Need recomendation for toddlers

AJ_Dual

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I've been searching CPF, but have come up short.

I need to find flashlights for my four daughters, two sets of twins, ages 2.5 and 1.5 respectively.

They are budding (albieit somewhat abusive) flashaholics, and always want to play with my lights. My wife knows this too. She bought them four cheap incan plastic flashlights from the Target $1 racks for their Easter baskets. They survived about an hour before the plastic started to shatter, plus they are twisties, so my girls can't figure them out either, and the incan bulb eats the two AA's they take even faster.

They have some toy Fisher Price animal flashlights that have been pretty durable, and long-lived for incans because they shut off when dropped, but all four know the difference between "toys" and "WEAL FWASHWITES!" :rant::rant::rant::rant:

Here is what I need:

  • Bombproof. And I mean Bombproof.
  • LED & long runtime like a Gerber/CMG infinity because they'll play with them for hours, or leave them on. (I actualy don't mind, it'll make finding them easier when cleaning up) 5mm LED is fine, I don't need even a .5W Luxeon here. Despite having them fight over it, I thought my Gerber Infinity was perfect. However, they managed to partialy break it somehow, so it's now intermittent.
  • Rubber or plastic. I let them have my Inova X1 and they tried using it as a Kutoban against a 4'x6' plate glass window, I'm sure their own noggins will be a target eventualy too.
  • Not too tiny. AA and AAA size lights will roll under the couch, three girls will have thier light, and the fourth will be screaming bloody murder if we can't find it fast. $1 Keychain lights like the fauxton or others would work, but they'll lose them.
  • Push button clicky. They can't figure out twisties, plus if they twist too much they'll come apart leaving choking hazards like batteries about. Obviously it has to twist somewhere for battery access, but I'd like to be able to over-tourqe it a bit for security.
  • Price. I'm thinking I'd like to get all four for under $50, so that probably means one of the Chineese wholesalers.
Any ideas? Am I asking the impossible?
 
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elgarak

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The first thing that came to mind during reading the post was the Streamlight ProPolymer Luxeon. Should be reasonable sturdy, plastic, tail clicky. 4 AA batteries, with an widened body, which does not easily roll too far. Of course, I only found the only con at the end: You do not get four for <$50; they're ~$25 apiece.

"Bombproof" might be a tad too much; reminds me of the warranty of Pelican: "This warranty does not cover shark bite, bear attack or children under five."
 

AJ_Dual

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Eleven months and a week apart too. :ohgeez:

Between 2003 and 2005 Mrs. Dual was NOT pregnant for only three months. :laughing:
 

dig-it

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Dude, you don`t need lights. You need condoms and groceries.:drool:

Oh yeah, get`em some Pal Lights.
 

txmatt

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Since you don't need much light, might one of the shake lights like the NightStar (CS) be an option? While many don't see these as serious flashlights, you're basically looking for a toy, anyway. They're more $ than you mentioned but I think this type of light would be excellent for a child, mainly because they are in control. If it runs out of juice, they can shake it to recharge. That keeps you from replacing or recharging batteries WHEN they leave it on. It's also an early, fun lesson that energy costs something and there are benefits to conserving it. Flashlight Reviews has a section for shake and dynamo lights here...

http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews_index/reviews_index_selfpower.htm
 

AJ_Dual

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dig-it said:
Dude, you don`t need lights. You need condoms and groceries.:drool:

Oh yeah, get`em some Pal Lights.

Believe me, the plumbing has been taken care of... :laughing: Othwerise Mrs. Dual and I wouldn't even share the same bar of soap in the shower.

That's perfect. I'd totaly forgotten about these. I thought about other 9V lights, but was thinking of the ones that are just caps on top of the battery, and that wouldn't work, they'd eat the light , then run around licking the 9V battery terminals.

I like the battery access with the screws too. It'd be impossible for them to undo, and long runtime and multiple modes to keep them interested. They could even use them in the bath.

Not too big, not too small. Not a good club either.

Unless someone comes up with something even better, it hits all the points. And the Safe-light companion is only $9.99 on quantity discount so it's even within the budget.

AWESOME!

I did consider the Faraday type flashlights, but all the one's even close to my budget are probably all fake. The only one I really trust is the Nightstar, and it would have been about $100 to outfit all of four of my daughters. You are correct I don't care a whit for the light output, if it works at all, it'll make them happy. However I don't think they're coordinated or patient enough to shake the flashlight, and I'm certainly not going to want to do it either.
 
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Phaserburn

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Don't know if it's better, but I gave my kids a Garrity 2AA rubber grip light with a PR base SMJLED. Long runtime, bright, pretty colors for girls, replaceable body should damage occur for only a few bucks.
 

selfbuilt

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AJ_Dual said:
Unless someone comes up with something even better, it hits all the points. And the Safe-light companion is only $9.99 on quantity discount so it's even within the budget.
Great story, thanks for sharing (certainly sounds like you have your hands full!).

I'd second the PAL light suggestion, most bomb-proof for kids and fairly low intensity so no scorched retinas. FYI, you can get them here with the CPF logo from Wits' End:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/137708

Otherwise, another possibility as a keychain toy is the $1 DX mini-pig light:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1138
Not likely to last as long, but they sure look cute.

Good luck it!
 

TOTC

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I don't have any new suggestions to add, I was just going to warn against giving shake lights to little kids. Considering the magnetic fields the lights have, you'd likely get a messed up TV once the kids realized they could make 'pretty colors'. I should know: I messed up a TV with magnets when I was a little kid.
yellowlaugh.gif

It was fine after sitting unplugged a few days, but I'm sure you could think of other sensitive devices in your house that wouldn't appreciate magnets.
 

MacTech

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Add in another vote for the Sears/Ace Hardware/Garrity 2AA rubber-clad flashlight with a MJLED PR, it satisfies all the requirements....

Durable; the rubber clad body is designed to absorb impacts
Safe; rubber clad bodies won't hurt as much when the kids whack each other in the head with their lights
Lightweight; less kinetic energy delivered to fragile things like glass windows
uses AA batteries, which are more common than cockroaches (and a lot more useful as well) ;)
Available in the ever-fashionable Black (goes with everything!)
Cheap to replace if they get broken

the MJLED puts out an acceptable amount of light, without damaging their sensitive retinas when they invariably look into the light to see how bright it is, and no delicate filament to burn out
 

Luminescene

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AJ_Dual said:
I did consider the Faraday type flashlights, but all the one's even close to my budget are probably all fake. The only one I really trust is the Nightstar, and it would have been about $100 to outfit all of four of my daughters. You are correct I don't care a whit for the light output, if it works at all, it'll make them happy. However I don't think they're coordinated or patient enough to shake the flashlight, and I'm certainly not going to want to do it either.

I agree, I got a shake light for my 3year old daughter, WHEN, not if, she leaves it on till flat, since they need shaking for a minute to get any light, she looses interest or comes to tell daddy it does not work. Also watching her show her baby brother how to shake it really hard, and very close up, is just too frightening!
 

eebowler

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I'm concerned about the lights being too 'bright' for the kids as they will have the tendency to look directly into the beam or shine it into each other's faces. If a light is blinding to you when it's in your face then, it's too bright for the kids. Maybe you can scuff the LEDs with a scouring pad or use scotch satin tape to 'dilute' the point source of light. (Or maybe I'm thinking too much. :D )

As a thought, consider the Nite Ize switch/module combo in a maglite or any other flashlight you can fit it in. The switch has a shut off function which will be useful to save batteries. Remember, alkaline cells have a high tendency to leak when they are dead and you don't want your daughters to pick up a leaky flashlight.
 

CLHC

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gadget_lover

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I have a similar problem with my grandson. He loves lights, and always runs around with one when he's here. I've not been able to come up with a light that has NO removable parts which can be a choking hazard. Tailcaps, bezels and batteries can lodge in a toddler's throat.

The best I've been able to come up with is a mini-mag with a 5mm led and setscrews to prevent the removal of head or tail. The nite-ize switch handles the auto off. I've not gotten around to actually modifying one this way.

Don't underestimate the strength of small hands. They can unscrew things you would not expect.

Daniel
P.S. My wife insisted that I mention that a 60 lumen light in the hands of a toddler is a VERY bad thing. She should know.
 

daloosh

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My daughter (2.5 yo) is assembling a panoply of lights, mostly snitched out from under my nose.

Her "official" lights, the ones that are hers, are a red led pal-light (rubberized, multiple modes, pretty color beam), a 2AA hello kitty light (I didn't even put in a MJLED cuz the crappy PR2 is real dim), a River Rock lantern, and a bunch of coinlights.

She'll grab whatever she can find, so I'll come across my wife's Fenix, my Elly, my Gladius, 2AAA Princeton Tec w/ MJLED, my Arc AAA, my wife's Petzl Tikka headlamp, etc. in her possession. I try to keep the bright ones away from her, especially all Surefire incans, due to not just brightness but the heat.

I can't find one of my CR2 lights, I wonder if she got her mitts on it....

daloosh
 

mhubble

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Go to Harbor Freight, theyve got 9 led lights on sale for 3.99. They take 3 AAA batteries. Really not a bad light at all. Not bright enough to hurt their eyes. But sturdy enough to take soem punishment.
 
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