HKJ
Flashaholic
[size=+3]A look at small flashlights[/size]
This roundup is about flashlights that are smaller than AAA flashlights or at least uses batteries that are smaller than AAA batteries. I have found two classes of small lights, cheap lights and expensive lights, but not really something in the middle. The expensive lights is sometimes designed to look like jewelry, but I do not have any good examples in my collection. The size of these lights are small, but for some of them, the light output is very high, even higher than most AAA lights, the reason for this is the LiIon batteries.
In my article about AAA flashlights I had some categories and I will do the same here, but the description of the categories will be tailored for these small lights.
I will look at the following lights (Same sequence as picture): Fauxton, La Petite Killer, Nano, TiFli, Drake, Wee, Matterhorn, Draco, Extreme Micro, Raw, Aeon, Cute CR2
The lights are small, here they are in my hand:
[size=+2]Light emitter[/size]
All these small lights uses leds, there are a couple of reasons for that:
[size=+1]5 mm led[/size]
Flashlights are made with two different types of LEDs. One type is the 5mm LED, it looks like a small bulb. These LEDs have a strict limit on maximum power, because they have limited cooling. They are good for a flashlight when you need a long runtime and not the most powerful light. Because the LEDs are encapsulated in a plastic bulb like package, they do not need to sit behind a protective glass in the flashlight.
The following lights uses 5mm LEDs:
Fauxton, La Petite Killer, Nano, TiFli, Matterhorn
[size=+1]Power led[/size]
The other LED type is known as a Power LED. These LEDs do not have any mechanical protection and have to be mounted on a heat sink with good thermal connection to the rest of the flashlight. Power LEDs always require a glass or plastic window in front of them for protection. These LEDs are used in more powerful flashlights, and some of the lights can get warm, or hot, when in use. The light output from a flashlight with power led is often far above the output of a typical incandescent flashlight. However, this review is about small lights with very limited battery power, i.e. they can not maintain a high output for very long, even with the efficiency advantage of LEDs.
The following flashlights uses Power LEDs:
Drake, Wee, Draco, Extreme Micro, Raw, Aeon, Cute CR2
[size=+2]Operation[/size]
These lights are designed to be compact, this makes twist the preferred operation mode, with one exception.
[size=+1]Button[/size]
Due to the size of these flashlights, it is problematic to put a regular switch into them, a more simple construction is used, one that is only active as long as it is activated. This is very useful for signalling, but not practical for continuos use, but a physical lock can be added to the switch, making constant on possible.
Light with button and lock: Fauxton
[size=+1]Twist[/size]
These lights are activated by twisting the front and back of the light, this is simple and very reliable way to make a on/off function. Some lights has more settings, either by turning off/on fast or depending on how much they are twisted. One handed use can be a challenge on these small lights, but it is possible on most of the lights.
Lights with twist activation: La Petite Killer, Nano, TiFli, Drake, Wee, Matterhorn, Draco, Extreme Micro, Raw, Aeon, Cute CR2
[size=+2]Settings[/size]
Modern flashlights often have more settings, e.g. a high setting with lots of light and short runtime, and a low setting with much lower light output and long runtime. In the lights that has multiple levels, they usual has both a very high setting and a more normal light level. The high settings will match much bigger lights, but has very short runtime, both due to battery power, and because the flashlight gets to hot.
In some flashlight the brightness is regulated by regulating the current into the led, other uses a "trick", they turn the led on and off fast. To get half output, just keep the led on 50% of the time, doing it fast enough and the eye will not see any flicker. The method is called pwm (Puls Width Modulation), it is very easy to implement, but it can have some side effect, when looking at moving/rotating objects (Especially for low pwm frequencies).
These lights uses pwm: Drake, Draco
[size=+2]Brightness[/size]
Depending on type of light emitter and how it is controlled, light can be made with a wide range of light output, from weak lights that can be used to locate a keyhole but not spoil the night vision, to bright light that can fill a big room with light and definitely spoil any night vision. This review is about very small lights and that puts a limit on brightness, but mostly for the 5 mm leds. The ratings (week/medium/bright) cannot be compared to my other articles.
Below I have put the brightness of the different lights in a graph, it has a log scale, i.e. the step from 0.3 to 3 and from 3 to 30 has the same visual difference.
Here some beam shoots with all lights on max.:
Fauxton, La Petite Killer, Nano, TiFli
Drake, Wee, Matterhorn, Draco
Extreme micro, Raw, Aeon, Cute CR2
[size=+2]Battery type[/size]
These lights are supposed to be small and usual the biggest item in a flashlight is the battery, this makes the battery the item where most creativity has been applied to get small solutions.
[size=+1]Button cells[/size]
The smallest batteries are button cells and some of these small lights take advantages of that, but some lights are using multiple button cells. These cells exist in different chemistry, the two most important are Lithium (3 volt) and Alkaline (1.5 volt). Some lights take advantage of the cells limited current capacity and uses this as the current limiter for the led, to save some components.
Lights with button cells: Fauxton, La Petite Killer, Nano, TiFli
[size=+1]CR2[/size]
This is a Lithium battery and is the largest battery that is included in this roundup. The size of this battery also puts the lights with this battery as the biggest lights for this roundup. The battery has a good energy density (but using the slightly bigger CR123 battery would give much more energy). One of the advantages with Lithium is there long storage time, they can be stored for 10 years.
Lights with CR2: Extreme Micro, Aeon, Cute CR2
[size=+1]LiIon[/size]
These rechargeable exist in many sizes, for very small lights types 10180 and 10280 are very useful. Both types can supply lots of current and because of this these small flashlights can be very bright, compared to their size, then can easily match a typical AAA light in brightness, but not in runtime.
Lights with LiIon: Drake, Wee, Draco, Raw
[size=+2]Material and surface treatment[/size]
[size=+1]Aluminum[/size]
Most flashlights are mode from Aluminum, because it has some good properties for flashlights: It has low density and is good at transferring heat. But it also has one disadvantage, the surface can very easily scratch, on most lights this is solved by using hard-anodizing (Also called Type III anodizing) on the surface.
Aluminum can also be used without surface treatment, it does not corrode, but it will get scratched.
[size=+1]Titanium[/size]
Titanium can both be used with and without surface treatment, it is very strong and the density is considerable lower than steel.
For people that want a light around the neck, Titanium is very good, and there is no risk of corrosion.
Flashlight in Titanium is usual more expensive than aluminum lights, some of the reasons are that Titanium is more expensive and it is harder to process. Titanium is also often used for custom lights, i.e. by people that design small series of flashlights, one of the reasons for this is to avoid being compared to cheap mass produced aluminum flashlight.
[size=+1]Plastic[/size]
A cheap way to make a light and it makes it possible to include some functional elements in the design. It can only be used for low power lights, because it does not provide enough cooling for a high power led.
[size=+2]How to carry the flashlight[/size]
These small lights are designed to always be carried, some of the typical ways to carry them are:
[size=+2]Locate the flashlight in the dark[/size]
Some flashlights can be equipped with a "locator", this is a small weak light source that is always on, this makes it possible to locate the flashlight, even in a dark room. These "locators" can be made in two ways, either by a led with a small current or with a "trit". The last solution is the most common one.
A "Trit" is a tritium vial, it is a small glass vial with a radioactive gas inside and a phosphor coating on the inside of the vial. This design will give a weak glow for many year, the tritium will be down to half after 12 years. The light from this vial is very weak and cannot be seen in daylight, but in darkness, with dark adapted eyes, it is easy to spot. These vials exist in different colors. The radioactive gas is not really dangerous, the radiation is very weak, but if a vial break, it is not healthy to inhale the gas from it.
Lights with locater option: Drake, Wee, Draco, Raw
This roundup is about flashlights that are smaller than AAA flashlights or at least uses batteries that are smaller than AAA batteries. I have found two classes of small lights, cheap lights and expensive lights, but not really something in the middle. The expensive lights is sometimes designed to look like jewelry, but I do not have any good examples in my collection. The size of these lights are small, but for some of them, the light output is very high, even higher than most AAA lights, the reason for this is the LiIon batteries.
In my article about AAA flashlights I had some categories and I will do the same here, but the description of the categories will be tailored for these small lights.
I will look at the following lights (Same sequence as picture): Fauxton, La Petite Killer, Nano, TiFli, Drake, Wee, Matterhorn, Draco, Extreme Micro, Raw, Aeon, Cute CR2
The lights are small, here they are in my hand:
[size=+2]Light emitter[/size]
All these small lights uses leds, there are a couple of reasons for that:
- High efficiency, i.e. more light for the same about of power, this can either be implemented as a brighter light or as longer runtime.
- Physical robust, the led can last for thousand of hours and is not damaged by impacts.
- Multiple levels, it is easy to design lights with multiple brightness settings, i.e. a flashlight that can both have high brightness and long runtime, depending on selected setting.
[size=+1]5 mm led[/size]
Flashlights are made with two different types of LEDs. One type is the 5mm LED, it looks like a small bulb. These LEDs have a strict limit on maximum power, because they have limited cooling. They are good for a flashlight when you need a long runtime and not the most powerful light. Because the LEDs are encapsulated in a plastic bulb like package, they do not need to sit behind a protective glass in the flashlight.
The following lights uses 5mm LEDs:
Fauxton, La Petite Killer, Nano, TiFli, Matterhorn
[size=+1]Power led[/size]
The other LED type is known as a Power LED. These LEDs do not have any mechanical protection and have to be mounted on a heat sink with good thermal connection to the rest of the flashlight. Power LEDs always require a glass or plastic window in front of them for protection. These LEDs are used in more powerful flashlights, and some of the lights can get warm, or hot, when in use. The light output from a flashlight with power led is often far above the output of a typical incandescent flashlight. However, this review is about small lights with very limited battery power, i.e. they can not maintain a high output for very long, even with the efficiency advantage of LEDs.
The following flashlights uses Power LEDs:
Drake, Wee, Draco, Extreme Micro, Raw, Aeon, Cute CR2
[size=+2]Operation[/size]
These lights are designed to be compact, this makes twist the preferred operation mode, with one exception.
[size=+1]Button[/size]
Due to the size of these flashlights, it is problematic to put a regular switch into them, a more simple construction is used, one that is only active as long as it is activated. This is very useful for signalling, but not practical for continuos use, but a physical lock can be added to the switch, making constant on possible.
Light with button and lock: Fauxton
[size=+1]Twist[/size]
These lights are activated by twisting the front and back of the light, this is simple and very reliable way to make a on/off function. Some lights has more settings, either by turning off/on fast or depending on how much they are twisted. One handed use can be a challenge on these small lights, but it is possible on most of the lights.
Lights with twist activation: La Petite Killer, Nano, TiFli, Drake, Wee, Matterhorn, Draco, Extreme Micro, Raw, Aeon, Cute CR2
[size=+2]Settings[/size]
Modern flashlights often have more settings, e.g. a high setting with lots of light and short runtime, and a low setting with much lower light output and long runtime. In the lights that has multiple levels, they usual has both a very high setting and a more normal light level. The high settings will match much bigger lights, but has very short runtime, both due to battery power, and because the flashlight gets to hot.
- 1 setting: Fauxton, La Petite Killer, Nano, TiFli, Wee, Matterhorn, Extreme Micro, Cute CR2
- Multiple light levels: Aeon, Raw, Drake, Drako
- Programmable: Drake, Drako
In some flashlight the brightness is regulated by regulating the current into the led, other uses a "trick", they turn the led on and off fast. To get half output, just keep the led on 50% of the time, doing it fast enough and the eye will not see any flicker. The method is called pwm (Puls Width Modulation), it is very easy to implement, but it can have some side effect, when looking at moving/rotating objects (Especially for low pwm frequencies).
These lights uses pwm: Drake, Draco
[size=+2]Brightness[/size]
Depending on type of light emitter and how it is controlled, light can be made with a wide range of light output, from weak lights that can be used to locate a keyhole but not spoil the night vision, to bright light that can fill a big room with light and definitely spoil any night vision. This review is about very small lights and that puts a limit on brightness, but mostly for the 5 mm leds. The ratings (week/medium/bright) cannot be compared to my other articles.
- Very weak: TiFli
- Weak: Fauxton, La Petite Killer, Nano, Drake, Matterhorn, Draco, Raw, Aeon
- Medium: Drake, Wee, Draco, Extreme micro, Aeon
- Bright: Drake, Draco, Raw, Cute CR2
Below I have put the brightness of the different lights in a graph, it has a log scale, i.e. the step from 0.3 to 3 and from 3 to 30 has the same visual difference.
Here some beam shoots with all lights on max.:
Fauxton, La Petite Killer, Nano, TiFli
Drake, Wee, Matterhorn, Draco
Extreme micro, Raw, Aeon, Cute CR2
[size=+2]Battery type[/size]
These lights are supposed to be small and usual the biggest item in a flashlight is the battery, this makes the battery the item where most creativity has been applied to get small solutions.
[size=+1]Button cells[/size]
The smallest batteries are button cells and some of these small lights take advantages of that, but some lights are using multiple button cells. These cells exist in different chemistry, the two most important are Lithium (3 volt) and Alkaline (1.5 volt). Some lights take advantage of the cells limited current capacity and uses this as the current limiter for the led, to save some components.
Lights with button cells: Fauxton, La Petite Killer, Nano, TiFli
[size=+1]CR2[/size]
This is a Lithium battery and is the largest battery that is included in this roundup. The size of this battery also puts the lights with this battery as the biggest lights for this roundup. The battery has a good energy density (but using the slightly bigger CR123 battery would give much more energy). One of the advantages with Lithium is there long storage time, they can be stored for 10 years.
Lights with CR2: Extreme Micro, Aeon, Cute CR2
[size=+1]LiIon[/size]
These rechargeable exist in many sizes, for very small lights types 10180 and 10280 are very useful. Both types can supply lots of current and because of this these small flashlights can be very bright, compared to their size, then can easily match a typical AAA light in brightness, but not in runtime.
Lights with LiIon: Drake, Wee, Draco, Raw
[size=+2]Material and surface treatment[/size]
[size=+1]Aluminum[/size]
Most flashlights are mode from Aluminum, because it has some good properties for flashlights: It has low density and is good at transferring heat. But it also has one disadvantage, the surface can very easily scratch, on most lights this is solved by using hard-anodizing (Also called Type III anodizing) on the surface.
Aluminum can also be used without surface treatment, it does not corrode, but it will get scratched.
[size=+1]Titanium[/size]
Titanium can both be used with and without surface treatment, it is very strong and the density is considerable lower than steel.
For people that want a light around the neck, Titanium is very good, and there is no risk of corrosion.
Flashlight in Titanium is usual more expensive than aluminum lights, some of the reasons are that Titanium is more expensive and it is harder to process. Titanium is also often used for custom lights, i.e. by people that design small series of flashlights, one of the reasons for this is to avoid being compared to cheap mass produced aluminum flashlight.
[size=+1]Plastic[/size]
A cheap way to make a light and it makes it possible to include some functional elements in the design. It can only be used for low power lights, because it does not provide enough cooling for a high power led.
[size=+2]How to carry the flashlight[/size]
These small lights are designed to always be carried, some of the typical ways to carry them are:
- In the keychain, do not mount the light directly in the keychain, remember to put a small ring in between (This ring is usual included with the light). This way to carry the light is rather hard on the look of the light, only HA or steel can really stand up to it.
- Around the neck: Put a wire loop on the light and you can put it around the neck, remember only do it with waterproof lights. The picture shown is with a nice chain and a ring:
- In a pocket: Just be careful when washing the clothes!
- In a bag/purse, with these small lights there are almost no reasons to use that.
[size=+2]Locate the flashlight in the dark[/size]
Some flashlights can be equipped with a "locator", this is a small weak light source that is always on, this makes it possible to locate the flashlight, even in a dark room. These "locators" can be made in two ways, either by a led with a small current or with a "trit". The last solution is the most common one.
A "Trit" is a tritium vial, it is a small glass vial with a radioactive gas inside and a phosphor coating on the inside of the vial. This design will give a weak glow for many year, the tritium will be down to half after 12 years. The light from this vial is very weak and cannot be seen in daylight, but in darkness, with dark adapted eyes, it is easy to spot. These vials exist in different colors. The radioactive gas is not really dangerous, the radiation is very weak, but if a vial break, it is not healthy to inhale the gas from it.
Lights with locater option: Drake, Wee, Draco, Raw
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