I'm a flashaholic

I went though this a little over a year ago. I lost 2 LED mini-mag light to swelled and burst alkaline batteries. A trip through the freezer did not release all the batteries, and I gave up on them instead of trying more aggressive mechanical means of removing the batteries.

The take away is USE NiMH BATTERIES as they do not swell like alkaline batteries. The second takeaway is freeze flashlights with jammed batteries as the batteries will drop out with a tap IF they had not leaked.

So, I started a thread on Badger and Blade.
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/428296-Alternate-flashlight-to-a-mini-maglite-needed
and bought WAY too many flashlights.

The basics of how dimming work is the control chip provides a square wave function. The % time on vs off is adjusted between the brightness settings at a specified frequency. Better lights have control chips operating at much higher frequencies so the light has much less strobe effect.

My favorites:
http://www.darksucks.com/store_betaqr.html
in copper. On my keys. It is a little heavy, but it is like functional jewelry, as pretty as it is useful.

http://www.amazon.com/Streamlight-73001-Miniature-Keychain-Flashlight/dp/B0011UIPIW/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1440247094&sr=8-12&keywords=streamlight
On my wife's car keys. Small, bright, useful, always available. Not the best light color though.

http://www.amazon.com/LED-Pocket-Work-Light-Flashlight/dp/B00N995L7Q/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1440246810&sr=8-3&keywords=cob+flashlight+laser
work light + cat toy. Good color.

http://www.amazon.com/Nebo-5897-NEBO-Larry-Light-Magnetic/dp/B008YFU0YY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1440247013&sr=8-2&keywords=nebo+larry
Work light. Bought a stack of these as Christmas gifts.

http://www.amazon.com/UltraFire%C2%AE-300LM-Flashlight-Torch-Adjustable/dp/B00M9ZOCNA/ref=pd_bia_nav_t_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=0PWJG4QJ92Q0MHWCZ0D9
unbeatable for the price.

I also have several Lux-pro from Lowes that are really somewhat expensive for being extremely similar to the Ultrafire offerings.

Some headlamps round out the assortment, but tend to not get much love as they are rather specific to their uses.

The other dozen or so lights I bought are varying between pretty decent to annoying strobe effect. The Rayovac LED's are the worst for strobe effect, although take a Rayovac industrial 2AA
http://www.amazon.com/Rayovac-Industrial-Flashlight-Krypton-I2AA-B/dp/B0009KN7NI/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1440247960&sr=8-5&keywords=rayovac+industrial
remove the pin bulb and replace with a common 3mm LED to create a low intensity, durable, 40+hour flashlight suitable for camping or children, or reading at night.

I have one of those amazing 2000 lumen lights. It is TOO powerful for normal use. I use it for inspecting my chimney, and other things I need strong light at a distance. I can also use it for spotting things in trees at night. It is useless for working on a car at night as it completely blanks out my vision. I have an older LED flood flashlight from TSC that I use on cars when I don't have access to a droplight. I find about 300-400 lumens to be about right on cars.

I have also noticed that NiMH batteries seem to perform better than alkaline batteries, other than simply not swelling up and jamming in the case. I cannot qualify this with accurate time taking though.

Phil

Thanks for the tips, a lot to go through there!

rsv1cox wrote:I bought one of these on ebay last year, liked it so much I bought two more.  2000 lumens for $13 and free shipping.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2000-Lumen-LED-Flashlight-Ultrafire-CREE-XML-T6-Torch-Rechargeable-Battery-Brigh-/111608462683?hash=item19fc61fd5b

This one would get Rusty back on top at the beach!!

I have both 3xD and 2xAA-cell Mag flashlights. A Christmas gift-set from my dad over 20 years ago. About 5 years ago, the "big one" got left on until it's batteries drained. (it wasn't me..) The batteries (Duracell alkaline) had leaked.. as discovered by my having to lock the flashlight body in a vice.. and use channel-lock pliers to remove the end-cap.. Luckily, tapping on a soft pine block dislodged the cells. It's still working fine today. I use the AA one for band gigs all the time. Nice tools to have. Mine have been reliable.

Hi guys! Had a minute to stop in and see whats happening...I thought i was was the only flashlightholic out there, it's great to see i'm not alone.

I too have been drawn to the light of eBay Chinese flashlights, the T6 led is amazing, along with the rechargeable 3.7v cels. I've purchased several over the last couple years and love them as well as a high powered laser for 13 bucks that i thought i couldn't live with out. lol.

I see now the new thing is multi T6 leds...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-3800-Lumen-3x-CREE-XM-L-T6-LED-Flashlight-5-Mode-18650-battery-Charger-/120948610531?hash=item1c291955e3

these little ones are nice too:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/221758381556?ul_noapp=true&chn=ps&lpid=82

here's one i picked up...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/371291323333?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

You all have shown me many nice low price LED lights ( how can they sell em for so cheap), let me see, one for the boat, one for the shed, one for each car, one for each room in the house.
Oh my, i'm short on lights, must get more!!!

rsv1cox wrote:Free shipping from Hongkong,  I don't know how they do it and still make money.  The LED's are pretty cheap though, and I like to think that the body of mine is made from scrapped Chinese and Russian fighters and bombers.  Who know, maybe we have a part of a MIG or two in our hands.

The light pattern from mine in a slightly darkened room.  It's perfect for my uses.

Y

Gosh, that light ought to be able to melt the retinas of a raccoon at 20 paces, in the dark!

Yep, I'm a convert to the LED LIghtSide. I was amazed at the brightness of the ray o vac flashlights when they came out with the "krypton" bulbs a decade or so ago, now these  LED 's are blowing them away. 3800 Lumen 3x CREE, Your not to far from burning skin with that intensity!  I also got rid of the incandescent bulbs around the house replaced with CFL's now I'm changing the CFL's out for the LEDs!   60w of light using only 9.8w of juice, without the danger of mercury dust poisoning from a broken bulb.

They ain't fooling about calling some of these lights "tactical" as in "usable as a weapon" and not as a club or bludgeon.

Phil

I'm not a "flashaholic" but I have these 1960s Sportsmans all over the house. One of the most popular flashlights ever made.




I have a few other old flashlights, one from the 20s somewhere around here.

Admin wrote:I'm not a "flashaholic" but I have these 1960s Sportsmans all over the house. One of the most popular flashlights ever made.




I have a few other old flashlights, one from the 20s somewhere around here.

I bought a modern LED Rayovac reproduction of that style of light because, well, ICONIC! I must have worn out half a dozen of the 80's version growing up.

The 80s version were pretty....lackluster compared to the older lights. The repop in LED is slightly better built than the 80's version, but still very thin metal.

The batteries are slightly more impressive than the flashlight, which is simply iconic.

Phil