Glovebox light

[MCRider]

Looking for a LED light for my gloveboxes. Got caught the other night with the wrong keychain and my Fenix was not on hand. Have a surefire P3 on the nightstand and as SF E2 for hiking.

What is a good light with decent flood and throw to keep in a glovebox.

Best battery type for long storage with temperature extremes?

I'm thinking a CR123 may be a good choice for battery. Looking for a price under $50.

thanks

 

[mcnair55]

There are so many good lights out there that would suit your needs,if it is going to get little use I would buy a AA cell running on a Lithium,battery is good at low temps and most have at least a 10 or 15 year shelf life.

Probably a Fenix LD10 R would work good for you but there are plenty of experts who know far far more than me.

 

[Flying Turtle]

Welcome to CPF, MC. You might want to consider a Quark Mini 123 to leave in the car. Battery will stand up to heat and cold. Plenty of flood and probably enough throw, cause it's so darn bright. Check it out at www.4Sevens.com.

Geoff

 

[sol-leks]

I think you should go with a romisen. Personally, they are very sturdy lights and I don't see the need to leave something as expensive as a quark or fenix sitting in your glovebox, unless you think you will be using this light very regularly. Romisens are very solid budget lights. Another option is a solarforce with a p60 drop-in of your choice. My vote is still for the romisen though.

I agree with the others though that you should keep lithiums in it for best longevity.

 

[Kestrel]

I'd recommend something that uses 1-2 AA's. You mention CR123s, but Energizer makes lithium AA's that are perfect for the car IMO.

Although most of my lights are CR123-based, I've set up my car lights to use AA's since I might find myself somewhere else (in the car) and need extra cells beyond what I'll have in reserve. In that situation it would be a bit difficult to go back to the house where all my LiIons and Li primaries are.
Oh, and your first post after joining in 2004! :huh: :welcome:

 

[jacktheclipper]

I think you should go with a romisen. Personally, they are very sturdy lights and I don't see the need to leave something as expensive as a quark or fenix sitting in your glovebox, unless you think you will be using this light very regularly. Romisens are very solid budget lights. Another option is a solarforce with a p60 drop-in of your choice. My vote is still for the romisen though.

I agree with the others though that you should keep lithiums in it for best longevity.

All of the above plus my vote for the RC-29 II + extra batteries

 

[sol-leks]

I also love the romisen zoom series, so another option is the rc-c6 which can be converted to 2xAA if you buy an extension tube. However, I think any of romisens other lights could work too depending on what looks best to you.

 

[jamesmtl514]

I rather have something that I know will work when I need it most.
For that reason I have a Surefire G2 with a M61LL in it. sufficiently bright for any roadside task and 10hrs of runtime in case I'm stuck by the side of the road for a while. Also carry spares in the car.

my vehicle setup.

 

[Kestrel]

I rather have something that I know will work when I need it most. For that reason I have a Surefire G2 with a M61LL in it. sufficiently bright for any roadside task and 10hrs of runtime in case I'm stuck by the side of the road for a while. Also carry spares in the car.

Very nice, I like it, very similar to what I set up for my wife's car. :thumbsup:

For me it's this 2xAA / 3xCR123 SF plus a just-completed SureFire D3 w/ Malkoff M31W & 2xAA's

Even though I really like CR123's & LiIons, for the last few years I've really wanted to get my car SureFires running on Eneloop AA's and Energizer AA lithiums instead.

 

[march.brown]

To leave in the car for years , in hot summers and cold winters , it has to be AA or AAA Lithium primaries.

Unmeasureable self-discharge and very long 'use-by' dates ... Keep a couple of spare batteries in with the spare wheel as it is usually cooler under the boot floor ... Then just forget about batteries till you come to change your car ... Test the torch every year or so.

Naturally you will also have your EDC torches with you at all times.
.

 

[jhc37013]

I keep a Fenix P3D or PD30 in my glove box and in every room in the house. Your possibility's are endless just use lithium battery's.

 

[Mr Bigglow]

I keep several lights in my car but nothing I couldn't stand to have stolen. I favour big Mags but in the glovebox I keep a Gerber Infinity with a lithium AA. Good map light, can be held in the mouth or clipped to a ballcap lid for tinkering or flat changing, with lithium will work when frozen. And unlike some more modern small lights, anyone can instantly figure out how to use it, ie, if a family member gets stuck while using the car.

 

[afdk]

Hello,

I have a UK fire light with four AA lithium cells in the glove box. I know it will always be ready when I need it. It's a great bright little light!lovecpf

 

[EZO]

Several months ago, I bought a Cigarette Lighter Socket Rechargeable at DX (SKU 21472) and I really like it. (for what it is) Cheap, always charged and ready to go and about the size of a Quark 123 mini. Of course, at less than 8 bucks you don't get a Quark quality beam. It's a bit purplish, but more than adequate and if you don't smoke or need the outlet to charge electronics it's a very worthwhile replacement for a car cigarette lighter. (my Toyota truck has two 12v sockets, so this works well for me) It has a small red LED inside the reflector to let you know it's charging that looks really cool and always catches the curiosity of passengers. There are better quality versions of this type of light available that have whiter beams and a bit more power. In fact, just yesterday I discovered that LED Lenser offers a "high end" version of one of these marketed by Coast, although from the specs and photos it appears that the DX version has a much brighter output.

I certainly wouldn't rely on this unit as a primary glove box light but it makes for a great inexpensive back-up and it's always at arm's reach. Good for quick map reading and finding stuff that may get dropped on the floor of the cab at night.

 

[Buckley]

The circumstances that would require a vehicle flashlight are also circumstances that are likely to require the use of both hands -- changing a tire, checking the engine, digging yourself out of a snowbank, etc. Consequently, I recommend you consider making your glovebox light a headlamp. I use a Princeton Tec quad with energizer lithium cells, with an extra blister pack of 4 cells just in case. Works for me.

And, :welcome:

 

[NonSenCe]

i have plenty of lights in my glovebox or other places in my car (trunk. back seat. tool box. first aid kit etc) they are my old edc lights, lights i cant find other use, or are just cheap. lights that work but are not "right" for me to carry edc for one reason or other. (i agree not having too expensive and loved light in there in case of breaking in)

but the most that are meant to be used have lithium battery/batteries in it. either cr123 or AA energizer lithium. (long selflife and work better in hot/cold)

main idea is that most of them will work with single cell. (no mixing half empty cells to full ones, and if one cell dies on its own (rare) in your multicell light, you still have a flashlight to use the batteries in)

the cr123 i left in the car has features i dislike in normal use. the strobe and sos blinker modes. it also fits into traffic cone so you get a small red wand too to alert others.

the red cone is smart idea too.. i can just leave the light blinking behind me and my car if it fails on the road and people will be alerted that i am there ..i actually also have used the traffic cone couple times as traffic controller.. once a boat fell of its trailer and i was there waving the wand to guide people where to drive to. and once during a car accident until the police arrived.

one is plug-in chargable/useable too. (the cheap spotlight)

one is AA with zoom (led lenser copy from dx), one is 4AA (uk4aa firemans light incan) (there are couple others too.. to name one: romisen n3 that can work with cr123 or 2 AA. it is just convinient to have one light that works with 2 battery types)

but one point i would like to say.. get a HEADLAMP too! you do need hands free light to fix something.

i either use Alpkit Gamma (3AAA) or dx copy of Led lenser headlamp. mostly the gamma tho.. because 1. trust it more. 2. it has small red blinker in batterypack that is behind your head when you wear it. so people/cars coming behind you also see the blinking red light. extra safety in my mind.

i could imagine buying the itp h01 headlamp to glovebox duty too. its tiny and runs with single cell.

now that i think of these.. maybe i should go thru my car and see what i have in there now and check their condition and charge.. and maybe swap some lights to better ones.

 

[MCRider]

I'd recommend something that uses 1-2 AA's. You mention CR123s, but Energizer makes lithium AA's that are perfect for the car IMO.

Although most of my lights are CR123-based, I've set up my car lights to use AA's since I might find myself somewhere else (in the car) and need extra cells beyond what I'll have in reserve. In that situation it would be a bit difficult to go back to the house where all my LiIons and Li primaries are.
Oh, and your first post after joining in 2004! :huh: :welcome:

Been a lurker for years....

Had to come out of the silent world to find the right light....

 

[TwitchALot]

I'm just running a neutral Mini AA from 4Sevens. Reason I chose this was out of cost (since it's going to be in the glovebox and not used all that often), generally better color rendition from neutral tints if I need to work with my car or find something in it, and it runs on AA batteries, which Kestrel discussed the importance of. It's not a barnburner by any means, but it'll get the job done, and it won't break the bank.

 

[Ian2381]

I'd go with the SOlarforce L2r, powered with two ENergizer Lithium AA then your set for the next 10 years, unless you use it regularly then you have to change the batts.:thumbsup:

 

[NCT1]

I just have a Quark AA^2 with some spare AA's in my glovebox, works out well for me.