River Rock Keychain

On clearance at Target for $4.18 -



There is also another version - at the same price - in a smoother outline - sort of a peanut shape, slightly bigger.

Size comparison -

This is pretty small - the body tube is actually quite thick as the light holds 3x button cells according to the package they're S736S - but the batteries that came in the light were marked 392. There is also a black version.

Heads -

This shaped version comes with a focussing/collimating lens - the peanut shaped one has a reflector.

The light is a twisty head ala MiniMag style - but the light does not change focus to any noticable degree.

First impression was that this little sucker's bright!

vs. gen 3 Dorcy 1AAA spot light

in real life the RR keychain seems noticably brighter and the tint seems a nice warmish white - whereas the Dorcy always seems to have a brownish tint.

vs. gen2 Dorcy 1AAA (normal reflector)

again the spot of this RR keychain seems in real life to be brighter than the hotspot of the Dorcy - but obviously the Dorcy 1AAA has a much wider-angle and generally more useful beam.

vs. classic ArcAAA - circa 2003

again the beamshots don't show it but the RR keychain's spot is definitely brighter than the hotspot of the ArcAAA

The RR keychain also throws noticably a lot better than any of the lights compared so far - for typical indoor distances - up to say 12 feet or so.

I was so impressed I had to compare it to a 1/2watt -
vs Nuwai 0.5w 1AAA (TM-310H)

The Nuwai is brighter - but the RR keychain throws as well - at leats in the typical indoors distances..... pretty impressive.

Negatives - well, lots of people don't like spot lights - I bought this quite deliberately over the reflector version (the peanut shape) - just because I wanted to play with another spot type light. But didn't expect it to be quite as intense.

It might be just a bit too bright (is there such a thing? ) for my types of hand-held close tasks - where I find the gen3 Dorcy 1AAA spot actually quite suitable, but not that generally useful.

So overall - an impressive little thing - I don't know how much those replacement little batteries are - it is defintitely not generally useful as a pocket light as the intense hotspot and lack of side-spill concentrates the light losing all peripherial vision. Definitely noticed in a blacked out room - but it is useful for illuminating relatively precisely - especially when there is some ambient light. Might be useful so as not to disturb others - but it is a bit too bright(!) to go unnoticed........

Nice post! As noted in the other Target thread, I bought the black version of the River Rock keychain for just 2.98!! I hope others here are lucky too.

Both of the River Rock keychain lights are impressive. Overall, I prefer the peanut shape because it's heavier and just sexier. Someone (Cromagnet?) took a pic of one in the sand... sort of ala Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue.

I'm pretty sure they both use the Nichia CS LED which is well proven to get good brightness from a variety of power sources.

Also, the peanut uses the larger button cells so should give better rutnime. Both are impressive as far as brightness goes.

martytoo said:

Nice post! As noted in the other Target thread, I bought the black version of the River Rock keychain for just 2.98!! I hope others here are lucky too.

Click to expand...

I hope I get that lucky.. If I do, ill be getting quite a few of them at that price!

Also note my comments on the peanut-shaped model that I reviewed in the other thread on lights at Target. I've never seen the lensed version.
The smoother version has a very large hotspot as well as a wide spill. There are some artifacts in the beam, but brightness and color are really outstanding.
This one uses three L1154 button batteries. It's available in blue, pink and titanium body color, all with white LED.
The head and body are very smooth, so one-handed operation isn't that easy but is certainly possible due to the lubed O-rings.
I did use two pairs of pliers to snap off the swivel and keychain. I just left the triangle wire bale in place and put a lanyard on this to make a neck light. It's pretty heavy though due to the wall thickness. The swivel shackle snapped instantly, no twisting needed, so as a keychain light I think this might be too fragile if dropped with a large set of keys. I think the clip that holds the keys would survive, but the swivel shackle is very thin and brittle.

cratz2 wrote: "Also, the peanut uses the larger button cells so should give better rutnime. Both are impressive as far as brightness goes."

I would tend to agree, however
both the lights on their respective packages claim 12+ hours runtime.

The peanut shaped uses L1154 (equiv A76, AG13, LR44) - manganese dioxide.

Spot light version uses S736S (equiv 392, 384, SR41) - silver oxide.

The rated capacities over at data.energizer.com for these batteries were -

A76/LR44 1.5V 150mAh
392/384/SR41 1.55V 41mAh

So the rated capacity would seem to be almost 1/4!! -
yet they claim the same runtimes -
I don't know if the discharge characteriestic are different because of the different battery formulations......

Perhaps someone with better battery knowledge can please help explain -
or may be this is simply "optimistic" claims from River Rock?

EDIT to add -
I'm not sure - but looking at the PDF spec sheets for the 2 battery types -
392/SR41 silver oxide has a very flat discharge curve and gave 398 hours to cutoff at 1.3V with a discharge of 0.103mA.
A76/LR44 manganese dioxide has a curve that drops quite significantly but is rated 900hours a drain of 0.17MicroA to cutoff at 0.9V (which is too low to light a white LED) ...so looking at the discharge curve at the same 1.3V cutoff point it is only 300hours.
But to 1.2V it's close to 500hours, and to 1.1V it is maybe 680hours (remember the current drain is much, much lower though in the order of 1/1,000....)

So that might explain the same runtimes?

Some quick searching brought up a single cell that's equivalent to 4 of the LR44 batteries. I don't find anything similar to replace the 3 cells that the smoother RR light uses. Too bad, I'm sure it would give additional run time if it exists.

The LR44 cells can be found for VERY cheap if bought in bulk. One member did a group buy where they were about seven cents each. I ordered 50 LR44 and 50 of the smaller 392/384s from emilion and they were pretty cheap... maybe $3 or $4 for each 50... something relatively cheap, whatever it was.

I wonder what effect you'd get using a lithium 1/3N camera battery that's the equivalent size of 2 LR44 or S76 cells, plus a dummy. Dimmer light I'm sure, which wouldn't necessarily be bad for some tasks as this light running at 4.5V is very bright. I wonder what the runtime would be on that?

I have the smoother slimmer version on my keychain along with my red Photon II. I could not stand the effect the glass had on the beam with spots and all, so I took a screwdriver and a hammer and pounded out the glass.

Now the bezel is open and I get a nice smooth beam when I turn it on. But I get the best light of all when I completely unscrew the head. Very nice little floodlight for seeing your way around very dark places.

This little light has a very bright Nichia LED on it.


One thing, when you take out the cells, they're kind of a beeyotch to get back in.

InfidelCastro wrote: "This little light has a very bright Nichia LED on it."

Just speculating/guessing - is it due to the LED being over-driven @ 4.5V?

InfidelCastro wrote: "One thing, when you take out the cells, they're kind of a beeyotch to get back in."

Even worse for me with the smaller 392/384/SR41 miniature button cells. The first cell insertion seems to almost always flip over to the wrong polarity.

So it is defintitely NOT a field task.....

However I have found a way to make life just a bit easier.

Use a steady flat horizontal surface (like a table) stack the cells "-"ve side up like the way they would go into the flashlight.

Place the light's tube over the stack - the batteries are now nicely aligned in the body.

Carefully slide to near the edge of the table and place finger at the edge and just below the surface - and slide the flashlight onto the finger - which acts as a stopper.

Keep light vertical, move finger slightly and start to place the tail-cap spring into opening and gradually replace the finger - and screw in.

Works for me every time now - although it is fiddley.

Ha! That's what I do, only I flip the light over quick before putting the tailcap on. Usually takes about two tries.

InfidelCastro wrote:"Ha! That's what I do, only I flip the light over quick before putting the tailcap on. Usually takes about two tries."

Don't flip it over.......

Flipping over could cause the first/top cell to flip over as it falls down the body tube -
that's why I keep the orientation the same, and replace my finger with the tail-cap while still vertical.......

Works on first try.

Hi,

I purchased one of the curvy/peanut keychain lights and I was quite impressed. Surprisingly similar beam to my new-style Inova X1, but not quite as smooth. However, it is only $4.00 on clearance at target. Wow.

Remarks:

1. The LR44 batteries are in a tiny plastic sheath, so there is no difficulty with them "flipping over" when loading the batteries. Very nice!

2. I tried adding a 4th LR44 battery, just for kicks. I wasn't able to fully screw down the tailcap, but I got a nice bump in brightness. I think a little work with a dremel would make it all fit. But, I imagine the LED lifespan would be significantly shortened (I don't actually know...).

3. A fair bit bigger than the lensed version, but not a problem for me.

Overall, very nice. It will probably bump my 1aaa clone from my keychain, mainly because it is brighter.

Evan

I went to Target today and picked up a "Peanut" style light for $2.98. Worth every penny. Thanks for the opinion concerning the two styles.

I think the more industrial looking River Rock may end up in the glove box for a reading light. The beam is so narrow that it is less likely to annoy the driver. The "Peanut" looks like it will be great for walking, etc.

martytoo said:

I went to Target today and picked up a "Peanut" style light for $2.98. Worth every penny. Thanks for the opinion concerning the two styles.

I think the more industrial looking River Rock may end up in the glove box for a reading light. The beam is so narrow that it is less likely to annoy the driver. The "Peanut" looks like it will be great for walking, etc.

Click to expand...

Im starting to really envy you people! At $2.98, id get a few of each styles of the RR keychain lights (if not more than a few). But at my stop at Target today, all they had were the minimag holster and maglight bulbs red tagged. No Inova X series, or RR keychains(the "industrial" looking one that is)

But ill keep checking and hopefully ill find some at that wornderful clearence price!