Long life flashlight for reading

[Longden]

I need to get a couple of flashlights for some people who like to read on the road, so I'm looking for something comparable to the Pal Gold I bought a year or so ago, which is an LED light that runs off a 9v battery (which I can find cheap) seemingly forever.

That being then, and this being now, I figured the landscape has changed and wondered if there better lights available (LED or otherwise):

- comparable to the $20 for a Pal
- last > 200 hours (on low for a Pal)
- uses a cheap and easily found battery

Tips and links to related discussions or current reviews would be appreciated. Most of the reviews I found were for products back in 2000. Brightness seems to be a big deal here (in this forum) but my main thing is longevity and cost.

Thanks.

 

[busbar]

http://www.glow-bug.com has a fairly decent assortment. I've had no problems with exchanges when one didn't fit my needs. Also, I wouldn't hesitate to email them for a suggestion.

 

[Brock]

I would recommend the Pal or the eternallight for the size and runtime. The Pal are slightly smaller, but the Eternalight's are brighter. I use the pal for "marker" lights. Great little lights.

 

[Longden]

Thanks guys. I guess LED's are still the way to go for long life.

After orienting myself a bit better, I found a couple of related threads in the LED forum too.

Eternalight looks kinda big, but you can't knock 700hrs on 3 AA's

 

[GlockDoc]

Hop on down to Wally-World and look for an Energizer Folding LED lantern. It is about the size of a traveling alarm clock. Uses 4 AA's and has two white LEDs with a selector switch. It stands up or hang it from the built in hook. It looks like a small version of their regular folding flourscent lantern. 100 hours on both LEDs or 200 hours on one. For 10 bucks it's a pretty good light.

GD

 

[Longden]

Thanks GD.

In fact, there's a Wal-Mart on the way home from work, so maybe it'll be worth the $10 to make a side trip.

Seems I'm picking up as many lights these days as I have sharp things.

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

The LED topics area had a discussion on reading lights, primarily LED lights, but did include some non-LED reading lights. I purchased a clip on book light that had been converted to three leds from www.ccrane.com which I am very happy with, and the following link will take you to the rest of the discussion: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=3&t=000976

 

[Longden]

Yeah, I saw that thread.

Have you gone thru a set of 4 AA's yet to have a feel for how long they last?

I should mention that it's my wife and daughter who want to use these lights, so an added condition is that they be relatively small (enough to fit in a purse), so the Crane booklight might not do it for them ... but I'd still be interested in how long it lasts. Thanks.

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I've only used the Crane light with the included batteries for about 2 hours so far - no noticable dimming so far. While not nearly as small as say an Arc AAA, as long as you do not want to carry the ac converter it is not too bulky (see any Mighty Bright light for sale in most bookstores for size) but with 4 AA batteries hanging off of the back of a paperback book it can make holding a book with one hand difficult.

 

[V8TOYTRUCK]

On the lowest setting Eternalight claims that their unit will last 2300 hrs! That is with 1 of the 4 LEDs on, using a hyper fast strobing fuction that micmics a steady on light.

 

[Longden]

Thanks guys.

I picked up one of the Energizer Lanterns for $8 and my wife was impressed. Too big for her purse, but she's committed it to the glove compartment for the frequent night-time ride reading

I also got one of the CMG Infinity's in the mail (also ordered a Pal OneStar, but it went missing and had to be re-shipped

)

The CMG's also a nice small light, although a bit on the weak side (compared to a Pal Gold). I'm waiting on an ARC AAA for more comparisons. These are useful as all-purpose lights (ie, beyond book-reading), now if only I could find some way to secure them in position for a good read.

I guess after I'm caught up with my current mail-orders, the Eternalight Ergo will be the next critter to try.

 

[brightnorm]

V8TOYOTATRK
Flashaholic
Member # 589
posted 11-15-2001 06:20 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the lowest setting Eternalight claims that their unit will last 2300 hrs! That is with 1 of the 4 LEDs on, using a hyper fast strobing fuction that micmics a steady on light. null

The instructions that came with my Eternalight Classic said 700 Hours ( of course, at that time, several years ago, they had only tested it to 700 hrs)
Don't get it if you intend to read at the dimmest setting. The pulsing is VERY noticeable and you will find reading extremely unpleasant. How about a LEVENGER book light? Don't have the URL handy, but I got one and it's excellent. Another alternative would be the CMG Infinity: 40 hours, very small, not too bright.

Good luck,
Brightnorm

 

[Longden]

You mean this Levenger?:
http://www.levenger.com/shop/ItemPage.asp?Title=Light+Voyager

Sounds like a nice light, but 4 AA's lasting 10 hours is a bit short for me, even tho the light seems pretty adequate and the ergonomics are great.

I was wondering about the amount of flicker on the Eternalight (on low), and I agree on the CMG (nice size, good longevity, but low light output).

One of my favorite lights (in the pre-LED days) was a flat 2-AAA palmsized "Long Reach Flexible Flashlight" by Zelco. It had a long rubber neck with the bulb at the end and could be easily adjusted for position. It's only failing was the short battery life:
http://www.zelco.com/lr.htm

Seems like it'd benefit from a decent LED in the same light.