key chain flashlights

sylvestor

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Sep 1, 2001
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Hello,

I'm interested in purchasing a key chain size led flashlight. Currently I have a Maglite which runs on 1 'AAA' battery. Can someone recommend a led flashlight which is pocket size and produces the brightest/furthest beam ? (I'm stuck between getting the Proton 3 & the Arc AAA).

thanks,

Sylvestor
(Toronto, Canada)
 

Spork

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May 25, 2001
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oh no contest get the arc, they are suspose to be quite close on there light output. i hear the photon 3 is annoying to change through modes and it takes one of those coin batteries. the arc runs on 1 aaa and is nice and simple. there offering there limited edition arc aaa so now would be the perfect time to get one. i don't even consider my mag solitare a flashlight once i bought a arc.
 

Chris M.

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I agree totally. Arc-AAA, they`re hard to beat. Very very tough, mine`s had a few 20+ foot falls onto concrete and is still perfect, if a bit worn and scratched from daily carrying on possibly the world`s biggest bunch of keys! Economical, runs bright for 5+ hours off one AAA cell that is easy to change. Small but not too small. Bright- my old Solitaire has a blue LED in it now, so I can`t compare brightness with it, but it is certainly close. The beam is quite soft, good for maybe 10-15ft max. but for its size, it`s very bright indeed and well worth it.
Personally I don`t like the Photon 3 cos mine was all screwy and it sort of put me off it, especially after all the anticipation and waiting, hoping it would be a great one. Mode-changes are frustrating and the "auto off" is annoying with its pointless long periods of strobing either end of the time period.

And if you move fast, you could even get the premium Arc AAA-XL which is brighter and whiter with Military spec hard anodising- it looks good and I can`t wait for mine. I`m off to place my pre-order now......

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WarrenI

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I second and thirds everything here! Get the Arc-AAA and don't worry if you can't afford the extras to get the limited edition versions. The light output and the hardware quality will be the same, only with a different finish. As many current owners have known, the production version is the benchmark to single LED/battery lights. I would recommend that you purchase it through one of the listed sites from Arcflashlight. By doing this, you will be getting the latest revision of the production Arcs (version #2.1). Refer to Craig's page at "http://ledmuseum.home.att.net/arclight.htm" for details. This should give you much appreciation of the attention given to this product.
 

vcal

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by sylvestor:
Hello,

I'm interested in purchasing a key chain size led flashlight. Currently I have a Maglite which runs on 1 'AAA' battery. Can someone recommend a led flashlight which is pocket size and produces the brightest/furthest beam ? (I'm stuck between getting the Proton 3 & the Arc AAA).

thanks,

Sylvestor
(Toronto, Canada)
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Although I love my Arc AAA lights, I'll be the oddball guy here. For sheer penetrating beam power (for an LED), I nominate the Pelican L1 with the 14mm lens swap. (It's beam is about equivalent to the Pal Gold on the high setting).
-Hard to believe, but it really embarrasses my Lightwave 2000
frown.gif

Drawback: runtime on 4-LR44s is only about an hour.
 
D

**DONOTDELETE**

Guest
Welcome to CPF sylvestor!!

Like what guys above said Arc-AAA is the best key-chain light compared to the rest.

1. Easy to replace 1AAA battery
2. Easy to buy anywhere cheap 1AAA battery
3. 5 hours consistent bright runtime
4. Brighter than Photon II (how my eyes and camera see it)
5. Waterproof
6. Small size
7. Lightweight
8. Great customer service from a company/owner who communicates with flashaholics here in CPF.

Now try comparing those 8 points to other key-chain lights, I'm sure Arc-AAA will come out the winner.


- verge -
 

WarrenI

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Well Sylvestor, per my previous post, to your advantage is to get a light that uses the same power source as you are currently using. This would make it the Arc-AAA, but you are looking for something brighter. Well I think that the Arc is brighter than your single AAA mag, but it does have a different beam pattern. I has a wider bright center that is not distorted. It is very usable up to 15 feet and can light up an area over 3 feet in diameter (and this is only the bright area) at this distance. The total area lighted is about 6 feet in diameter at this distance without any distortion.

If you want the light to throw it's beam, then maybe the PAL Gold or the modified Pelican would be better options. But remember that to do this, the beam must be focused very narrow (almost laser like). I posted something on this in another thread as I didn't think lights with very narrow beams were of much use (my opinion). The only application I can see a desire for this is in underwater use, where the light falls off very fast. I didn't think that you would be using your keychain light underwater. In fact, isn't the light from your AAA mag focused in this manner? If it is, maybe you have your answer alread at hand.

It is a matter of discussion if an LED light can throw it's beam as easily as it's incandescent counterpart (this is what they do best). In my opinion, LEDs give a much more usable light. In many cases, it is not narrow focused (very undesirable) and not too wide angled (would make the beam too weak), but just right.
 

napalm-2002

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youngstown ohio the land of the mafia
i cannot say enough good about arc-aaa!!!

buy it in either turquiose or white.

if color recognition is of importance buy the white.

if you want bright with the ability to not destroy yournightvision buy the turquiose.


you will not be dissapointed and if you are i will buy it from you !!!!

i really would
tongue.gif
 
D

**DONOTDELETE**

Guest
I also carried the Mag Solitaire 1-AAA light in my pocket for years. But seven years ago, I bought an Underwater Kinetics (UKE) 2AAA Mini Pocket Light. It is a little bit shorter than the Solitaire (~ 1/8 inch) but quite a bit chunkier. The two AAA batteries are side-by-side in the light. The UKE 2AAA's light output is much, much better than the Mag Solitaire. It has a nice beam with appealing color. The price is typically less than $10 (at BrightGuy.com, for example). Even though it works perfectly well, I typically replace the light two years or so--only because the plastic lens seems to get pretty scratched up in my pocket. Given that the Arc-AAA is 2.5 times the price, you might consider buying the UKE 2AAA first to see if it meets your needs.

For those that own both the Arc-AAA and the UKE2AAA, how do you think they compare?
 

vcal

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by AlaJeff:

For those that own both the Arc-AAA and the UKE2AAA, how do you think they compare?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
The UKE 2AAA side by side has for years been my favoriteincandescent keyring light, because of it's Xenon power, so it really isn't fair to compare them, (especially against a single LED light).
AFAIK-the UKE is one of the strongest keyr. lights there is.
 

Badbeams3

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Sep 28, 2000
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As Doug said, it is not fair to compare the brightness of the UKE with the Arc. I have a great respect for the UKE. But it`s bright burn time is very poor compared to the Arc. I have found the Arc to be brighter than the UKE as the batts are almost alway dead or dieing. My UKE is mothballed in my closet. The Arc is always on my key chain and can always be counted on.

I love my Photon three with the differant power levels. I just leave it in low and sqeeze the front if I need more light. I wear it on a chain around my neck so it`s with me all the time...even when I shower and sleep.

But the Arc is my number one pick. It is the best in my opinion as it offers great high brightness run time with cheap batts and the quality is top noch. If you can afford get one of the special editions with the higher brightness "s" ranked Nachia whites I`d jump on it now in case the availability drys up.

My 1 cent.

Ken
 

flashfan

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I have had the UKE pocket 2AAA on my keychain for years now, and find it very convenient. It is beaten up (dropped countless times), and begs for replacement, but it still works, so I keep it in service.

For a small LED light, I love the Photons. Attached to a quick-release clip (scrounged from another light), a regular Photon II is positioned back-to-back on one ring with a covert Photon III (on dimmest setting). When needed, I can simply squeeze both lights between thumb and index finger to form a "2-LED" light.

The Photons are so small that even doubling up the lights takes less space than a lot of other keychain lights. Also, coupling the "regular" II with the covert III provides a variety of lighting options.

I don't have an Arc (yet?), so can't comment or compare it to other lights.
 

Spork

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well i can't find much info for the run time on photon 3. I think it would be similar to the arc on high brightness. Someone was saying they would replace there batteries every hour or so in the photon because it starts to drop in brightness, I think this may have been Brock? I think im going to check out a UKE2AAA if there only 10 bucks.
 

Brock

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The UKE 2 AAA lights are great. That is what I used to carry all the time. They have a pretty tight beam and are quite small and very waterproof. The tight beam was actually to tight for how I used the light. The Arc now is used in its place.

The thing to keep in mind as the Photon vs Arc AAA is the Photon will be dimmer then the Arc after about 10 minutes of run time then continues to fall off. After the Photon runs about 45 minutes it is dimmer then the infinity. The Arc will stay about the same over the first 4+ hours then finally fall off. I got tired of changing the batteries in my Photon after 30 minutes of use. And yes the Photon 3 and 2 have a very similar burn time, close enough for me to call them the same in my tests.
 

geepondy

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Brock:
And yes the Photon 3 and 2 have a very similar burn time, close enough for me to call them the same in my tests.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I think the photon 3 burn time is actually a little shorter then the photon 2 by a hair. Maybe the extra juice needed to power the IC.
 

JollyRoger

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Berkeley, CA
Has anyone tried modifying the UKE 2AA with an inverter/regulator and a pair or three of leds (or maybe even the LS?)???

Would one of the new Starlite 2 led pr-based bulbs fit?

I'd be interested in buying one of these small light powerhouses if anyone made one.
 

The_LED_Museum

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Brock:
And yes the Photon 3 and 2 have a very similar burn time, close enough for me to call them the same in my tests.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Soon, we should know for certain.
I will soon be starting a whole series of tests (graphed, if I can free up the server space!) for the Photon III in all steady modes and maybe one or more of its strobes; and at least one Photon II.

That tray of batteries for them which I keep setting aside won't stay out of the way forever.
smile.gif
 

Harri

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Oct 5, 2000
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I've been thinking about the same thing...
I have only the Mag AAA and ASP, but I've been looking at either Photons or Arc AAA. To me it seems that the Arc AAA is much heavier and larger (the same size as Mag AAA), which does make a difference when you got a few keys on your keyring. Few people here have said that Arc would be much brighter... I always thought that Arc AAA was as bright as Photon (or a little less). And what comes to the burning time... doesn't photon give much more than 5 hours? Sure, Arc uses cheaper battery, but if that is no problem.

So, unless I'm wrong about the brightness and buring time, I'm going to go with Photon just because it's smaller and lighter (easier to hold in your mouth for example), and is brighter with longer light time. Batteries will be more expensive... the only guestion I think I have (unless you can convince me of Arc AAA) is:
Is Photon III (the bright setting that stays on) brighter than Photon II? Photon III seems to be a pain in the ... so currently I'm really thinking about the older and cheaper II.

Harri

ps. I do see the technical advantages, cool circuits and possibility of using AAA batteries in the Arc as very good thing, but Photon still has so many things better...
 

Harrkev

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Aug 30, 2001
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Colorado Springs, CO
The main difference between the Photons and the ARC is that the ARC has a boost regulator in its little innards.

If you only use the Photon for a minute or two, then the Photon is brighter than the ARC. However, if you intend to use the light for more than a couple of minutes at a time, the ARC will be brighter.

The reason for this is that batteries develop a "surface charge." If you put near-dead batteries in an old flashlight and turn it on, you will see the bulb burn relatively brightly, and then fade over 10-15 seconds.

The Photon lights just run directly off of the battery. As the surface charge is used up, the light gets dim when using old batteries. The ARC lights have a regulator. What happens is that the circuit needs to boost the voltage of the battery in order to drive the LED. When the surface charge wears off, the battery voltage drops. Then, the regulator just draws more current, so that the power (voltage x current) remains relatively constant. Thus you have a stable light with near constant brightness until the batteies are almost completely exhausted.

For occasional use, the Photon would make a great light. Just keep in mind that a battery change will be expensive and you will need a screwdriver and a flat working surface (don't loose them screws).

If you go hiking or camping and want to use the light more often, go for an ARC (plus, I like the construction of the unit). I carry an ARC and I love it!

I hope this helps.
 

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