Can't decide on coin cell vs aaa light

[tzzoooma]

my smallest aaa is still too big to fit comfortably in my pockets, simple as that. streamlight nano is bright enough for me for everyday, brighter than
my old photonfake, and overall not bigger. would like more light for the size i need, but does not seem to be available. :(

 

[Kiessling]

You cant compare a fauxton/photon or whatever 5mm led to a L0D :crackup:

The coincell will maybe help you find the keyhole, the L0D will light up an entire room...:cool:

If you have the L0D with you, that is. If you haven't, because it is too big for whatever reason, a coin cell is better than nothing. And that's the point.
It is not about the best possible light, but about the best possible light on your body.

And ... a current Photon Freedom lights up a room quite nicely. Not for long, ok, but long enough to get me out of the dark.

bernie

 

[Kevo]

Well, if it's a choice between a coin cell light and nothing, obviously go with the coin cell light. I've never had any problem carrying my light on my keychain and my wife hasn't complained about hers either. I just checked and my car key is actually about a 1mm longer than my LF2X. I checked my wife's LF2 and it's about 8mm longer than her key, but her key is from a '93 Honda and is almost as small as a house key.

For me, my remote entry fob is actually more bulk on my keychain than anything else. Why can't those things be smaller?

 

[Spork]

I think I'm going to check out a L0D. Also going to invest in more fauxton lights. Know of a cheap place to buy them and some batteries? My photons are suppose to be the 2x bright but they are much weaker than the other coin cells I have tried.

Still haven't really decided on what to carry with me. I do agree that a coin cell could work just fine if you find yourself in a unexpected situation without light but the aaa light works better for everything. I'm going to see about buying some lithium aaa's.

I also found the problem with my e1. I took it apart and found one of the wires broken off. Its working great now but not sure how reliable my dull looking solder joint will be.

 

[JCup]

Dealextreme has a good deal on fauxtons. Packs of 10 or 40, at a very low price. You will likely get one or two with dead batteries, but they work about as well as the original.

With regard to your original question, finding the room to carry a Fenix AAA will provide a huge advantage in run time and light output.

A CR2016 lithium coin cell is rated at 90 mAh, and a AAA (alkaline) cell will give you about 1,000. A bit less total output is available from NiMH rechargeable, but they can deliver a lot more current. Lithium AAA's will produce 1,200 mAh.

So an AAA powered light has 5-6 times the power available.

I carry my Fenix L0D in the watch pocket of jeans. Comparing either runtime or output will leave the Photon type light in the dust. The L0D (or new LD01) throws a beam that will reach out 50 yards or so, and it lasts hours on the lower settings. The Photon will last a few minutes and light up targets a few feet away.

I use my L0D light a lot (have had it nearly a year), recharging the Eneloop cell every week or two. I don't bother with a Photon any more.

It's handy to keep a photon on a keychain or in a purse, but I find it easy to carry the little Fenix, and it's a useful tool, worth the $40 plus price to me.

 

[regulator]

One thing that is nice about a Photon Freedom is that you do not have to run it at its absolute max output and can adjust it down a bit to a slightly lower level and increase the useable runtime significantly. Coin cell lights are nice since they can provide very usable light within the smallest possible package.

AAA lights are one of my favorite size for EDC since they are not very noticable in the pocket. With the new circuits and LED's, they provide impressive performance and runtime for thier size. They can provide 90-95 percent of my lighting needs. I personally think AAA lights are still too big for keychain carry though.

A small favorite of mine is the Photon ReX that is easy to carry without notice and I have mine with me all the time. There are some issues I believe with possible overdischarge if it is run down too far. I have read that LRI is working on improving the ReX and I will definately pick up another when they new model is out.

 

[paulr]

I really like my Ti La Petite Killer. Same general setup as an Arc AAA, but runs on a button cell and is about 1/3 the length. It's on my keys and I generally use it instead of the two Photons that are also there. It is set up for 12 ma to a Nichia GS led, so it's not as bright as a Photon with a new battery, but it is regulated so it doesn't dim out after its first few minutes of operation. And it's just a wonderful looking light.

 

[dmonay]

I like the AAA lights (Arc) because they put out sufficient light and you can use rechargeable batteries instead of coin cell's that cost about $3.50 each in a local store. I've had two different coin cell lights that turned on in my pocket from keys and/or static electricity.

 

[Bonky]

I carry both!

A fauxton (dozen for $5) on my keychain. That's my "always on me" light.

Plus a AAA clipped into my pocket. That's my "usually on me" light.

 

[ZMZ67]

I think I'm going to check out a L0D. Also going to invest in more fauxton lights. Know of a cheap place to buy them and some batteries? My photons are suppose to be the 2x bright but they are much weaker than the other coin cells I have tried.

Still haven't really decided on what to carry with me. I do agree that a coin cell could work just fine if you find yourself in a unexpected situation without light but the aaa light works better for everything. I'm going to see about buying some lithium aaa's.

I also found the problem with my e1. I took it apart and found one of the wires broken off. Its working great now but not sure how reliable my dull looking solder joint will be.

If your concerned with reliability I wouldn't invest in more fauxtons.Fauxtons may be brighter but I have had many fail completely and you never know when it is going to happen.None of my Photons have failed and I carry two Photon IIs on my keychain daily.The LOD is a great light(LDO1 is replacing it)but I find it too big for keychain use and carry it in my pocket instead - a great minimalist EDC.

 

[Bonky]

well, I bought a dozen fauxtons from DX for $4 or whatever it was. A few of them had problems with the little teeny mini-switch that keeps them on when you release pressure on the main switch, but those issues were solved pretty easily and I haven't yet had one poop out on me.

One of them was on my keychain for almost a year. I gave that one to my dad when he needed it in a restaurant to look at the bill (thanks pops). He's been using it for months no problems.

I put another one on my keychain and it hasn't had any problems. They're so friggin simple that if they work at all, they keep working, at least in my experience.

Oh and my g/f has one that she hasn't had trouble with. I'm ordering another batch next time I get some stuff from DX.

 

[ampdude]

thats the other thing I forgot to mention about coin cell lights. They are really bright for like 5 minutes then they start to drop off.

This is true with the 2 x CR2016 "white" led coin cells lights, not so much so with the red ones that take one CR2032. I'm on my third battery after over four years of use. And the other two batteries were far from dead when I changed them.

As far as the comment someone made that if a coin cell light won't get it done an AAA light won't either, I have to disagree. The brightness options and run time of the latest AAA lights by Arc, Fenix, ect. is far superior to any coin cell light.

 

[Kiessling]

ampdude ... the runtime of an AAA is of course far superior, but the brightness is not. The 2xCR2016 coin cells aka Photon Freedom are driven pretty hard and are plenty bright.

The point is ... there are rarely situations where you need the runtime of the AAA vs the coin cell where you haven't already brought some real light :devil: ... meaning the coin cell usually gets you out any classical "I need a light" situations just as the AAA does.

And then there is the dimming of the Photons, prolonging runtime.

bernie


P.S.: don't get me wrong ... I am not advertising coin cells as superior to AAA, but they do have some interesting and useful aspects, mostly size and weight, and that means availability when needed. That is nothing to discard. IMHO all serious plans that include the need of a light aren't met with either of the two.

 

[ampdude]

I agree that the output of a 5mm coin cell light is on par with a 5mm led AAA light. But only for a few minutes.

When we get into AAA lights with other emitters then the coin cell doesn't really have an advantage at all, aside from size and weight.

I was trying to get that across on my last post, but I guess I didn't do a very good job of it.

 

[Kiessling]

I think that some of our "miscommunications" in this thread come from the fact that we mix the "best possible" with "mission specific compromise", where other factors force the user to chose the non-optimal gear, which is a coin cell here.

I agree that a Fenix E01 with a lithium AAA is hard to beat when we look at the runtime / output compromise.

But it ain't able to produce a strobe :nana: :aaa:


bernie

 

[Hondo]

With the advent of the DS and GS series Nichias, coin cell light output is very usable on one 2032 without having to use a red light. These will give much "flatter" output over a much longer time, and don't massively overdrive the LED at the start like 2x2016's do. SubUmbra ran 12 days on a Photon with a green LED on a 2032, then stopped the test and put the light into service.

If you are having trouble with a Photon Freedom coming on, put it into momentary with 5+ rapid presses. Then press and hold like you are taking it out of momentary, but KEEP HOLDING until it flashes again (5-10 seconds). This will activate the 3-minute auto-shutoff feature (not advertised for some hokey legal reason, but it IS there). To de-activate the auto-shutoff, just repeat without the long hold after coming out of momentary.

 

[Spork]

I ordered a few e01's. Not sure if that will end up being my keychain light or not yet. I seem to go in phases what I want on my keys. One year it might be a coin cell and the next I go for aaa lights. My first keychain light after finding out I had a strange interest in flashlights and finding this forum was a original infinity. That was just huge on a key ring.

I went with a e01 over the lod because I rarely use the extra brightness levels on a light. I like to just turn it on and go. I'm giving away my e1 to a family member.

I have been in some situations where I just had my dim covert photon and wished I still had a fenix on my keys. I might have the older model photons even though when i bought them it said 2x. The freebie lights I get from lighthound seem to be even brighter.

 

[ampdude]

With the advent of the DS and GS series Nichias, coin cell light output is very usable on one 2032 without having to use a red light. These will give much "flatter" output over a much longer time, and don't massively overdrive the LED at the start like 2x2016's do.

I put a new 2032 into one of my dead Lighthound freebies from about a year ago. I assume it's running a CS.

The output is VERY unimpressive.

Which coin cell lights use the GS now? Photons?

 

[greenLED]

I beg to differ. My ex-wife did it quite nicely in about two years with a keyring that had about a dozen keys on it. The switch didn't actually break, but it wouldn't return all of the way to RUN after starting without a little assistance from the human turning the key. Without that assistance the car would still stay running, but the heater blower wouldn't run (not a nice thing in Iowa in December) and other fun things like that.

Wow. What make/model was it?

My Mazda 626 (with 200000+ miles) never had a glitch, and I carry a lot of crap on my keychain.

 

[HKJ]

ampdude ... the runtime of an AAA is of course far superior, but the brightness is not. The 2xCR2016 coin cells aka Photon Freedom are driven pretty hard and are plenty bright.

That is not correct, a coin cell light will match an AAA light with a 5 mm led, but not something like Fenix LD01 or LiteFlux LF2X that uses power leds.