Good light to carry on key ring

I tried doing a search for EDC, but no results are pulling up. I currently have a Garritty keychain light I bought at Wal-Mart for about $4. Are the better lights out there for about the same price?

$4 is a bit skimpy for many CPFers' keychains...

A lot have something along the lines of an Arc-AAA ($30-40), and others have a Photonlight or Inova Microlight ($8-20). I prefer a Photonlight for its small size... And even still, others prefer the "Photon clones" that KevinL, Lighthound.com, and QualityChinaGoods.com sell for $1 each, which are very good, though they feel a little too cheap to me.

I highly recommend the Photon Freedom Micro, which can be had from Brightguy for $12 not including shipping, or Photonlight.com for $21 shipped. But a set of 10 Photon clones for $9 shipped from Dae at QualityChinaGoods.com is a good deal... and then you can put a few everywhere.

I like the Photons, either the II or Freedom, both work well, anything much longer than that tends to swing to much and whack the steering column of my vehicles.

Like what's been mentioned regarding the Photon Freedoms and there's also the "clip-on" ASPs that come in a variety of colors. The Princeton Tecs have a small offering too!

Hope you find what you're looking for and Enjoy!

lebox97 is sellling an single AAA cell clone for $4 each (in lots of 5), including shipping. $5 each in lots of 2. It's smaller than the Arc AAA and works pretty good. I think it can make an inexpensive, functional keychain light if you find a way to tighten its threads. Some say a washer inside will do it.

- Arc AAA (personal favorite keychain light)
- Photon Freedom

If you want to move up the food chain, try a JIL 1.3W for around $60 - $70(?).

I like the Inova Microlight too, but its not good as a keychain or pocket light IMO because you will accidentally turn it on in your pocket and deplete the battery. Its a good deal at Target stores for $7 though.

Edited to add: didn't see your $4 or so price point; that sorta narrows things down.

peace

nerdgineer said:

lebox97 is sellling an single AAA cell clone for $4 each (in lots of 5), including shipping. $5 each in lots of 2. It's smaller than the Arc AAA and works pretty good. I think it can make an inexpensive, functional keychain light if you find a way to tighten its threads. Some say a washer inside will do it.

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The washer is to stop the battery rattling when the light's off (I used some scotch tape and got the same benefit). Teflon pipefitter's tape is recommended to tighten the threads. Hadn't known about this problem until yesterday when leaving the house to find a bright white light in my pocket. Off to Ace tomorrow...

ARC AAA Premium or a Fenix L0P. the ARC is a time-proven winner. The Fenix is a relatively new manufacturer so there is no long-term track record.

I found a thread that has picolights advertised. How do they compare to Photons or Photon clones?:help:

I love my Streamlight KeyMate and got it for a little under $8.50 shipped (but I bought other items at the same time to save on shipping). If you look around for a good deal, I think the Keymate is a great buy. The build quality is very nice, has a great warranty to back it and it's very bright for it's teeny size. Even brigther with a Nichia CS LED in it (and that was only $1 more).

Not $4 but I carry a black CR2 Ion by CPF member Endeavour on my key chain (paid $152.50 with shipping, can probably get it cheaper on BST.)

I like the flood beam, seems other prefer throw. If I needed throw, I'll reach for something else. I just hate needing some light to light up my path and need to pan around to see what I'm looking for vs. having a flood beam to light up everything.

For a keychain light, I like my Photon Freedom. It's very small, and bright for its size.

Since buying the Freedom, I have received a few Photon knockoffs that seem to work just as well, but without the dimming feature of the Freedom.

I agree with Lee1959, a longer light tends to swing annoyingly against my car's steering column.

I have a Princeton Tec Pulsar that my daughter bought for me. I have no complaints about it except that it takes a lot of pinching force to turn it on. I used to carry a Solitaire modded with a Lux/sandwich, but it was not totally reliable so I'm not carrying it now. I have a couple of Keymates and a couple of MJLED's left for when I get energetic.

My daughter and my wife both have Streamlight Keymates that they took away from me. Actually my wife and I gave away almost 20 of them for Christmas presents this past holliday.

For $4? nothing brand-name.

I hear

http://www.qualitychinagoods.com has some cheap stuff.

but you get what you pay for...

I'm not really concerned with a brand name. I have narrowed it to either a Photon clone for $1 or the picolights KevinL carries that have the 35K LED. These are $2.75 a piece.

I can't justify spending $5+ for a keychain flashlight. All you need is sufficient light to find something dropped at night, your key hole, etc. Sorry if I offend any hardcore CPFers. :touche:

LiteBrite said:

I'm not really concerned with a brand name. I have narrowed it to either a Photon clone for $1 or the picolights KevinL carries that have the 35K LED. These are $2.75 a piece.

I can't justify spending $5+ for a keychain flashlight. All you need is sufficient light to find something dropped at night, your key hole, etc. Sorry if I offend any hardcore CPFers. :touche:

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You say that now hehe......

I like the look and feel of these Gerber lights:

http://www.pocketlights.com/gerber_o4_high_beam.asp

About $4.50 each sold in pairs.

I carried these for quite a while but I've since changed over to a Peak Matterhorn. Nice but quite a bit more expensive.

More wood on the fire for an ARC AAA with a Berkeley Point mini clip! Handiest little torch you'll ever have with you - because you will have it with you and don't even notice it until you need it!

LiteBrite said:

I'm not really concerned with a brand name. I have narrowed it to either a Photon clone for $1 or the picolights KevinL carries that have the 35K LED. These are $2.75 a piece.

I can't justify spending $5+ for a keychain flashlight. All you need is sufficient light to find something dropped at night, your key hole, etc. Sorry if I offend any hardcore CPFers. :touche:

Click to expand...

Necessity is the mother of invention. The 35k mcd Photon type lights from KevinL are your best bang for the buck. The pico lights don't put out enough light for many tasks IMO.

The Photon Freedom Micro is the best basic EDC IMO.

The Jil DD UP is my favorite.

The Fire Fli is tiny and has decent output. Here's a [LINK

I attach it to my RAW Ubin for EDC.

The Arc AAA P and Peak Ncell lights are very nice EDC lights.

There are plenty more but you're pro'ly set on the 35k

New here; howzit. I like having a Photon Freedom on my keychain, an Arc AAA-P in my pocket. Those always are on me, since here in Hawaii our electric companies are Third World-grade in reliability. Much of the time I'm carrying a shoulder bag, and it always has a hopped-up MiniMag in it. Three increasingly large form factors, three degrees of portability to ensure I always have something handy. Have tried various Photon clones over the years. Liked them except that most require too little pressure to turn on, and that makes pocket carry problematic. My Photon Freedom was worth the extra cost because it needs a pretty strong squeeze. If I need a more serious light, ElektroLumens Blaster 3's are in vehicle and at home. No expensive lights for me. I lose 'em.