Suggest an inexpensive LED light

People have grown accustomed my strange behavior of EDCing several lights on me to work, but here comes the problem....when something is losted in a dim storage room, they ask for a light, someone lost something in their car during the night shift, they ask for a light.

Sometimes the light comes back with anodizing marred by accidental drops or oily from someone who borrowed it while eating potato chips...

Because of battery prices Im reluctant to loan out incan lights...im thinking more into LED.:huh:

I've convinced several people to purchase a Streamlight stylus from radioshack :rock:[since the stylus was the first light I loaned out in a daily basis, however due to the speedy depletion of AAAAs and their rarities in stores foreced me to reconsider my loaner's light] :sigh:

I prefer something small, plastic or alumimum [preferrably aluminum]
runs on LEDs [either Luxeon or 5mm, preferrable Luxeon...im pretty certain my coworksers could care less what bin it is:laughing:]
batteries can be either AAA or cr123A, I prefer a light with a low profile
and relatively inexpensive to replace if needed.

Im considering the Dorcy Super 1 watt, any ideas?

surefire l4

sorry thought you said expensive not inexpensive my bad

a Minimag with a Nite Ize upgrade is a great loaner, Minimags are so inixpensive and ubiqutous now that you won't care if it gets trashed, the floody beam from the Nite Ize upgrade is probably more useful than the ringy focusing Minimag beam anyway

besides, most "normals" think Minimags and Mags in general are high-class lights, and may be impressed that you're trusing them with your "nice" minimag...

streamlight 4AA

Best bang for ya buck, throws like a pitcher for the price

I refer you to an old thread on loaners.

I like the little "Aluminum AAA White LED Keychain Flashlight" from Lighthound (see here). I own a couple and they're great little lights; about as powerful as a basic Photon button cell light but great runtime, relatively sturdy, and easy to clip onto a keychain, bag, or item of clothing.

For $5, they're cheap but do a decent job lighting up an interior space.

Nerdgineer's Cinderella light idea is hilarious, but you'd probably get more looks for carrying that thing than you already are from all your other lights. On a more practical note, headover to Target and browse they're RiverRock 0.5W Luxeon's (http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/nuwai_tm-311h_2aaa.htm). At a cheap price, too. Or you could be generous and loan an Inova X1.

I just picked up an Inova X0 (the newer reflectored version) and really like it. Much nicer (and smaller) than the older version. It's about the size of my E2e, 1/2 inch longer. About as bright as my HDS B42xrgt on high, and it runs in perfect regulation for over 5 hours on 2 123's. If you want a rechargeable option, the AW 14670 cells work in full regulation. I got it at Fry's for $35. In my mind, it's cheap enough to loan out, and nice enough to impress the "normals."

Keep a cheap 2D plastic incan around to loan out.
Also have "LOANER" and your name written on the barrel with a permanent marker.

None of this flashlight go-to-guy stuff.

Illum_the_nation said:

People have grown accustomed my strange behavior of EDCing several lights on me to work....

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The easy solution is to not play with, display or talk about flashlights at work.

I EDC one pocket knife and one flashlight. When using either, I palm them, use them and put them away without comment. Most folks never notice and the few that do are fellow tool users that have their own tools.

Pick up a few of those Energizer penlights. If the Stylus can do the job, those can too. Those Nichia based ones have a bit of balls to them.

Culhain said:

The easy solution is to not play with, display or talk about flashlights at work.

I EDC one pocket knife and one flashlight. When using either, I palm them, use them and put them away without comment. Most folks never notice and the few that do are fellow tool users that have their own tools.

Click to expand...

Share your lights my friend... and may all our lives be a little brighter!

Take a look at the Safe Light Super Bright. It uses common 9 volt batteries, great run time, multiple light levels. You can use the magnetic clip to keep on the side of a filing cabinet at work. One of the better lights for under $12.

https://edcdepot.com/merchantmanager/product_info.php?cPath=5&products_id=92

The Dorcy Super 1W is a good choice, but so are any of a number of cheaper lights available on Lighthound or QualityChinaGoods.com.

How about a Photon clone keychain light? These are available from a number of sources for about ~$1 a piece, and give out a reasonable amount of light. That way, you could distribute them to all your co-workers and never be pestered again!

I say get a 100 of these or similiar and hand one out to every one, tell them to put it on the badge....no excuses!

http://www.lighthound.com/images/china/KeychainLEDClear.jpg

minim*g with NiteIze. Cheap enough and quite usefull as long as you are using it in darkness!!!

edit> Oh YEah!!! EVERYONE knows how to USE a minimag! The guy I gave two lights to tried to twist the heads on both of them before I set him straight! <edit

Thanks for the replies guys...Ill check around. :wave:

MacTech said:

a Minimag with a Nite Ize upgrade is a great loaner, Minimags are so inixpensive and ubiqutous now that you won't care if it gets trashed, the floody beam from the Nite Ize upgrade is probably more useful than the ringy focusing Minimag beam anyway

besides, most "normals" think Minimags and Mags in general are high-class lights, and may be impressed that you're trusing them with your "nice" minimag...

Click to expand...

I use that light for taking lecture notes in the dark [room has no windows, professor turns on the projector...dimm in the back rows]:candle:

Most people believe the "throw" part of the light determines how bright it is. Minimag's a good choice, thanks for the tip:rock:

nerdgineer said:

I refer you to an old thread on loaners.

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helpful site, thanks...the cheap incan "cinderella" light:laughing::rock:

"Share your lights my friend ... and may all our lives be a little brighter!"

I'm with Supernam. Experience the joy of sharing and even giving to your fellow man. Whether the recipients be family, friends or even casual coworkers, you'll enlighten their lives with more then mere lumens when you let them borrow a nice flashlight … especially something, the likes of which they may never have seen before.

I have always liked flashlights but only became an "enlightened" CPFer earlier this year … and all these high-end brands and futuristic LED lights are still fairly new to me. When I first saw a River Rock light in Target in May, I really though they were something special! Prior to 2006, I thought Mag-Lites were high-end flashlights. :duck:

I placed an order a couple months ago with DAE for four flashlights and for the most part, liked what I got. I'm going back for a dozen or more lights. Many of these will be gifts, a couple will be for me to stash here 'n there and a few will be loaners should the occasion arise. The pretty AAA "Ice Cream" lights, for example, can brighten a woman's day even without batteries.

But if you have come to believe your fellow man is merely taking advantage of your generosity and the fact that you put more thought into your everyday activities than most, tell the mutha' effin' parasite to eff' off and buy their own effin' lights! What are we, a bunch of effin' communists?

Illum_the_nation said:

I've convinced several people to purchase a Streamlight stylus from radioshack...I prefer something small, plastic or alumimum [preferrably aluminum] runs on LEDs [either Luxeon or 5mm, preferrable Luxeon...

Click to expand...

The PT Rage isn't LED, but it's small, tough, runs on AAAs, and is very powerful. Only $10: http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/princetontec_rage.htm

The River Rock / Nuwai TM-311H 2AAA is very small and inexpensive, has output roughly equal to a Minimag but much longer run time: http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/nuwai_tm-311h_2aaa.htm

My favorite suggestion is the Streamlight Propoly Lux 4AA. Available in either black or yellow. Just tremendous quality and performance for a $28 light: http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/streamlight_propolyluxeon.htm