Spec me a laser

[Dan_B]

Hi,

I'm considering buying a laser pen for use as an EDC. Ideally it'd tick all of the following boxes:

Small (EDC, remember!)
Common battery (AAA?)
On/Off Mechanism other than a "push and hold" approach (Don't want it being "pushed on" in my pocket!!)
And lastly (And suddly probably most importantly!) cheap!

I live in England so it would need to be easy to order for delivery (Again cheap) or able to purchase over here.

Any ideas?

Cheers.

 

[IgorT]

What colour do you want?

The ones that use AAA batteries usualy only have a pushbutton and no switch.

BTW, what exactly does EDC mean?


From all the lasers, that i have at the moment, i like the KD50 the most. It's very cheap, and very bright. I actually have three, and one of them measures as high as 67mW and another at around 40-50mW, with the third at 33-40mW.

They use CR2 batteries, but works better with 3V Li-Fe-PO rechargable CR2 cells. It also has a proper switch. You can't beat it at this price. It's thicker, than pen lasers, but has better heatsinking due to the massive body.


Here's the links:
http://www.kaidomain.com/WEBUI/ProductDetail.aspx?TranID=3304
http://www.kaidomain.com/WEBUI/ProductDetail.aspx?TranID=1259

There is also a slightly cheaper pack of two batteries, but i can't find it at the moment. But since there is hardly any difference in the price, i would recommend getting four.

You also need a charger with a 3V setting for these batteries. They can only be charged up to 3.6V. 3.6V batteries are charged to 4.2V and could kill the laser due to a higher current.


Otherwise, you can get many cheap green pen style lasers from both DealExtreme and KaiDomain, that take two AAA batteries, but only have a pushbutton. They do have some problems sometimes tho.. (mode hopping, very inconsistent power output)