Usefulness of cheapo LEDs...

[FlameOn]

I try all the time to convince my friends how important it is to have light on you...especially in earthquake prone California...and even afterr I wow them with the size and brightness of my ITP A3, none of them ever order one....but I figure those cheapo dollar lights might come in handy...give them one as a gift, get them hooked on having a light...then when it breaks, they will most likely order a decent light since they now can't live without one...

 

[jp2515]

For gift giving, I prefer the fauxtons since they are small and cheap. Since the lights are small in size, people are more likely to carry it on their keys and have a light when the need arises.

 

[jabe1]

I just ask for keys, then put the fauxtons on myself. No one has taken one back off.

 

[325addict]

DX sells an 1AA 30 Lumen light for a few dollars... all aluminum, reverse tailcap-clickie, and tail standing
Runs for hours and hours on a single AA, has just the right amount of light for an emergency situation.

These are perfect give-aways!

Timmo.

 

[iqwozpoom]

I have one of those cheap single level single aa's tossed in the glove box. Great just in case, here take this, no worry lights. Low level semi-regulateds light are good for gifts, imo a person will be impressed by a nice bright light but will become frustrated when it suddenly dies when they need it. A lot of people don't carry spare batteries :thinking: or use lower modes to save energy.

 

[The Hawk]

I have finally convinced my wife to EDC a LED flashlight. A couple weeks ago she was really glad she did when she took a friend home and the lights had gone out in friend's house. I make sure there is a good LED flashlight in wife's car also. She loaned it to her friend since she did not own a flashlight. That has changed as she now has a couple good flashlights that I recommended to her.
I EDC the ITP A3 also. Great light. Quite impressive to non-flashlight knowing folks.

 

[Illum]

A lot of people don't carry spare batteries :thinking: or use lower modes to save energy.

nope, and some ask for the brightest light you have, then leave it pointed to the floor :fail:

 

[papajoe]

Cheapos dont' cost much, hence the name. The poor light, the bad switch, the bulkiness, the haze . . . . . all bad, But, the unreliability is the killer.

We've all been there. When you need the light, you NEED the light. A light that doesn't perform, such as a cheapo, disappoints any user. Cheapos don't sell the newbies on good lights. You have to set them down and explain it to them. If they're not ready, well, they're not.

My converts have been rockheads, but with persistence - they got it.

Cheapos are worhtless...... IMHO. Good lights stand on their own.

Joe

 

[march.brown]

Cheapos dont' cost much, hence the name. The poor light, the bad switch, the bulkiness, the haze . . . . . all bad, But, the unreliability is the killer.

We've all been there. When you need the light, you NEED the light. A light that doesn't perform, such as a cheapo, disappoints any user. Cheapos don't sell the newbies on good lights. You have to set them down and explain it to them. If they're not ready, well, they're not.

My converts have been rockheads, but with persistence - they got it.

Cheapos are worhtless...... IMHO. Good lights stand on their own.

Joe

If your cheapos all fail , then you are buying the wrong cheapos ! ... Try the single AAA MXDL twistie , I have five and they are great for the price ... The AA cheapies are as you say ... The CR123 cheapies are also great ... You just gotta choose the right cheapie , plus you gotta have a bit of luck too.
.

 

[fishinfool]

I have a bunch of $1 led's from ebay and even though they aren't the brightest, they are perfect for scattering all around the house for when you need one. I have also given a few of them away to my nephews and neices and they absolutely love them. I think I might have created future flashaholics.

 

[bluepilgrim]

I bought a few -- maybe a dozen -- Rayovac lights at Walmart: BRSLEDPEN-B (just got a couple more today to replace one I lost), and some BRSLEDKEY-BMF. $2.88 and $3.00 respectively; both AAA. Not the cheapest around, but hardly expensive.

The second one (has twisty) is sturdier but has a very weird beam with green and purple unless modified (take out the lens and rework the reflector with foil).
I also mod the pen light (has reverse clicky) to get a better, floodier beam, and removing the lens gives a bit more light, but it's useable as is.

Either would do, as is, in a pinch, and the pen is tolerable for regular use, and both are reliable so far. I would go with the pen light for most purposes (it's advertised as 15 hours with 'heavy duty' zinc chlorides and twice that with alkalines). They are now selling newer models which have been upgraded with better electronics, but the lenses don't match the LEDs used as well as they did in the older models. Normal people would be unlikely to pay much attention to that stuff, though, and be happy they could light things up with them -- and they are both small enough to carry around without being in the way.


To step up to 'expensive' light, I have a Black & Decker "LED CLIP LIGHT" (BDCLIP-B), 2AA with forward clicky and squeezy spring clip which can clip it to things 1/2" thick. With 3 color filters and a belt pouch. Says 60 lumens for 5 hours (comes with 2 alkaline cells). Fairly floody.
Just under $10 at Walmart.

I use it all the time (even bought a spare), and like it a lot. Too big to squirrel away in my trouser pocket and forget it's there, but OK for a coat or purse, and a 'real' flashlight. I've been running it on two zinc chloride cells for some weeks now, and it runs dimmer, but useful -- in fact I like the lower level (got a mess of zinc chloride cells for about 7 cents each at a dollar store).

Strange, maybe, but I find myself using these cheap little lights more often than my more expensive ones (which I keep in a pocket, but don't like to run the batteries down by using them in case I NEED a light). And they weigh less than the 'solid bodied' ones, and are easier to handle because of that. Also, it was tragic that I lost the little $2.88 pen light I modified with a foil reflector -- but it was a cheap tragedy which I can readily remedy -- unlike if I lost an expensive one.

 

[AnAppleSnail]

nope, and some ask for the brightest light you have, then leave it pointed to the floor :fail:

I know people who do this - they'll use my high-power pocket light and wear it like a necklace, blazing at their knees.

 

[Illum]

I have a bunch of $1 led's from ebay and even though they aren't the brightest, they are perfect for scattering all around the house for when you need one. I have also given a few of them away to my nephews and neices and they absolutely love them. I think I might have created future flashaholics.

especially for kids, it seem to remind them of all the places that is dark around the house.
keep the attic locked:shrug:

 

[fishinfool]

especially for kids, it seem to remind them of all the places that is dark around the house.
keep the attic locked:shrug:

They love exploring the house at night especially closets, under/behind furniture and any dark place they can find. :candle: What's funny and cool is they have found lots of things I have lost over the years and things that I have no idea where they came from. :shrug:

 

[bluepilgrim]

They love exploring the house at night especially closets, under/behind furniture and any dark place they can find. :candle: What's funny and cool is they have found lots of things I have lost over the years and things that I have no idea where they came from. :shrug:

That sounds just like my cats. And they don't even use a flashlight.
Although one them once absconded with a laser pointer. I don't know what she used it for, or ever figured out how to play with it by herself.

A local store sells those lasers now for dollar, and that's cheap enough to invent various uses for them, point to, and align, all sorts of things -- and to get the cats out of the chair you want to sit in. When a thing become very cheap it's possibe to use it for things one would never had considered before. I once attached one to a long pole and used it to chase a raccoon off the roof.