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Flashlight Enthusiast
Dear Fellow CPFers,
As some of you know, I am addicted to tiny lights! I continue my search for my "phial of Galadriel"... a tiny light that is on my person at all times (even in the middle of the night, even when in the shower, even while swimming) so that I am never left without light.
There is a bit of a story behind this which I told a while back here, and has to do with our house getting broken into while we were asleep... and I couldn't get the light switch to work as we had shut the lamp off at the base and for about 1 minute stumbled around in the dark listening to my wife and baby scream, not sure where the intruder was...
At any rate, I have been totally delighted and in love with my TiFli and it has not left my neck in a loooong time. But, I have long had this nagging idea that there is something missing. Mostly, I think it is my fantasy to have more of a "pendant" type light. In fact, I made up some sketches as to what I have in mind like these:
And, while I patient await my Taglight, I know that not even it will scratch this particular itch.
Enter the NiteIze ZipLit... I heard about it from sed6, and received them today. In short, they are very cool and do just what they should, but have a some room for improvement. However, at their low price they are forgivable and I will be buying more for gifts...
So, these are little tiny, dime-sized pendant lights:
To give a sense of scale, here is one in my medium-sized hands:
Tiny and so lightweight that it feels like an empty shell of plastic, these are really neat!! What's coolest about them is the fact that unlike a fauxton, the LED itself is en face:
It's a little hard to see, but the actual LED is right there on the front. What's really neat is that it ends up giving a soft, floody glow, probably less than 5 lumens total (just a guess--because it is a mule of sorts, it's harder for me to gauge this). I will say that it is enough to get down stairs in pitch blackness, but you have to hold it down close to the stairs in order to see them... pretty dim overall, which is a feature for some!
It is water-resistant and comes with 2 extra batts (1 extra for each light supplied in the 2-pack) that are CR 927 3V. The operation is simple: there is a little knob in the back:
Tighten to turn on, loosen to turn off. One mode, rock-solid simple.
In practice, I absolutely love the tiny size and super light weight. I am totally smitten by the fact that it has a pendant orientation with the emitter on the front. I love the rock-solid simple operation. And these lights will be on my zippers as NiteIze intended! I think for that purpose (the purpose for which it was designed), it is quite perfect.
However, as my phial of Galadriel, my perfect pendant neck light... this is not it.
Issues:
1. It's just too dim for me to use it as I want and need as a neck light. Though my TiFli is dim, the slightly more focused beam pattern allows me to see things a few feet away. This light suffers a bit like my beloved GLO-TOOB, in that because it is omnidirectional, you get a little bit blinded which makes its low light that much harder to see with...
2. Although I love the operational simplicity, the knob is not aesthetic and, much more importantly, is impossible to operate with 1 hand. I can grasp my TiFli with one hand and give a twist on the chain to turn it on and off--it's great! But not so with this little ZipLit.
3. Speaking of aesthetics... It's sort of chintzy looking, especially compared to the TiFli... the cheap plastic and integrated band really make it something much better suited for a zipper than for neckwear...
4. The tiny batteries seem (though I have not tested!) to be just that... pretty tiny. My sense is that this will not run for very long.
My fantasy neck light would be a bit larger, maybe half-dollar sized, with a rechargeable battery, like the one being used in the Taglight by Sabrewolf. It would also have a power LED to give some oomph when needed. I wait for a clever maker to grant this wish of mine... I would be willing to pay dearly for such a light...
But, for now, my TiFli will hold its place around my neck!
As some of you know, I am addicted to tiny lights! I continue my search for my "phial of Galadriel"... a tiny light that is on my person at all times (even in the middle of the night, even when in the shower, even while swimming) so that I am never left without light.
There is a bit of a story behind this which I told a while back here, and has to do with our house getting broken into while we were asleep... and I couldn't get the light switch to work as we had shut the lamp off at the base and for about 1 minute stumbled around in the dark listening to my wife and baby scream, not sure where the intruder was...
At any rate, I have been totally delighted and in love with my TiFli and it has not left my neck in a loooong time. But, I have long had this nagging idea that there is something missing. Mostly, I think it is my fantasy to have more of a "pendant" type light. In fact, I made up some sketches as to what I have in mind like these:
And, while I patient await my Taglight, I know that not even it will scratch this particular itch.
Enter the NiteIze ZipLit... I heard about it from sed6, and received them today. In short, they are very cool and do just what they should, but have a some room for improvement. However, at their low price they are forgivable and I will be buying more for gifts...
So, these are little tiny, dime-sized pendant lights:
To give a sense of scale, here is one in my medium-sized hands:
Tiny and so lightweight that it feels like an empty shell of plastic, these are really neat!! What's coolest about them is the fact that unlike a fauxton, the LED itself is en face:
It's a little hard to see, but the actual LED is right there on the front. What's really neat is that it ends up giving a soft, floody glow, probably less than 5 lumens total (just a guess--because it is a mule of sorts, it's harder for me to gauge this). I will say that it is enough to get down stairs in pitch blackness, but you have to hold it down close to the stairs in order to see them... pretty dim overall, which is a feature for some!
It is water-resistant and comes with 2 extra batts (1 extra for each light supplied in the 2-pack) that are CR 927 3V. The operation is simple: there is a little knob in the back:
Tighten to turn on, loosen to turn off. One mode, rock-solid simple.
In practice, I absolutely love the tiny size and super light weight. I am totally smitten by the fact that it has a pendant orientation with the emitter on the front. I love the rock-solid simple operation. And these lights will be on my zippers as NiteIze intended! I think for that purpose (the purpose for which it was designed), it is quite perfect.
However, as my phial of Galadriel, my perfect pendant neck light... this is not it.
Issues:
1. It's just too dim for me to use it as I want and need as a neck light. Though my TiFli is dim, the slightly more focused beam pattern allows me to see things a few feet away. This light suffers a bit like my beloved GLO-TOOB, in that because it is omnidirectional, you get a little bit blinded which makes its low light that much harder to see with...
2. Although I love the operational simplicity, the knob is not aesthetic and, much more importantly, is impossible to operate with 1 hand. I can grasp my TiFli with one hand and give a twist on the chain to turn it on and off--it's great! But not so with this little ZipLit.
3. Speaking of aesthetics... It's sort of chintzy looking, especially compared to the TiFli... the cheap plastic and integrated band really make it something much better suited for a zipper than for neckwear...
4. The tiny batteries seem (though I have not tested!) to be just that... pretty tiny. My sense is that this will not run for very long.
My fantasy neck light would be a bit larger, maybe half-dollar sized, with a rechargeable battery, like the one being used in the Taglight by Sabrewolf. It would also have a power LED to give some oomph when needed. I wait for a clever maker to grant this wish of mine... I would be willing to pay dearly for such a light...
But, for now, my TiFli will hold its place around my neck!
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) and a couple of their drop ins. Love their simplicity as well.
