9 LED MINI FLASHLIGHTS, Totally Worthless?

What's your honest opinion on 9 LED flashlights you find at the checkout aisle at Walmart or Home Depot?

A. Totally Worthless Junk.

B. Junk, but somethings better than nothing.

C. They're not as bad as you think. Wouldn't take it cave exploring, but enjoy having the extra lights around.

D. I LOVE Multi-LED flashlights. Sure they're not Surefires, but I'm a flashaholic and these little suckers really make me happy.

My wife has one and it has been her favorite bedside light for a number of years. Why? Who knows, she likes it, uses it every night, and refuses offers to replace it.

So, given that, they can work and fill a niche. If nothing else, it is probably the starting place to introduce more people to LEDs than any other light. Many will move on to something better perhaps.

E. All the above.

Based on observations:

A. To the regular people a light is a light, hey turns on, good to go! Others are mesmerized by how bright they are. When the lights break people usually go buy another one.

B. From personal experience those multi LED lights break pretty easily so its usually good while it lasts. If i were to get one, I'd probably get the 9 LED Dorcy light

C. I guess it boils down to the manufacturer, some are good/decent quality while the others are well you know

D. I'd want 1 or a few to try out

They do tend to have very long runtimes, and offer a nice smooth spot of fairly bright light, which is good for situations when your eyes are more adjusted to darkness. Since they have an even spot, there is not hotspot burning a hole through your night vision, and you can use it to read things or do other tasks where you don't need too much light.

Before I bought a Surefire 6P which started my obsession I had a Coleman LED light.

It was all black, almost looked like the 6P but had three LEDs that had a slightly cool color.

I had it for a bout 6 months before I lost it and a friend said to get a Surefire. It took me about two years before it clicked in my head that he said Surefire and I went and got one the next day.

However, that little Coleman I used all the time in my car. It was perfect to keep in there in case I broke down or needed to look for something or needed to get under the hood.

I had that light for almost 6 months I believe and NEVER changed the batteries.

Hm.. after posting this I'm going to go look for something similar.

I play with them from time to time. I bought a 2 pack at HD last year. Took the head off one and the tail cap off the other and put them together and clicked. Angry turqoise for a few seconds, then 8 leds went leaving one lit but dim and a nasty smell.

For X-mas '07 I got a Dorcy 9 from the in-laws. It stays in a drawer in the kitchen and sees occasional use when looking for stuff in one of the lower cupboards or trying to find what one of the cats pushed under a cabinet.

I've bought a few from the $ store over the years and some have had their leds plucked for minimag mods and the like. A couple months ago I bought one with the same build and battery format, but it has three "large" leds that produce a nice not so cool beam despite the poor construction overall. I've thought about giving this light a "formal" review just to show how cheap lights have evolved which would serve as some sort of statement about the progression of lights as a whole....or something like that.

I picked up a 9 led flashlight at Giant Tiger for 3 bucks. It's solid and puts out at least 40 lumens. I am quite happy with it and give it to my friend's if they need one. They always come to me becuase they know I'm the flashlight guy

They're not awful for indoors, as long as they work. Outdoors is a different story.

There not to bad for general house stuff. But you wont find me using one.

So id say B

Liquidspaceman said:

What's your honest opinion on 9 LED flashlights you find at the checkout aisle at Walmart or Home Depot?

A. Totally Worthless Junk.

B. Junk, but somethings better than nothing.

C. They're not as bad as you think. Wouldn't take it cave exploring, but enjoy having the extra lights around.

D. I LOVE Multi-LED flashlights. Sure they're not Surefires, but I'm a flashaholic and these little suckers really make me happy.

Click to expand...

A. x100

Now, a Peak Mckinley Brass = :thumbsup:

P.S. The cheap route will always come back to haunt you.

I bought the Husky brand from Home Depot. My wife loves it for night time in the house. Not too bright to hurt night vision. Smooth beam. Lasts for a long time. It illuminates the floor when she walks, but it doesn't disturb or wake me. We don't use night lights and she gets up often, so it works for her. I have even used it myself and it's not that bad. For the price, it's a no brainer. The Husky one is heavier and better built. Worth more than the $5 I spent on it.

I should point out that everyone's favorite incan is also a showerhead LED light.

Also, isn't the Inova X5 also permanently on display at the Museum of Design or something? This tells me that showerhead lights are okay and fundamentally useful. Heck, the red X5 is everyone's favorite battery vampire.

Showerhead lights and alkalines are made for each other. As the voltage and current drop, the efficiency of the LEDs increase, so they don't drop off nearly as fast as they would otherwise. They're floody and diffuse, great as a task light. I keep one in my car just in case the one to three lights I carry just happen to all not work. They're great loaner/beater lights and have a beam that strongly recommends itself for certain types of work.

C, they're not as bad as you think, because they're so often badly made.

B. When new, they'll make it through one short term emergency. After that, the l.e.d.s start popping like popcorn. Then they're useless.

Can use them to carry spare batteries. I got a Fenix P3D-CE for that. So mini showerhead lights are useless for me.

The light that started my "flashaholicism" was a multiled one. It had only 4 leds, but the first time I use it in a dark environment had a wow effect. Was all flood and reasonably bright at close range (less than 3 meters).

The best thing with 5mm lights is runtime, but sticking lots of leds is a nonsense. They will produce less light than a single power led consuming the same current (IIRC).

None of us here would be caught dead using one of those lights!
:nana:

rockz4532 said:

None of us here would be caught dead using one of those lights!

Click to expand...

Speak for yourself, not everyone on this site is a flashlight snob

I have 7 of those frowned upon lights (Dorcy) scattered about the house for emergency lights. It's a 1 LED light with 8 backup LEDs

The Dorcy's we have have long runtimes, tailstand, and give off a decent beam for indoor use.
If they do crap out or we break them, it's only a $5 light.

They are basically junk. I would only use one as a DEAD-last resort... a bic lighter, glow from my watch, ambient moonlight with night adapted vision are all preferable.

There is something wrong with loving junk?

Sometimes I don't want a hot spot, sometimes I want a new light for only a buck or three, and sometimes I think of when it will go bad and I'll have spare parts to play with. And sometimes I think about making my own multi-led light -- with two dozen P7s or Q5s.

My coworker bought one of those at some store for $6 dollars. He then went ahead and told me that he got a better deal then my Cabela's 6P clone with p60 drop in. I had spent less then $20 on that set up and he was a bit envious I think.
The light uses 3 AAA's and I don't think that the run time is all the great.
Some weeks later I found a very similar 9 led light with a better looking build at the local 99 cent store. There was a black model and a shiny one. I was tempted to buy one for a $1 and go back and tell my coworker about it.
I grabbed two of them but then decided that they were really not worth a dollar each. I put them back and got some Tupperware instead to store my batteries.
I later told him about my find and he asked me to get him one. I went back a few days later and all of the lights were gone.