Good flashlight for children

I have several of the little 3 watt Element lights from Sams clubs that cost about 14 bucks each and I noticed they have now been upgraded to 4Watts and the price has stayed the same. They are small LED lights that use three AAA batts and I don't mind if my kid leaves one on and kills it since the batteries are so cheap. I loaned out several at Halloween to the neighbor kids cause its worth 14 bucks to not have kid hit by a car, and they are actually one of my favorite lights since they are so cheap I don't worry if one disappears. Thats not the case when I loose a Surefire.

these are my kids lights...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKFftdYzkzE
One of these days I'll get around to modding them with a nite-ize PR drop in.

When I take my son (6 YO) out on hight hikes he uses my superfire 501B with a 6090 module. Its considerably lighter than my "real" lights and he's DEFINITELY a clicky-fan (strongly dislikes twist caps). plus its cheap so I dont care if he drops it or breaks it. At first he was using the task force, but it was too heavy for long hikes.

My daughter (3.5 YO) has a pink mini-mag solitaire. I gave her $25 to buy any flashlight at Target one day and he chose the pink one. I tried to nudge her to get the AA minimag, but she had to have the Solitaire because it fits in her little mermaid purse. Heck if it makes her happy...

My two girls each have one of these little taskforce 1AA luxeon deals, in red:
http://ledmuseum.candlepower.us/ninth/tf1w.htm
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=242998-50584-FT-NS-1AA 1WR&lpage=none

They love 'em, bright enough for their use, runs a LONGGGG time, and lifetime warranty from Lowes. They were a great deal with one of the $10 off coupons this spring. The only problem is they are not watertight, but that has not become an issue yet.

kramer5150 said:

these are my kids lights...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKFftdYzkzE
One of these days I'll get around to modding them with a nite-ize PR drop in.

When I take my son (6 YO) out on hight hikes he uses my superfire 501B with a 6090 module. Its considerably lighter than my "real" lights and he's DEFINITELY a clicky-fan (strongly dislikes twist caps). plus its cheap so I dont care if he drops it or breaks it. At first he was using the task force, but it was too heavy for long hikes.

My daughter (3.5 YO) has a pink mini-mag solitaire. I gave her $25 to buy any flashlight at Target one day and he chose the pink one. I tried to nudge her to get the AA minimag, but she had to have the Solitaire because it fits in her little mermaid purse. Heck if it makes her happy...

Click to expand...

That's the most important factor - they are happy! As long as the light is reliable and safe, who cares what color/size it is.

The Mini-Mag is a nice idea(my kids have them)but if you are looking to stay away from metal lights I like the Dorcy Gel lights.They are available in a variety of colors and can be found with either faceted or smooth reflectors.Gel lights can be purchased at retailers like Wal-Mart and Dollar General

http://dorcydirect.com/p-149-41-2952-2aa-gel.aspx

To get more from the batteries I use SMJLED PR base replacements but Dorcy has their own Lux I module that works as good or better.NOTE:The Dorcy LED replacement module is a high-dome emitter not the side emitter that is pictured on the Dorcy Direct site.

http://dorcydirect.com/p-86-41-1642-15-v-8-volt-1-watt-led-module.aspx

what about a led lenser v2 keyfinder or is that just asknig for trouble with the small button cells. Although i suppose that you could ducktape the tailcap shut.

The energizer hard-case lights are hard to beat. I got the single led 2AA for my daughter last year for Christmas. She sleeps with it every night. It's been great, not too much output to hurt anybody's eyes. Tough enough. Plus, it lasts forever on a single set of NIMH.

I don't know how well behaved your children are, but aluminum flashlights kinda hurt shins. I got my 2 year old niece a cheap 2aa plastic Rayovac led and I swear that thing has wings!

My favorite light for our kids for the longest time were these Eveready "Weather Ready" lights.



4AA for long runtime (ours is only 1 5mm, the newer ones I think are two) big enough not to be easily lost. Side switch for easy handling.

The only caveat is one of our neighbors' kids would constantly pull off the black rubber ring around the lens and chew on it.

There is no one good flashlight for all children.
I wouldn't recommend any flashlight for a child under the age of 3 years, simply because of safety issues with small parts that can easily be swallowed. Having said that, there are some flashlights, specially targeted for younger children that have been made safer.
Check out Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&search-alias=toys&field-keywords=childrens%20flashlights&page=1

Some of the lights listed here, particularly those that are made by well known toy manufacturers, are probably good bets. (Still, there was a children's flashlight, made in China for Little Tykes, that was recalled because of lead paint issues.) At least the lights by the well known toy manufactures have been tested on kids for kid appeal and ease of operation, and durability. Some of them will even turn themselves off when the child doesn't.

Don't forget the "Shake lights" these LED lights are great for those kids that seem to have too much energy!

Advantages....no batteries! they teach kids about how electricity is generated.
Disadvantage... they won't keep a charge & low output.

I have a sacrificial Minimag that I let my 3 year old use. Whenever he wants a light he knows where my stash is, but that's the only one he's allowed to take when I'm not around. He calls it "his" light, but it stays in my room. I put the 1 watt Nite Ize drop in and IQ switch in it. It give him 3 brightness levels and a strobe which he likes, runs a long, long time and the best part is it shuts off automatically after 15 minutes. Its not terribly bright but its a nice set up and I've actually given a few of these as gifts to people that I knew carried a incan minimag. For my older son I give him lights out of the "retired from service" collection. I got sick of maintaining an arsenal of 15 - 20 lights when I only use 6 or 7. I took the ones that have fallen out of favor, or been replaced by something better and wrapped them up and put them away. When my 6 year old wants a light he gets one out of there. He likes them because he knows they were mine, and I like giving him lights that don't cost me anything.