LED flashlights?

I was in Beijing last week, where they were selling them with Maglite style bodies for $5 or $8. Worth the trip.

Helpful, Richard. :-)

GWE

Ain't necessarily "cheap" but I bought a $40 Coast LED Lenser V at Lowes 4 months ago. Beats the heck out of my mini Maglite. It will hurt your eyes if you look at it. I have used it 10-15 minutes almost every day and it is still on it's first set of AAAs.

I have purchased two of the same type. One at the Hershey auto swap and another at a local [SF Bay Area] flea market for $8. They take 3 AAA, cells and are quite bright. 4'' long and 1 1/8'' in dia. and have eight LEDs. I have other Mag styles that either take expensive batteries and are heavy or are not as bright.

Chuck P.

I looked at some with multiple LEDs in the display before I picked this one. They were a lot cheaper but this Coast was the only one that could burn my eyeballs in the rather brightly lit store and it only has a single LED. I have no idea what the technology is but it is good. It is 1" x 4.5" and uses 3 AAAs.

How good are they for distance? Everyone at work has a mini-maglite and we need them for their ability to shine on things perhaps 8-10 ft away (big dies). Is the Coast capable of making a reasonable spot at that distance?

Regards,

Robin

I have a couple of the Harbor Freight $19 jobs. If I remember correctly, they take 3 D cells and have 8 or 12 LEDs. For the money they work reasonably well.

Paul

I have one of these single-LED lights that was purchased at Lowe's, and it's plenty bright over a fairly long distance. I was very impressed with the amount of light produced for removing hooks from catfish mouths from 30 feet away. It doesn't adjust to a spot, and the light is "colored", but it works far better than I expected.

Kevin

Grant

Don Foreman is so well informed on LED flashlights that I'd suspect his experience and knowledge is worth wauting for him to 'fil you in' on flashlights. His depth of knowledge on the subject of LED flashlights is "world class".

I have learned alot from Don. With his guidance, I have built Luxeon LED lights that illuminates a target 200 feet away. It is quite possible to get a LED light that fits in your pocket and is actually too bright for close up use. I own one.

I strongly recommend Aventrade for affordable LED flashlights

Jerry

I have a Princeton "Attitude" that was given to me two years ago. It sees pretty constant use and is on its second set of 4 AAA cells. Its configuration fits in a pants pocket so that it is hardly noticeable.

Ted

I don't know what your needs are, but personally I'm not a fan of LED flashlights because I don't like their broad beam. If you want a nice, tight beam, I don't think you can do better than a D-cell Maglite. I get about 14 hours battery life from my 2-D Maglite, too. But LED flashlights are small and handy to carry. My father has a little LED head torch and loves it. Just depends what you want it for...

Chris

Have you checked out the offerings at C.Crane (ccrane.com)? Not only can you get the Luxeon flashlight mentioned by others but you can get LEDs in the form factor of common flashlight bulbs so you can turn your existing flashlight into a LED flashlight.

I know the one I bought from Walmart is not the greatest, but I like it. It's a Brinkmann ($10 in sporting goods dept). It uses 2 AA's and it is 1-3/8 diameter x 5 inches long, with a focusing lens that throws a spot 48" diameter at 25 feet. It's quite bright to 25-30 feet and will light up something pretty well to maybe 50-75 feet. It may not be the best, but I was pleased enough that I bought one for each vehicle and gave one to my mom.

I'd also mention that 4-5 year old grandkids love to play with flashlights and LED's are the perfect thing for them. You'll never have to say "turn that off, you'll run the batteries down".

Regards, FS

I just tested it against my old MiniMag. The MiniMag has fresh Duracells. The Coast still has it's original off brands. At 18' across a dark living room the MiniMag on tight beam makes a beam about 18" in diameter. There is no beam adjustment on the Coast but it makes beam about 8' in diameter that is brighter even at the edges than the MiniMag and considerably brighter in the middle 2'. With both shining on the same spot you can't even tell the miniMag is on.

It does have a bluish tint rather than yellow which takes a little getting used to.

Hey Grant, check out the two pack of "wind up flashlights" over by you at Costco $20 for the two pack, no batteries and they claim it will run for up to 45 minutes on one "charge" (it has a handle you crank to charge it up - I expect a super cap inside, but have not taken mine apart yet ;-) Seems to me they were about half way down the "automotive" aisle if I remember correctly.

mikey

Maybe at very close range, but I'd be surprised if they are brighter at

Chris

On Wed, 31 Aug 2005 14:55:07 -0700, the blithe spirit Grant Erwin clearly indicated:

Headlamp, pocket light, hand flashlight, large flashlight, search light, spelunking light, or other, Grant?

Works well _for_what_?

Don likes the $2,576.28 HOMEMADE! type with the expensive LED assy. ;)

I kinda like the idea of the $15 headlamp with both white and red LEDs for night vision and general use but I haven't bought one yet. Winchester Huntlight $10.99 (Hey, they're on sale!) at Bimart in the Hardware section. 3 white LEDs and 2 reds for retaining your night vision. These could be good for thwarting hot robberies/burglaries as well as stealth nocturnal visits to the fridge.

I have a single white LED book light with a clamp, also. I used it to find my way out to the shop last night when the wires to my telephone pole broke at 7pm and the house went dark. The $15 Harbor Fright fluor emergency light worked like a champ and allowed me to read for several hours.

I used a $2 HF headlamp in the attic a few weeks ago when putting up the new attic ventilator fan. An LED model would have worked as well or better with the whiter light. I like the headlamps and use them a lot more than regular flashlights for repair work on plumbing, electrical work, and under vehicle work. My dozen flashlights, at least one in each room of the house and shop, are seldom used any more.

So, what are you looking for in a flashlight, Grant? There are so many styles to choose from nowadays...

.-. Life is short. Eat dessert first! ---