Does my perfect flashlight for reading exist?

These are my requirements:

1) Smooth beam (no visible rings, artifacts, or donut holes) when light is 1-10 inches from page

2) Small (no bigger than AAA or CR2 - would prefer it to use one of either of these batteries)

3) Tail stand

4) Not overpowerfully bright

5) White or close to it output (no "angry blue" please)

I thought the Arc v4 would fit the bill when it was released this summer, but no, too blue and no tail stand (great smooth beam, though). Used my HDS U60 for a while, but CR123 made it really too big. Tried a JIL DD UP, but the emitter wires were visible. Gave the Orb Raw a shot, but although perfect in every other way, big donut hole clearly visible within 7 inches. Got a Peak Matterhorn 1 LED snow for a gift, but beam was surprisingly ringy.

Am I out of luck?

The closest thing that I can think of is a peak mattehorn AAA high power, in the pocket carry style. If the beam is too concentrated try putting some scotch tape over the front of the light to difuse the beam.

http://www.peakledsolutions.net/aaa_1LEDP.html is where you can find it. Try the high power to make the battery last longer.

Endeavor's CR2 ION fits your description.

McGizmo's McLuxIII-PD with a SureFire beamshaper. I use mine for that same thing sometimes. It works great on low.

Scott

offroadcmpr said:

The closest thing that I can think of is a peak mattehorn AAA high power, in the pocket carry style. If the beam is too concentrated try putting some scotch tape over the front of the light to difuse the beam.

http://www.peakledsolutions.net/aaa_1LEDP.html is where you can find it. Try the high power to make the battery last longer.

Click to expand...

I've got one of these, except in ultra power, and the beam is totally ringy (something like 3 rings encircling the otherwise smooth hotspot) - is my Peak just a production freak? Love the Peak form factor, but can't abide by the ringy beam on this one I've got.

CR2 Ion looks good, but too $$$ right now for me. Ditto the McLux PD (though this is the light of my dreams otherwise - but if I'm right, size is closer to HDS than to say a Peak or similar small light, which puts it out of the running for reading).

I know you didn't mention headlamps and they don't meet all your criteria, but I just bought my second (the first had too narrow of a beam), and it is absolutely perfect for reading.

It's the PETZL TIKKA XP. The great thing about it is that is has a 1 W LED that produces a nice tight beam at about 10 feet or so, and has a diffuser that you slide over the LED for up close work.

I use it in my sleeping bad and (don't laugh) in the bathtub.

http://en.petzl.com/petzl/LampesProduits?Langue=en&Gamme=48&Produit=555

OK then. You can make a very nice reading light from a cutdown minimag. Just get a 1AA version from Ledean and put in an MJLED or SMJLED sans reflector. Beautiful, low powered perfect light for reading but for hands free the Tikka XP is the way to go. The is also a tiny cheapy headlamp on Emillion's website that uses and optic that makes a smooth flat circle flood which would work well too.

Hi LowWorm! If it might help, i can send you a couple sheets of Fellows WriteRight.
This is the "good stuff" that some are using on the RR lantern. Just send me a PM with your address and i will drop them in the mail.

Cheers, Outrider

just get a LED headlamp, perfect for reading.

Multiple leds tend to average/smooth out the artifacts of just one. Try the Pael Matterhorn 3LED snow pocket. Or the Xnova 1AAA 5LED.

LowWorm,

Maybe lightly sanding the LED on an Arc or something similar will diffuse the beam enough for you. Even angry blue LEDs get a lot whiter when they are more diffused.

Meets very few of your requirements but the best reading light I've found so far is the Princeton Tec Aurora headlamp.

Wow, a lot of these responses are helpful (not what I was expecting, but I also didn't see myself becoming a hopeless flashaholic last year, either).

Zespectre and magic79: Thanks for the headlamp recommendations. I'll check into both since doing crossword puzzles in the dark is easier if I don't have to juggle a pen and a flashlight. Any recommendations of good places to buy?

CroMAGnet: Pretty much any modding is beyond my pathetic skill level, but thanks for the how-to anyway.

Outrider: At the risk of sounding dumb...naw, I won't do it. I'll PM you instead and sound dumb in private.

Leukos: Any advice on sandpaper grit to use? And how much sanding is enough?

Maybe I'll give a three-LED Peak a try, since the portable form factor is what interests me the most right now...of course, there's the new Fenix L0P, but probably a little too short on runtime and too bright to make for a good reading light.

I will second (third?) the recommendation for a headlamp. I read in bed after the wife turns out the light. We used to fight about this until I got a headlamp. I don't know the brand off-hand, but it was a cheap incandescent one. However, the artifacts in the beam really bugged me. About a month ago I took it apart and noticed that it had a bulb with two pins similar to a Mini Mag. I had put Nite-Ize LED modules in my Minis do I pulled one out and tried it. It worked perfectly and gives a VERY smooth light for reading. It is perfect. I ditched the reflector in the headlamp and used the miniman reflector that comes with the Nite-Ize. Granted, it is much smaller than the original, but the plastic lens on the headlamp holds everything in place nicely.

I've seen some inexpensive LED headlamps at Wal-Mart for cheap. Some even have white AND red LEDs that you can switch between.

I'll continue the recommendation for a headlamp. If reading, or anything else that takes both hands, is the main intended use it's the only way to go. You can go cheap and get a Princeton Tec Aurora for around $10-$15 from eBay, or you can splurge and get the Petzl Tikka XP and use its diffusion filter for a smooth even flood of pure white light. I picked up an Aurora off of eBay for $10 and upgraded the LEDs to Nichia CS to make it brighter and less "angry blue." It is now my favorite reading light even though I have a few other Luxeon headlamps.

Here are a few headlamps you might consider:
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/petzl_tikka_xp.htm
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/princetontec_aurora.htm
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/princetontec_eos.htm
The PT EOS is a fantastic headlamp, but the beam isn't the best for reading.
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/princetontec_corona.htm
If you need a big flood of light, the PT Corona would probably be great.

Good luck in your search!

Another vot for LED headlamps. Reading in bed was the initial reason I got one. I use the Black Diamond 'moonlight' and find it nearly perfect. With 4 LEDs across the beam is smooth and wide enough to cover a paperback nicely at reading distance. If you're reading something larger it's very little trouble to move your head slightly from one page to another. Having multiple brightness levels is a big plus so you can get enough light to read comfortably but not so much that it annoys your mate. Batteries last a good long time. Maybe not forever, but wonderfully longer than the low-wattage incandescent c-cell light I'd rigged up previously.

If you have an REI nearby, they're a good source for headlamps and hands-on comparisons. A lot of new stuff out there now even in the year or so since I got mine. Last time I was at REI there was a whole rack of different LED and hybrid headlamps.

You could always duct tape a flashlight to your forehead. :shrug:

Here's a thread with a very simle mod I recently did. Very smooth beam. The difference in the color at the edge of the beam is not really there... it's just an example of CCD overload. The beam basically looks like a luxeon with no reflector or optic, but dimmer... just almost all hotspot.

Other than requiring a LiON cell and charger, the hardest part of this mod by FAR is getting the reflector out of the Solitaire. I've also done similar lights using a 2xAA minimag clone with the sanded LED and sputtered reflector. Using a 35k LED and 2 alkaline to lithium cells will result in a very usable beam but I wouldn't suggest running the Nichia CS LEDs on 2 alkalines and it just isn't bright enoug at all.

Even if you don't do the mod, you could probably get something like the CMG or Gerber Sonic and gently sand the LED so that it looks frosted like the one in my thread I linked above. I can't convey how smooth and difuse it makes the beam.

Hello LowWorm,

To give you even more options...

A 2 AA MiniMag with the head screwed off (in candle mode) offers a very nice, almost even, beam of light that is perfect for reading.

I get an even smoother beam from my 2 AAA MiniMag.

While there are some artifacts in the beam from my Welch Allyn 76600, it also offers a nice beam for reading. The beam is not very wide at close range, but at 18" it will illuminate an 8.5" by 11" area very well.

I have a 2 AA MiniMag with a BB400 sandwich in it. This modification is almost as simple as changing batteries. If you unscrew the head and use it in candle mode, it give you a very nice smooth beam that is excellent for reading.

In the headlamp area, I just picked up a Yukon Extreme. If you unscrew the head and remove the reflector, you end up with a very broad fully regulated incandescent beam. Low incandescent is supposed to run for about 15 hours. I measured high incandescent, and it dropped out of regulation at 5.5 hours. Low incandescent is perfect for reading.

If you can take things apart, another light to consider is the EOS. For reading, I would make it a dedicated light by removing the optic entirely. I have not tried this, but I have changed optics and it is not difficult to do.

The light I get the most use of while reading in bed is the Light Traveler or Phorm light. It is a battery (or AC) operated fluorescent that has ample brightness along with a very smooth beam. I am not sure if these are still available. The search function may (or may not... :devil: ) find a few threads on this light. There are two versions of this light. One is just a plain light, the other as an alarm clock added to it. Both run on 4 AA batteries.

Good luck with your search.

Tom

Check this thread for a CMG Infinity. Great reading lights.