for a kid going to sleepaway camp

Hi,

My 9 year old son is going to sleep away camp and needs an inexpensive flashlight. I tried searching the forum for similar posts, but I did not find something on point that was recent -- apologies if I missed it. (He also has a relatively low power, inexpensive headlamp that he will take.)

He wanted to take a Dorcy 3AA, carabiner, 55 lumen, waterproof flashlight that my 7 yo bought me as a gift last year. However, because my younger son got it for me, I told the older one that we would get him his own flashlight. The Dorcy light has a stated runtime of approximately 8 hrs 45 minutes.

My son went on Amazon to find a light for himself, and he found the same Dorcy light and was also looking at things with 200 lumens+, but I told him he should also focus on runtime. He specifically asked me if 55 lumens was enough, and I think it very well could be.

Here is the list of preferences in order of preference:
1. AAs or AAAs for power
2. runtime preferred over brightness
3. a hook on the back for a lanyard or to hang
4. reliable tough and waterproof if possible
5. if it has modes, they should preferably be memories so he doesn't have to cycle through them
6. prefer not to have a zoom

He is generally a pretty responsible kid, so if it has multiple modes, and we tell him it will last longer in a lower light mode, he will often (but not always) use the low mode.

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

Smiles

They have maglite minimags that run on aaa batteries and the pocket clip will allow you to clip it on a hat. The aa minimags are probably too heavy to do that with. There's olight & fenix headlights but a little more expensive

Hate to do this to you but define inexpensive.A price range would probably help and an idea of max size for the light. Rayovac 3XAAA Indestructible (or 2XAA or 3XAA) comes to mind being commonly available but none of those lights have a carabiner or attachment point and they are a little on the large side especially the AA models. Modes are also cycle through but that will be common with low cost lights.A 10 to 20 lumen low mode is probably enough for many camping tasks in otherwise complete darkness.

Thanks to you both. Just to be clear, I am looking for a flashlight, as he already has a headlight. I was thinking of quite inexpensive in this instance -- less than $20 -- as my son is paying for it himself.... Thanks again.

Lumintop Tool but with a lanyard!

The Rayovac 2AA Indestructible is good light for $15 at home depot - 300 lumens on high with very good throw for distance (and maybe impressing his friends?), 60 ish lumens on low for extending battery life. Very rugged construction (30 ft. drop rated), IPx4 water resistant.

55 lumens would be more than adequate for his needs.

You might try the Streamlight 2AA ProPolymer HAZ-LO Safety-Rated Flashlight - C4 LED - 65 Lumens - Includes 2 x AAs - Black (67100) or Yellow (67101).

These typically run $20 or under. Their tail-switches seem to be hit or miss in terms of long-term quality. But the performance specs should be more than enough until it breaks, assuming it does.

Otherwise, there aren't a lot of AA lights that I trust to hit the sweet spot of $20 or under, reliable, and long-running over high output.

The Mini-Mag in AA, with four modes, isn't bad and it's a hair under $20 on Amazon.

Nebo cryket

Go to your local cvs and grab a 1x double Rayovac Essentials. $6 with a battery.

Here's a thread about it.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?431454-5-99-Rayovac-Essentials-1aa

Sure it's only 19 lumens on paper, but at camp it's plenty bright to see 50' at a time. Way brighter than the numbers suggest.

Another stunningly bright based off numbers is the 3 lumen Rayovac Essentials 1aaa penlight that uses a magnifier lens to put out what appears to be 35+ lumens. I got those at WalMart for $4 iirc.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?432081-8-lumens-for-8-bux
Here's a thread about that one.

Pocket size is nicest, the only other thing I would recommend is to add a nice long and distinctive color lanyard to the light, long enough that he can pop it around his neck, or through a belt/loop if you prefer. The problem I run into with kids at camp is that many will have the same style of light, one kid will break theirs, and then just grab the next one that looks the same. Not out of malice, but careless kids are well, careless. For camp, any light that is replaceable is better than one that has any sort of emotion involved, so good move on him buying his own, he will look after it, and worst case, knows he can replace it. A good lesson to learn.

Because of this thread, I bought the $3 Rayovac Essentials x2 AA and whoa, I'm impressed. This is a nice little light for $3.

Surprisingly bright for 18 lumens, although it does use a focusing element - you end up with a bright hotspot and reasonable amount of dimmer spill.

I'll have to break out the diffuser stuff later and see what happens.

EtA: it doesn't have a lanyard point, or much by way of grip factor - but it's also not designed for long hikes into the wilderness either. For a kid's summer camp? At this price point, it's not bad.

TMedina said:

Because of this thread, I bought the $3 Rayovac Essentials x2 AA and whoa, I'm impressed. This is a nice little light for $3.

Surprisingly bright for 18 lumens, although it does use a focusing element - you end up with a bright hotspot and reasonable amount of dimmer spill.

I'll have to break out the diffuser stuff later and see what happens.

EtA: it doesn't have a lanyard point, or much by way of grip factor - but it's also not designed for long hikes into the wilderness either. For a kid's summer camp? At this price point, it's not bad.

Click to expand...

You could always apply some rubberized grip tape.

eraursls1984 said:

You could always apply some rubberized grip tape.

Click to expand...

I've been trying out 3M coban. If you double wrap it, it provides good cushioning and insulation as well as grippiness (sorry grammararians) on maglites. However, it's not reusable so don't raid the first aid kit if you don't have to.