Kid's camp flashlight revisited...

The previous post on this subject got me thinking. 2 half-way decent flashlights for $7.00. Loose one, there's another in your kit. Trade it for a dead frog? Dad's only out the price of a couple of gallons of gas.
http://www.actiongear.com/cgi-bin/t....ctx=flashlight&backto=/agcatalog/results.tam

Dorcy 2AA Gelbrites and rubber armoured illuminators are only about $3 each.
http://www.dorcy.com/products.aspx?p=412951
For another $5 get the PR2-W1-WVR LED bilb to extend battery life. Very floody beam in a Gelbrite.
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?product=LIGHTS

EDIT Or for $10 get the SMJLED PR. More traditional beam pattern (hotspot/spill light)
Available from Lambda or Lighthound.

If you want to go cheap, Walmart's got plastic light with 2AA batteries (non-alkaline) included for 84 cents. I guess that is as cheap as it gets. You could buy him 3 of these for the cost of ONE gallon of gas. You get what you pay for.

cary1952 said:

If you want to go cheap, Walmart's got plastic light with 2AA batteries (non-alkaline) included for 84 cents. I guess that is as cheap as it gets. You could buy him 3 of these for the cost of ONE gallon of gas. You get what you pay for.

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You might need to swap 2 of those to get a dead frog.
Better get 4 just in case.
Topper

I gave one of those 84cent walmart lights to a friend's 4 year old. got a big smile when he turned it on. I gave his parents an 8-pack of dollar store AA's for the inevitable refills.

was in a biglots last week, and they had a two-pack of cheap 2xAA lights with kid-type packaging; the label said "good for flashlight tag".

I think this is called keeping things in perspective Thanks for the input.

I picked up a Energizer LED4AAA1 (PDF datasheet) $12 at Target, for my daughter when she went to camp.



It was a good dual purpose light for her. The only issues I saw was that the battery carrier only went in one way and the tailcap didn't secure sungly. I added a bit of hot glue around the base of the light, where the two would meet, before I closed it. And I added a lanyard for her. Other than that, Energizer lists it as obsolete, but I bought mine in April of this year.

I just got my nephew a 2-pack of the blue Dorcy Gel Lights for $5. He's only 6 and there was NO WAY Uncle Bror was gonna spring for something really nice.

http://www.dorcy.com/products.aspx?p=412981

I got a set of purple lights for my niece so ther's no fighting.

cary1952 said:

If you want to go cheap, Walmart's got plastic light with 2AA batteries (non-alkaline) included for 84 cents. I guess that is as cheap as it gets. You could buy him 3 of these for the cost of ONE gallon of gas. You get what you pay for.

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This would be great and add a PR based SMJLED and a 8 pack of AA batteries and you've spent less than 25 bucks. Should last through summer camp and if it gets lost you're not out a bunch of money.

Target here had a kid's BuzzLightyear version of the Eveready dual-purpose pictured a couple posts above. It is priced at $9.99. It has a lanyard, and the battery cap is secured with a screw that must be removed before it will twist off.

The Kids version lists 70 hour runtime, while the black/gray version listes 80 hours. The black/gray version was $12.99.

I bought the Buzz version to give to my daughter's little sister. I'm pleasantly surprised by the output. It's lensed, but has a nice output. Lots of light for what it is.

The battery carrier is kind of odd. It's not keyed, relying on lining up an arrow on the carrier and on the body of the light.
The batteries on one side of the carrier got + to the springs, which have a cup of sorts to make the spring center on the tip of the battery.

Sliding the head in when converting from lantern to flashliht mode can pinch, so kids will need to be shown where NOT to hold it. It's kind of tight and needs a bit of a tap to get it started, making it close kind of suddenly.

I would suggest the Energizer 2AA contractor with a SMJLED bulb, good spot and nice sidespill with long runtime, $10-12, waterproof and it floats too, comes with lanyard and is bright yellow so he doesn't loose it. Sells at Target

http://www.energizer.com/products/flashlights/flashlight.asp?cat=3&id=4

AlexGT

Another vote for the 84 cent walmart 2xAA light (get faceted reflector version) plus SMJLED PR bulb for $6.66 from trueblue. About $8 with 2 batteries, tough, puts out near L1P light, and should run like 20+ hours.

I just gave one of these with E2 lithiums to my grown (more or less) daughter for a car glove box light; and I'm confident that if she needs it, it will do the job.

Padge said:

I picked up a Energizer LED4AAA1 (PDF datasheet) $12 at Target, for my daughter when she went to camp.

It was a good dual purpose light for her. The only issues I saw was that the battery carrier only went in one way and the tailcap didn't secure sungly. I added a bit of hot glue around the base of the light, where the two would meet, before I closed it. And I added a lanyard for her. Other than that, Energizer lists it as obsolete, but I bought mine in April of this year.

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Picked one up at Zellers $10 . Has a '2X BRIGHTER' sticker on it (Nichia CS maybe?).
My problem was battery orientation in the holder. 2 of the batteries go in -ve to the spring. The other 2 go in +ve to the spring. Arrrh!
Big magnifying lens in the middle of the window giving good throw but very little spill in flashlight mode.
Brighter than the DorcyAAA, less bright than the Nuwai TM-310H, RR 2AAA, SMJLED PR

I'd say just get a small Maglite, 2C or something, my experiences with those are extremely good and you only have to buy one once. I myself have got a Mag 4D for camping and the like, and it's nice:rock:

geforce guy said:

I'd say just get a small Maglite, 2C or something, my experiences with those are extremely good and you only have to buy one once. I myself have got a Mag 4D for camping and the like, and it's nice:rock:

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In the original thread
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=111348
the request was for plastic flashlights. Reaon given in post #16

Pydpiper said:

I am apprehensive about the aluminum, only because there are two 2 year olds, my daughter being one of them, she uses aluminum lights daily, but her cousin is a bit behind in that aspect.. I can see aluminum lights being a trip to the emergency room with some of the others.

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This should be put into perspective as this light will be for a two year old. Buying anything more than something that "turns on" will not fit the purpose. The purpose for this light would be as a "toy" and for entertaining them and little more. Buy several .88 cent walmart lights and be done wih it.

Buy a decent light for the person that will be watching over them.

I'm sorry, didn't know that. I saw something about a 6 year old, but if it needs to be plastic, hmmmm. I don't know any plastic lights that don't break as soon as they fall from more then a yard or so.