Double Barrels ??Whats the Scoop ??

[Normark]

Hey Guys..

Seen a post on those Double Barrel flashlights somewhere can't find it now...

Are they getting hard to find ??

Are they being converted or something ??
Whats so special about them ???

I was just at Meijers last week and they had Stacks of them....

They also had a couple of different LED lights..One a stubby little Fat thing,,one in Alum,,one in plastic..Priced from $14-$24

What the scoop on these..

Pardon the possible Dumb questions,, but this is all new to me..The Arc will be the first LED light I'll own...

Very excting to see Soooooooooo much interest in flashlights..You guys are True Geeks!! LOL

ttyle

Eric...

 

[Quickbeam]

DoubleBarrels are only being produced in 4xAA, 4xAAA and AAAA now. The 4xAA and AAA are good for 3v Luxeon Star conversions - I have one listed on my site that I made and I use it frequently.

The 6xAA lights are no longer produced and are becoming very hard to find. These operate at 4.5v which is really good for Nichia White LED conversions. You will find several posts regarding these conversions if you search the forums (search link is at top of page). Gadget (Go Go Gadget Flashlight) is famous for making these conversions.

By themselves, the DoubleBarrel flashlights are "OK" lights, but not spectacular IMHO.

My site also has a simple FAQ section to help answer your questions about LED lights.

And that's "Mr." True Geek, by the way!

 

[Harrkev]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Normark:
I was just at Meijers last week and they had Stacks of them....

They also had a couple of different LED lights..One a stubby little Fat thing,,one in Alum,,one in plastic..Priced from $14-$24

What the scoop on these..
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

We don't have Meijers in sunny Florida, but we do have Wal-Marts.....

I have seen here four different LED lights on retail shelves (excluding keychain lights). The first is the Dorcy light, which is a standard light with an LED bulb attached. I have never used one, but I hear that they are of mediocre quality. They are under $10.

Energizer has an area light shaped kind of like a phaser from the original Star Trek. Great for a tent light.

The other two are made by Brinkman. I have the "Long Life LED" model (cylindrical shape). It is fairly bright, but it lenses the led to produce a very bright spot, with a sort of "bulls eye" pattern around it. They will throw light for some distance, but have a narrow angle. This means that they are less useful as a "walking around" light, as at normal walking distances they only light up a spot a foot in diameter.

The other Brinkman light looks MUCH more comfortable to hold, and comes with a few goodies (colored lenses, belt clip). However, the beam is mostly the same at the other model. Go to Stingmon's site for a good review of this model.

So far the favorites on this site seem to be:
1) Arc-AAA. Keychain light of unparalleled quality. I love mine.
2) Arc-LS. Well, this WILL be a favorite when it is shipped (should be any day now).
2) Princeton Tec "Attitude." Bright and inexpensive. I will grab one whenever I see it.
3) Lightwave Brand. They have a lot of lights with varying numbers of LEDs.

There are also many other good lights that I have not mentioned. The names of these lights just seem to turn up fairly often. (Don't get offended if I did not mention your favorite light) One that I like is the EternaLight Ergo. It is fun.

The only problem with being an LED fan is that I find that my interests greatly exceed the capability of my wallet.

If you have a significant other, just explain to them that flashaholism is a disease just like any other. Only that flashlights are a lot less expensive than therapy.

 

[The_LED_Museum]

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

By themselves, the DoubleBarrel flashlights are "OK" lights, but not spectacular IMHO.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The Nichia conversion DB-18 I bought on Ebay went bad about six months later. It still lights, but one of the barrels has some kind of short so the light can't be turned off. But if I remove the batteries from the defective side and leave them in the other, the light still works fine.

I don't use it like that though because 18 LEDs is a bit hard on 3 puny AA cells. So it's now only an unfortunate curiosity living in my torch collection.

Being an E-bay purchased modification, there is no recourse or warranty.
Buyer beware...

 

[Klaus]

I love my 4AA/4AAA mods changing the seriel/paralel to straight seriel and getting some 4.x volts using 4 NiMhs and the 6AA bulb in it - reall nice and bright lights now.

If interested look at

DB4AA/4AAA max mod

Klaus

 

[recercare]

A lot of shops here have the 6AA and 8AA Double Barrels. Maybe they've stopped the production in USA and nit in Europe?

 

[Quickbeam]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>A lot of shops here have the 6AA and 8AA Double Barrels. Maybe they've stopped the production in USA and nit in Europe?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Their website only shows the AAA, AA, and AAAA lights available. Perhaps Europe has access to the remaining warehouse stock of the non-production lights.

Or maybe they just sell better in Europe, so the stock was sent there.

 

[Chris M.]

The Nichia conversion DB-18 I bought on Ebay went bad about six months later. It still lights, but one of the barrels has some kind of short so the light can't be turned off. But if I remove the batteries from the defective side and leave them in the other, the light still works fine.

I don't use it like that though because 18 LEDs is a bit hard on 3 puny AA cells. So it's now only an unfortunate curiosity living in my torch collection.

Aww, that`s a shame

Will the head unscrew so you can see what went wrong? I know some had the heads glued on while others (like mine) did not. Failing that, have you contacted the seller to see if they would accept it back to repair it?


I`ve had no troubles from mine- and it`s been used and abused quite a lot, now lives in my toolbox which is not a nice place for any torch to live in.

I do agree about the power drain, it does appear noticeably dimmer on just one tube. I tried running it like that for a bit but prefered the brighter output on both. I`ve got no idea what the total run time is and have not metered the current drain yet (I will one day, when I finally finish the new Torch Reviews site), I`ve only changed the batteries once though it hasn`t been used for hours and hours at a time, normally only a few minutes.

 

[napalm-2002]

i bought a remaining few of 6 aa double barrels offline.i want to convert them but i got a promotion at work and work on the side i can barely get on the comp once a day.

good light. light and fairly bright.