Quickbeam
Flashlight Enthusiast
I went to walmart last night and found they had restocked/reorganized the flashlight shelves. Lots of new lights.
First off, the LED ENERGIZER FOLDING LANTERN IS BACK, but in a new incarnation - 3 LEDs inside a fully translucent LED flip section (no translucent tubes) and a white strip opposite the LEDs to reflect the light back toward the LEDs. The result is that you can flip up the LED section and have 360 deg light. Flip it down and it rests on a reflective silver panel on the battery compartment for directional light. Still has two levels and 4 AA cells.
The second Energizer light is a flashlight that pulls open to a lantern mode. A single 1 watt Luxeon provides the light (4 AAA cells) and it has a unique feature - when you pull it open two little spring loaded trap doors close off the hole in the reflector, sending the light back into the lantern part.
The new Rayovac headlamp was there - 1 AA, two red 5mm LEDs, one blue 5mm LED and a 1 Watt LED behind a lens. A flipable diffuser can move back and forth between the 5mm LED side and the lensed 1W LED.
A new Rayovac 1AAA penlight was there (I purchased one - $2.97!!) - very small and stylish in blue, orange/rust or silver anodized aluminum. There's a rubber ring around the middle for grip and the entire surface has a ring-ridge texture. The LED sits behind a lens and it produces a spot of light like a typical incan. penlight bulb. The plastic clip is sure to break off under stress, but overall a nice little penlight with a low level of output, but sufficient for close tasks. The LED module can be fully and easily unscrewed from the body making it appear to be a great candidate for mods!
There were multiple others as well, including the new Rayovac 3 Watt and rechargeable LEDs.
Garrity (I believe) now has a 1 watt 2 AA aluminum that looks a lot like a Minimag for about half the price of the MagLEDs.
The MagLED 2AA and 3AA are on clearance for 19.00.
Of course, the incan section is getting smaller and smaller as a result of all these LEDs... It will be interesting to see when they finally push out the $0.99 incans. (if ever!)
Meanwhile, over at ****s sports, you may find a new small Coleman lantern which takes 4AA, is very small, frosted plastic globe, one level only, incan., which is begging for an LED mod. I stuck an LED bulb with some dummy cells inside and it works great.
http://www.coleman.com/coleman/colemancom/detail.asp?product_id=4343-701&categoryid=1045
Also, at my ****s I found 2 2AA Princeton Tec Quest headlamps on clearance for $15 each, for which I ordered some SMJLED PR bulbs (since they discontinued the Matrix 2 - the LED version of the Quest). Should result in low output headlamps for emergencies that run almost forever. I may plop them in the cars with lithium AAs for tire changes, etc.
Doug P.
First off, the LED ENERGIZER FOLDING LANTERN IS BACK, but in a new incarnation - 3 LEDs inside a fully translucent LED flip section (no translucent tubes) and a white strip opposite the LEDs to reflect the light back toward the LEDs. The result is that you can flip up the LED section and have 360 deg light. Flip it down and it rests on a reflective silver panel on the battery compartment for directional light. Still has two levels and 4 AA cells.
The second Energizer light is a flashlight that pulls open to a lantern mode. A single 1 watt Luxeon provides the light (4 AAA cells) and it has a unique feature - when you pull it open two little spring loaded trap doors close off the hole in the reflector, sending the light back into the lantern part.
The new Rayovac headlamp was there - 1 AA, two red 5mm LEDs, one blue 5mm LED and a 1 Watt LED behind a lens. A flipable diffuser can move back and forth between the 5mm LED side and the lensed 1W LED.
A new Rayovac 1AAA penlight was there (I purchased one - $2.97!!) - very small and stylish in blue, orange/rust or silver anodized aluminum. There's a rubber ring around the middle for grip and the entire surface has a ring-ridge texture. The LED sits behind a lens and it produces a spot of light like a typical incan. penlight bulb. The plastic clip is sure to break off under stress, but overall a nice little penlight with a low level of output, but sufficient for close tasks. The LED module can be fully and easily unscrewed from the body making it appear to be a great candidate for mods!
There were multiple others as well, including the new Rayovac 3 Watt and rechargeable LEDs.
Garrity (I believe) now has a 1 watt 2 AA aluminum that looks a lot like a Minimag for about half the price of the MagLEDs.
The MagLED 2AA and 3AA are on clearance for 19.00.
Of course, the incan section is getting smaller and smaller as a result of all these LEDs... It will be interesting to see when they finally push out the $0.99 incans. (if ever!)
Meanwhile, over at ****s sports, you may find a new small Coleman lantern which takes 4AA, is very small, frosted plastic globe, one level only, incan., which is begging for an LED mod. I stuck an LED bulb with some dummy cells inside and it works great.
http://www.coleman.com/coleman/colemancom/detail.asp?product_id=4343-701&categoryid=1045
Also, at my ****s I found 2 2AA Princeton Tec Quest headlamps on clearance for $15 each, for which I ordered some SMJLED PR bulbs (since they discontinued the Matrix 2 - the LED version of the Quest). Should result in low output headlamps for emergencies that run almost forever. I may plop them in the cars with lithium AAs for tire changes, etc.
Doug P.
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