Do I need a Krill lamp?

[bigcozy]

When I first saw these I was very excited. I have had free access to chem-sticks that recently ran out, so I thought this might be the perfect camping light. Having read other peoples thoughts on them, I am not sure now. I have a Pelican L1 that has 100+ hours of very strong light I can read by. I have heard the Krills have about half of that and you can't read by them.

What are the experiences here?

 

[PhotonRanger]

I had poor luck with a Krill Extreme 180. I thought it would be good enough for walking on a path with night adapted eyes. Too dim; even with no light pollution on a remote San Juan island. Worse, the one I had was very fussy, such that I had to do the twist-twist-slap-slap cheap flashlight routine to get it to come back on when it left me in the dark. I guess it is bright enough for a marker light, but not enough to read by. I'd probably go for a Princeton Tech flashlight with cone attachment. I sent the Krill back to the dealer for an exchange.

 

[Lux Luthor]

My first light was a Krill 180 extreme in green. I found this forum while searching the web for the best price on one.

I don't mean to be blunt, but I'm currently using the case as a waterproof matchstick carrier. Does that give you a hint?

Do yourself a favor, and buy an Arc instead. It's even cheaper, for goodness sakes.

 

[bigcozy]

Nuff said. I hope other CPFers read this before buying one.

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

haha, too late.. curiosity got the best of me and i got the 180 and the 360 in green a few months ago.

 

[Frank C.]

I have one of these somewhere around here (currently misplaced). I found the best use for it was as a portable nightlight for use in hotel rooms. I have two young children, and when we'd all stay in a hotel they'd want some sort of nightlight in the room. I'd fire up the Krill and use it as such.

That's about the best use I found for it. As others have said, it's much too dim to use for a walking-around light.

 

[Lux Luthor]

Maybe I shouldn't be overly negative about the light. It does have certain qualities. It takes AA batteries, has a very smooth and pleasing glow to it, and the case is waterproof and strong.

It's just that considering how bright it is (about 2 times brighter than one of those green AC nightlights), it really doesn't have very good runtime. But what really bugged me is after having it for a couple of years, with only ocassional use, the panel burned out. This really made me question it's usability as a replacement for chemical light sticks. A single LED light is far more reliable, brighter, and (from my experience) more efficient.

 

[cave dave]

Lux,
You still have that burned out krill? I have a use for the case involving a CFT tube

and the first florescent caving headlamp.

private mail me!

 

[franken2]

i found that a sauce lightwand makes a nice area light. go to strobe mode and hold the button down until it glows a constant blush-white. also defeat the auto-off feature first. not sure about the runtime (18 hrs?). but fairly bright,reasonably sturdy, single aa batt. never owned a krill but this looks like a reasonable alternative.

 

[Lux Luthor]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by cave dave:
Lux,
You still have that burned out krill? I have a use for the case involving a CFT tube

and the first florescent caving headlamp.

private mail me!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I still have the case, but none of the guts. If you still want it you can have it. Just email me your shipping address and I'll send it to you. I can't get to the post office until Monday, though. I have a lot of crap to do tomorrow.

 

[Steelwolf]

If you want a marker light, the Krill Extremes are good. I used to strap mine on my dive tank for night dives. It's not as irritating to the other divers as a strobe, but is still bright enough to mark your position to them. I also use them for other marking purposes such as at a campsite or when I was night fishing at the end of the longest jetty in the southern hemisphere (Busselton Jetty 2km long). Didn't want to walk in to the sea.

Apart from use as a marker, the Krills are not very useful. You could read from their light, but only after you become thoroughly dark adapted. I'm not totally satisfied with them, but it is a cool gadget. There are, of course other lights you could use as markers and some will perform the job better and for less. So there really isn't an overwhelming reason to get them (unless you're a flashoholic and need at least one of every light producing device).

 

[mcjamison]

I concur with steelewolf - if your application is to use it as a marker, it's potentially a good choice. I've used mine for things like night skiing, marking a dog, and marking people and places in nighttime crowd situations. Less annoying, more omnidirectional than an LED flasher (if you get the 360 degree version), and tougher than most LED options. But if you want to illuminate something or accomplish a task, there are LED lights that will be cheaper and much more effective.