Kipkay "$10 Police Flashlight Hack"

Has anyone tried this? Is it really brighter than a surefire?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnkjvEdeIlc

Probably, but surefires arent known for being the brightest flashlights, just the toughest. You could run over that surefire with a truck and it would still work. That eveready wouldnt survive being run over by my kids tricycle... Thats what you pay the surefire premium for, not the brightness. Also, no respectable police officer would trust his life to a drugstore flashlight painted black to "look tough"...

He turned a ultra crappy flashlight into a ultra crappy flashlight painted black with expensive batteries that may explode. Really useless.

Buy a nice, bright led flashlight that runs on eneloops and it will be much much much better and less expensive.

I don't think his flashlight standards are as high as some of ours. Plus that vid was back in 2007.

None of kipkay's standards are high enough. However, keep in mind that he shows hacks, and hacks are generally short-term fixes not meant to last anyways. You will have to do a bit of extra work if you want something that won't break after a week or so.

It melts down the reflector when left on too long, Ok to goof off with but I wouldn't USE it.

that's pretty cool!

It is pretty sad when batteries cost more than the light... I just cant imagine it is bright. Besides all the video responses are 8 year olds who have never seen any light better than a 2AA maglite.

"Batteries not included" in the $10 quote. Duracell CR123 Photo Batteries are $10 each in a normal store such as CVS

It works. It gets hot enough to melt the reflector pretty quickly. It makes the body somewhat malleable being exposed to such high heat. It gets dim REALLY quickly. The bulb in my first one popped. The OTF temperature is enough to roast small insects or decent sized arachnids, as well as burn your skin if left long enough. Granted all those negatives are taken into account, this hack is just that...a hack of a hack. With the amount of danger involved, you might as well buy a cheap china light from deal extreme, upgrade the bulb with a drop in, and buy some suitable rechargables/charger for under 30$.

speedywheelz123 said:

Has anyone tried this? Is it really brighter than a surefire?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnkjvEdeIlc

Click to expand...

LOL!!! I can hardly believe my eyes. I saw that vid years ago and was already a flashfiend. When I saw that I of course tried it, thought it was great too until the reflector melted.

I did like the idea of using what I knew as camera batteries though. Knowing I could do better I started looking for an aluminum reflector for a Maglite, which is how I found CPF. So I guess in a way I owe Kipkay a thanks for all thousands of dollar and millions of lumens in fun I have had here since then.

Do your self a favor and dont bother with making one of those, LED tech has come so far in the past 3 years there is no longer any point in a mod like that. Once you pay for the batteries its more than 10 bucks any way. Just go to 4sevens.com and get a 2AA quark. It will beat the pants off that light or a surefire 6P anyway.