Anyone know much about this flashlight...?

LEDBE
mdocod

mdocod

Flashaholic
Joined
Nov 9, 2005
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Location
COLORado spRINGs
This is going to seem pretty weird, so rather than jumping right in, I'll do a bit of introductory information:

I'm in the proccess of searching through wholesalers online to find somewhere around 50-100 flashlights to hand out at a Halloween party where we will be engaging in outdoor scavenger hunt type activities in the woods.

Requirements are that each light cost less than ~$2 after including shipping and handling and batteries. A few lumens is plenty for dark adjusted eyes and we are "fenced" into a 40 acre wooded lot during the hunt, so there isn't a ton of need for high quality or output. I'm buying enough to give everyone 2 units so that there is a backup, (thinking strength in numbers here, lol)...

Anyways, I found this:
cheapfhashlight.jpg


Problem is, the only information given on any of the wholesale sites for this unit is that it is a 2AA flashlight that includes a pair of "heavy duty" batteries (I'd replace with copper tops, 60 packs at BS for ~$21+S/H).

I remember seeing a package and flashlight that looked just like this at Target (I think?) about a year or more ago, but the image online is so low quality that I can't pick out the brand or anything... Just can't remember, it looks an awful lot like a brinkman design, but I didn't find anything on brinkmans website about that specific package/flashlight. I can get these things for about a dollar each in bulk, so the price is right, and the good looking grip would be perfect for winter gloved hands.

My question is, does anyone recognize this flashlight? and... If so, any information about what type of bulb it uses (PR or mini-bi-pin?) and if it is reasonably reliable?

If this doesn't "go" anywhere, I'll probably resort to common side-slide-switch plastic incan flashlights, which are about the same price in bulk (maybe a little less)..

Any thoughts or help would be greatly appreciated.

-Eric
 
I bought one of these about 3 years ago, blister carded with a 1AA keychain vesion.

The 2AA, if memory served, is a PR-based twisty.

I'd recommend against it, particularly if you can get slide switch jobs for a similar price.

The problem is the twisty. The head keeps on turning until the bulb gets misshapen and the lens or reflector cracks.

Also, if the supplied batteries are fresh, I wouldn't worry overmuch; 270mA is not too much of an ask for occasional use.
 
This light looks similar to the 2AA PR bulb incan's being sold at a local chain store near here... sorry I can't tell you much more than that :(
 
lctorana,

Good info, perfect, thank you!


-------

csshih said:
honestly, I think the DX keychains would be brighter.
Click to expand...


Yes.. they are, I have already tested a pretty typical cheap 2AA incan vs a LED keychain that's "around a dollar or less" and found that the keychains are in fact brighter...

However, the keychains are very hard to operate with winter gloves on, easy to drop and loose in the wilderness, and do not throw as well.... sooo.... I decided to rule them out, (this was my original plan BTW :) )

-Eric
 
looks like a brinkmann light i saw at academy a while back. i believe it was an led light, definitely not a couple of bucks tho.
 
I have found that Panasonic Bf 103 is quite qood value for the money.
They are 2.7usd here locally with Zinc carbon batteries, and you can have them cheaper in US, like here: http://www.prontohome.com/product/case-12-panasonic-bf-103-p_1269673129
There are even different and nice colours too. Mine are with faceted reflectors, but online pics are all smooth?

And get a DX-coincell lights for backups.
Happy hunting:grin2:

Juha
 
Ok guys, thank you for your help!

I found an easy solution, didn't realize that walmart carries the side-slide-switch rayovac "value bright" 2AA lights for just $1.00 each, which is probably as good or better a deal than I could have got buying wholesale online, since I would have had to pay shipping and likely a "small order penalty" or something...

value-bright-1.jpg


value-bright-2.jpg


I'm going to pick up the 144 pack of duracell pro-cells from batteryjunction to load these with. Obviously, they include a pair of zinc cells that are junk for a flashlight, but now I own about 124 zinc cells that I will just save for use in clocks/cordless-mice/remotes.

I think this will work well.

-Eric
 
Great solution!

But why not use the included zinc-carbon cells?

Your treasure hunt will probably only go for an hour or so; kids would get bored by then, and the batteries should last that long.
 
mdocod said:
but now I own about 124 zinc cells that I will just save for use in clocks/cordless-mice/remotes.
Click to expand...

If there are 3 things I wouldn't consider using zinc cells in they would be the ones you just listed. I have never trusted those cells and certainly wouldn't want them in anything that be ignored for months. I think I would rather use them in the torches until they go flat then throw them away.
 
Interesting thoughts on using the cells....

hmmmm...


My concern is as follows, this "treasure hunt" is actually usually quite involved, lasts 2+ hours usually, and is geared towards older-teens and adults. Usually we have 4-6 teams of 4-6 people each and there are usually at least 10 different goal points that must be achieved spanning the 40 acres, hidden in the trees/brush, often things are even buried with clues as to their burial location.

Based on Silverfox's alkaline shootout, which includes comparison to a zinc cell, at 0.5A, the zinc cell might last 30-45 minutes or so till things get too dim and need to be swapped (bulbs included are 0.47A). On alkaline cells, the useful runtime will be closer to 2 hours. If each person carries 2, this means they *should* be able to make it through most of the hunt on 1 flashlight, and have the second as a spare to go to if the first fails.

Now... I have to decide if I'm going to cheat and turn one into a plastic melting lithium-ion powered rop-low or mag 6-cell xenon bulb.... hmmmm... (looks like there's room for 2x17500s if I get in there and shave down the "ribs" inside)...


hmmmm...


-Eric
 
mdocod said:
Ok guys, thank you for your help!

I found an easy solution, didn't realize that walmart carries the side-slide-switch rayovac "value bright" 2AA lights for just $1.00 each, which is probably as good or better a deal than I could have got buying wholesale online, since I would have had to pay shipping and likely a "small order penalty" or something...

value-bright-1.jpg


value-bright-2.jpg


I'm going to pick up the 144 pack of duracell pro-cells from batteryjunction to load these with. Obviously, they include a pair of zinc cells that are junk for a flashlight, but now I own about 124 zinc cells that I will just save for use in clocks/cordless-mice/remotes.

I think this will work well.

-Eric
Click to expand...

Nice! I keep getting people bugging me at the store about buying a flashlight for camping. (but of course not wanting to spend more than 5 dollars, and insisting that a bigger light is likely brighter and therefore worth the full 5 dollars:shakehead) This might not pan out half bad. Just rig up a 5mm led in there, and it would be a decent light (by some peoples standards:whistle:) and I can turn around and mark them up to 5 bucks!:devil:
 
Yea, I wasn't sure which bulb type these would come with, seems like most 2AA "cheapo" incans used to come with the 270mA bulbs, the bulbs included here are not labeled as KRP104s, most just say "2.2V 0.47A" on the side with no indication as to brand or make or designation. I get the feeling that they use the "value" line of flashlights as a place to dump off the functioning factory rejects as there is a noticeable variation in performance and filament position from bulb to bulb here. While most were acceptable, I've pulled about a dozen out of the 62 that I bought and set aside for bulb replacement. 9 of them are just really really dim, and 3 have their filament positions so far from center that they produce very ugly beams. A handful of the lights needed minor "adjustments" to get working.

Overall, for $1 each, I have a hard time complaining, every single one of them does in fact work...

....

Now I'm just debating about whether to buy quality bulbs for all of them, maybe move up to 0.7A bulbs, maybe NiCd cells for flatter discharge,...

bah, I'm probably making this more complicated than necessary...

-Eric
 
Then you have either a KPR104 or a PR104.

7 or 6 bulb lumens respectively. Maybe 10 bulb lumens in the first flush of fersh batteries.

I say leave it at that.

Uprated bulbs and batteries in these quantities are expensive.


And IMHO, making them brighter would be counterproductive anyway.
 
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