed by the Inova x5 and turtlelite II.
I also tried some of the adapters for maglights. I was not impressed - the output was significantly lower than the original incandescent bulb.
No, I don't trust in god. He'll have to pay up front, like everybody else.
Most LED flashlights currently on the market suffer from one or more of these shortcomings
The EverLED addresses all of these issues.
So for the reasons above, plus the fact that the EverLED works with any size flashlight from 1 to 6 cells, pretty much makes it the best LED flashlight solution going. Nobody will touch you with a 6 cell LED Maglight. That's just my $.02
-73, de n1ywb
www.n1ywb.com
Check out the EverLED. It uses a single LED, but it's a 1 watt Luxeon LED. Plus because it's a side-emitter LED, you can still focus your Maglight's beam. Try that with any other LED Maglight bulb.
-73, de n1ywb
www.n1ywb.com
I have three LED flashlights. My first was an Arc AAA flashlight. It uses a Nichia white LED, a DC-DC converter, and a single AAA cell. You twist the head of the flashlight to turn it on and off. It is very small, only a bit bigger than the AAA battery, but gives quite a bit of light and has a great runtime of approximately 5 hours on an alkaline cell. It's terrific.
My second LED light is an Arc LS LED flashlight. It features a white Luxeon Star 1 watt LED, a DC-DC current regulator, and runs on a lithium 123 cell. It has a hard anodized finish that is extremely durable. It is only 2 3/8" long and is just under an inch in diameter. It has a very bright bluish-white light. It is very easy to carry in your pocket and I find myself using it daily. I bought it as a factory second directly from Arc. I highly recommend this flashlight. Arc sells their flashlights through distributors and from their own webpage at http://store.yahoo.com/flashlight/.
My last LED light is an Electro Lumens Blaster II. It also features a white Luxeon Star 1 watt LED, but has a large aluminum body that holds three 1.5 volt D cells. This light is very bright and will run at nearly full brightness for about 24 hours, and at reduced brightness for another 48 hours. It is a very cool flashlight. You can find them for sale at http://www.elektrolumens.com/4_SALE/For_Sale.html
While I'm here riding on the coattails of a +5 ... my pick is the Princeton Tec Aurora headband light. Three LED's, three brightness settings, useless blink settings, comfortable headband, and the lamp tilts away from the headband. The absolute best for doing work with line-of-sight light hands-free.
--- Jason Olshefsky
Karma: Poser (mostly affected by adding this line long after everyone else did)
"Full spectrum" lighting is a scam. See FAQ about Lighting, Mood, and Performance.
-73, de n1ywb
www.n1ywb.com
Have you tried a Petzl Duo belt with the 5 LED module? That's my mountaineering light of choice for big things (I use a tikka for backup purposes). You can use the 5 LEDs on easier/safer terrain, and switch momentarily to the halogen beam when needed.
The halogen beam is zoomable, so you can fit it to your needs. The 5 LEDs are reasonable for watching where you are going, but not for seeing far in front of you. Having the battery pack on your belt/pocket makes it very light on your head, and it's built like a tank. Keep in mind this thing is designed for serious mountaineering, where your headlamp can literally mean your life.
I've been using Petzl headlamps for 12 years, and they've never let me down (I own 3 different ones). Petzl stuff is expensive, but it's the best gear in the world.