worst flashlight ever

[mossyoak]

any opinons on what is the worst flashlight ever?

 

[PocketBeam]

The 99 cent 2 D flashlights? Or the lights you shake to generate power. My feeling is that if you are going to change from the crank to power the light, then you should make it better some how. Not more work to get less light.

 

[nikon]

I bought a rubber covered light recently from THE DOLLAR STORE. I set it on my desk when I got home and a little while later I noticed an odd smell in the air. I sniffed the flashlight and almost lost my lunch. It had a horrible acrid odor and I wouldn't be surprised to find out that it's toxic. The light went right in the trash.

 

[jtivat]

The CMG Bonfire! POS!

 

[paulr]

99 cent 2D flashlights vary a lot in quantity. The plastic Eveready ones aren't bad. The worst one I got was quite mechanically complicated and I don't understand how they sold it for 99 cents. It had all kinds of useless parts and metal shapes inside. Meanwhile, the bezel threads weren't cut deeply enough, so the head would pop off the light, spilling the batteries, if the light got jostled. Whoever designed it must have been on drugs. I should post some pics of it sometime.

 

[koala]

nikon - my energizer hardcase also smells the same. Took weeks to deodorize. Natural rubber doesn't smell like that. I suspect it's recycled rubber from vehicle tyres. The same stuff they use to make leaking garden hose for watering plants.

 

[pedalinbob]

i washed a stinky rubber light with Dawn dish soap--removed about 98% of the stink!

Bob

 

[RussH]

I bought a Dorcy 4AA (1D size body) rubberized flashlight a few months ago to keep in my car, with L91s and a halogen bulb installed. The switch is really poor on this thing and recently it came on in my car long enough to run my lithium batteries down to nearly zero. This also melted the reflector around the once new halogen bulb, which still works fine. I would have trashed it already but I couldn't get the bulb out. I suppose I'll wait till the bulb burns out. Or I'll give it to someone who wants a disposable flashlight. It now has alkaline batteries and its not going back in the car.

 

[greenlight]

Those credit card ones sucked too. The bulb would break because I squeezed it and not the button.

 

[ACMarina]

My boss has a flashlight at work, it's yellow with a black head. I don't know what is it, but it's got the same problem with the threads not being deep enough so the head pops off. Plus he's dropped it more than a few times on pavement, so it's busted up pretty bad. A Maglite would probably be better for him. .

 

[sween1911]

I bought an Energizer light from a grocery store once maybe 5-6 years ago. 2AA, plastic body, kind of a MiniMag rippoff. With a crappy twist tail-switch. We were having a gaming party in an office. Playing Starcraft. I was using the light to move around, get snacks, go to the bathroom as we had all the lights out. I remember smelling something burning and realizing that the damn thing was smoking! Ran outside and took it apart, almost burning my hand. The stupid thing had shortcircuited when I dropped it earlier and the body had cracked. What a piece of junk.

 

[sotyakr]

I won't say it's the worst flashlight ever, but my "vintage" Pelican SwatLite is probably the worst in my accumulation (NOT collection) of lights. I purchased this 4 C-cell, magnetically switched, dual filament, two level light way back in the mid-80's, and seemed fairly cool at the time. I think Pelican was (at least by it's name) marketing this light toward the LEO and related markets. It's your typical Pelican rugged construction, but the beam pattern (at both levels) seems best suited to an Astronomy science project demonstrating what nebulae look like. In any case, it's still kind of a nice relic to have hanging around in the storeroom, but I have no idea where to find a replacement bulb when this one blows.

 

[GarageBoy]

Ace Hardware with Xenon blulb. Most artifact filled beam EVER and it has a nice facet reflector

 

[voodoogreg]

My mom's little 1XAAA dorcy keychain light. I made her a modded solitaire for christmas to replace it.
Man it's pitiful. it won't shine past your arm even in a blacked out house. man what a sad excuse for a light. VDG

 

[voodoogreg]

My mom's little 1XAAA incan dorcy keychain light. I made her a modded solitaire for christmas to replace it.
Man it's pitiful. it won't shine past your arm even in a blacked out house. man what a sad excuse for a light. VDG

 

[PlayboyJoeShmoe]

Some of the dollar (or Big Lots) store stuff is suprisingly good... some not!

My worst was a 1AAA incandescent from Sears. The tail switch desentegrated shortly after I bought it.

It put out less than a M*g Solit*ire!

 

[skillet]

Any, no, every light with dead batteries....


Skillet

ya see, i have children x 3

 

[georget98]

I'd like to nominate the Duracell Focus Grip Max. One of the computer techs here at work (knowing my hobby) proudly showed it to me. It's big, heavy, and awkward. The beam pattern is extremely splotchy, and the focus is hard to turn.

It may not fit into the "ever" category, but I think is a strong contender for a light currently in production.

 

[Rammer]

I've been disappointed with the M*gLite Solitaire (single AAA), primarily due to the lack of a switch.

 

[HenryMudd]

How about those 3 D cell green monsters that the military used to use (maybe still do). Those things sucked. Also the batteries of the day (70's-80's) were awful.

If you got 20 minutes of wimpy light you were lucky.